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The 6 Keys to Ezine Success
First let's define success: Success for an email newsletter means it establishes your expertise (and credibility), forms relationships and drives sales.How do you reach those objectives? Through six years of ezine publishing I've been able to uncover six keys to ezine success. Today I'll share them with you...#1 Write original content that helps a niche audience. Solid, original content is the most important aspect of a successful email newsletter. The best, longest lasting email newsletters all have one thing in common... great content! No matter what your area of expertise is, you have to remember to write content that your niche audience needs and wants. What's that? You don't want to write your own content? Well, I must tell you that ezines with rehashed articles don't do very well online. Sure, you can include SOME reprinted content. But you had better deliver some originality and usability in every issue.Here's an example of how you could pull that off with minimal time. Let's say you are publishing a golf related newsletter. You could publish a guest article or two in each issue, and then include a Tip of the Week that you write exclusively for your readers. The tip could be as short as a few paragraphs and might share your new practice drill, equipment you've tried or a secret to lower scores you've discovered. But make sure it is interesting, original and helpful. If your readers like it enough, they might just open the next issue of your publication when it hits their inbox.If you're having trouble coming up with original content, try one of my strategies. Each week I check my email inbox and read what information people are in need of most. If a handful ask me the same question, then there are hundreds or even thousands more who could use the same answers. Answer those common questions in your ezine and you'll be helping lots of potential clients.Another way to come up with ideas for solid content is to simply think of all the questions YOU have asked about your area of expertise. Through the years I've shared with my subscribers many of the problems and solutions I have experienced while growing my web business. And in the process I've helped quite a few of them as they hit each stage of their own learning curve. You can use this strategy no matter what you're writing about.Always remember, your goal is to establish your expertise and form relationships first, and once you do that, the sales will happen.#2 Vary your subject lines and entice readers to open every issue. This simple strategy is often overlooked by email publishers. Heck, for years I used the same subject line with each issue I released. It stated simply, "BizWeb Gazette" and the date. A big mistake. As soon as I started using different subject lines each week I noticed an increased readership.Now I spend at least ten minutes on the subject line of every issue I release. I try to come up with a descriptive subject line that piques the curiosity of potential readers.Remember, email recipients will see only a few words in their email preview window. The few words you use with each issue will determine whether the message gets trashed or read. If you plan to educate your readers and help them, you owe it to them to choose your subject words wisely. That's the only way they will ever read your newsletter!Before releasing each issue of your ezine, ask yourself if YOU would open a message containing the subject line you are considering. If not, keep working at it and come up with something that works.#3 Less is usually more; limit the size of each issue. The days of giant ezine issues are gone. With all the information available online these days, people want and appreciate brevity. Get right to the point in each issue. Most readers only want information that is going to help them in some way. So get right to it!When you are done creating each issue, check the file size. If your text file is larger than 24k, edit it down. Anything larger than that will be automatically converted into an attachment by AOL servers so nearly all AOL addresses on your subscriber list will not read the issue. (Not many people open attachments with the risk of catching a virus.)Actually, 24k is too large anyway. I've found that about half that size is ideal. And more people will read the entire issue if they can do it in less than 10 minutes or so. So rather than file size, think time. Time yourself while you read your newsletter. If it takes you more than ten minutes, edit it down. Again, less is more in these days of information overload.While we're on the subject of file size I should mention another topic that comes up regularly among email newsletter publishers. That is whether to publish text or html newsletters. While I could write an entire article on this topic (and probably will soon) today I'll just bottom line it... If you are starting a NEW email newsletter, consider offering BOTH formats. There are still quite a few who prefer text only, yet there is a growing number who want html. So please them both if you can. (I'll get into this more in a few months.)#4 Publish often, but don't overdo it. Frequency of publishing is important. You want to stay visible to your subscribers and potential customers but you do not want to annoy them. The key is to stay on a regular schedule so they receive your newsletter like clockwork. (Such as every Wednesday or every other Thursday.) Establishing a regular pattern gives your information a sense of reliability and purpose.I've tried a few different publishing schedules and find that weekly is best if you have the time required to create solid, original content that often. If not, I suggest a twice monthly schedule. At a bare minimum, go with monthly publishing. Any less than that, such as quarterly, is not often enough in my opinion.#5 Be readily available to your subscribers. How many times have you read a decent ezine, tried to reply for more information but found that the address does not work? Don't make your visitors search for an email address where they can reach you. Simply set the "reply to" address on each issue of your newsletter, to an address that is live and manned by a real person. This is simple to do and will generate more responses that you think. Not only can you use the replies you get to generate ideas for future issues, you can make sales from the inquiries. Which leads me to the last key to successful ezine publishing...#6 Don't forget to make money with your opt-in list. Sure, you're publishing a newsletter in an effort to form relationships with potential clients and customers. That's why you take time to do all the above correctly. But don't forget that your newsletter is a great sales avenue. That means you need to do a little soft selling in your newsletter. One way I do that by saving a sponsorship ad for my own products or services. An occasional plug for your own products and services is definitely acceptable and even encouraged by most.Another way to use your newsletter to earn money is with endorsements. If you're sharing valuable information in each issue, as you should be, you will undoubtedly earn the trust and respect of a good percentage of your readers. And a great way to increase your income is by helping your readers get the products and services they want at discount. You can do that by simply teaming up with other website owners who sell products or services your readers are interested in. Ask them to extend a special discount to your readers through a JV (joint venture). Then send a special announcement to your readers with the special discount offer. Let them know they are getting a special deal because they are on your subscriber list.While you can earn quite a nice profit from each special release, the key is to keep them SPECIAL. I do this by sending no more than 3-4 special releases to my subscribers each year. I suggest you keep them to a bare minimum too. But one or none a year is not enough. I see far too many established ezine publishers missing out on serious profits because they do not want to hassle their subscribers. On the contrary, most subscribers truly appreciate an occasional special offer and I receive far more positive feedback than negative each time I release one.OK, that's it. Now you know how to make your email newsletter a raving success. Go forth and publish!
JIM DANIELS Read Jim's no-nonsense guide to Making A Living Online. It's free today at: http://www.make-a-living-online.comClick On The Banner To Visit Our Website
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