An Ezine Publishers Survival Guide
By Shelley Lowery
Posted Monday, August 16, 2004
Are you publishing an email newsletter? If you are then you probably already know all of the great benefits, but for those who aren't, you really should be. If you're serious about your Internet presence, having your own publication will help you build a huge database of targeted customers. Studies have shown, it may take several contacts with a prospective customer before closing a sale. What better way to make those contacts and close those sales then by having a complete list of targeted potential customers ready and waiting. In addition, you can eventually make a nice income selling sponsor advertising and classified ads.
Survival Guide for a Successful Online Publication
Provide your readers with the quality content they're looking for. A quality e-zine should contain at least some original content, but it is also a good idea to have some additional resources available. Before using any articles, make sure you review the author's copyrights and make certain the article may be published. If you're not sure, contact the author and request permission to publish their article. Most articles for publication can be used in your e-zine free of charge as long as the authors credits or resource box is included.
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- Free Content -
-------------------
Article Announce - Writer & Publisher Exchange
(http://www.web-source.net/article-announce)
Subscribe: mailto:article_announce-subscribe@egroups.com
E-ZineZ.com -
(http://www.e-zinez.com/)
Marketing & Advertising Supersite -
(http://drnunley.com/)
BizWeb2000 -
(http://bizweb2000.com/articles.htm)
Success Doctor -
(http://success-doctor.com/archive.htm)
IdeaMarketers -
(http://www.ideamarketers.com/)
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In order to gain new subscribers for your publication, you must continuously promote it. There are many sites on the Internet that will list your e-zine free of charge.
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- Listing Sites -
-----------------
eZINESearch -
(http://www.site-city.com/members/e-zine-master/)
EzineSeek -
(http://www.ezineseek.com)
E-ZineZ.com -
(http://www.e-zinez.com/)
Flying Inkpot's Zine Scene -
(http://www.inkpot.com/zines)
John Labovitz's ezine-list -
(http://www.meer.net/~johnl/e-zine-list/)
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A discussion list is a group of individuals who have mutually subscribed to receive posts from other individuals on the same email list. Discussion lists provide a great way of communicating with other people with the same interests. Although blatant advertising is prohibited, signature lines (sig files) are acceptable. Include your e-zine subscription information in your sig file.
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- Email Discussion Lists -
----------------------------
zine-talk
(http://www.infojump.com/publishers/res/zine-talk.html)
epub
(http://www.onelist.com/viewarchive.cgi?listname-epub)
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Subscribe to these wonderful publications for a wealth of quality information to assist you in all aspects of publishing your e-zine.
----------------------------
- E-zines about E-zines -
----------------------------
Article Announce - Writer & Publisher Exchange
(http://www.web-source.net/article-announce)
Subscribe - mailto:article_announce-subscribe@egroups.com
Writers & Publishers Connection
subscribe - mailto:writers98@aol.com
Ezines - Publishing & Promotion
(http://www.ezine-publishing.com/newsnet/archives.htm)
Ezine-Tips
(http://Ezine-Tips.com)
Writers & Publishers Online
subscribe - mailto:wpo-on@mail-list.com
The List-City Report - The Ezine on Ezine advertising
subscribe- mailto:listcity-on@mail-list.com
Zine Roundup - News from other 'zines
subscribe- mailto:zine-on@mail-list.com
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Announcement Lists provide a great way to announce your new publication to their entire list of subscribers. Subscribe to these email lists to announce your e-zine. Make sure you review their posting guidelines prior to making your posts. Look through some of the other posts to get an idea of how your post should look.
---------------------------
- Announcement Lists -
---------------------------
New List - Announcement list for new e-zines.
(http://www.scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/new-list/)
AAnnounce
(http://www.onelist.com/viewarchive.cgi?listname=-AAnnounce)
NewJour List
(http://gort.ucsd.edu/newjour/subscribe.html)
Promote
(http://www.mail-co.com/promote.htm)
New-List.com
(http://New-List.com/)
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A discussion Forum is threaded discussion on a web or message board. This is a great way to get your name out into the Internet community and make some new friends and/or customers. Although blatant advertising is prohibited, signature lines are acceptable.
-------------------------
- Discussion Forums -
-------------------------
We Talk Zines!
