Newsletters Keeping Your Customers Informed

Writen by Justine Curtis

Many businesses use email newsletters to introduce themselves to new customers and to maintain contact with existing and past clients. By sending useful and relevant information on a consistent, regular basis, you maintain constant contact without the risk of irritating and alienating your customers. Your email newsletter will also enhance your credibility and increase sales.

The following article offers advice on how to produce your own newsletter. For more detailed information on how to establish credibility and build online relationships, download our guide "Building Online Relationships" here: http://www.enable-uk.co.uk/html/book_4.html

Producing your newsletter doesn't have to be a daunting task. The first thing you need to decide upon is the frequency of publication. This is could be based on how much time you can devote to writing each month or possibly the frequency of new offers or products you would like to extend to your potential customers. A frequency of bi-monthly to monthly has been shown to achieve the best results and will probably be a comfortable pace for both you and your readers.

Next you will need to decide upon a format for your newsletter. You can use a graphical format that will allow accurate tracking of open rates, links visited, etc or a text only version that offers a higher level of deliverability. Both have their advantages and disadvantages and a more in-depth look at these can be found in our guide: "Building Online Relationships" which can found here: http://www.enable-uk.co.uk/html/book_4.html

If you wish to proceed with a graphical design you will next need to produce a template design for your layout. Many email list management companies provide online templates for their customers and with many you can also upload your own template. Once this is set up you simply type or paste in your text information online, and an HTML newsletter is automatically created for you.

Now it's time for the content of your newsletter. Concentrate on topics that your readers will be interested in and offers or product announcements that are appropriate to them.

For example, I once bought some printer ink from an online retailer that offered me the opportunity to sign up for their special offers newsletter. Every month, regular as clockwork, I receive the latest special offers via email. These offers not only include ink, but also other stationary items that may be appropriate. It always prompts me to check my ink supplies, along with my stocks of stationary and a whole range of other similar items before deleting it. If I didn't get that e-mail from them, I would have probably bought the next batch of ink cartridges from whoever came up in an online search. And as it saves me time and because keeping these things all in one place is easier for me, they also now get my orders for stationary items as well.

Your newsletter could be product offerings and special offers mixed in with useful product reviews, or it may be a recap of what's going on in your industry or tips useful to your customers. If you aren't a writer there are often articles available for reprint in most industries. Most of these are available to use free of charge providing that you include a short bio and link back to the writer's web site. Make sure the content you use has relevant value to your readers and is not just a topic that interests you.

Once written, make sure you archive the newsletter on your web site for additional content and make the archives available for browsing. This will also improve your search engine rankings as the content will be highly relevant and targeted to your customers. Having an archive will also encourage new subscribers as they find you through your articles.

Most web hosts have some mailing list capability, or you can compose and mail your newsletter in Outlook. If you intent to build a sizable list it is often best to use one of the many third-party mailing services, these also take care of the opting in/out process and make sure you adhere to all legal requirements.

I would recommend Vertical Response whom we have used for several years to manage our lists. They can be found here: http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=EavljUFQjXk&offerid=52409.10000007&type=1&subid=0

Top Tips for successful email newsletter campaigns: Getting Subscribers:

· Do not purchase, trade or borrow an email list

Sending email to people who have not specifically requested to receive your mailings (opting in) is almost always regarded as spam. You will succeed only in alienating your potential customers.

· Make signing up and un-subscribing easy and visible

Add a sign-up form to your home page and if possible, somewhere on every page of your web site. You can also ask your customers whether they would like to sign up when you speak with them in person. You may want to ask subscribers only for their email address, first and last name, and one or two other questions such as their interests. This will allow you to target future mailings but not put off your prospects by being too invasive. In general, the less information you require, the more likely people are to sign up.

· Use double opt-in registration

There are two standard methods for online registration, single and double opt-in. Single opt in requires that you enter an email address into a web site and click on the sign up or subscribe button. With double opt in you will be sent an email to the address you have used when signing up and you will need to click a link on it in order to verify that you wish to receive the publication. Double opt-in is the preferred method because it requires confirmation and therefore establishes that it is the owner of the email address that has signed up.

· Link to your privacy policy

Place a link to your privacy policy near to your list subscribe form. Your policy should describe how you handle the information you collect and how people can contact you in case they have any concerns or questions. It is also a good idea to confirm that their information will not be sold, rented or passed on in any way to any third parties.

Maintaining your subscriber list:

· Send a welcome message to each new subscriber

When you receive a subscription request, send a welcome message immediately. Include a description of what they will receive and how frequently, and how to unsubscribe. It is also a good idea to try to get them to return immediately to your web site. You can offer a timed discount or a link to previous free articles, anything you think that might get them to look again at your offering.

· Keep accurate sign-up records

Occasionally you or your Internet service provider (ISP) may receive a spam complaint from someone who forgot they subscribed to your list. Keep accurate records that include the date and web address from which they signed up. Using a third party mailing service should prevent this.

· Ask your members to opt in again if you are using an older list

If you have not sent a mailing for a while, ask subscribers to indicate that they want to continue to remain on your list by sending you an email, clicking a link or visiting a web page. Make it as simple as possible to reaffirm their interest to avoid losing potential customers.

· Remind people that they subscribed

Include a standard heading each time you send a message. A short note such as "Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter" will remind recipients that they requested your mailings and that the content of the newsletter will be of interest to them.

Producing an effective newsletter:

· Avoid spam terms in your subject line and message text

If your message contains words frequently used by spammers, people will delete it and possibly file a spam complaint. ISPs often filter emails with suspicious subject lines; also note that it is illegal to use deceptive or misleading ones. Avoid obvious spam words like "free" and if in doubt, good mailing services offer a free spam check facility prior to your newsletter being sent out. They will actually scan the newsletter and alert you to any words that might set off the spam filters.

Vertical Response offer this service, click here for a free trial: http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=EavljUFQjXk&offerid=52409.10000007&type=1&subid=0

· Include your physical address and phone number

Put your phone number and postal address in your message. This allows readers to contact you to place an order or inquire about your services. In addition, legislation in some countries requires that physical addresses are included on commercial email messages.

· Send your mailings regularly

Keep in touch with your subscribers frequently so they don't forget they signed up to receive your mailings. They will begin to anticipate your messages if you adhere to a regular schedule.

· Reply promptly to each inquiry or spam complaint

If you receive an inquiry or a spam complaint, respond to it as soon as possible. Always include the subscriber's sign-up information with your response.

Following these simple suggestions will help you retain your subscriber base, which is fundamental for a thriving permission-based electronic newsletter or marketing campaign.

If you are considering using a third party mailing service, I would recommend that VerticalResponse's iBuilder is the email marketing solution you need to build your opt-in mailing lists, publish your online newsletters and manage your direct email advertising campaigns, right from your browser.

Click the link for a free trail: http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=EavljUFQjXk&offerid=52409.10000007&type=1&subid=0

For a complete guide to marketing on the Internet, including:

· The General Principles of Internet Marketing
· Start at the Beginning
· Writing Text that Sells
· Building Online Relationships
· Maximising Your Pay Per Click Campaign
· Measuring Success

Why not purchase the whole series of downloadable guides for the discounted price of £64.95. Click for more information: http://www.enable-uk.co.uk/html/promo_ebooks.html

To catch up with previous issues of this newsletter, visit: http://www.enable-uk.co.uk/html/internet_marketing_newsletter_.html

Coming up next month, "How to Build Your Subscriber List" If you have any questions about any of the topics raised or any other Internet Marketing issues, feel free to email me at Justine@enable-uk.co.uk. I do my best to answer all emails or to cover the issues in future editions of this newsletter.

Justine Curtis
Enable UK
Internet Marketing Information and Resources
Make your web site work smarter!
Web: http://www.enable-uk.co.uk
Email: info@enable-uk.co.uk

Feel free to forward this newsletter provided that it is sent in its entirety. To use this newsletter in any other format, please email for permission to Justine@enable-uk.co.uk

Internet Marketing Tips Newsletter is a monthly publication of Enable-UK

Copyright © 2004 Enable-UK

What Happens When You Submit Articles To Ezines

Writen by Rachael Willis

What's an article anyway, and why would I want to submit one to an ezine? That was a two-fold question and will require two answers.

An ezine article is usually composed of approximately 500 words on a single subject that would be of interest to your target market. At the end of the article, you should include a "resource box." This box should provide such things as your name, the name of your company, your web site address, email address, and a small blurb about your product/service.

Writing an article is not hard work. All it requires is some research and note taking. Use any of multiple sources to find information about the topic that you choose to write about. Then write your article in your own words using the notes that you took during your research. It's not difficult and it's something that you learned to do early in school (grade school probably). Write in a conversational tone. Write like you are talking to your best friend.

Now, I'll answer the second question. The reasons to submit this article to an ezine are varied, but not difficult to understand. They all boost your bottom line.

1. The submission of the article will help identify your business (web site) in the Internet marketplace. This is normally called "branding."

2. Article submission provides publicity, virtually free.

3. Someone may like your writing style and hire you to write articles or ebooks for them.

4. The published article will drive traffic to your web site.

5. If the publisher of the ezine that you submit your article to maintains an archive, your article may be read many months later. Traffic may still be driven to your site this way.

