Guaranteed Ways to Build Up Your 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.)

I think I could actually go on and on here. 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.

Suzanne Falter-Barns' website, The Self Help Salon (www.selfhelpsalon.com) offers tips and tools that help you build your platform and get known as an expert in your field. Sign up for her free ezine, Expert Status, and receive her free report, "25 Top Self Help Literary Agents

---

Why a Newsletter Will Help Your Home Based Business

Web site traffic is a huge concern among home based... Read More

How Ezine Ads Explode Your Online Income - Part 2

Here's a big tip ? the secret to succeeding with... Read More

Surefire Ways to Pack a Punch With Your Ezines & Newsletters

Newsletters, or ezines, can be extremely effective marketing tools for... Read More

Ezine Publishing: 5 Easy Smart Strategies To Increase Your E-zines Subscriber Base

Do you publish an e-zine or newsletter?If you answer yes,... Read More

Grow Your Business with a Newsletter

You find a Web site or receive an email about... Read More

Achieving Success with Ezine Advertising

Achieving success is clearly up to you, not to anybody... Read More

Ways to Improve and Make Money from Your Newsletter

Our last three newsletters have covered the hot topic of... Read More

10 Reasons To Sell A Fee Based Subscription Ezine

1. You will create residual income. For example, if you... Read More

Newsletter Publishing Tips

I can't think of a better way to sell your... Read More

10 Sure Fire Ways To Get More Ezine Subscribers

1. Place testimonials for your ezine on your site.Your testimonials... Read More

Win More Sales with Customer Newsletters - More Small Business Power Tools

One of the most powerful ways for small businesses to... Read More

10 Great Ezine Content Tips To Increase Your Sales And Readership

1. Write articles that provide your readers with a list... Read More

Entrepreneurs - 3 Ways You Can Profit From Newsletters Without Writing Them Yourself

I'm sure you have heard many online marketers touting the... Read More

Success With Newsletters

Newsletters really DO work! With just a small amount of... Read More

8 Things To Think About Before You Start Advertising Profitably In Ezines!

Advertising in ezines is possibly the most effective way of... Read More

Use the Power of Ezines to Increase Web Site Traffic!

If you don't have a list of your own then... Read More

Increase Your Business Success With A Free Newsletter

Publishing a free newsletter is an effective and inexpensive marketing... Read More

10 Effective Ways To Gain More New Ezine Subscribers

1. Swap ads with other ezine publishers. Swap sponsor,... Read More

What?s In Your Resource Box (SIG File)?

One of the most important things you can do to... Read More

Lesson #4: Six Powerful Places to Advertise Your Autoresponder!

Once you set up your autoresponder account, now you need... Read More

How to Make Your eZine Work for You Long After Its Published

If you publish an email newsletter, do you convert the... Read More

How to Get More Sign-Ups to Your Newsletter

It never seems to amaze me how often I still... Read More

DOUBLE Your Profits from These TEN Tips on Sending Email Ads

1. Make your ad prominent:This can be done by keeping... Read More

How to Increase Your Opt In List by 322% in 28 Days

"The money's in your list" - how many times have... Read More

Improve Your Online Network With A Powerful Ezine

Many online business owners and marketers use a variety of... Read More

5 Tips To Create A Kick-Butt Mini-Course That Pulls In Thousands of Rabid Subscribers... in a Flash!

One of the fastest ways to develop, build, and grow... Read More

Email Newsletter Marketing Is Alive and Well: The Case for Continuing Newsletter Efforts

With the arrival of syndication or RSS technology, many claim... Read More

Marketing Your Home Business through Newsletters

Newsletters are a wonderful way to market your business when... Read More

5 Quick Ways To Increase Your E-zines Subscriber Base

Welcome to all of you out in netland.If you have... Read More

When Good Newsletters Go Bad: How to Avoid the Rut and Capture Hearts

The wizard in Wizard of Oz and the guy behind... Read More

10 Ezine Advertising Strategies For Starters

If you're like most ezine advertisers you wish to generate... Read More

Ezine As A Viral Marketing Tool

A very popular method of marketing ezines and newsletters is... Read More

Five Ways to Energize Your Newsletter

Whether distributed via e-mail or printed and snail-mailed, newsletters are... Read More