(http://www.ezine-publishing.com/bbs)
EzineSeek - Email Publishers Forum
(http://www.ezineseek.com/forum/index.cgi)
Biz-Gold Discussion Board
(http://www.profitinfo.com/discuss/marketing/)
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Webrings are groups of sites with similar content all linked together to exchange traffic. If you don't have a web site for your publication, you definitely need to get one. Having your own site will enable you to give your visitors an in depths look at exactly what your publication is all about. You can include highlights of upcoming issues, polls, archives and a subscription box to enable your visitors to easily subscribe. When you've gotten your site set up, you can join a webring and benefit from all the traffic you'll receive from the other sites in your group.
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- E-zine Webrings -
-----------------------
E-zine Webring -
(http://ezinewebring.hypermart.net/)
ZinesOnline Webring -
(http://members.tripod.com/adm/popup/roadmap.shtml)
World Of Newsletters Webring -
(http://bizx.com/newsletter_ring.html)
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Trading Ads with fellow publishers is one of the best ways to build your subscriber base. It's as simple as it sounds. You simply contact the publisher you're interested in exchanging ads with and ask them if they would be interested in an ad exchange. If they're interested, you would then run a classified ad promoting their e-zine in your publication in exchange for them running your classified ad, all completely free. Here are some great resources to assist you in the process.
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- Ad Trading -
-----------------
Ezine Publisher Trade List
(http://www.bizpromo.com/ezinetrades.htm)
Media Peak - AdSwap
(http://www.mediapeak.com)
E-ZineZ Ad Exchange
(http://www.e-zinez.com/classpro/viewads.html)
Publishers' Business Exchange
(http://www.cashconnection.com/publisherssite.htm)
I-Barter
(http://www.i-barter.com)
Free Barter Exchange
(http://www.loska.com/barter)
Ezine-Swap
(http://www.promotefree.com/eswap.htm)
Subscribe: mailto:ezine-swap-sub@promotefree.com
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Participate in newsgroup discussions. As with most discussion lists or groups, blatant advertising is prohibited, but sig files are acceptable. Before posting to any newsgroup, read the groups policies and review other posts to give you an idea of how your post should look.
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- Newsgroups -
------------------
alt.zines
alt.ezines
alt.etext
alt.binaries.zines
comp.infosystems.www.announce -
(Read FAQ prior to submission)
(http://www.sangfroid.com/charter.html)
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Winning awards is a great way to build your subscription base. Stop by any of the following sites and submit your publication for a possible award.
----------------------------------
- E-zine Awards & Reviews -
----------------------------------
Best Ezines
(http://www.bestezines.com)
Techmailings List of the day
(http://www.techmailings.com)
Choice Ezine Award
(http://ezineseek.com/award/index.html)
E-ZineZ Excellence Award
(http://www.e-zinez.com/eaward.htm)
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Write a press release and tell the world about your publication. If you're not comfortable with writing your own press release, Dr. Kevin Nunley will write it for you at a very reasonable price.
(http://www.drnunley.com/)
Visit any of the following sites to send out your press release.
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- Press Release -
--------------------
Gebbie Press -
(http://www.gebbieinc.com/)
Press Promoter -
(http://www.presspromoter.com/)
Press Release Network -
(http://www.pressreleasenetwork.com/index1.html)
PRWeb -
(http://www.prweb.com)
Internet Wire -
(http://www.internetwire.com/)
BBL Internet Media -
(http://bblmedia.com/)
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Don't forget about offline promotions. There are still millions of people around the world who aren't online. Place your ads in newspapers, magazines, etc.
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- Offline Promotions -
-------------------------
Gebbie Press -
(http://www.gebbieinc.com/)
NewsDirectory Newspapers -
(http://www.ecola.com/news/press/)
Newspapers Online -
(http://www.newspapers.com/)
This guide is just a small example of e-zine publishing and promotion. For a complete e-zine tutorial with hundreds of resources, download the free e-book entitled, "E-zines: A Complete Guide to Publishing." This free e-book received a 4-star Editors Pick from ZDNet.
About the Author
Shelley Lowery is the Webmistress of Web Source - Your Guide to Professional Website Design and Development. Join The Syndicator, our new, free article syndication program and display complete articles w/photographs on your website that are automatically updated each week. (http://www.web-source.net)