6. People will come to know you as an expert on your subject.

7. You might get your article published in free ebooks that are distributed all over the web. This will drive more traffic to your web site.

8. This will help you become a trusted vendor of information.

9. If you allow anyone to publish your article or email it to a friend, you will gain further exposure for free.

10. Webmasters may read your article and display it on their web site. You get additional free exposure.

11. If you send out an ezine, you could offer to swap articles with other ezine publishers for free. This provides more publicity without expense.

So, there are quite a few benefits that you could receive from publishing small articles like this one. If that isn't enough reasons for publishing your own articles, I don't know what else you'd need. Don't forget to provide enough valuable information. The more knowledge you supply, the more valuable you become. Provide real value and you will always have people clamoring for more.

Rachael Willis is the webmaster of http://www.infoproductscentral.com and the publisher of "The Genuine Truth" newsletter. "The Genuine Truth" newsletter is full of freebies,articles and reviews of the hottest products. If you are tired of spending money on bad products then you need "The Genuine Truth". Join us today and let me spend my money to test these products so you don't have to.

The Death Of Private Label Rights Articles

Writen by Calvin Brown

Before you go and get mesmerized by the most recent collection of Private Label Reprint Rights Articles, take a moment to think about what you are doing, why you are doing it, and what is the best way to achieve your goals.

You will find that in all honesty, Private Label Rights Articles are not going to help you very much.

Here is why.

1. What about blog content?

It depends on exactly how you are going to use your blog.

Are you just using it to drive traffic to your website, or have you put PPC ads on your blog and hope to make money from it?

Or do you intend to use your blog to develop a relationship with your visitors?

Any way you slice it, PLR Articles are not the best content to use in your blog.

To begin with, you almost never get enough Articles to post to your blog every day for a year.

Plus, it is too much expense and effort to grab your Articles, and manipulate them with some computer script or software, in order to make them "unique".

And the articles that you are left with will not be the kind of content you would be proud to post to your blog. They may be targeted for a specific keyword, but do you really want anybody reading it?

Finally, if you intend to use your blog to develop a relationship with your visitors, it is best if you write all your blog posts yourself anyway.

2. Submit them to Article Directories in order to promote your website.

Even if you pay through the nose for some software that will "randomize" or make your articles "unique" in some way, this is a very bad idea.

Either the Article is made un-recognizable, and un-readable, or the search engines and Article Directories will definitely peg it as duplicate content.

You should submit Articles as a method of promoting your website. But if you do, be sure to take the time and effort to write your article yourself.

Either that, or pay a free-lance writer to write a unique article for you.

3. Targeted content for a website, report, or e-book.

This is the most sensible and reliable use for PLR Articles.

Usually, you will get enough articles in a single collection, to be able to collect them into a book or report. If that is something which the Articles are designed for!

When you attempt to use PLR Articles on your website, you will run into the same problems as you do when trying to use them for your blog.

At least in terms of uniqueness, readability, and amount.

So, what is the solution?

Simple. Make sure when you purchase Articles of any kind, that the content is specifically designed for the purpose you have in mind.

As long as you keep in mind the subtle differences in what you are trying to accomplish, you stand a much better chance of selecting content which reflects your purpose.

If you do, you will waste less time and obtain better results.

Author Calvin Brown says: Since you were kind enough to read this article, each week I would like to give you 370 pages of keyword-targeted, blog-ready content, absolutely free. http://www.thecontentrevolution.com

Self Publisher Secret That The High Revenue Earners Dont Want You To Know

Writen by Christopher Kyalo

Here is a secret that leading self publisher's don't want you to understand and grasp. Like many significant secrets, it is such a simple truth that many will not even look at it twice.

However the truth of the matter is that there are self publishers whose vast fortunes and regular six figure monthly checks are as a result of their grasping this little secret.

Read it carefully, consider it carefully.

Given the same volume of traffic, you will tend to sell more by referring your traffic to an appropriate affiliate program you have signed up for than you will trying to sell off your own product. It matters little how good your product is.

Most self publishers totally fail to appreciate the power of referral marketing and fail to realize that they can make a substantially higher income online without selling a single unit of their own product or service.

Human nature is such that people will quite often be much more comfortable buying from a site that they have been referred to, even if the person who has made the referral is a total stranger. That is the real secret behind the phenomenal success of affiliate programs and many self publishers using them. It is also the real secret behind the big checks leading super affiliates are drawing.

Christopher Kyalo is a successful online self publisher. Visit his Self Publisher blog to read the other parts of this article and for other amazing success tips. Subscribe to his free email newsletter to discover all the secrets of an amazing online publishing company that generates 100 million dollars a year. Send a blank email now to InternetinfoPublishsecrets-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Why Are Ezine Editors So Politically Correct

Writen by Lance Winslow

The other day I was listening to a couple of Ezine Editors discussing what kinds of articles they would put into their weekly email lists to send out. One said; "Hey this is pretty funny, check this one out!" The other said "Ha Ha Ha, that's great, too funny!"

Then the first said; "Should I put this article in everyone will laugh." But the answer is very telling as she told the other what everyone is telling us to say, think, and tell others. She said; "Oh, God no, if we put that in, then we will surely lose subscribers as someone might be offended, I mean you can't say that." They both agreed, but sent it to their close friends, but picked a more centrist type article to place in that space.

You see although articles in ezines can be controversial at times, it is best for them to stay PC or Politically Correct if they are trying to sell something by using their expert status to drive traffic. If the Ezine is for Democrats, well it is fine to attack the president, call him stupid or condemn the War in Iraq. If it is a Conservative only newsletter then they gloves come off when talking of Senator Hillary Clinton, you see?

The fact is that many ezines, which are a great way to transfer information quickly, as an alternative to the mass media, they are becoming almost as Politically Correct in refusing to say the truth in observations or talk about real issues, that is unless they are in the currently politically correct paradigm. If these Ezines are not PC then they will have more loyal viewers along a certain group, but never have the massive subscription base they truly need to sell things. Indeed it is a problem, but there is also a downside to the over PC tact, in that the subscriber becomes bored and disinterested. And the real downside, we as a society keep shoving crap under our carpet. That is why some Ezines have a small loyal following and why others will eventually have a smaller and non-loyal following in the future. Limiting opinion and thought makes us stop thinking. Think on this.

Lance Winslow

Future Of Electronic Publishing

Writen by Sam Vaknin

UNESCO's somewhat arbitrary definition of "book" is: "Non-periodical printed publication of at least 49 pages excluding covers".

The emergence of electronic publishing was supposed to change all that. Yet a bloodbath of unusual proportions has taken place in the last few months. Time Warner's iPublish and MightyWords (partly owned by Barnes and Noble) were the last in a string of resounding failures which cast in doubt the business model underlying digital content. Everything seemed to have gone wrong: the dot.coms dot bombed, venture capital dried up, competing standards fractured an already fragile marketplace, the hardware (e-book readers) was clunky and awkward, the software unwieldy, the e-books badly written or already in the public domain.

Terrified by the inexorable process of disintermediation (the establishment of direct contact between author and readers, excluding publishers and bookstores) and by the ease with which digital content can be replicated - publishers resorted to draconian copyright protection measures (euphemistically known as "digital rights management"). This further alienated the few potential readers left. The opposite model of "viral" or "buzz" marketing (by encouraging the dissemination of free copies of the promoted book) was only marginally more successful.

Moreover, e-publishing's delivery platform, the Internet, has been transformed beyond recognition since March 2000.

From an open, somewhat anarchic, web of networked computers - it has evolved into a territorial, commercial, corporate extension of "brick and mortar" giants, subject to government regulation. It is less friendly towards independent (small) publishers, the backbone of e-publishing. Increasingly, it is expropriated by publishing and media behemoths. It is treated as a medium for cross promotion, supply chain management, and customer relations management. It offers only some minor synergies with non-cyberspace, real world, franchises and media properties. The likes of Disney and Bertelsmann have swung a full circle from considering the Internet to be the next big thing in New Media delivery - to frantic efforts to contain the red ink it oozed all over their otherwise impeccable balance sheets.

But were the now silent pundits right all the same? Is the future of publishing (and other media industries) inextricably intertwined with the Internet?

The answer depends on whether an old habit dies hard. Internet surfers are used to free content. They are very reluctant to pay for information (with precious few exceptions, like the "Wall Street Journal"'s electronic edition). Moreover, the Internet, with 3 billion pages listed in the Google search engine (and another 15 billion in "invisible" databases), provides many free substitutes to every information product, no matter how superior. Web based media companies (such as Salon and Britannica.com) have been experimenting with payment and pricing models. But this is besides the point. Whether in the form of subscription (Britannica), pay per view (Questia), pay to print (Fathom), sample and pay to buy the physical product (RealRead), or micropayments (Amazon) - the public refuses to cough up.

Moreover, the advertising-subsidized free content Web site has died together with Web advertising. Geocities - a community of free hosted, ad-supported, Web sites purchased by Yahoo! - is now selectively shutting down Web sites (when they exceed a certain level of traffic) to convince their owners to revert to a monthly hosting fee model. With Lycos in trouble in Europe, Tripod may well follow suit shortly. Earlier this year, Microsoft has shut down ListBot (a host of discussion lists). Suite101 has stopped paying its editors (content authors) effective January 15th. About.com fired hundreds of category editors. With the ugly demise of Themestream, WebSeed is the only content aggregator which tries to buck the trend by relying (partly) on advertising revenue.

