How To Start Your Own NewsletterYour Road Plan To Email Marketing Success |
2. A Word on AdvertisingA Word on Advertising Let’s talk some more about running advertisements in your Ezine and how to make sure that they are effective. Like I said earlier, do not run plenty of ads in your Ezine, you will lose your credibility. They don’t want to see only ads; they have subscribed to your Ezine because they like the articles and the content in your Ezine, not because of the ads published. Hence, it is desirable and advisable that your ads are not more than 30% of the total content of your Ezine and that too only after you have established your ezine. The placement of your ads is also crucial. Earlier, ads were placed under a classified section of the Ezine, just like the classified section of newspaper; however, they were not quite efficient. It is recommended that you scatter the ads evenly throughout the Ezine. More on this is given later on. I have also provided a sample Ezine template for your reference in the chapter titled “Resources”. Clearly mention that it is an ad so that your readers don’t confuse it with the content of your Ezine. You can use specific words and phrases like ‘Paid Advertisement’, ‘Sponsored by’, ‘Please support our sponsors’, etc. to visibly set it apart. Study the behavior of your readers so that you are able to provide them with ads that interest them. Do not bombard them with irrelevant ads that constantly bother them. As a rule, do not publish adult ads unless your Ezine contains adult or mature content. If majority of your readers are teenagers, then you are better off if you place ads related to teen magazines, cosmetics, music and movies, higher education, etc. If your readers are the techno-geeks, give them ads that market technical products or services. Determine your target readers, and place ads that will eventually interest them. Also, as mentioned earlier, consistency is very important. Do not change the number of ads that you specifically run, unless there is an unavoidable need for it. Churning out eZine Content Creating your own content can be a challenge if you publish your own online newsletter or eZine. However, regardless of any topic you are publishing on, types of contents can be generally divided into four categories, namely factual content, short tips, mini stories and case studies. Other than writing your own content, you can get your own unique content the quick and easy way by organizing an interview with an expert or leader in the topic. Very often, this can be done for free and since the interviewee is writing out most of the content, there is nothing else for you to do other than giving the interviewee something valuable in exchange (maybe a meal!). Now if you have money to spare, you can hire a ghostwriter to write your content for you without taking any credit. Recommended professional marketplaces where you can seek ghostwriters include http://www.elance.com/ and http://www.rentacoder.com/. Another little known and underused method in getting your own content is via public domains. If you are not familiar with the term "public domain", "public domain" simply means anything that is NOT protected under US copyright law. This includes ALL works published before 1923 and, under certain conditions, works published up to 1978. And in this case, we are referring “works” to written materials such as reports, articles and books. Republishing and repackaging public domain information can help you save time and effort from creating new ideas and content as they are readily available. On top of that, you do not have to pay royalties or copyright fees on that work. If you fancy the idea of publishing content without any writing on your part, this method is for you. Your readers will constantly critique your Ezine and the articles published therein. Starting with the first issue, all the editions of your Ezine will be under constant scrutiny. Readers would judge all your articles and if they don’t like any aspect of the ezine, it may severely affect your reader base. If you provide consistent and effective content in your Ezine, it would be a roaring success. There are many types of content you can use for your Ezine. Let’s discuss them in some detail. Editorials When you are the editor of your Ezine, it is your responsibility to deliver an effective editorial for the benefit of your readers. Your readers will think of you as an expert in your field and will begin to trust your opinion and suggestions. You must take this responsibility maturely and diligently. You are given the freedom to express your opinion on any topic, even if it is a controversial topic. This would also encourage participation from your readers. They may respond to your editorial, either by agreeing with you or staunchly disagreeing with some of the views expressed in the editorial. Their feedback is extremely valuable for improving the quality of your Ezine. If you use your editorial space to relate to your readers, with time they would look forward to what you have to write. Don’t use your editorial space to write an entire article. You can probably give a little background info about the new guest author, a new product you are endorsing, an idea about the articles in the current issue, and so on. You can write it in such a way that it feels very personal. Set the flow and tone of your editorial as if you are communicating directly to your readers. Articles featured in your Ezine Without a doubt, your articles are the highlight of your Ezine. They constitute a major chunk of your Ezine and hence are to be written very tactfully. Your readers will eventually form an opinion about your Ezine based on these. Make sure that you don’t write really lengthy articles. Most readers would probably find long articles a drag and subsequently lose their interest mid-way. Feature only those articles that are relevant to your Ezine. For instance, if your Ezine focuses on cuisines of the world, you should not feature an article on how to solve ordinary computer hardware problems. If you write an article that has 10 tips to keep in mind while going to a beach, do not elaborate the tips unnecessarily. Your readers would appreciate it if you give them a concise and direct article that does not deter from its path. Always, always, always write original articles. Do not use someone else’s article and claim it as yours. Also, don’t rework someone else’s article you have read somewhere and dish it out to your readers. You can write an opinion on it, or borrow ideas from that article, but don’t write the same article all over again. If there is an article you feel will greatly benefit your readers you can choose to publish the entire article, however, you have to get the author’s explicit permission to do that. It is not possible always to get the entire article for your Ezine as the authors might not be willing to let you reproduce their original work anywhere else. But, always make sure that you do not ‘steal’ articles, you can borrow them after seeking permission. You also need to give the required credit to the author and publish any additional information as required by the author of the article. It depends on every author’s discretion, so consult the author well in advance. Finally, you can either write the features yourselves, or get someone else to do it for you. If you do get someone’s help on it, make sure that you own all copyrights and avoid unnecessary complications.
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Browse Site3. Invite Guest Writers to Write in Your Ezine 5. Free Resources on Writing Skills 6. Write Attractive Descriptions 8. Free Hosts – a Definite No No 10. Suggest the Change Subtly to Your Readers 11. Creating a Comprehensive Online Media Kit 13. Always Look for Opt in Ezines 14. Auto Responder Improvements |
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