Ask Mr. D - Ezine Circulation

By Bill Daugherty
Posted Friday, January 14, 2005

Dear Mr. D,

Recently I started a new weekly ezine, which I publish every Wednesday. I'm using a list management company that automatically handle the subscribe and unsubscribe requests.

Here's my question: Initially my circulation was growing nicely, but all of a sudden it has started to shrink. What's going on? How can I turn this thing
around.

Sincerely,

Shrinking list

_____________________

Dear Shrinking List,

You will lose some subscribers through normal attrition. Some will just lose interest in the subject material of your publication. Some will change email address, but forget to notify you, etc. There's not much you can do about these types of lost subscribers. You just have to market your ezine enough to make up for these dropouts.

But, there are several other reasons why a subscriber chooses to unsubscribe from an ezine that you can prevent by taking a good objective look at your publication. Check out these subscriber killers.

1. More ads than content.

2. Boring content.

3. Poorly written content.

4. Content not targeted to your subscriber base.

5. Poorly formatted - visually hard to read.

You need to check your ezine for these subscriber turnoffs and correct any that apply. Above all keep marketing your publication. That should turn your situation around.

Best wishes,

Mr. D

About the Author
Bill Daugherty. Do you have an advertising or marketing question you'd like to see published in this column? Send it to mailto:MrD@epm.zzn.com You can visit Mr. D's website at: (http://www.freeadsgalore.com)