Paradoxically, e-publishing's main hope may lie with its ostensible adversary: the library. Unbelievably, e-publishers actually tried to limit the access of library patrons to e-books (i.e., the lending of e-books to multiple patrons). But, libraries are not only repositories of knowledge and community centres. They are also dominant promoters of new knowledge technologies. They are already the largest buyers of e-books. Together with schools and other educational institutions, libraries can serve as decisive socialization agents and introduce generations of pupils, students, and readers to the possibilities and riches of e-publishing. Government use of e-books (e.g., by the military) may have the same beneficial effect.

As standards converge (Adobe's Portable Document Format and Microsoft's MS Reader LIT format are likely to be the winners), as hardware improves and becomes ubiquitous (within multi-purpose devices or as standalone higher quality units), as content becomes more attractive (already many new titles are published in both print and electronic formats), as more versatile information taxonomies (like the Digital Object Identifier) are introduced, as the Internet becomes more gender-neutral, polyglot, and cosmopolitan - e-publishing is likely to recover and flourish.

This renaissance will probably be aided by the gradual decline of print magazines and by a strengthening movement for free open source scholarly publishing. The publishing of periodical content and academic research (including, gradually, peer reviewed research) may be already shifting to the Web. Non-fiction and textbooks will follow. Alternative models of pricing are already in evidence (author pays to publish, author pays to obtain peer review, publisher pays to publish, buy a physical product and gain access to enhanced online content, and so on). Web site rating agencies will help to discriminate between the credible and the in-credible. Publishing is moving - albeit kicking and screaming - online.

About The Author

Sam Vaknin is the author of "Malignant Self Love - Narcissism Revisited" and "After the Rain - How the West Lost the East". He is a columnist in "Central Europe Review", United Press International (UPI) and ebookweb.org and the editor of mental health and Central East Europe categories in The Open Directory, Suite101 and searcheurope.com. Until recently, he served as the Economic Advisor to the Government of Macedonia.

His web site: http://samvak.tripod.com

5 Reasons To Use Ezine Advertising

Writen by Valerian Dinca

If you need to reach with your advertising an audience which is highly targeted and cost effective then ezines are the way to go. Ezine ads are highly recommended by all the internet gurus for some advantages you hardly can find in other mediums.

1. Ezines have a highly targeted audience.

Every ezine covers one topic or many related items. Going further, the subscribers are interested by this topic, this is their motivation to join. If you take care to match the ezine to the product you are selling, you have reached the desired target audience.

2. You can reach thousands people.

There are ezines with 500 readers and ezines with over 3-400,000 members. It's up to you to run your ad in a large ezine or in medium (small) ones. Just make some calculations to reach the amount of people you want or you afford to pay

3. Ezines offer free exposure.

Almost all ezines are archived, thousands of people read these archives, by consequence, your ad will be seen by these people at no extra cost. This exposure will bring you sales on a long term basis for free.

4. You may test your ad immediately.

By immediately I mean a short period of time. With offline publications you usually have to wait 60-90 days before you can receive any feed back.

5. Ezines mean flexible advertising.

Advertising with ezines allows you to test and update your ads very easy. Due the short period of response you may easily tally your ad and find the one that produces the best results. You may also choose to advertise in many ezines in order to determine the most responsive group of recipients.

Valerian Dinca is a freelance writer specialized in items like affordable ezine advertising.

How To Publish Your Own Highly Demand Ezine

Writen by Nas Romli

Ezine is an electronic newsletter that is published through internet. As a home based business owner, it is important for you to have your own ezine.

You might ask 'Why do I need an ezine?'

There are many reasons why you need it. But the main reason is that your own ezine can build your credibility as industry expert. Your customer and subscriber will think highly of you. So, when they trust you, it is easier to sell them almost anything.

The next question is 'How do I publish an ezine?'

Let's go through step by step:

Step 1:Determine your main content

This is the most important step. Normally, you main content depends on your business category. For example, if you sell health supplement, you might want to choose your ezine main content as health tips and if you sell shoes, your ezine might be about shoe care or foot care. You get the idea right? Make this your first priority before continuing to the next step.

Step 2: Determine your ezine layout

Most ezines have three parts:

1.Header - This is where you put your Ezine's title

2.Body - This is where you put the main content

3.Footer - This where you put your copyright, disclaimer and unsubscribe information.

The choice is yours. You can have two parts or just the Body part. But if you have all three parts, your ezine will look more professional.

Take note that 'unsubscribe information' is very important. Your subscriber needs to know how to unsubscribe or 'opt-out' from your mailling list. By doing this, you can avoid them accusing of spamming.

Step 3:Get your main content

To get your main content you can either write your own article or get article wrote by other person.

If you're really enjoying writing, you might want to write your own article. You don't need to write a whole book but 1000 words is acceptable.

If you don't know how to write or hate writing, you can get free content or article from the internet. Some sites that offer free articles that you can use in your ezine are:

http://www.articlecentral.com
http://www.authorconnection.com
http://www.certificate.net/wwio
http://www.ideamarketers.com
http://www.goarticles.com
http://www.marketing-seek.com

Remember to include the 'Resource Box' at the end of this type of article. Resource Box is a short paragraph that tells the reader about the writer of the article. Some Resource Box has a copyright notice.

Step 4:Determine delivering type

How do you want to deliver your ezine? There are two options:

1.You put the ezine in your website. The advantage of doing this is that you can include back issue as well.

2.You can deliver through email. This is the most used method you'll find on the net. If you choose this option, you must need a mailing list. You can run your own mailing list or hired others to run for you. Search 'mailling list service' at Yahoo if you want to let other do the job for you.

Step 5:Tell others about your Ezine

There is no point of publishing your own ezine if no one is reading it, isn't it? So turn on the key and start telling the world about your new ezine.Submit your ezine to ezine directory and announce it to other ezine publishers.

Remember, the more people subscribe to your ezine, the larger your mailing list will be. And the larger your mailing list is, more and more money you can make out of it.

Nas Romli is an EzineArticles.com Expert Author. He runs a site that help people to start their own home based business within 24 hours.Subscribe to his "HomeBiz Tips Newsletter" by e-mail biztipnl@cashflowsecret.net.

Sanity Are You Kidding

Writen by Raymond Johnston Jr

Do you have what it takes to be an ezine publisher? Someone told me the other day that anyone could become a newsletter or ezine publisher. That put me into some deep thought about the situation.

I decided that it was probably true that anyone could become a publisher of an ezine or newsletter. The trick is to publish one that is successful and still keep one's sanity.

Sanity you ask? How could I possibly lose my sanity putting out an issue of a newsletter or ezine? Well my good friend, let me help you count the ways.

Right after I first started publishing, I had the chance to go up to a mountain lake with some friends one evening. I actually needed to get my ezine out but I thought what the heck, I will get up a few hours early tomorrow morning and finish putting it together. Wrong unwise one.

The next morning when I got up my electricity was off. I waited quite impatiently as I watched the hours tick away. My wife had a doctor's appointment that afternoon, so I had to leave to take her to town. She had been unable to drive for the last few months due to destroyed ligaments in her foot.

I tried to not think about it as I took her to town. Of course when we finished at the doctor's office, she insisted that I take her out to eat. Well, if you think there was any way that I could say no to that one, you obviously don't have a wife. Or you won't have one for long.

We arrived back home late in the afternoon. I was thrilled to find that the electricity was working again. I started putting together my issue of the ezine. I went to connect to the internet to send it out and could not hook up to my ISP.

I got on the phone and called my ISP and was told that they were having problems of some sort and were not sure when service would be restored.

By this time it was getting on up in the evening and all at once the realization came that I should already have tomorrow's issue ready and yet I had not even started.

This was far from comforting. So I started putting tomorrow's issue together. I had just started working on it when my wife hollered and asked me if I was going to work all night. That's right I thought, I promised her that I would spend some time with her this evening.

After spending a couple of hours with my wife, I started working on the ezine again. I worked until about 2:00 AM. I finally finished and went up to get a few hours sleep before I had to get back up.

About 3:30 I was startled out of bed by what appeared to be a loud scream. I started running towards my wife's bedroom when here came that startling sound again. It was my Tom Cat. He was ready to go outside. Oh I could ignore him but if you know anything about Tom Cats, that would have only punished myself more.

I went back to bed only to be awaken by a cat fight around 4:45. The Tom from the next valley over had came over to pay us a friendly visit. Of course his idea of a friendly visit was to come over and see if he could kill my cat.

Well my cat had not made any brownie points by waking me up earlier but if I did not go rescue him, I would be in the dog house with my wife. This would never work because the only pet facility that we had was a small cat palace and I already had a backache.

To heck with trying to sleep. I went to check and see if my ISP was back up. Great, I was back in business. I first sent out yesterday's issue and then put the finishing touches on today's. I then sent it out as well.

I then decided to go check my mail and make sure I received both issues. I looked at the first issue and I had forgotten to put the right address in the Title. Instead of my first name, which will show if I type the following [FIRSTNAME], I saw [FIRSTNAME. I had forgot to close my parenthesis and everyone's ezine came out addressed to [FIRSTNAME.

I then took a look at today's issue. I had typed in the wrong date on the top, I had forgotten to put contact information in my ad for a advertising special. I was not feeling real good about myself at this point.

