Cash the Web

Posts Tagged ‘ezines’

People love to get free useful and original information. If you can provide that, they will flock to your website. One of the best ways to do that is provide an ezine or newsletter.

Publishing an ezine isn’t as hard as it appears. Your biggest hurdle will be coming up with topics and information to include in your newsletter. However, the best thing about an ezine or newsletter is that it keeps your visitors coming back to your site. It gives you numerous opportunities to get in front of your audience over and over again.

You do this by capturing their email addresses in exchange for your free publication. (see collecting email addresses below)

You don’t have to get fancy with a newsletter or ezine. All you need to do is create your newsletter in an email and post it to your viewers about once a week or perhaps once a month. There are many more formal ways of doing it but if you’re just getting started do it the easy way and work up to perfection later on.

When to Publish

With as much email as people get it’s probably best to publish once a month. That gives you plenty of time to gather good, solid, useful information and you won’t be bombarding your opt-in list with more mail than they want.

Tip:

Instead of publishing a full blown newsletter, you could also publish entries on a blog and once a month simply email your list outlining the topics on your blog and simply send them there instead of putting it all in the email. A simply email directing them to your blog is a lot more likely to get through the spam filters as well.
Make sure when you request your viewers email address that you specify what your ezine will include, for example, tips, specials, guides articles, etc., and also specify how often you will be sending out your newsletter. People today like to be sure of what they’re getting and how often.

Collecting Email Addresses

If you’re not familiar with how to collect email addresses here’s some useful information.

When collecting emails and publishing any publication online you will need an auto responder email service or auto responder service to professionally maintain your email collection. This is a service that helps you collect email addresses and stores them for you. An email auto responder will allow you to create emails, newsletters or ezine and broadcast it to all the members of your list with one stroke of a key. When collecting opt-ins simply collect the person’s first name and email address. If you ask for too much information you’re not as likely to get the sign-up. It will also help you create a form for collecting email addresses.

Don’t use safe lists or purchase email lists. No matter how reputable they don’t achieve the results that you get from obtaining your own lists. I don’t recommend using a free auto responder. Heaven knows there are plenty of them out there. The problem with free auto responders is that they will include lots of advertising with your emails. It will detract from the look and feel of your email, plus it can distract your readers, I don’t recommend it.

If your website hosting company has an email auto responder you can also use them but there are also problems with that. I’ve discovered that host mail servers often get ‘blacklisted’ which means your emails are never likely to reach your viewers.

I recommend going with an auto responder that is in the email business. They’ll work harder to make sure your emails get sent and don’t get blacklisted. I’ve also noticed that email auto responders that come with web hosting services often get blacklisted, so they’re not always a good option if you want your emails to reach your viewers.

For each sign up that you get, send an automatic welcome email thanking them for signing up. Be specific about what they signed up for and how often they can expect an email from you. If you are offering an email course, let them know they will be receiving an email every day for the next x number of days. Whether your newsletter is weekly or monthly, let them know that.

Most importantly don’t bombard your readers with ads or useless information. You want your readers to look forward to getting your emails and you can only do that if you offer useful, interesting content that has a tone of your originality.

Submit your ezine or newsletters to ezine directories

Always submit your ezine or newsletter publication to publication directories. There are newsletter directories that provide specific information such number of subscribers, how often it’s published and other information that readers need to know.

Content ideas

You want your newsletter or ezine to be something that people look forward to getting each week. Don’t bombard them with ads or useless information. People are busy and generally read a lot online so they want to read things that offer value.

• Make your newsletter personal. In your salutation use the person’s name that you captured in your opt-in list.
• Make comments on topics related to your web site’s topic
• Include articles. They can be written by others but should be articles that you have found of particular interest.
• Include a “what’s new “ on your website
• Don’t be afraid to be a little controversial. Write an editorial about what irks you or a personal feeling. People can read about the usual stuff anywhere, they want to hear about the unusual, controversial and interesting.
• Tell a joke or use http://www.freesticky.com to find ideas to make your newsletter fun and interesting.