How
To Build An Ezine List
Here
are tips gleaned from roughly 5
years spent building up an ezine
list. I've also incorporated comments
and tips from Jenna Glatzer, who
successfully built her list up to
75,000 at her excellent site, www.absolutewrite.com
1.
Free Stuff. Pick genuinely useful
free stuff that you know your audience
wants and needs. For instance, my
brand new ezine, Expert Status,
attracted 600 readers in just a
few weeks by offering a report,
"25 Top Self Help Literary
Agents". The practical freebie
works. Jenna Glatzer offers two
free ebooks/reports to subscribers
on agents who are receptive to new
writers, and on writer's markets.
She notes: "Before I did that,
my subscriber numbers were in the
hundreds, not thousands.
2.
Put a subscribe box on every page
of the site. This has worked for
both Jenna and me. Mine is parked
in the left hand column of the site.
Experts advise putting a simple
sign up box (with freebie mentioned)
in the top left hand corner, as
that's where the eye naturally travels
first. A simple sign up box that
requests only email address works
best.
3.
Ad swaps. Exchange plugs for your
ezine with another website, to run
in eachother's ezines. Be sure to
mention those freebies! Doing this
on a regular basis with a rotating
selection of web partners will keep
your subscription page busy.
4.
Cross-registration. I've found subscribers
by having a plug for my ezine on
the thank you page of a comparable
(but not directly competitive) website.
This offer is made to folks who
just signed up for an ezine, and
are therefore deemed 'in the mood
for more.' Offer a swap with your
site, and try not to list more than
about two other ezines. Also, make
a point of including only really
good, reliable publications that
reach your target market.
5.
Give away a bonus for other sites
to use, based on your ezine. A popular
web marketing technique is the special
one or two-day promo that offers
big bonus lists when you buy a certain
product on those particular days.
(I cover this promo technique in
more detail in my ebook/binder,
Get Known Now; How to Build Your
Platform as a Self Help Expert.)
So collect some of your best ezine
essays, pack 'em up in a downloadable
PDF-based e-book, and offer it as
a bonus these sites can use in their
special promos. Don't forget juicy
descriptive copy about your ezine,
and a subscribe link at the end
of your ebook. I've gotten hundreds
of new readers this way, and much
traffic to my site.
6.
Announce ezine 'events' on PRweb.com
and other PR sites. There's an entire
world of web-based press release
distribution services out there,
some of which are low cost or even
free. So use them. But be sure to
only plant press releases that are
truly newsworthy, and thus likely
to get press attention. Even if
the media don't use your words this
time, they'll hopefully file you
as an expert for future use.
7.
Use discussion boards or groups.
These are sites frequented by gangs
of people interested in the same
thing. Avoid the unmoderated sites,
because they're likely to be spam
targets that generate little bonafide
traffic. Boards found on member
sites are the best. Don't spam the
board with your subscribe message.
Instead, offer some genuinely helpful
info. Then sign off with a signature
line that includes ezine and subscribe
info. You can find some of these
groups at groups.yahoo.com, topica.com,
mail-list.com, and listfool.com
for starters.
8.
Sponsor other people's contests.
Jenna Glatzer gives away products
like her paid newsletter, Absolute
Markets Premium Newsletter, to writers'
groups, contests, and conferences
that request it, regardless of size.
I've tried this too, to good effect.
Simply run an announcement in your
ezine that you'd be happy to sponsor
comparable events. Ask them to provide
a URL for an event description so
you know it's legit. Then offer
up your gifts, and ask for a plug
for your ezine and for them to talk
up your dazzling freebie, as well.
Jenna notes that groups she sponsors
"often send out ads for us
to their lists ? just as a thank
you."
9.
Run quality content. There's no
substitute for heartfelt writing
plus solid information about a subject
that matters. Jenna writes: 'The
main reason our list stays so big
is our 'letter from the editor'
? Each week, I chronicle my writing
life and my triumphs and failures
? when an article is killed, when
I'm having trouble finishing a book
? And I share personal things, too,
like when my grandfather died?.
People write: ' I feel like I know
you so well.' And I think that's
why they stay on the list, even
when their mailbox fills up with
dozens of other writer's newsletters.
10.
Allow reprints. Allow any newsletter
that wants to reprint your articles
do so. I like to have an email requesting
permission, so I can enter their
info into a big database I use to
track where I can send more articles
in the future. I end each article
with the line: You may reprint this
article in your own ezine or website.
Simply send an email requesting
permission to EMAIL ADDRESS. Please
be sure to include our full bio
box at the end.
11.
Create a survey or contest. This
would be one of those newsworthy
'ezine events' I mentioned above
in point # 6. Make it a fun, relevant
question that you could really develop
a good, newsy story from. I did
a survey asking people what they
fought with their spouse/partner/boy
or girlfriend about. The results
made for the kind of reading offline
media enjoy running short, 100-word
pieces about (fillers.) I made sure
to attribute the survey to my ezine,
The Joy Letter, with a mention of
the site's basic URL. You can get
the technology to run your own survey
and collect responses at surveymonkey.com
(for a fee) or bravenet.com (for
free.)
The
possibilities seem to be endless.
If you try even half of these techniques
on a regular basis, you'll find
your subscriber rates double and
even triple. Here's to building
your list ? the foundation that
much of your traffic and success
rely on.
