Practical Strategies To Boost Your Ezine Readership

Do you have a fresh ezine ready to start taking subscribers but don't know how to attract them?

Maybe you have a list already operating that you want to enhance.

There are many practical methods available online that can be applied to either situation, some free and some not. This article will cover the basics of:

? Buying leads

? Submitting to ezine directories

Buying Leads:

The easiest way to build your list is to buy "leads" from companies such as ListOpt or LeadFactory. Leads are people who have shown an interest in what you offer, and provide you their name and email address.

What you do is create an ad, usually about three lines long, 60 characters to a line, and the lead company will put your ad out on the Internet and capture potential prospects for you.

What you must absolutely avoid are companies who sell pre-assembled lists of email addresses. These addresses are not "opt-in", and are not only worthless but can get you accused of spamming!

An "opt-in" lead is a person who has specifically seen YOUR ad and shown an interest in what you offer by giving out their email address JUST for the purpose of getting on your list.

It is important to distinguish between "single opt-in" and "double opt-in" when buying leads. Most good lead companies will offer both, double opt-in being slightly more expensive.

In the case of single opt-in, when a potential prospect gives their email address in response to your ad, it is then supplied to you as-is. You don't know for SURE that the address you got really belongs to the person who supplied it.

With double opt-in, the lead company will send a "confirmation" email to the address supplied by each potential prospect, requiring them to click a link to verify that they are indeed the owner of that email address. As you can imagine, double opt-in leads are more safe and secure.

NOTE: If you use an autoresponder like GetResponse to run your ezine, check your user settings to see if your list sends out a "confirmation" email to verify subscribers. If so, and if you buy double opt-in leads from a lead company, you will in effect be creating a "triple opt-in" process for your potential prospects! This may severely reduce your readership, as people will have to not only confirm their email address through the lead company, but once again through your autoresponder. The idea is to only make them confirm once, so either buy single opt-in leads and have your autoresponder confirm, or buy double opt-in leads and don't let your autoresponder confirm. Be aware that in GetResponse, once you turn the confirmation feature on, you cannot turn it back off, ever.

The lead company you choose may have different options for delivering your potential prospects to you. These may include a daily list sent to you via email, which you will then have to import manually into your autoresponder (if you use one), or they may send prospects directly to your autoresponder. Be sure to review all these options before choosing a lead company.

Submitting to ezine directories:

An ezine directory is a website which compiles a list of ezines. Some only list ezines that relate to a certain subject while others allow a wide range of subjects.

Most directories will not allow ezines which contain pornography, "hate", "anti-government", or other related subject matter to be listed on their site.

Submitting your ezine to a directory costs nothing and takes little time. Just go to any major search engine and look up 'ezine directories'.

Some results for your search will be actual ezine directories, others may be web pages which contain a list of them. Browse through all sites methodically to find as many ezine directories as possible.

In each directory, there will be a link somewhere on the website that says something to the effect of "submit your ezine". When you click it, you will be taken to a page with a submission form to fill out.

Be sure to give the details of your ezine in a purely informational style. It is not an advertisement, so leave out all catch-phrases and other hype.

Visit as many directories as time allows. The more you submit to, the more people searching for the information you offer will be likely to find your ezine while browsing those directories.

There is a software program called EzineAnnouncer which makes this whole process much quicker. It will submit your ezine to a large number of directories for you, without you having to spend time doing it all manually. It costs money, so check it out and decide for yourself if you feel it's worth it.

How much time and money you spend is up to you. If you formulate a plan and stick with it, using the techniques outlined above will result in a significant boost (even an explosion!) in your ezine subscriber list. Give them a try, you will be surprised by how well they work.

Copyright 2005 Jeremy Hershberger

Jeremy Hershberger is a computer specialist, Internet marketer, and webmaster of his "Plug-In Profit Site". For free training and essential advice on building and enhancing an online business, subscribe to his Internet marketing newsletter here: http://www.online-income-solutions.com

---

Improve Your Online Network With A Powerful Ezine

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

How Your Advice Column Can Build Loyal Readers

Last year while researching a book on memorable speeches and... Read More

Writing e-Newsletters ? Tricks of the Trade

Follow 10 simple rules of thumb, and you'll soon be... 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 Reasons To Sell A Fee Based Subscription Ezine

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

13 Ways To A Build A List Of Readers Of Your Ezine

If you have an ezine or online newsletter you want... Read More

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

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

Increase Your Business Success With A Free Newsletter

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

The Public Speaking List Machine

Do you do public speaking? Then you've got an automatic... Read More

Article Marketing 202 -- Creating a Viral Lead-Generating Machine

There is a simple system for creating a viral lead-generating... Read More

How To Write Your Newsletter

So how do you set about writing your own newsletter?The... Read More

3 Steps to Creating Your Own Ezine to Increase Web Site Traffic!

What if I showed you a simple way to increase... Read More

Top Seven Ways to Promote your Ezine

Your ezine builds customer confidence and trust when you give... Read More

6 Easy Ways to Promote Your Ezine Articles

If you think you can't brand yourself because you're not... Read More

The Secret Truth About Writing Great Sales Copy.

Did you know that most people find it difficult to... Read More

How to Get More Sign-Ups to Your Newsletter

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

Ezine Advertising Deals Revealed

Ezine (electronic magazine) advertising is a great method for exposing... 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

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

10 Effective Ways To Gain More New Ezine Subscribers

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

Creating and Distributing E-Courses

E-courses are excellent sales tools and a great way to... Read More

10 Tips for Successful Ezine Advertising

If you're like most people starting out on the Internet,you've... Read More

Top 10 Reasons to Use a Blog to Publish Your Ezine

Blogs are the hottest thing going these days when it... 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 Reasons To Sell A Fee Based Subscription Ezine

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

Article Distribution: How Will Your Results Vary?

It's not enough to just sit around and expect that... Read More

10 Ezine Advertising Strategies For Starters

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

Increase Your Ezine Sign-up Rate By 500% or More Starting Today

If you're satisfied with a newsletter subscription rate of five... Read More

Uncover 8 Secrets To Gaining More Ezine Subscribers Now!

If you've just started publishing your own ezine then you'll... Read More

Grow Your Business with a Newsletter

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

Ezine Advertising Strategy Exposed-16 Tips to Boost Your Profit

In my opinion, Electronic Magazine (Ezine) advertising is the greatest,... Read More

Volcanically Erupt Your Online Newsletter, Ezine or e-Course Opt-Ins in No Time Flat

Are you ready to build your opt in email list... Read More