For businesses, plusses of using HTML ezines are:

~~ many business owners, who use internet, and maybe your ideal client have HTML email capacity. ~~ even AOL 6.0 included use of HTML mail for their users. ~~ readers are more apt to read your ezine because they look "inviting" and "fun" ~~ readers are more apt to tap on links, too.

Steps To Create Your HTML Ezine #1

1. Create a web page as you usually would and insert your newsletter.

2. Go into source of your webpage (the HTML code) and make sure that all links are authentic links. These are complete links and look like this but without "." in code:

<.a href="http://www.coachmaria.com/images/mariamarsala2.jpg" rel="nofollow" width="100" height="100" alt="Picture">

instead of?

<.a href="images/mariamarsala2.jpg" rel="nofollow" width="100" height="100" alt="Picture">

3. Upload your newsletter webpage to your website.

4. Next, open your email program and make sure that format is set to "HTML" (not as text).

5. Open an email. Put cursor in message and tap down a few lines.

6. Go back to top of message again and type in a message for individuals who have requested your newsletter, but perhaps cannot read HTML newsletters. The message I use (without "." in code) is...

If you cannot see colors or picture on this email, you can read this newsletter here: <.a href ="http://www.coachmaria.com/ez01282002.html"> http://www.coachmaria.com/ez01282002.html

7. Then go back to your newsletter page on your website. ~~ "Select all" on page or tap on control (CTRL) then (A) buttons on your keyboard. ~~ "Select copy" on page or tap on control (CTRL) then (C) buttons on your keyboard

8. Go back to your email, a few lines after step #6 where you will "paste" - (CTRL) then (V) your webpage into your email program.

9. Then send yourself a copy to see how it looks. If pictures are missing... it's because links are not complete links (Step 2)

Steps To Create Your HTML Ezine #2

If your email program allows you to create your own stationary, like Outlook does, tap on help and use your index to learn how to "create stationary". You'll learn to create a stationary template for your ezine. Then each time you want to create your ezine, you pull up this special stationary.

A Few Free Template Resources 4 U

Web Site Kits and Templates from Canada http://www.dvshop.ca/webtemps.html >From Jim's World http://freesitetemplates.com/faq2/ >From UK http://www.newsletterpromote.com/emailtemp/free.htm

THE CONS

Time consuming: It takes me an average of five hours to put together each issue of my own ezine, WriteSuccess. That does *not* include writing my own articles for it, surfing 'Net in search of markets and writers' sites for each issue, promoting my ezine on various announcement lists, trading ezine ads with other publications that complement mine, reading and responding to emails received, and subscribing or unsubscribing readers who can't do so themselves. Ezines, at least good ones, are labor-intensive ventures.

Challenging: This "con" could also be a "pro," depending on how you look at it. Maintaining a consistent, high quality ezine over months and years takes a great deal of dedication and motivation. You need to truly love topic of your ezine in order to stick with it for any period of time.

And you can't take your readership for granted, either. In recent weeks, a few of my favorite ezines have disappeared off face of Web, with or without a warning from publisher/editor. Not only was I disappointed that I would no longer receive their ezines, but--even if ezines were revived--I would greatly hesitate to swap ads or pursue joint ventures with them in future, due to unreliability of publishers.

Not all fun and games: Ezine publishers get *a lot* of spam! We also sometimes get nasty-grams from people who forgot they'd ever subscribed to our 'zine in first place. And of course there are unexplained unsubscribes that occur after each issue, which hurt a little, seeing amount of time and effort you invested putting it together.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Is ezine publishing hard work? Absolutely. But, at least from my perspective, tangible and intangible rewards more than compensate for drawbacks. If anything, I enjoy publishing WriteSuccess today more than I ever did.

In a world made even smaller by Internet, you can reach potential clients and readers around globe. Publishing your own ezine is an outstanding way to accomplish that.