It`s no different online. If you offered a free gift to subscribe, they want free gift. What your ezine is about is secondary. So place your "gift" inside your sample issue. Or below it. Make them read it and help them like it.

What about making some money with your welcome?

Some of experts will tell you to go for sale in your welcome letter. Do you really want to do that? People may want to buy. But they don`t like to be sold.

Back to real world again, my uncle is a car salesman. And like 99% of everyone else, I need to have wheels. Now my uncle is really a great guy. Took me fishing and hunting when I was a boy, let me hang out with mechanics in garage.... And I enjoy going to visit him.

But if he tried to sell me some used car every time I went to his house there`s no way I`d go to see him.

Same thing online. So be sneaky. Sell without selling. In your ezine you probably have ads in every issue. Who says those ads can`t be for *your* products?

Yes, some people subscribe to your ezine just to get your bribe if you offer one. But some people are looking for good information.

Do you provide it? If you do chances are you`ll be getting subscribers for your free information. They are looking for answers. So give them directions. A targeted ad pointing to a product that directly relates to your ezine theme.

You`ll be sending targeted traffic to a related product, making some bucks, and not making your reader feel like they`ve been sold.

Agreed, we`re only talking about a welcome letter here. But through your ezine you are building relationships, and friendships. At least you should be. So start out on right foot. Set stage with an impressive welcome letter and keep your new reader waiting for more.

© 2001-2002, Jeff Neil, All Rights Reserved.

You may publish this article in your ezine and/or web site as long as this resource box is left intact.

======================================================== Article written by Jeff Neil, your Sunday Morning Columnist. Editor`s Column is for Ezine Editor. Helping you get more subscribers, more readers, and more profit. Visit at: http://www.editorscolumn.com Subscribe at: mailto:EditorsColumn@infogeneratorpro.com

(5) Include a word count at top of your Article. This makes it easy for an Ezine Editor to make a quick decision on whether to use your Article. It also shows you've been thorough in preparing your Article for publication.

(6) Check all links in your Article before submitting it. Then include a note that says: 'All links in this Article were checked and verified on (date)'. Again, this saves time for Ezine Editor and demonstrates that you've been thorough.

(7) Offer a Free Report in your Resource Box. When someone reads your Article in an Ezine, they probably won't be connected to Internet. So challenge is this: to offer something so interesting and exciting that they'll fire up their modem and visit your website. The best way to do that is to offer a Free Report.

(8) Put all your Articles on autoresponders and then create another autoresponder that lists all your Articles, with an autoresponder address for each Article (e.g.: all-articles@yourdomain.com). When you submit your Article to a List or to an Article Archive, always include a note that says: "For a complete list of Articles by this author please send a blank email to: all-articles@yourdomain.com"

Remember - Ezine Articles are probably fastest way there is of building your presence on Web and getting your message in front of a targeted audience. Happy writing!