Challenges
to
Publishing
an Ezine
The
biggest challenge with email marketing
is the collection and maintenance of email
addresses. To have a successful email
campaign you need to qualify your email
addresses and ensure you have your customer’s
permission to use their address - otherwise
the long-term costs could negatively impact
your business success.
Qualify
How can you ensure an email address on
your list belongs to a particular person?
How can you ensure the email address is
correct? When you compose a list of email
addresses it is necessary to qualify each
one. There are many techniques to test
the quality of the addresses you gather.
For instance, you may send an automatic
email telling the customer that they have
been added to your mail list and ask them
to confirm their acceptance. Or, you can
have the customer provide their address
twice to reduce entry mistakes.
Inform and Gain Permission
Adding email addresses to your customer
files requires that you inform customers
on how you plan to use their address and
obtain permission to do it. If you do
not follow this process, the long-term
results could result in lawsuits, and
wasted marketing dollars trying to reach
people who do not want to receive your
messages. You may also be labeled a ‘spammer’,
which can affect your business reputation
and image.
Maintain Lists
Email addresses are perishable pieces
of information. What may be the correct
email address for a customer one day may
be different the next. According to NFO
Research Group (2000), 32 percent of consumers
change their email address each year.
Therefore, it is important to ensure you
maintain contact with customers and provide
then with easy methods to update their
address. It is also important to re-establish
email purposes. For instance, if the customer
has agreed to accept information on product
sales, this does not mean they are open
to accepting other forms of communication,
such as a newsletter. You will need to
re-affirm what your customers have agreed
to accept so you do not anger them or
risk jeopardizing your company image.
What will it cost to publish my Ezine?
The cost of producing an Ezine varies
widely; depending on how much of it you
do yourself and how much you rely on outside
sources. Discounting the cost of Internet
connection and web hosting you should
be able, at the outset, to keep the costs
to a bare minimum. You can always add
services as you progress and learn more
about the processes and start fine tuning
your program.
There are three basic methods to manage
your list and mail your Ezine.
1. Do It Yourself - here's a source to
check out
E-ZINEZ.COM
2. Use a Free ListServer Service
YahooGroups -eGroups/OneList
3.
Hire a Professional List Host
Vertical Response
Mailloop
Topica
My Ezine's Name and Focus
The name of your Ezine is one of the most
important decisions you will make. Try
to create a simple, but easy to remember
name. One that will reinforce the subject
matter you are going to write about and
promote. Many Ezine publishers create
a “slogan” or “catchy
phrase” to capture potential readers’
attention. While this has its benefits
don’t get too cute. You don’t
want to confuse people and leave them
unsure as to what it is you are writing
about and what benefit it will be to them
to read it. Always keep in mind there
hundreds of thousands of ezines published
so you have to make yours stand out to
be noticed.
When you have chosen a topic, research
your competitors to see what they offer.
And also research what it is your target
audience wants to know. Talk to you customers
to find out what they really need; don't
just assume. Whatever you write your email
newsletter about, it must absolutely and
clearly benefit your customer somehow;
otherwise, it'll be dropped into the email
trash can quicker than a promotion for
Viagra.
With this information you can then create
subject categories and list them chronologically
in a reader-friendly format. People won’t
search too long for information. If it
is not readily available they will move
on. And you’ve lost them.
Knowing what particular theme you are
going to feature makes you content search
a little easier. Even if you feature multiple
categories in your Ezine there are literally
thousands of sources on the Internet to
find relevant articles. Of course writing
your own articles is important as it will
create and identity and promote your own
credibility. Most importantly you want
to develop a trusting relationship with
your readers. This is the sure way to
a profitable online business.
Your ability to solve a problem for someone
or to meet a need is of prime importance.
Will it save them time? Make them money?
Entertain them? Or, inform and educate
them?
Again, the strategy for writing an Ezine
is no different than for starting a business.
What you write needs to be something that
your competition is not doing, or is significantly
better than your competition. You must
deliver a "Unique Selling Position."
Use the search engines to start researching
your content, look up the highest rated
keywords and start assembling information.
Bookmark the sites of interest and create
a file to keep all your information together
in one place.
After a while you’ll be amazed at
how much information you have gathered.
Read it and filter through it to compact
it into clear, concise, to the point content.
Don’t rely solely on the Internet
for your research and information. Take
a look, depending on your theme, at what
is around you. It may be medical, educational,
social or associations that can supply
quality case studies, research, experiment
or repots that you can incorporate in
your articles.
The bottom line is to write an email newsletter
that delivers substantial value to both
your customers and your company.
