Let's break ezines down to four simple components to help you get a clear picture of what is involved. Every thing you have to do to create an ezine falls within four of these important steps.
1. Content: Give away valuable information
2. Formatting: Make your ezine looks nice and is easy to read
3. Distribution: Send it out electronically, easily and efficiently
4. List Building: Constantly work on growing your subscriber list
In the previous two articles,we covered content, formatting, and distribution. Now let's tackle that most important task for a successful e-newsletter: List building and Persistence.
Getting Subscribers & List Building
You don't need to have a huge list to be successful. In fact, every one starts pretty close to zero. Start with the people you know, and then acquire important list building habits so each week you get new names and email addresses added to your list.
It's not about numbers; it's about targeted, qualified potential customers. You only want people on your list who are interested in what you have to offer. The more targeted your content and your offers, the more qualified people you will attract to your list.
For this to happen, you need to follow certain steps to make it easy and attractive for people to sign up.
This isn't rocket science, but you do need to be diligent about this; otherwise, your list will not grow.
You have to make a compelling offer and give people a bonus or a bribe (an ethical one, but a bribe all the same!).
Do you already know how to do this? If not, you can learn.
What insider information do you have that readers would love to get their hands on? How often do you see a ho-hum subscription form on web pages that says, "Sign Up Here for My Free Ezine!" Yawn. ("Oh boy, just what I need, another ezine.")
What if you put something like this on your sign-up page: "Would you like to know 10 mistakes you're making on your website that your web guy isn't telling you? We'll send you this recently released report AND weekly tips to help your website get results." Then, your sign up form would say, "Send me the Insider Report!"
Your sign-up page has to be clear about two things:
1. What will I get if I sign up?
2. Why do I need this?
You need to write a 15-word invitation for people to sign up for your newsletter that includes those two things. A great invitation makes it sound like if I don't sign up for this thing, I will be missing something that I need for my business or my life.
You need to learn how to build a subscriber list that stays subscribed and grows every week.
For more leading edge ezine tips go to http://www.coachezines.com. Subscribe to Savvy eBiz Tips at http://www.savvyebiztips.com and get your free white paper on how to overcome The Great Internet Marketing Challenge. To learn more about using ezines and other tools like blogs, go to http://www.blogsquad.biz. Patsi Krakoff, Psy. D. is writer and Internet Marketing expert with over 7 years experience marketing online.