>>> This article from The Ezine Marketing Center is one of
>>> a tutorial series about ezine publishing. To read more
>>> on this topic, go to http://www.EzineMarketingCenter.com
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THE TOP SEVEN MISTAKES NEWBIE EZINE PUBLISHERS MAKE
... AND HOW YOU CAN AVOID THEM
By Dr.Mani Sivasubramanian
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Today the incredible effectiveness of ezine marketing in
promoting online business is an open secret. It has also
become extremely easy to publish an ezine. And so any self-
respecting e-businessperson has one.
With literally thousands of email newsletters clamouring for
readers' attention, it takes something extra-special to get
your subscriber's interest - and retain it long enough to sell
them your product or service. Mistakes won't be tolerated.
And you won't often get a second chance to impress.
In this highly competitive online business environment, let's
take a look at some common mistakes newbie ezine publishers
make - and see how you can avoid falling into the same traps.
>>> Mistake 1 - Not planning or setting goals
It's a mad rush right from the start. After reading so much
about how important an ezine was in promoting her new Internet
business - and discovering that publishing one is a piece of
cake - Jane 'went right out and did it'. But after a month or
two, she is drifting aimlessly.
The reason - she doesn't have any way to assess the success of
her e-publishing efforts. Is 20 new subscribers a week good?
Or bad? With 15 sales last month from her 1250 ezine readers,
is her conversion rate average? Below? Or above? More
importantly, where does she go from here?
Solution - Stop and plan before surging ahead. Decide what
your aim in publishing an ezine is. If your primary goal is
to sell to your readers, the numbers that are important are
your sales conversion rates, profitability and responsiveness
of your ezine's audience. If you want to extend your brand
awareness, subscriber growth is the parameter to watch.
Lesson No.1 - Set goals and targets first.
>>> Mistake 2 - Not selecting the right publishing frequency
In a fit of optimism John decided he would publish a weekly
newsletter. It was fun and frolic for the first few issues.
But then John found he was falling behind. He had under-
estimated the effort each ezine edition would involve.
Now that his business was growing, he couldn't devote as much
time to his ezine. Soon he was forced to delay his weekly
edition by a day or two. Or more.
Solution - Make a reasonable estimate of the time and effort
you will put into your ezine. Try creating a few issues to
get a feel for the process. Then choose a relaxing schedule.
If you think you can publish a weekly ezine, go for a monthly
or fortnightly one at first. If you think you're ready for
daily editions, begin with a weekly.
Lesson No.2 - Make reasonable estimates - and begin with a
convenient schedule.
>>> Mistake 3 - Not insisting on double opt-in subscription
methods
Jane wanted more subscribers. And she wanted them quickly.
Surfing the 'Net, she found a service that offered to 'sell'
her 1000 ezine subscribers for just 30 cents each - guaranteed.
Jane leaped at the deal before looking into the details.
And got bitten. The email addresses that she was sold had
been 'harvested' from websites and newsgroups - without the
knowledge of the owners. Furious at being 'spammed', many
sent her nasty email complaints. And one even reported to
her ISP, which threatened to shut down her email account!
Jane had a lot of explaining and apologizing to do.
Solution - Always get your reader's permission before sending
them your ezine. To make absolutely sure you don't get blamed,
ask them TWICE. This process, called 'double opt-in' is
standard practice with ethical ezine publishers. When
potential new subscribers sign-up for your ezine, they are sent
a confirmation message. Only when they reply to this message
- thereby accepting your offer - will their subscription
commence. It is also good practice to keep a copy of this
reply on record, in case of future problems.
Lesson No.3 - Insist on a 'double-opt in' subscribing process.
Keep all requests on file.
>>> Mistake 4 - Publishing in 'HTML-only' format
John liked flashy, colorful email. With his always-on Internet
connection and latest email programs, HTML-email looked great.
So he published his ezine in HTML format.
The problem was that many of his readers lived outside the U.S.
They had slow dial-up connections and old email clients.
John's ezine took them ages to download - and they could only
see meaningless HTML code in their email viewer. Not
surprisingly, they asked to be removed from his ezine list.
Hundreds of potential customers were lost.
Solution - Know your audience, their capacity and requirements.
If most of your readers don't need - or want - HTML ezines,
publish a 'text-only' version for them. And give them the
option of selecting one.
Lesson No.4 - Publish in both 'text' and 'HTML' formats. Give
customers a choice.
>>> Mistake 5 - Not planning for explosive growth
A great ezine can grow very rapidly. Readers will recommend
your ezine to friends. In an amazingly short time, you could
have thousands of readers. By not planning for such growth,
you will miss out on many opportunities.
Solution - Imagine a scenario where your ezine has 5000
readers. How will you market your business to them? Now
imagine this number growing to 50,000 subscribers. What
would you do differently? What tactics and strategies, offers
and discounts, co-marketing and joint venture deals will you
put together?
Lesson No.5 - Set the substrate in place - so you can move
fast when the time comes.
>>> Mistake 6 - Not automating everything
When your ezine has a few hundred subscribers, handling
administrative duties manually is easy. But once this number
grows to thousands, you could get bogged down with these tasks.
This leaves you with less time to do what matters - marketing
and growing your business, launching new products.
Solution - Automate everything - right from the start. From
the very first subscriber-contact (sign-up request) until the
last (unsubscribe request), all administrative tasks can be
set on auto-pilot using software and technology. Auto-
responders, database mining, mail-merging and powerful software
programs can leave you, the ezine publisher, free to
concentrate on important issues.
Lesson No.6 - Take advantage of technology. Make things
easier on yourself with automation.
>>> Mistake 7 - Not optimizing ezine profitability
It is the rare ezine publisher who can look back a year after
launching his/her ezine and say "There's nothing I would have
done differently". And more often than not, the regrets are
about not making the most profit out of their efforts.
Ezine publishing throws up numerous revenue streams.
Advertising, sponsorships, direct and indirect sales, paid-
subscriptions and joint venture partnerships are just a few
of the ways ezine owners can make money. But in many cases,
owners are unaware of the power of their ezine as a marketing
and profiting tool.
Solution - Invest time and effort in learning about ezine
promotion and profiting from the various online resources and
books, like Newsletter Coach and Ezine Tactics.
Lesson - The more you learn, the better your leverage.
Make no mistake ! Your ezine's profitability will skyrocket.
Good luck.
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Dr.Mani Sivasubramanian
Ezine Marketing Center
http://www.EzineMarketingCenter.com
If you find the information you have just read valuable, you
may be interested in a new book called "Ezine Launch - Tips,
Tricks and Secrets to Publishing a Killer Ezine". It is
written by Dr.Mani Sivasubramanian and can be seen at
http://www.EzineLaunch.com
You'll discover hundreds of 'insider' secrets about all aspects
of ezine publishing and marketing. It covers many topics
including how to save money creating your ezine, how to save
time by putting it on autopilot, how to find valuable content
or get people to write for you for free, how to attract
thousands of subscribers and market to them through your ezine.
It is a "must read" if you own an Internet business, or plan
to soon.
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