What is an Ezine, Part 1

By Terri Seymour
Posted Thursday, August 5, 2004

I have been on the Internet for 3 years and have been asked this question numerous times. I also did not know what an ezine was when I first came aboard. I will attempt with this article to explain what an ezine is and why it is so important for your online business.

First of all, an ezine is an electronic newsletter sent out by email at intervals of your choice to a list of subscribers. The ezine can deal with many subjects depending on what your business deals with. There are ezines on how to publish an ezine, how to run an online business, how to build websites, decorating your home and so on.

Ezines can and should contain lots of helpful information and resources for your subscribers. You also want to reserve room for a few paid ads, but to no overdo with the ads. I would say from three to five ads is plenty. There are also solo mailing ads which are mailed out as a separate mailing. Usually one or two of these a week is sufficient. These are the most popular of ads amongst advertisers.

Ezines are very important to your business because they allow you to keep in contact with your potential customers
and advertisers. Providing a good ezine with effective content can also build your credibility and also your reputation. Along with good content you can also promote your products and services. In essence, the ezine is the lifeline between your prospects and your business.

Publishing an ezine is not as hard as you might think. The first thing you might want to do is design the template. Take a look at this example: (http://www.websuccesscentral.com/ezinesuccess/part1.html)

Always keep a template saved on disk and on your computer for easy use. Each issue of your ezine can then be fitted into the template saving you LOTS of time. Keep all general information such as subscribe information, title and publisher, privacy policy and so on in the template at all times to save more time.

When you first start your ezine you can choose to manage the list yourself, use a free list manager such as Yahoogroups or Topica, purchase list manager software or use a paid list management service. I personally recommend starting out with a free service such as Yahoogroups. I started with them when it was still Onelist a few years ago and have never had any serious problems. They inform you when a person subscribes or unsubscribes, distribute your ezine to your entire list, send out a welcome and goodbye message of your choice and more. If you would like to have a look visit (http://www.yahoogroups.com)

Finding a list manager and designing your template are just the beginning steps. In Part 2, I will explain ways of promoting your ezine and how to get subscribers for FREE. I know when I first started Web Success, I was on a zero budget and through experience learned how to build my business for free. That is one of the wonders of the Internet. You can start, build and run your own business for very little capital.

What it does take is commitment, time, work and passion for what you are doing. Although the road may be long, the journey is an experience I would not want to miss!

Join me next week in Part 2 for promoting your ezine and building your subscriber base.

About the Author
Terri Seymour helps people start or build their online business by providing resources, tools, guidance and more. You can contact her at mailto:ter02@newnorth.net or visit (http://www.websuccesscentral.com) Subscribe to Web Success mailto:web-success-subscribe@egroups.com Download her new ebook loaded with updated resources, tips, links, and information. (http://www.websuccesscentral.com/data/tipsws.exe)