I then looked back at my mail and saw a note addressed to me with suggestion as the subject. I thought, to heck with reading that. After the last two days, they are probably suggesting that I take a permanent vacation. I just don't know if I can take that kind of rejection right now. I need sleep.

I headed up to bed and passed my wife who was heading down the steps. She asked if I was going up to change into work clothes. My mind started churning, what had I promised to do this morning?

She brought me out of my thought by informing me that she would do the inside of the windows while I did the outside.

Sanity? That has long since passed me by.

So back to the question, can anyone publish an ezine?

Well if the subscriber who sent me the suggestion is anywhere close to correct, I am not qualified to answer. Here is his suggestion.

You could not publish a #$%&*%$ ezine if your ^$##@*%#* life depended on it.

I also got brave and told my wife that I don't do windows.

I am now trying to get some of the sleep that my body so desperately needs but the accommodations seem less than cozy. This cat palace is sure not the luxurious place that I had been led to believe.

Honey, I was just kidding, I will gladly help with those windows.

Article was written by Raymond Johnston Jr You will find more of his articles along with web marketing tools on his website at http://www.RaymondJohnston.com.

10 Winning Ezine Publishing Tips

Writen by Ken Hill

1. Share your personality with your subscribers. Your subscribers are more likely to want to buy from someone they feel like they know.

2. Involve your subscribers in your ezine by asking them to send in their profiles, tips and advice, or by asking them to send in their articles for publication in your ezine.

3. Include testimonials or endorsements for your business within your ezine.

Ask for feedback within your ezine and on your site to gather more of these for your products or services.

4. Periodically run surveys or polls that give you direction on where to take your ezine.

Keep your polls or surveys short and to the point. Only ask questions you need to know at the time.

Also provide a bonus or freebie for taking your polls or surveys to increase the number of your readers that participate in them.

5. Write articles. Your articles will give you an effective way to share your tips and expertise with your subscribers.

Your articles can also be used as a powerful promotional tool that boosts your subscriptions.

6. Run an "Ask The Editor" section.

This section will not only provide answers or solutions to your subscribers' questions but is also an excellent way to increase your status as an expert in your field.

7. Provide a bonus or freebie for subscribing to your ezine. You could provide ebooks, email courses, or access to your membership site as a bonus for subscribing.

8. Provide your subscribers with special sales on advertising in your ezine.

Your subscriber only specials will help you to get more of your subscribers to purchase ads for the first time and will also help you to get more of your subscribers to advertise in your ezine on a consistent basis.

9. Promote affiliate programs to your subscribers by recommending their products.

If you've already gained the trust of your subscribers, writing recommendations will be very effective in increasing your commissions. Only recommend products that you know deliver.

10. Swap recommendations with other ezine publishers.

You could recommend another publisher's ezine in your own words in exchange for that publisher doing the same for you.

You could also set up a recommended ezine section where you and several other ezine publishers promote each other's ezines.

In addition, you could successfully increase your subscriptions by swapping recommendations in your welcome message or on your "thank you" page that your new subscribers are taken to after subscribing to your ezine.

About The Author

Article by writer, Ken Hill. Learn tips and techniques to help you successfully start your own ezine. Visit Ken's site today at http://www.netpromarketer.com for more articles and a great tutorial on ezine publishing.

Where And How To Get Information For Your Newsletter And Ezines

Writen by Emma okafor

With the rapid expansion and diversion of commerce, manufacturers, career seekers and even hobbyist move into more and more specialized areas of endeavor, there is an increase need for more information. Newsletters and ezines are the high profit way to cash in on that market for specialized information. This means any profitable newsletter or ezines must have valuable information and of renewable sources information.

A valuable and endless source of getting materials to feature in your newsletter or ezines is from the article resource sites. They maintain large archives of many topics. I don't think there is an article you can't get there. Writers always submit their articles there so it can be printed electronically or in print media. Interviews are important source to get vital information too.

If you can't contact people in high positions, such as presidents or directors, their assistants can be just more than valuable in acquiring information. Your associates and colleagues are the prime source of undercurrents in the field you write about. Renew and make new contacts- they will be valuable for getting information. If there are any correspondents you can use in other country for facts, make use of them perhaps you can work out a financial arrangement with an insider for important information you want to include.

Don't overlook the workers, or the participants. An employee might describe the wonders of a new machine; an athlete may praise some new technology. A good phone voice can reach out to them, you don't need to travel to these people.

Do you know that some secretaries often know more details than their bosses do! Some of them usually don't have anything to hide. Their knowledge can make the pages of your newsletter or ezines rich. Follow up on the articles presented in the trade publications.

You might be able to use some in depth aspects of the same topics they publish. You can talk to the people they interview.

Perhaps you can argue some controversial topic and get someone to present a different opinion. Though newsletter is a personal forum, does not mean your opinion of anything needs to be narrow minded or egoistic. Avoid this so you don't lose subscribers. Conventions, seminars and trade shows are gold mine for information.

Everyone who displays or attends these meetings is interested in the subject. You could virtually interview everyone and get an overview of the industry. They will be willing to talk to you.

If you are working with a sports topic, meets and events are the place you need to be. Interview the organizers of these events. Talk to the broadcasters they have a lot of background knowledge.

You must be able to tenure events regularly in the newsletter.

Check out to see where the people who subscribe to your newsletter stay what events happen in their towns? If you are writing about industry, where are the main manufacturing plants? Have their local print media written about public opinions about those plants, such as pollution, high employment and industrial safety?

Ninety percent of the means of extracting information you need is based on interview. But be honest with you that "ain't easy" easy. Its only going to be easy for you unless you have the qualities it takes because these people you talk to could be snobs or the hard to get type.

These are your commandments…

1. Thou shall be tolerant,

2. Thou shall be patient,

3. Thou shall be punctual with your appointments and

4. Thou shall be polite and take one question at a time.

These approaches worked for thousands of newsletter publishers so it can work for you! Don't be left out!

About The Author

Emma okafor, an online market researcher and writer. His blueprint success in online marketing is available in his site http://bizacumen.8k.com

mimionline@zwallet.com

The Most Important Secret To Huge Internet Information Publishing Profits

Writen by Christopher Kyalo

Armed with only the secret you are about to read in this article, success in the tricky but extremely lucrative world of Internet Information Publishing is virtually guaranteed.

It is nothing new. In the offline publishing heydays, many smart publishers used exactly the same secret to maximize on their revenues and to make huge fortunes.

The whole secret is hidden in one simple question you must always ask yourself. The question is;

What do you have?

A few practical examples are in order here so that you can fully grasp this amazing secret.

Tabloid publishers are amongst the most hated group of people amongst celebrities. But many of them made huge fortunes by asking the simple question, what do I have that the public wants badly right now? Rumors about some movie star's latest fling? Or some dirt brought in by an angry and money-hungry former employee of some famous person. Publications like The National Enquirer, in the US and the notorious News of The World in the UK were able to successfully answer this key question many times. The result is that they were able to churn out stories that sold millions of copies of their publications every week which put millions of dollars into their bank accounts.

On The World Wide Web, a virtually unknown small business asked this critical question just six short years ago. They found that they really had very little. They had no Internet markets experience at all. All they had were some marketing principles that had worked offline. Direct marketing principles that is, which they had used to sell information products in the bricks and mortar world. They were told that these principles were useless online and would not work. On the net a different set of rules applied, the experts told them.

They decided to give it a shot anyway. After all they had nothing to lose.

That small business made $100 million in sales last year and is on track to increase that profit substantially this year. Now everybody is scrambling to copy their model and there are folks online now making money by simply trying to teach the successful business model used by this small business to others.

There is nothing wrong with doing this except that my view is that you are bound to succeed more quickly and make much more money by being you. The way to do that is to ask yourself the simple question, what do you have?

What You Have Doesn't Have To Be Much

What you have does not have to be much. We have already seen that from the earlier example of a small business that ended up growing into a multi-million shilling enterprise within a very short time.

Here's a simple example that may apply to you.

All you may have at the moment may be a free-hosted blog on relationships, for instance. Maybe you receive only a handful of hits every day. That's all.

Here's what can be done in this case. The idea is to generate revenue and create a hugely successful information product from the little that you have.

Christopher Kyalo is a successful online publisher and entrepreneur. Read the rest of this article in a free sample of his best-selling email course, How To Build Your Own Internet Information Publishing Empire. To get it, send a blank email now to InternetinfoPublishsecrets-subscribe@yahoogroups.com You can also visit his Online writing blog

Debating What An Ezine Really Is True Defintion

Writen by Lance Winslow

The currently used and industry sub-sector definition of an Ezine is an electronic newsletter or electronic magazine that is sent out by email. But is this definition too limiting? There is a debate going on right now on this very subject; what is the true definition of an Ezine and should this definition allow for innovation and expansion?

It is believed by a small minority that it is unwise to too narrowly focus and try to corral naturally evolving definitions. It is also believed that the definition of an Ezine is still undergoing evolutionary change in the information age. We know that change is constant and that life and information like water will always find a way to get to where it needs to go. So, if we do such a cut and dry definition, we leave other methods of distribution of the exact same material out to dry with none.

