13 ways to a build a list of readers of your ezine
by Joop Liefaard
If you have an ezine or online newsletter you want to send it to potential customers. In order to send it you need a list of people who want to receive it. This article is about how you build a list of subscribers to your ezine. There are many ways to approach people and ask them to join your list. Because that is what it is all about.
Building your listWhat is already available?Maybe your business exists for some time and you have already customers. Add them to your list. If you have salesmen or -women in your staff (in case part of your business is off-line), ask them about their contacts as well. Check business cards and business correspondence (bills, invoices etc.).
A form on your web site.Place a form on your web site where visitors can subscribe to your ezine. You can find the html code for a form on the internet and often your web host company offers forms for free.
Ezine directoriesEzine directories are a great place for you to promote your ezine. There are ezine categories for any kind of business. Before you submit your ezine you have to make a description of it. The description has to be short and compelling and reflect what your ezine is about. Search in an ezine directory for ezines like yours and read the descriptions. This gives you an idea about how the description should be. You find ezine directories by searching in e.g. Google with the search words ezine directories
Online advertisingPlace ads online to promote your ezine.
Announcement ListsAnnouncements Lists are email lists where publishers can announce their ezine. Every list has some rules you have to follow before announcing, like name of the ezine, circulation, a short description, age category, where to subscribe etc. You also have to subscribe to the group before you can post.
Offline advertisingPlace ads about your ezine in magazines, journals etc., that are related to your business and promote your ezine or online newsletter there. If you sell products about dog food, you may advertise your ezine in magazines and trade journals about dogs. You can also place a small ad in the pets section of your local newspaper and the pet store.
FlyersDistribute flyers at busy traffic points in your city or at markets, related to your business.
Business cardMention your ezine and the subscribe email address on your business card.
Free AdsOffer space for free ads. This attracts subscribers. If you consider doing this, don't forget to include this option in the description of your ezine. When potential subscribers search the directories they can see that you offer space for free ads.
Signatures filesInclude at the end of your outgoing emails a short message about your ezine. Mention in the sig file where they can find your ezine and how they can subscribe. Don't forget to include the sig file also in your replies to emails.
Ad SwapsOffer colleague publishers space for an ad in which he promotes his eziner. In return you can advertise your own ezine in his. Make for this purpose a compelling ad. The description of your ezine can be a guide for this.
Ad Co-opsAn ad co-op means that you place ads that are delivered to you by an intermediate. A person who offers ad space on the net. You place the ads he acquires and in return you can add the email address of the person who advertises to your list.
Ad co-ops contribute a great deal in building your list and you will see a rapid grow but the subscribers are not always the subscribers you want. The importance is often exaggerated.
RecommendationAsk your subscribers to recommend your ezine to family, friends, acquaintances, colleagues, business relations etc. You can e.g. put a small form in your ezine where subscribers can enter the email address of friends, family etc.
In closingAs you see... there are many ways to promote your ezine and build a list. When you do a brainstorm session you may even find more.
Joop Liefaard uses his experience as a human resources manager to help home business owners to better organize themselves and their enterprises. Visit his website at
http://www.compazz.comfor information about home business opportunities and resources.
| DISCLAIMER: The content provided in this article is not warranted or guaranteed by Developer Shed, Inc. The content provided is intended for entertainment and/or educational purposes in order to introduce to the reader key ideas, concepts, and/or product reviews. As such it is incumbent upon the reader to employ real-world tactics for security and implementation of best practices. We are not liable for any negative consequences that may result from implementing any information covered in our articles or tutorials. If this is a hardware review, it is not recommended to open and/or modify your hardware. |
More Newsletter Marketing Articles
More By Developer Shed
 developerWorks - FREE Tools!
|
The IBM DB2 Deep Compression ROI tool is designed for DBA’s and IT management personnel to perform a clinical analysis of the cost savings gained from the Storage Optimization feature of DB2 9 for Linux, UNIX and Windows. The feature, also known as Deep Compression, compresses data that lies within a database by up to 80% at times.
FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
Join this webcast, to learn how the Rational Process Library can help with compliance issues, drive process improvement, and assist in service-oriented architecture (SOA) or Agile development. We will take a peek into the Rational Process Library with content around software and systems engineering (including RUP), operations and systems management, program and portfolio management, and asset and SOA governance.
FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
Download the IBM WebSphere Portal V6.1 beta code and learn more about the rich features and enhancements in IBM WebSphere Portal V6.1. WebSphere Portal provides a composite application or business mashup framework and the advanced tooling needed to build flexible, SOA-based solutions, and scalability to meet the needs of any size organization.
FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
Join this webcast to see how IBM Data Studio Developer and pureQuery can take the pain out of Java data access. uApplications developed using both Java and SQL have become a common requirement. Database connectivity using Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) to create an application is a multi-step tedious process, and tooling that covers both SQL and Java has been unavailable, until now. IBM Data Studio introduces the pureQuery platform: a high-performance, Java data access platform focused on simplifying the tasks of developing, managing, and optimizing database applications and services.
FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
Analysts, architects, and developers who have existing COBOL or PL/I skills and want to extend those skills to deploy new workloads on the mainframe can use the IBM Enterprise Modernization Sandbox for System z to find hands-on walkthroughs of common real world scenarios. The scenarios provide examples of how to rapidly design, create, assemble, test, and deploy high-quality Web, Web services, portal, and SOA applications for IBM CICS, IBM IMS, and IBM WebSphere Application Server.
FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
Asset Reuse is a key strategy for companies looking to create innovative solutions to solve complex software development problems. Searching for, identifying, updating, using and deploying software assets can be a difficult challenge. Listen to this webcast, to learn about strategies and tools that you can leverage for a successful project, including Rational Asset Manager, Rational Software Architect and WebSphere Service Registry and Repository.
FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
This webcast outlines the best practices that must be instituted to gain the maximum benefit from SOA while maintaining high quality of service. Whether you are deploying new applications or managing and monitoring your existing infrastructure, learn how you can ensure high quality of services with SOA based solutions from IBM. All registrants who attend this live Web Seminar will receive complimentary access to a white paper titled “Maintaining QoS in an SOA Environment”.
FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
Discover how Rational tools and best practices for testing can make your job easier. The new Rational Testing eKits provide you with valuable resources – including demos, webcasts, tutorials, and articles – that help you address your specific testing needs across the software lifecycle. Five new eKits are available covering the topics of Requirements and Test Management, Functional Testing, Performance Testing, Code Quality and Embedded Systems, and SOA and Web Services Testing.
FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
Get a free trial download of IBM Lotus Forms V3.0 (formerly Workplace Forms), which provides a zero-footprint eForms solution to help you automate and move forms-based business processes off the desktop and onto the Web. With Lotus Forms, you can extend applications beyond the firewall by creating a single electronic form document ready for use in both thick and Web 2.0 thin client format.
FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
Join the IBM Watchfire team for an informative discussion on techniques and best practices to proactively manage Web application security and how to effectively build application security testing into the software development lifecycle (SDLC). In this Software Delivery Platform webcast you will learn: How to better understand potential web application security vulnerabilities, best practices and how to effectively integrate application security testing into the software development lifecycle, the importance of detecting and removing software vulnerabilities during application development.
FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
All FREE IBM® developerWorks Tools!
|
