EzineLaunch
Ezine Publishing Guide

How to Create, Market
and Profit from Ezines

Don't plan, design, publish or market your ezine
- until you've learnt all the tricks and secrets first!

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So you've decided to start your own ezine. You've found out what you are going to say on it. You've determined the characteristics of your readership. And you've defined the purpose of your ezine. Great. Now how do you proceed?

Getting subscribers needs the old one-two - define your target audience, get your ezine's name in front of them.

There are two issues facing a ezine publisher:

The first concern - getting new readers - is a reflection of your advertising and marketing success. Retaining them as long term subscribers is a measure of the quality and usefulness of your ezine's content. Both are necessary for a great ezine.

This is a dilemma facing many new ezine publishers. You look around, and see many other ezines who already have a forbiddingly high readership. And you wonder how on earth you are going to compete with them. Believe me, you can do it. It won't be easy, but it is definitely possible. All it needs is committment, dedication and a lot of hard work. The returns, though, make it all worthwhile.

Reaching your target audience

If you have already defined your readership, getting subscribers is a cinch. Just get your ezine's name in front of this population. Let them know about it - what is it about, why should they subscribe, what makes you qualifed to write it. Write with conviction and passion, and the enthusiasm will convey itself to the prospect.

Then invite them to subscribe to your ezine. Tell them how - by sending you an email, or by registering on your website, or any other way. Try and give them an incentive to join. A free report or book, an entry into a contest or sweepstakes, or access to a members-only service or website - as long as they are related to the topic of your ezine, hooks like these add to the appeal of registering. If the offer is attractive enough, they'll surely join - atleast to see what you are offering on your ezine.

In general, ezines on topics of general interest (e.g. politics, financial news) can attract subscribers easily, and grow rapidly. If your target audience is more narrow, and specialized (like my ezine, Dr. Mani's The Heart Beat Healthzine, which is directed towards only those interested in heart disease), the growth process may be excruciatingly slow.

Advertising and Marketing your ezine

"Build it, and they'll come" is a cliche that is seldom true on the World Wide Web. It applies equally poorly to ezines. To get subscribers, you need to promote it aggressively, constantly. Here are some useful ways to get you started.

• Ezine directories
• Ezine announcement lists
• Signature files
• Website forms
• Networking online - BB, discussion lists, chat
• Customers and downlines
• Ezine Joint Ventures
• Ezine Ads and swaps
• Publishing articles on other ezines
• Get reviewed in other ezines
• Ezine Awards
• Offering freebies
• Other avenues of marketing

Ezine Directories

There are many ezine directories on the web, on which you should get your ezine registered. There are two good reasons to do this:

Offer many ways to sign up for your ezine.

1. Subscribers find your ezine on these directories.
2. Advertisers find your ezine on these directories!

These directories work like the web search engines. Your ezine will be placed in the appropriate category. When I come to the directory in search for an ezine on your topic, the directory serves up details of YOUR ezine to me - and your subscriber count increases by one!

Convinced? Want to start submitting right away? Whoa! Hold on a minute. There's still some ground work to be done.

Directories require that you submit some data about your ezine. Much of the information is the same on different directories. By preparing this data before-hand, you can save time over the submission process. Also, having the same description and details on all directories gives your ezine a consistent and professional appearance.

You will need:

1. A short description of your ezine, 25 words or less in length. For example, my publication is described as follows:

   Dr. Mani's The Heart Beat Healthzine delivers tips, news, advice and information on preventing and treating heart disease FREE by email every month.

2. Instructions to subscribe to your ezine. To subscribe to The Heart Beat, visit http://heartzine.listbot.com or send email to mailto:heartzine@listbot.com

   Tip: Use the "mailto:" tag to make the email address a clickable link on the email message.

3. A way to let your potential subscribers read a sample issue of your ezine. You can provide it as:

   Give them a reason to join - a freebie, gift, discount or prize Register on Ezine directories.

   • a link to the page on your website where a sample issue resides
   • a mailto: link to an autoresponder that instantly sends a sample issue by email to the prospect

4. Contact Information - Your name, address, contact phone/fax/email, company name and website URL are required often.

   Tip: Create a separate folder on your computer, and name it EZINE PROMOTION. Save all the details mentioned above into this folder, and use it while promoting your ezine on the various directories. 

Search Engines & Website Directories

Don't forget that many new subscribers will find your ezine from a link on your website. So register your site with the search engines (at the very least, on the top ones - Yahoo, Infoseek, HotBot, Excite, Lycos, Webcrawler, LookSmart). In addition, register with other directories and search engines which cater to your ezine's subject area specifically. On all of these webpages, place a link to your ezine's subscription form.

Next Section: >>> Ezine Announcement List