For instance an electronic newsletter, which is sent other than by email would not be considered an Ezine. Well then, what are they asked one enterprising industry guru? Are they outside the definition and thus outcast and if so, does that serve all of those who desire mass distribution. Do we try to force them into a definition by making them comply and send out their Ezines via email? Perhaps we might consider all this in 2006.

Lance Winslow

A Profitable Newsletter Style That Helps Retain More Of Your Customers

Writen by Rick Ness

When I speak with many website and business owners, I usually get asked this question over and over gain. And that is "what can I do to get more customers, clients or subscribers? Well there's a 1001 answers I can give that question. Because there are so many ways to find new business.

The problem with finding and advertising for new customers is that it can be expensive. In essence it could even be a gamble to fork out a bunch of money on a new advertising campaign, newslebecause you really don't know the outcome or response will be. This is especially true on a new advertising strategy. If you're like a lot of business operators you'll slap an ad together, and publish it somewhere, hoping for the best.

To make matters even worse…most of the time businesses publish an ad that always starts with a headline with their company name on top. What they really should be doing is putting a strong benefit to start the ad as a headline, so the reader's eyeballs continue to read the rest! But this article is not about advertising to first time customers; it's about something better, a more affordable strategy with trust and recognition automatically built in!

It's marketing and building a strong relationship with the customers and clients you have now! Imagine, someone has bought something from you. They trust you and see you as the trusted source for your product or service. Once they buy, don't just expect them to buy from you again. You really need to stay in front of them. And I don't mean pestering them or applying high sales pressure. That will just kill any future business.

What you can do is use this proven and effective idea. Before I mention what the idea is, let me ask you something? Are you are collecting all of your customer's contact data? If not, start now.

Ok here is the profit boosting, referral generating idea that will pump in more business for you. Every month, send your customers or email them a "specially designed newsletter". A monthly newsletter postcard that lets you communicate with your customers in a fun way while you're actually marketing for more business. A fun to read monthly newsletter that gives all kinds of every day advice and tips. Your customers will look forward to receiving it every month, plus it will surely get passed around. The newsletter template style I'm talking about is a giant postcard 8.5 by 11 sheet of paper 24lb or 60lb card stock (colored). The front and back should have neat, short articles to read, tips, puzzles and most importantly a couple of places for you to place your monthly special offer, promotion and web address. Mail the newsletter on cardstock and it will get read. How can it not?

Sending this newsletter out every month is less costly and more effective than starting a new advertising campaign ad piece. In fact, it costs 6 times more to get a new a customer, than compared to marketing to your current customer base. The newsletter postcard I'm referring to is a newsletter template that can make the readers/customers life better, faster and easier. It is all about what benefits them. They will appreciate your monthly newsletter.

Use it if you want to standout, make a difference and impress your customers. This is the most powerful marketing piece that will be in your possession. This is one idea that may truly put a nice boost into your bottom line, because now you'll get more business from your current, perspective and lost customers.

Rick Ness is a marketing specialist. Simple, creative ideas like the newsletter postcard can make a big difference and put you infront of your customers monthly. Find out more http://www.monthly-newsletter.net

Self Publishers Drowning In Traffic Use Their Content And Articles In These Four Ways

Writen by Christopher Kyalo

Self publishers use all their articles and content in the following four ways to ensure that they generate loads of traffic for their web sites and blogs.

a) Leading self publishers usually carefully research the right non-competitive popular keywords to use in their content to attract huge targeted free traffic from search engines. It is not always easy to get the right keywords but this is one skill where practice and experience makes perfect. Just remember that it is well worth the effort to spend hours looking for that single keyword that will guarantee you thousands of hits over the next few months and maybe for years to come.

b) The second way in which high traffic self publishers use articles is by posting them at some very specific high traffic article directories where ezine publishers and webmasters frequent in search of free useful content. With the help of a good resource box at the bottom of the article, this is an ideal way of generating a lot of traffic almost immediately.

c) Thirdly, smart self publishers regularly get a very different kind of article written, called a link-baiting article. This is usually a controversial article attacking a popular opinion (or a leading blogger's view) on a hot subject. Done skillfully and in good taste, a link baiting article or post is capable of generating a colossal amount of links in only a few hours or days, pointing at your site or blog. Apart from the surge in traffic you will enjoy, the high number of links will dramatically improve your ranking with search engines and help you generate even more traffic.

d) And finally a smart self publisher will not forget to use their articles and content to build an opt-in email list as quickly as possible. Some people make substantial online profits using nothing else but their opt-in email lists with about 5,000 names. An opt-in email list is gold to any self publsiher.

Christopher Kyalo is a successful online self publisher. Visit his Self Publisher blog to read the other parts of this article and for other amazing success tips. Subscribe to his free email newsletter to discover all the secrets of an amazing online publishing company that generates 100 million dollars a year. Send a blank email now to InternetinfoPublishsecrets-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Email Newsletter Software

Writen by Robert Abbott

Should I create my newsletter in a word processor or email program? Which email program should I use?

Those two questions came from a visitor to the Manager's Guide to Newsletters website. She planned to start an email newsletter that would go to parents of students at her school and wanted to know about the software she would need.

In response, we'll look at these two important questions for newsletter publishers.

Word processor or email program? This can be one of the simpler issues, at least if your mailing list is not too large at start-up. You can write your newsletter in any email program, or any word processor that allows you to save your work as plain text (ASCII). Most writers prefer to use a word processing program for at least the first draft, since it provides more text manipulation features and saving options.

Once you've written, rewritten, spellchecked, and proofread your newsletter in the word processor, copy and paste it into the body of your email program (we'll discuss how to handle that text in the next article in this series).

Of course, you'll need an email program of some kind to send out your newsletter, regardless of where you wrote it. Among email programs, check both those stand- alone programs and those integrated with browsers.

The most common program is Outlook Express, which comes bundled with Internet Explorer, and that in turn comes bundled with Windows. But, don't overlook the possibilities in the Netscape and Opera suites. In addition, there's also a new challenger, Mozilla Thunderbird, which is associated with the Firefox browser.

Turning to stand-alone email programs, take a look at Eudora (which offers an advertising-supported version and a version you can buy). It has a solid reputation among many email newsletter publishers, and I consider it the best all-purpose email client for my PC (however, I don't like it on my Mac, where I use the built-in program, Mail).

I've used all of these programs at one time or another, and each has advantages and disadvantages. In considering them, review the strengths and weaknesses of their address books as well as their message composition capabilities.

Once your mailing list grows beyond a certain point (depending on your personal inclinations), you'll need to move it out of the email program and into something more flexible.

In my case, once the list got to something like a hundred subscribers, I found the management of it frustrating. For example, adding and deleting email addresses from an email program takes more time and trouble than doing it in a word processing program or, on a more sophisticated level again, a database program.

In managing a list of several thousand, I use the Find feature to quickly pick out and delete someone who wants to unsubscribe. Similarly, it's easy to get the list back into alphabetical order at any time by using the sorting feature of a word processing program.

Another growth issue: As your subscriber list grows, you may want to move away from your email program and use an independent mailing service. In that case, you go to a provider company and upload your list one time. After that, you simply paste your newsletter into a form they provide, and click the Send button. Then, the service sends out your email using its servers.

But, to get started you need only an email program, and you have many free and worthwhile options. Try each one out for an issue or two of your newsletter, to find what suits you.

Robert F. Abbott, the author of A Manager's Guide to Newsletters: Communicating for Results, writes and publishes Abbott's Communication Letter. Read more articles about Internet communication, as well as email and printed newsletters at: http://www.communication-newsletter.com/ic.html

Customer Newsletters Are You Neglecting Yours

Writen by Anna Hinds

Have I got News for You. . .

Just like your oldest jeans, your existing customers can be relied on to perform, but are they in need of a bit of love and attention? They're your best source of business, so don't let them down.

Tell me what you want

I recently surveyed some newsletter readers, asking them to rate its content. Staff profiles and company news barely scraped into the top 40. What was the number one demand from these cynical readers? Special offers and new products.

What about what the company wants? It's usually two things: to improve the corporate image (strengthening loyalty), and to make more sales.

But it's not impossible to combine all three goals.

Relationship Building

At its best a newsletter can be intimate, warm and friendly – like a phone call from an old friend. And with luck, this warm fuzzy feeling will send your customers straight to their wallets...

The award-winning smoothie company innocent sends out email newsletters that are just like a witty note from a good friend. The newsletter is a fabulous read, and brightens up rainy Monday mornings without pushing any products.

Think of it as a first date. What are your reader's interests? What will you talk about and what sort of person will you be? Chatty or formal? Humorous or technical? Casual or sophisticated? Old or young – or young-at-heart?

Think about how your brand is already perceived and what sort of voice you should use to address your customers. If you're not using a copywriter, is there somebody in-house who is the same age or level of expertise as your customers? Run it by them first.

Why not identify competitors who are already producing newsletters and sign up to see how they're pitched?

Humour is one of the best ways to get your customers on side. Don't take yourself too seriously – this isn't an advert or a press release. Start with the relationship-building, and work up to the selling later.

Basic News Writing

Here's a crash course in writing news.

• The pyramid technique is used by journalists every day. The story is set up like a pyramid, with the most important message in the first line, and the detail gradually being introduced as people read.

