Starter Guide to Ezine Publishing

By Eva Almeida
Posted Wednesday, August 18, 2004

As a fellow ezine publisher, I realize the importance of ezine publishing for promoting your site or products, but also as a vehicle for increasing your professionalism and credibility online. Here is some advice and valuable ezine resources to give your ezine a needed "makeover", additional
content, or a unique edge!

1. CHOOSE AN APPROPRIATE TOPIC AND NAME:

Choose a topic that interests you and that you know a fair bit about; then think of a catchy name to reflect your topic. If you can't think of a good name, ask others that you know for ideas or check out ezine directories for some ideas (don't copy exact names.) Many ezines have endings such as "Newsletter", "Gazette", "Digest", "Ezine", "Journal", "Informer", or even "Advisor." Match the content of your ezine to a descriptive name that will tell your potential subscribers what your publication is about.

It may be a good idea to register your new ezine an ISSN (International Standard Serial Number) for free at: (http://www.issn.org)

2. DESIGN YOUR NEWSLETTER:

A great template that I have used to help create my own newsletter can be accessed by sending a blank email message to . You can then customize it to fit the topics you want to discuss.

Another set of free hand-crafted ezine templates are available from Marie Williams. You can choose from a range of five of her designs, including full instructions: mailto:freetemplate@writead.com

Use a text editor such as the Textpad, (http://www.textpad.com) to format your newsletter and write your articles. Remember to use hard returns after 60 to 65 characters for each line to make it readable in the majority of email programs. You can choose any length for your newsletter, but anything over approximately 20-25 Kb will be sent as an attachment to your AOL subscribers.

*-----------------HOT TIP------------------*
Free Ezine Handbook eBook by Kate Shultz (http://www.free-ebooks.net/ebook/handbook.exe)
More eBooks at (http://www.free-ebooks.net)
*-----------------HOT TIP------------------*

3. FIND OR DEVELOP USEFUL CONTENT:

Try to write your own articles and then use guest articles only to complement your own original creations. Look for quality articles to publish at the following sites:

(http://www.inkspot.com) ~ Comprehensive writer's resource
(http://www.ideamarketers.com) ~ Excellent articles
(http://www.ezinearticles.com) ~ New and growing resource
(http://refdesk.com) ~ To dazzle your readers with facts
(http://www.onelist.com/group/Free-Content) ~ Great Content
(http://www.reportsearch.com) ~ Search engine for reports/articles
(http://www.mediapeak.com) ~ Free content to online publishers
(http://www.dealconsulting.com/faq/wp16.html) ~ Writers/Publishers
(http://www.web-source.net/web/Articles_For_Publication)

4. PUBLISH YOUR EZINE:

After you have the prepared your new ezine, you need the software or listhost to publish it. There are many possible ways you can do this from email software to the premium service listhosting. Visit (http://www.list-resources.com) for an extensive list of hosting options such as the most popular free services:

(http://www.onelist.com) or (http://www.egroups.com) (merged)
(http://www.listbot.com) or (http://www.topica.com)

QUICK TIP==> I noticed a higher response to my ezine when I included a catchy headline for each issue such as: Create A Winning Web Design! - The Marketing Edge Tip-Zine Instead of: The Marketing Edge Tip-Zine, Vol. 1, Issue 12

5. ONLINE SUBSCRIPTION:

I highly recommend trying "The Master Subscriber Series" of forms at . I use them on my site and they work exceptionally well for my joint ventures with other ezine publishers. See my example at:
(http://www.ebooksnbytes.com/ezines.html)

You can also use it for your own forms for free list services so that your new subscribers won't have to leave your site to subscribe, plus they can subscribe to ALL your newsletters from one convenient form.

6. FEEDBACK

Once you have published your first issue, don't forget to ask for feedback... you may be pleased or surprised with the answers you receive!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Eva Almeida is the publisher of The Marketing Edge Tip-Zine. On-going tutorials focusing on marketing tips and strategies. Subscribe by sending a blank email to: mailto:freeinfoclub-subscribe@listbot.com
(http://www.marketingedgetips.com/?track_ezart)