The GREAT EZine Advantage
This week on the Women in Ecommerce™ LinkedIn Group we have been sharing our ezines. I thought it would be a great way to showcase our members’ talents and offers and also help build their subscriber base.
Here are just a handful of our member ezines:
Personal Coaching Tips
InSight by Synchronicity Marketing
WECommerce News ( for members of Women in Ecommerce™)
And more!
The women were excited to share their ezines and I know several of them have gotten new subscribers from their posts (Note: I have only listed those who are members of both the LinkedIn Group AND Women in Ecommerce™).
Ezines are still an excellent way to market your company. In fact, with so many companies moving to blogging and other forms of online communication, EZINES are becoming more attractive to savvy emarketers as a marketing, promotions and communication tool for their business.
If you have thought about writing an ezine or have written one in the past (I have) then I suggest you get ready to either resurrect your ezine (making it more modern, sleek and filled with relevant content in an easy to read, easy to digest way) or get busy and start publishing one.
Why write an ezine? Here are my top 8 reasons:
1. Your competition probably isn’t.
2. You can establish yourself as an expert.
3. You can build your list – if you provide good relevant easy to read content people want and need you will build a list of loyal fans, prospects and customers.
4. Attract the media – if your ezine showcases your expertise (and you share it with the media) in addition to showcasing your expertise, the media will be able to find you and tap into that expertise.
5. With an ezine you can spread your message far and wide (think viral marketing) by asking your readers to pass it on to their own circles.
6. Save money – with a print newsletter there are lots of costs involved, with an ezine the costs are minimal. No printing, no postage, and no dropping off to the post office to deliver for you.
7. You can create a new stream of income that you can track by using special promotions in your ezine with codes so you know where the customers heard about your “special offers.”
8. With an ezine you can stay on the “top of mind” of your readers so they will think of you and your service or product when the need arises.
Here are some tips to get you started:
All you need is an e-mail account and permission from your customers/clients to send the ezine. In fact,
The first thing you must do is collect your customers/clients e-mail addresses. We collect them when they call, visit our business, answer surveys, enter our contests or sign up on our website. I ask my audiences if they would like to receive our ezines every time we have interaction with them.
Tell them the benefits. What is your ezine about? The eZine is filled with product updates, trends, surveys, special offers, testimonials, discounts and my favorite CONTESTS.
Make it easy to read and brief. Two to three pages max.
One of the most important things we had to deal with was when our lists started growing (beyond 250); we were very limited in sending through our original e-mail account. Many internet delivery services put restrictions on how many emails you can send per hour. To bypass that challenge, I recommend you use a contact management system like aWeber to grow your list (they have a double opt-in proce=edure). You can use aWeber to send your ezines, notices, announcements and specials. aWeber is a great communication tool (as are Constant Contact and others).
Need ways to promote your Ezine? Here are 8 Tips to get you started:
* Have a subscription form on your website!
* Have a sign up sheet at the place of business.
* Promote it with postcards in your monthly statements.
* Tell anyone you think might be interested.
* Add the Subscription URL to all your promotional documents such as flyers, business cards, car magnets, etc.
* Offer a free digital download (such as a special report, whitepaper or ebook) when they sign up.
* Purchase the URL of the same title to help you further promote your eZine.
* Upload archived copies of your ezine to your website or blog for easy access and reference. It will also help people decide if the information you share is what they are really looking for and interested in.
Here are some of the ezines I have written in the past (they are being redesigned for my current audience):
Self-Marketing News
Creating A Legacy (a newsletter for the nonprofit community)
Ramblin’ Rose (a newsletter for my floral customers )
Amazing things can result from publishing an ezine; increased visibility, increased business and goodwill. If you plan your eZine right, give it a great title and offer your readers substantive benefits, your ezine will be a success!
Write On!
Note: if you are not yet a subsriber to WECommerce News, please check it out. You can sign up at the right and visit our archives for past issues .
Law mandates that we disclose that Women in Ecommerce™ is an affiliate of aWeber and as such may earn a commission should you sign up when you click on the aWeber links in this blog post. You can test-drive aWeber for free without purchasing their product. We love aWeber and recommend it.