• The first line must be simple and attention-grabbing. The pyramid technique involves picking out the key benefit and opening with it. In other words, instead of this: Between April and July this year, Hodson's Organics was reviewed by an independent panel of auditors, who reported that our apples were 50% cheaper than supermarkets and vegetables were over 60% cheaper.

...This first sentence should read: Hodson's vegetables are 60% cheaper than supermarket organics, according to a recent audit.

The next sentence will provide detail about the secondary findings, and the following sentence will explain the time period and the auditors' role. Readers lose interest more quickly than you might think – so don't tease them!

• Pop in some quotes

If there's a human-interest angle to your story, that's what you should lead with. After all, this is supposed to be an interesting newsletter, not just a sales tool. Quotes and photos from key figures will brighten it up and give the story credibility – take a look at any newspaper to see this technique in use.

• Photos

You don't have to hire a press photographer! Recently one company's sales staff were heading off for world trips. They were instructed to take some pictures of anything exciting they saw or did. When they got back there were tonnes of great stories and pics for the newsletter!

• Relevant subheadings

Help people to pick out the bits they want to read. This is vital in a newsletter – especially when readers are trying to skip over the adverts!

Adding Value in an Instant

Try:

• Staff articles or cartoons
• Web links for further information (Lastminute.com use this trick)
• Expert articles (look at Crocus)
• Celebrity endorsements (see Figleaves)
• Competitions – even a small prize usually works (innocent smoothies
• Cut-out coupons

Tip-top Feature Ideas

Awards and reviews of the company or products
Gifts or recipes for special occasions (seasonal – if relevant)
Company fundraising (what did you do for Children in Need?!)
Staff news or profiles (but keep it short)
Product improvements
New products
Features on 'the faces behind the products' or where the products start life
Top sellers chart
Events (successes and future dates)
Promotions & Special Offers
Competitions
Invitation for feedback
Feedback and responses

Tips on production

Layout

• 5-6 articles per A4 page keeps the reader awake. Keep words, sentences and paragraphs short.

Email Newsletters

• The list of recipients belongs in the 'BCC', not the 'CC' field. This way nobody sees anybody else's address.

• Think carefully about what to put in the subject line. It shouldn't be too long and it shouldn't be something vague like 'December Update'. I delete anything with a remotely odd subject-header these days, to avoid emails about sex toys and African widows…

• Link to the newsletter on your web page (Because lots of email servers will send a huge attachment straight back)

• Provide a functional link for unsubscribing. (Just make the newsletter dazzling enough to convince them not to.)

Recipients

• Your own customer list is heaps better than buying in a list of names. Allow people to opt-out easily – and don't send out the newsletter too often – you risk becoming a stalker-by-mail…

THIS ARTICLE FIRST APPEARED IN 'CATALOGUES TODAY', 2004

Anna Hinds is a UK-based freelance copywriter, specialising in websites, catalogues and newsletters. Find out more at http://www.copyqueen.co.uk

Gosh What Am I Going To Put In My Email Newsletter This Month

Writen by Dina Giolitto

So you decided to put out a monthly newsletter, because "that's what smart marketers do." This is a terrific idea! After all, really good content is the way to your readers' hearts, and everyone loves to receive presents in the mail (or, email in this case).

At first, it'll be cake. You're excited to warm up your audience. You finally have a release for all those ideas crashing around in your head. Woo hoo, articles are tumbling out of you.

With the debut of your newsletter, fans come pouring out of the woodwork. Your clients are enamored with you. Everybody wants to be your new best friend.

"GREAT newsletter, [insert your name here]! I can't wait for the next edition to arrive in my inbox!"

"Wow, [insert name again]; I learn so much from you. Would you want to be my go-to on an upcoming project?"

Thanks to those 4 little articles, you're an instant celebrity. Friends are telling friends who are telling friends, about your newsletter. The big question of the day is: "Where do I sign up?"

Roundabout month 3 or 4 is when things start to change. Your relationship with your newsletter has suddenly grown stale. Where you once felt all tingly inside at the thought of that crisp layout and pleasing font.... now, the blank template just seems to be mocking you.

"I dare you to come up with five more articles that are even better than the ones you sent out last time."

Don't let your monthly newsletter get the best of you! Truth is, you CAN come up with fresh content for your newsletter EVERY SINGLE MONTH. You can run articles that whet your subscriber's appetite for new and valuable information. You can keep the momentum flowing as you keep a stream of new contacts pouring in. And the best part is, you don't even have to write all five articles!

How will you do this? Go straight to the nearest article syndication website.

What's an article syndication site? It's the place where articles come in and articles go out. An Article Depot, of sorts. Talented authors stop in and drop off their content in the hope of having it picked up and distributed. Publishers like you breeze in and make a few selections... then feature them in their newsletters. Authors love the free advertising. Readers salivate for the free information. Newsletter publishers enjoy the convenience of a fully-loaded email newsletter that only took 15 minutes to assemble and will keep their readers happy and informed. With article syndication, everybody wins!

OK, so where do you start picking up your first set of articles? Go to EzineArticles.com. They're my all-time favorite, one-stop article shop, and the place where hot content from real live experts is always pouring in! Choose a topic of interest. Find an article. Click the PUBLISH icon... and your article copy is instantly available, free of charge, in a publishable format that's easily transferred to your HTML newsletter.

Does this mean that you should stop writing articles for your newsletter? Of course not. If you enjoy writing articles, keep on pumping out those ideas. But then... instead of just sharing with your subscriber list... share with the entire World Wide Web.

Put YOUR articles into syndication on the very same article site where you went hunting for content. Now, other newsletter publishers like you can pick up the article you wrote, and share with their own audiences.

Are you getting a knack for this article syndication stuff? I hope so. There's an information revolution happening out there. Why not be a part of it? Use article syndication as a way to present a wonderful company newsletter to your trusted clients and associates while growing your subscriber list.

Copyright 2005 Dina Giolitto. All rights reserved.

Liked this article? Have more of the same emailed to your inbox each month. Sign up for the Copywriting and Marketing Ezine from Dina at Wordfeeder.com and learn to write search engine friendly web copy and market your web based business for free.

The Five Deadly Fears Of Enewsletter Publishing

Writen by Michael Katz

1. Fear Of Having Nothing To Say

As a small business owner, you know a lot more than you may realize. And although running out of material is the number one reason cited by small business owners for not launching an E-Newsletter in the first place, I have never come across anyone who knew enough about a particular industry or topic to start a business in it, who didn't also have a nearly endless supply of content to choose from.

Remember, your clients and others who have an interest in your area of specialty, don't work in it every day the way you do. The things that are second nature to you, whether it's how to purchase life insurance if you're a broker; how to write a press release if you're a marketing consultant; or how to troubleshoot a light switch if you're an electrician; are all news to those of us on the outside of your industry.

The people who are going to read your newsletter have questions. You on the other hand, have answers, opinions, experience, and perspective. When it comes to your industry, you understand what matters and what doesn't, and how all the pieces fit together. These brief, useful nuggets are the things you write about.

2. Fear Of Technology

An E-Newsletter has a lot of moving parts. There are mailing lists to manage; links to set up; images to lay out; responses to track; and dozens of other small pieces to coordinate and fine tune, all in the course of writing and publishing a newsletter month after month. Managing this process efficiently requires a fair amount of technology churning away in the background. That's the bad news.

The good news is that email marketing has finally evolved to the point where there are dozens of vendors out there who, for a very small fee, will take care of most of this for you (go to Google and search on "email marketing vendors" for a look at what's out there). So while it's true that you will have to go down a learning curve before you can switch your newsletter publishing into autopilot, you no longer need technical skill to get there.

Managing the logistics of a monthly newsletter can be tedious at times, no question. But if you've ever successfully assembled a gas grill, you're more than technically qualified to publish an E-Newsletter.

3. Fear Of Publishing On A Regular Basis

Although you may be sold on the value of a regularly published E-Newsletter, you may still be worried that once let out of its cage, this beast won't ever leave you alone. The truth is, you're right to be concerned. If I had to point to one factor that plays the most significant role in the failure of company E-Newsletters, it's that the people behind them stop publishing.

Like starting an exercise program, we all go great guns out of the gate: telling everybody we know, celebrating every issue. But (also like exercise), by month four or five the thrill is gone, and many people start to wonder how to quietly put the thing out of its misery.

I'm happy to say that I've discovered two solutions to this potential problem.

First, publish monthly. Although it may seem that dropping back to a less frequent schedule will reduce the burden, in practice the opposite is true. The less often you publish, the bigger a deal it is, and the more it seems to hang over your head. A monthly schedule however, means that the next issue is never more than 30 days away, and you will find yourself less concerned with achieving perfection each time.

Second, create a publishing schedule and stick to it. First Tuesday of the month, third Friday, whatever. The important thing is that you bake it into your monthly work schedule. An E-Newsletter will never be today's top priority, and unless you explicitly determine when it will come out, you're more likely than not to keep pushing it to the back burner.

4. Fear Of Writing

I hear it every day from the small business owners I work with: "I can't put out an E-Newsletter, I'm a lousy writer." Well, you'll be happy to learn that writing an E-Newsletter - like email in general - is a lot more like talking than writing.

People don't expect to read prose on screen, and they don't want something that reads like an article from a local business journal. They want a piece of you and your expertise. As a result, the most effective E-Newsletters are those that sound as if the company leader is just talking; filled with all the slang, run on sentences and joking around that comes out in person.

