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

---

Better Links Directory

Ezine Advertising Deals Revealed

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

Dont Forget About Your Old Ezine Articles

It's over. You've written your ezine article, sent it out... Read More

Ezine Advertising Strategy Exposed-16 Tips to Boost Your Profit

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

How To Write A Newsletter

Learn how to write your newsletter in as little as... Read More

Article Marketing: How to Submit Your Articles at Turbo Speed

Want to become an article-writing machine? Here are a few... 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

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

Writing e-Newsletters ? Tricks of the Trade

Follow 10 simple rules of thumb, and you'll soon be... Read More

How to Get More Sign-Ups to Your Newsletter

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

Is Your Ezine Being Zapped?

About a year ago I wrote an article titled 'Winning... Read More

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

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

Five Ways to Energize Your Newsletter

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

Newsletters in Plain Text or HTML - Which Work Better?

A common question asked when you first set out to... Read More

How Your Advice Column Can Build Loyal Readers

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

How to Make Your Newsletter Have Raving Fans!

Would you like to have a newsletter with barely satisfied... 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

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

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

How To Create Your Very Own Client Newsletter

Using newsletters for business development improves your sales and marketing... Read More

Marketing Your Home Business through Newsletters

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

Fishing For Ezine Subscribers

The Bible tells the tale of the fishermen who were... Read More

Article Distribution: How Will Your Results Vary?

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

10 Reasons To Sell A Fee Based Subscription Ezine

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

Ezine List Building-Wealth Mentor Teaches 5 Easy Steps To Skyrocket Your Subscriptions and Profits

Would you like an Internet Marketing tool that can put... 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