Is market saturated with this type of product?

What type of ads are your competitors using?

Are any of other ads pulling traffic? (you would find this out by asking owner if person buying ad space has been consistent with buying ads) There is a lot of information you can get to make sound, profitable decisions with once you see what's actually happening in ezine.

Of course, if there are a lot of competing ads then you would not choose to advertise in that ezine at this time. Shelf it until a later date.

How Many Ads Are In Each Issue?

Along with getting information on types of ads that are included in ezine, it's also very important to see for yourself just how many ads are included with each issue of that ezine.

Being in advertising, and putting together ezine advertising campaigns for my clients, I have ezine publishers contacting me inquiring if I have any clients that would place ads in their ezine. If they have more than five ads in their ezine, I will not recommend them.

I know that sounds harsh, but you just can't compromise on that. Remember, I wrote purpose of advertising in ezines is to get your ad read? Well, that won't happen if there are already ten other ads competing for each subscriber.

Now, let me clarify that these ads I'm talking about are outside ads. Meaning ads that people have submitted and are not owner's.

How Many Solo Ads Are Sent Out Each Week?

No matter what type of ad, small classified or solo, amount of special mailings, announcements, extra issues, or solo ads that are being sent out each week is something to worry about.

It's something I call "inbox saturation". If subscribers are receiving more than two emails from an ezine publisher a week, they will let them pile up in their inbox without looking at them. Then later in time they just delete them to clean out their inbox. You ad is not seen.

Ezine publishers have a responsibility to their subscribers to keep them informed and be respectful of their time. Too many emails means a lot of them don't get read.

Do The Articles Best Fit Your Product?

If you want to effectively advertise in ezines this is most important thing to look into.

The second purpose I mentioned at beginning of this article was to have reader respond to your site. The best way to do that is if articles being written and published each week will presell your product. This is why it's so important that you pick ezine that "fits" your product.

Let's go back to joint venture example and you chose to advertise in copywriting ezine. The articles are about copywriting techniques and have nothing to do with joint ventures or their importance. Will that presell your product?

Not effectively.

But, if you chose an ezine that publishes articles about advertising, marketing, and/or joint ventures, these articles are actually preselling your product for you. Then once reader finishes article, and are fired up about advertising, they see your product... they visit your site.

Of all these principles of ezine advertising, this is most important. You will see much higher responses, and sales, if articles published tie in with your product.

Note: Another reason it's so important to email owner and establish a relationship is to find out which articles are being published, and when. You can also request special placement after article.

Ezine advertising is your business. Don't be fooled by slick advertising gimmicks claiming thousands of hits to your site with no work. No other advertising strategy, besides Pay per click search engines, can give you exposure as ezine advertising.

Use these principles in your advertising campaigns and I guarantee that you'll see an instant increase in traffic and sales.

That Page About You! Don’t be shy about telling customers who you are and what you’re doing with such a nice online presence! This is where you sell fact that you are an expert in your field and why you’re one they should buy from. Facts and figures sell, so if you can prove that you won those awards or have sold that many units, or have been in business since fax machine was invented, then put that on your page.

Add your picture, so that more than person in mirror can see it! Show close-ups of your products, your company, and your other employees. Ok, so maybe you’re a bit camera shy. Then share a few lines of personal information about a hobby that may tie into what your eCommerce site is about. Tell how your company began – perhaps it was from a hobby that is now your business. Give statistics, if that’s your way, but not too many so as to confuse a potential buyer. If possible, be funny, be witty, be cheerful. Perk up someone’s visit to your site so they’ll feel compelled to journey over to shopping cart and add a few items. Or maybe they’re too busy for now, but they’ll bookmark it and return later.

Testimonials Sell There are thousands of companies that sell soap and other bath & body products online. If you sell real estate, list your properties sold, if you repair shoes, have customers write their impressions on how quickly they were fixed, etc. What makes my site different than others? Testimonials. Real, genuine, heartfelt testimonials from people who have bought and used products. Include a person’s name and location and their quotes about a service well done or a product well received. In fact, add a few of your testimonials on your main page so they may end up on Google’s or Yahoo’s search engines as part of a description!