7 Ways To Fail At Ezine Publishing
By Jason Potash
Posted Thursday, January 13, 2005
Are you looking to build a successful ezine?
If you're destined to fail at ezine publishing, take note of the following 7 points. How many of these mistakes are you making right now?
1. Don't collect names from your website(s)
Are you familiar with pop-ups? Some hate them, some love them, some feel that they are intrusive and annoying. Bottom line, they bring in subscribers. So why wouldn't you use them?
There are a number of resources for pop-up scripts online. Go to Google.com and type in "pop-up scripts". If you're a non-techie, here's a good affordable pop-up system that can be auto-configured for you in less than 8 minutes:
(http://www.ezineannouncer.com/oia.html)
AOL Click Here
2. Don't personally connect with your audience
There's nothing worse than a dull, boring, "plain jane" ezine. Readers want to know the *real* you. If you have any hobbies or interests, tell your readers. If you're a big Chicago Cubs fan, let your readers know. But use your head and keep it in context.
3. Don't publish *fresh* content
Keep your content fresh. Don't use the same old articles that have been kicking around online for 8 months. It's disappointing to your readers and they'll quickly lose interest (or worse, unsubscribe!).
4. Don't tell your readers what to do
If you don't tell your readers what to do, they'll do exactly that -- nothing!
Send your readers to a webpage. Recommend that they buy a product that you personally endorse. Suggest that they sign up for a free report. Ask them to pass along your ezine to their friends, associates, etc.
If you provide quality content and personally connect with your readers, they already trust you. When this happens, many of them will immediately act on your recommendations.
5. Don't personalize your email communications
If your e-mail software cannot personalize hundreds of outgoing emails automatically, get one that can. Nothing spells "mass-mailing" more than starting an email with, "Dear Internet Friend".
Alternatively, you can utilize a good autoresponder to do the trick.
Here's an autoresponder service that I've been very pleased with. Oddly enough, they're also the least expensive:
(http://www.demandmail.com/cgi-bin/assoc/c.cgi/ezineann)
AOL Click Here
6. Don't sell products to your readers
Are you planning to make money with your ezine? If not, you're going to lose motivation real fast. No one likes working for free -- unless you're doing volunteer work where there are greater rewards than making money.
The answer? Affiliate programs. The best part is, you can begin selling products right now at no cost to you. Did you notice the affiliate products mentioned within this article? ;-)
There are probably a dozen products that would be of benefit to your readers. Gardeners, car enthusiasts, computer programmers .. you can find all the products you need by visiting a few popular Affiliate program directories.
7. Don't promote your ezine
If your ezine marketing strategy is -- "go crazy" for 3 days and then kick back and relax, you're destined for failure. Ezine publishing requires constant nurturing to grow. You're not going to build an ezine with 15,000 subscribers by playing bingo three nights a week.
Here's a handy tool that helps automate the time consuming process of promoting your ezine:
(http://www.ezineannouncer.com)
So there you have it. 7 ways to avoid *failure* as an ezine publisher. Put these proven ideas into motion and you're sure to improve the success of your ezine.
About the Author
Jason Potash, the creator of EzineAnnouncer software, makes it easy to put your ezine and article promotion on auto-pilot. Just click-and-submit to over 1600 sites! Click here for details: (http://www.ezineannouncer.com)