After all, E-Newsletters are simply glorified emails, and email is fundamentally a two-way conversation. The more you can write in an authentic, friendly, spoken manner, the more it will feel to readers like somebody (i.e. you) is really on the other end. So don't worry about something that your high school English teacher would be proud of. Focus on turning out something that breaks down the walls between your company and your customers. Something real.

5. Fear That SPAM Makes It All A Waste Of Time

There's no doubt about it, SPAM has decreased the effectiveness of E-Newsletters over the last 12 months, and we are all much more aggressive with the delete key than ever before.

But, let's put that into some perspective. A good E-Newsletter sent to your house list will still be opened by over 50% of the people it's sent to. That's 5?, 10?, 50? times better (you pick) than the percentage of people who read your newspaper ads; respond to your direct mail; or accept your unsolicited phone calls. The fact is, for the small business owner, an E-Newsletter represents the first time in history that she's ever been able to cost effectively communicate with her entire customer and prospect base over and over and over again. Not only that, but thanks to the inherently democratic nature of email (i.e. the big boys don't get any more space in the email inbox than the rest of us), an E-Newsletter gives us the opportunity to not just compete with, but outperform our much larger competitors for the attention of readers.

Yes, SPAM has taken some of the shine off of this diamond. But make no mistake, it's still a diamond.

A Final Comment

You may be waiting to launch your E-Newsletter until everything is "just right." Until your mailing list is large enough; until you've stockpiled enough columns so you'll never run out; until you've hired that new marketing person; etc., etc.

I've got news for you. No matter how much you plan and prepare, things are going to go wrong even then. I've been midwife at the birth of dozens of E-Newsletters, and every time we launch one (every time), something goes wrong. It's never the same something, but it's always there. So don't worry about it, just get in the game.

Three reasons: First, because the cost of error online is exceedingly low. If you make a mistake -- or simply change your mind! -- you can fix it. Nothing about your newsletter need be permanent, from the name to the look to the content. Every issue is an opportunity to start fresh.

Second, because time is your enemy. Relationship marketing (of which, your E-Newsletter is a tactic) is a long term approach. The sooner you get started reaching out to your circle of contacts, the sooner you'll see the results. With an E-Newsletter in particular, you lose much more by waiting than you gain by perfecting.

Third, because experience is your friend. You can do all the research in the world, but until you've got a living, breathing newsletter of your own, it's just a theoretical exercise. There's only so much insight to be gained intellectually; the real "A-ha's" occur when you get behind the wheel and drive it yourself.

Bottom Line: These five fears are common among burgeoning E-Newsletter publishers, but on closer examination, not all that daunting. Go ahead, get started with yours today!

Michael J. Katz is Founder and Chief Penguin of Blue Penguin Development, Inc., (http://www.BluePenguinDevelopment.com) a Boston consulting firm that helps clients increase sales by showing them how to nurture their existing relationships, and that specializes in the development of electronic newsletters. He is author of the book, E-Newsletters That Work.

3 Things You Need To Do To Turn Net Information Into Cash

Writen by S. Rosendahl

Although we are in the information age, very few people have been able to turn the colossal amount of free accessible information available online, into cash or business success.

a) Specialize One of the reasons for this is that there is actually too much information available online. Actually so much of it that it gets overwhelming sometimes. When you consider that there are about 40,000 new blogs being launched daily, and that is not even counting the new websites or the updates going in in both websites and blogs, it becomes clear that the information is coming at us in gigantic levels. And it grows daily.

The only way to handle this colossal information is to focus and specialize on a certain area. This the only way you will be able to effectively process the loads and loads of information and find a way of profiting from it. For example a person specializing on affiliate marketing should not touch any other area. Not even affiliate financing or any other aspect of affiliate schemes. If they do this, they will find that within a very short time they will become an expert in an area that they can easily profit from tremendously.

b) Explore It then becomes extremely easy to explore the net and the colossal information of gigantic proportions that is available, because your interest is limited or narrowed down to a specific area. Using our previous example of an area of expertise, it is then east to research and find out what top affiliate marketers on the net are earning and what kind of programs bring those high earnings. When you specialize, surfing ceases to be a tiring and confusing exercise and becomes a fascinating journey of discovery and knowledge accumulation. This is an important aspect in turning mere information into something useful and productive.

c) Test When you start practically testing the knowledge and information you are gaining online then you draw very close into turning information into something profitable and useful to you. Many times the testing will involve establishing a website that contains your information and maybe even developing a product or service based on that information. This approach has a much higher chance of success than the usual trend where people hurriedly look around for a subject and product when they have already made up their minds that they want to launch a website or blog. Take advantage of the massive information available online and start making it useful to your life today.

About the author: S. Rosendahl is a Technical Executive Writer for Website Source, Inc. http://www.websitesource.com. Her established writing skills coupled with experience in the website hosting industry have provided internet professionals with marketing, product and service ideas for many years.

Targetted Ezine Networks

Writen by Alvin Davis

Here's a new marketing model that's growing on the internet. You get better targetting for advertisers and more news and information for subscribers.

A group of business owners network together to offer you a very select line of products or services through one large ezine network. Each product or service is covered in different subezines for each company. No classified ads but a whole section of good infomation.

This is a great benefit to subscribers don't you think? The key if you are a business owner or affiliate is to be the only members from your company. The network will only host one company because it wants NO competition between members.

How to create your own network if you can not find one for your product or service.

1 - Select your niche market.
Get Paid2, Affiliates, MLM or others. You may even break these down into sections like nutritional, paid2click, cosmetics, paid2surf or skincare. We'll use Affiliates in this example.

2 - Create your network name. In this example it would be: Affiliates Targetted Ezine Network

3 - Create a website for your network.
This website will be the only one marketed for the whole network. You should list each company in the network on this website

4 - Create one ezine with subezine sections for each company.
Each affiliate member will supply news and information about their company to the founder/publisher. Change news and information often for subscriber to really learn about your products or services.

5 - Market for Affiliate members to join your network in the normal ezine networks that already exist. Offer a low cost membership that is used to promote the network for all members.

6 - Marketing for subscribers. Again the normal ezine networks are best. This is done through the membership fees for each affiliate.

CONCLUSION

There are just a few Targetter Ezine Networks now, but hopefully with this article you can create your own!

Alvin Davis, is the publisher for: http://www.guerrillamlm.com/mlmezinenetwork.html

Increase Your Website Popularity With 500 Words

Writen by Shannon Emmanuel

Are you looking to increase your relevancy in the search engines? You probably have heard that increasing the links to your site has an impact on your listing. But did you know you can do it without waiting, or asking other sites to link to you themselves?

If you can write a 500-1000 word article about your business, you can increase your links in 24 hours.

Here's the secret: Every article submitted to article directories include a resource box. This is a short sentence or paragraph about the author. By including the link to your site (MUST include http://) you can post YOUR link as many places as you want. There are dozens of free article directories that provide content for websites and newsletter publishers who are just waiting for fresh content.

If your article is used by someone, your link goes with it as they are not allowed to remove the credits/resources. So they do even more advertising for you.

The great thing about article submission is that the major search engines, Google, Yahoo etc. spider the big sites far more often than litte ol' you and me, so they will find you within a few days when you post at a large directory.

The key to a good article (and you'll find some sites with more specific guidelines) is that it CANNOT be an obvious ad for your company. Create a 'How To' or '10 Ways to...' type article relevant to your business. At the end write something like this: "So-and-So is running her own business while raising a family. She has been providing services (or product, information, etc.) to the __________ community for over 2 years. You can find more information about _________ at http://www.homebased.com."

Try this out and search for "article directories" at Google, or follow the instructions by Charlie Page of Directory of Ezines at http://affiliate-start.com/ezine.htm.

Wishing everyone success this year!

Cyprian and Shannon Emmanuel are busy running several onine businesses while raising their two young children. They help others start home based business'with tips, strategies and tools at http://www.Affiliate-Start.com

Deadly Effective Ezine Advertising For Internet Network Marketing

Writen by Daegan Smith

What are Ezines?

Ezines are online newsletter that people subscribe to because they have an interest in the subject matter described in the newsletter.

Personally, I love Ezine advertising. I've used this very strategy that you are about to learn right here and I've created some exceptional growth in my business. Just to give you an idea, one Ezine ad that I sent to a list of a little over 2,000 subscribers that cost me $31, generated 55 new leads and 12 new sign ups in the course of 24 hours. That's a 22% lead to sign up conversion ratio! I've had people in my downline that have had better results than this.

The best part is, the people that joined my business from this mailing were focused savvy Internet marketers. They joined my business and just ran with it. I estimate that those 12 sign-ups account for about 40 new down line members in the course of a month and 100s at this point.

Wouldn't you like to have the same happen in your business?

It gets me excited just sitting here writing about it!

So let's get on with it . . .

Which Ezines will we target?

We want to advertise in Ezines that target Home Business Entrepreneurs, Network Marketers, Biz Opp Seekers, Internet Marketers, Affiliate Marketers, and your companies primary niche. These are the people that are actively interested in making money online and in what you have to offer and will see the most value in what we're offering. There are free places as well as paid places to find highly targeted Ezines to send your ads to.

