Ezine Basics for Online Publishers

If you've been online more than a week, you've probably been inundated with information about publishing an ezine, or online newsletter. You may not even know what an ezine is, let alone how to publish one, or why you'd even want to! And if you're like many Internet newbies, you don't even know who to ask to get the information you need. Well, here's some help...

What is an ezine (sometimes spelled "e-zine")?

The term ezine, coined from "electronic" and "magazine" in the early days of the Net, is basically an online newsletter. It's usually delivered by email, most often in text format, though HTML ezines have become much more popular; and most often it's delivered free to subscribers as a means of marketing an online business.

The idea is that you provide useful, free information on a topic of interest to people who have asked to receive your ezine (opt-in subscribers), then you include ads for your products and services along with that information. If your ezine is well-written, offers useful information and is not overrun with ads, you can build a large, loyal list of subscribers who will come to trust your word and be more likely to purchase the products and services you recommend. It's called permission marketing.

The number one rule to remember is that you NEVER add anyone to your list without their express permission. It's not only unethical, it's illegal and can land you with huge fines or worse!

You gain permission to mail your ezine by creating a mailing list and inviting or encouraging interested readers to subscribe.

In an age of spam mania, and the new anti-spam laws, you MUST have permission to send your marketing materials, i.e., your ads, to your prospective clients and customers. An ezine gives you that permission.

Overall, if you subscribe to an ezine, you expect to see some ads... it's standard procedure. Most readers will understand that and accept the ads along with the articles as long as they feel they're getting value for their time. It's like watching the commercials during your favorite TV show. It's part of life.

Of course, you don't want to overpower your readers with more ads than information, but ads are what make you money. And if your product or service is worth buying, remember that you're offering value to your readers by telling them about it.

As such, many readers will become customers through your ezine. They will learn to trust you and believe what you say is true. That's because your ezine will help you build a relationship with them. And in today's marketplace, that's a crucial part of doing business - especially on the Internet.

Before you begin your ezine, you'll want to decide on your publishing frequency. You can choose monthly, biweekly, weekly, or even daily (though that's a rough task for a new epublisher!). You certainly don't want to publish less often than monthly. There's always a chance your subscribers may forget they signed up for your ezine. Or worse, they may forget YOU, and that's the problem ezines are designed to solve!

Once you know how often you'll publish, you can decide what day of the week you'll publish. My ezine, the , for example, goes out every Thursday. Once you begin, you want to consistently publish that day every week so your readers come to expect it.

You'll need a list management system.

There are several free and low-cost services available to help you manage your list, such as the one offered by http://www.ymlp.com. With an automated system, subscribers can join and leave your list without you having to do anything manually - which is what you want - then you just mail your ezine to the listserver and it's distributed to all your subscribers. Couldn't be easier.

After you have created your list, you MUST promote it. After all, what good is an ezine if no one subscribes? You'll want to get as many subscribers as possible before you publish the first issue.

Fortunately, there are many ways to do this but we'll save that topic for another article.

Once you've begun to get subscribers, you'll need to find or create content for your ezine.

There is a lot of content online, good and otherwise. You can also generate your own original content (which is always preferred). A combination of fresh and original content works very well, and is the most common denominator you'll find in online publications.

If you want to keep your hard-won subscribers, don't simply offer them information they can find everywhere else. Your own articles, short tips, reviews and occasional outside content that is appropriate for your readers will create a much higher quality publication that your subscribers will read and recommend to others. And that's the best you can hope for in the world of epublishing and online business.

Article copyright © 2007 by Darlene Bishop. All rights reserved worldwide.

Darlene "Dee" Bishop is a writer and creative designer with decades on online experience and the owner of Bishop's Corner, an online/catalog shop offering hundreds of quality gifts, home decor items, toys, housewares, furniture and more with nearly 1,000 products under $20. Visit her online store today at http://BishopsTN.com.

NOTE: Feel free to use this article in your ezine or on your website provided you leave it entirely intact, including the resource box above. A courtesy copy to is appreciated.