I personally only advertise in the Directory of Ezines because I find it to be the best and most up to date listing of quality Ezines. There is a membership cost but I personally think it's worth it.

QUICK TIP: If you decide to buy a membership I would advice going with the one year membership as opposed to the lifetime membership. Because by following the method that I am about to describe to you this time next year you will have developed so many strong relationships with great Ezines that you'll have your own rolodex of great places to advertise.

You can also use Ezine-Universe.com which is a free resource.

What type of ad do we want to place?

There are two ways to go about this, the fast way and the slow way.

To go about this the slow, way would mean we would first place a small classified ad in the Ezine that we plan to target. We would then track our response to see if a larger ad is warranted.

This method works well with direct marketing online because it decreases risk, but it will drastically increase the time frame until we see our most wanted response - sign ups.

Why?

We'll have to wait and track responses at each step.

The fast way:

I have been using a faster and a little bit more risky method. What I do is I call or email the list owner to ask about their lists to try to get a feel if it is a good match for my ad.

Here is what I want to find out:

How many mailings do they send out a week?

You don't want to send an ad to an Ezine that sends out more than 2 solo ads a week because most likely no one will read them.

How many new subscribers does the Ezine get in a month?

-You want an Ezine that gets a steady flow of new subscribers.

Have similar ads to mine for my same business run in the recent past?

=You don't want to advertise in an Ezine that has had similar ads run in the past month or so.

Does the Ezine owner have a list of references?

-I ask if the Ezine owner can provide a short list of references that I can contact to see what their response rates have been like in that particular Ezine.

Is there a newsletter archive that you can take a look at?

-Since you're going to be running the ad you want to see the layout of the Ezine so you know how your ad will look. What do you do next?

Find a few good Ezines and ask the List Owner some of the above questions to help you decide if their list is a good match for your offer.

After you've done your homework you'll want to go ahead and place your solo ad. Place about 3 or 4 at a time and be sure to track your click-thru rates.

Daegan Smith is the Author of "Internet MLM Success" - The Next Generation in Network Marketing! Learn the Secret to using the Internet to Exploding your Downline Growth the Simple, Fast, Rejection-Free Way!" For the exciting New Free Report click here ==> http://www.internetmlmsecrets.com

Ezine Publishing On The Subject Of Subject Line Dos And Donts

Writen by Jeff Herring

The dos and don'ts of ezine subject lines are easy to use. The problem is they are also easy to forget, resulting in getting caught in spam filters, leaving money on the table, and other undesirable consequences.

Subject Line Don'ts

1. Don't use all capital letters in your subject line. Instant spam filter purgatory. I recommend that you don't capitalize even one word.

2. Don't use the word free, unless you doctor it up a bit. My favorite way to do free to get past the spam filters is in honor of my favorite TV show of all time. See if you can guess what it is from this example of f*r*e*e.

3. Don't use exclamation points! Another instant trip to spam filter purgatory.

4. Don't list the title of your feature article for that issue of your ezine. Why not? If someone reads the title and decides they already know that or just are not interested, you have lost them before they even open the email. Trust me on this, I've tested it and there was significantly more income per issue when I did not add the title of an article to the subject line.

Subject Line Do's

1. Do always keep in mind that your subject line in an ezine is just like a headline in a newspaper. It's your chance to hook the reader.

2. Douse mail merge to personalize the subject line with a person's first name. Just make sure you leave a space between the arrow sign and the next word so they do not bump up against each other, like at the beginning of this tip. Looks very amateurish when that happens accidently.

3. Do keep it short. Make sure your subject line does not get cut off when it shows up in reader's email. Again, another way to look like an amateur if you get this wrong.

4. Do include the month and year. Gets you by the spam filters almost every time, as they see the current month and date, and the spam filters think "Oh, OK, this is a newsletter, let's let it through."

Make sure you spell out the month as well.

Example: September 2005, ParentingYourTeenager.com

Four don'ts and four do's for subject line success!

You are invited to visit Buildling Your Ideal Practice for 100s of tips and tools for creating and marketing the practice of your dreams.

How To Choose A Good Newsletter Name

Writen by Ladan Lashkari

Good newsletter names are usually 2-4 words. If shorter, they can't explain what your newsletter is about, and if longer, they will be hard to remember.

When choosing a name for your newsletter, make sure its abbreviation is suitable. For example if it's "CNN", you should look for another name because it will confuse your readers.

A good name also describes what your newsletter is about. For example "Affiliate Marketing Insider Tips" is a good name, but "Zapping Tides" is not.

Some people use "the" at the beginning of titles or "newsletter" at the end - like "The Affiliate Marketing Insider Tips Newsletter." But both of these words are unnecessary and just make your title too long and more difficult to remember.

Depending on your newsletter topic and audience, your name can be serious or playful. If you want to choose a playful title, putting an "O" at the end of it makes it funny. An example of such names could be "The Great Gordino" which comes from the publisher's name - Gordon Bryan.

You can browse ezine directories to find many good newsletter names about different topics. You will get many creative ideas from other people's newsletter titles. They have spent a lot of time and effort finding a good name and you can save time by learning from them.

Wish you success!

Ladan Lashkari

About The Author: Ladan Lashkari is a respected Internet marketing expert, and the owner of http://www.FreeNewsletterIdeas.com/ where you'll find free newsletter templates, creative newsletter ideas, honest reviews, and helpful resources to start your own highly profitable email marketing campaign.

Newsletter Names Creative Ideas For Newsletter Titles

Writen by Ladan Lashkari

Your newsletter name has a big effect on your readership, so it's essential you choose a good name right from the start. Here are some ideas to help you come up with creative newsletter names...

#1. Your Niche

You can include the name of your niche in your newsletter title to explain what the content is about. This is one of the most common naming techniques people use. Here are some sample newsletter names...

* Affiliate Marketing Facts

* Search Engine Optimization Advice

* Email Marketing Insider Tips

* Easy Gardening Guide

* Free Golf Tips

#2. Your Target Market

Your newsletter targets a certain audience, right? How about that you use their name in your newsletter title to attract their attention? This will tell them you offer the information that they want. Here are some good newsletter names...

* Affiliate Marketers Weekly

* Work at Home Moms

* Pet Lovers Tips & Trends

#3. Catchy Newsletter Names

Depending on your target market, this type of name can work for you. The benefit to these kind of names is that they're catchy and easy to remember. They're just creative names out of no where.

However, their weakness is that your audience can't understand what your newsletter is about. So you need to provide them with a short description everywhere you introduce your newsletter. Here are some creative newsletter names...

* The Great Gordino

* Scootey Lindo

* Zapping Tides

* Blue Velvet Times

About The Author: Ladan Lashkari is a respected Internet marketing expert, and the owner of http://www.FreeNewsletterIdeas.com/ where you'll find free newsletter templates, creative newsletter ideas, honest reviews, and helpful resources to start your own highly profitable email marketing campaign.

Finding Free Ezine Content And Articles

Writen by Ken Mathie

Okay, so you have got your Ezine all designed and ready to go. All you need now is some good content to send to people. Time to get out your trusty keyboard and start pumping out those killer articles. Certainly you know everything there is to know about the subject of your Ezine and should have no trouble...

What's that you say? You could not write a post-it to pick up milk at the store if you tried? Not a problem. There is no rule that says you have to write all the content for your Ezine by yourself, or at all for that matter. There is tons of content all over the Internet about a variety of subjects.

What's that you say? You don't want to have to pay for content? Not a problem. There are plenty of places where you can get content for free. Well, almost for free anyway. There is always going to be some kind of catch but at least in many cases that catch isn't going to cost you anything out of your pocket.

The most common catch is that the person who supplies content for your Ezine is going to insist that he be allowed to include a link to his site at the end of the article. This isn't a problem unless he just happens to run a site that is in direct competition with yours. For example, let's say you have a site that specializes in collectable baseball cards and the person who you want to get an article from also has the same kind of site. There is a very good chance that he will steal some of your business, especially if he has a larger inventory. So you have to weigh the pros and cons of using an article from this person.

Another common catch to getting articles from a person, site or service is that you have to subscribe to the service in order to do this. This usually means giving them your email address. What this does is it makes it so that this person, site or service can send you their own offers to your email account. This can become a bit of a pain in the rear end if these people start sending you ten emails a day.

Ideally, you want to be able to find free content that has no strings attached at all. This will require a bit of digging and you won't find much. People on the Internet don't work for nothing. They are going to expect something in return for using their work, even if it's just a footnote at the bottom of the article with their name and a link to their site.

However, having said that, if you really do some digging, you can find free content with no strings attached. The easiest way to do this is to go to any search engine and type in "free content for Ezines with no strings attached." Leave out the quotes or they'll match it exactly. If you look hard enough you will find a few places that will give you content to use. It may not be the greatest quality but it will be free and with no strings.

Learn more…

HBNezine... Home Biz News & Tips... Receive weekly up-to-date powerful strategies to outsmart, out market and outsell even your toughest competition. Learn how to drive traffic to your website and explode your sales.  You don't want to miss this ezine... A must read! Receive 4 FREE gifts when you subscribe! mailto:HBNezine-3@smartprosystems.com http://www.homebizniche.com/hbnezine.htm

Copyright 2006 – Ken Mathie. Editor HBNezine... You are free to reproduce this article as long as no changes are made, the author's name is retained and the link to our site URL remains active.