In
last year I have learned more about marketing, than I did in 2 years of classes. I'm not sure if they have started yet, but our higher learning institutions should have specialized courses just for marketing on internet, if not ezine publishing alone. Ezines 101, 102, 103..... There is so much to learn and once started, so little time to learn it. I know from my own experiences, that it is a constant struggle to keep up with daily chores of maintaining my website and business, let alone finding new ways to market it. What I wanted to do here is make a small list of tips, tricks and url's to help you along way.Your Articles:
One of simplest, but most successful marketing procedures I use to get my articles out to more ezine publishers, (which I use to advertise my own newsletters) may be considered slow. But it's a methodical and personal approach and has more than once opened doors to professional friendships and alliances. The real question here is who wants to publish your article, how do you find them and contact them. The answer of course is ezine publishers!
To avoid being accused of spam, it is safer that you contact publishers who are asking to be contacted in one way or another. Although, as long as it is a legitimate request such as sending your articles, and not a cesspool of advertising, very few will object to contact. To play it safe though I use 5 major groups of sources who have asked for contact or have contacted me first.
You have these 5 major groups:
1) Article Announcements 2) Ezine Announcements 3) Ad Swap Announcements 4) Newsletter Joining Contact 5) Archives & Databases
The Article Announcement Ezines are a great source of exposure for your articles, as well as article databases and archives, such as our "InfoZone Archives" at http://www.MakingProfit.com/articles/ which often publish links to your deposits of wisdom in their newsletters.
Keep all of your article submission information together. This way when you are sending it out to your publishers list, you can submit it to databases and online Announcement forms in one shot. Do it all at one time so there is no second guessing who got what, when..
The Ad Swaps, Article Announcements and Ezine Announcements all have one thing in common. These are people requesting contact in one form or another. As I get these newsletters, I look through them for publishers who have same subject matter as my articles and I write them a nice letter explaining that I read their post in "List-Universe" or whatever newsletter I found them in. I ask them if they would be interested in receiving my articles for publication in their newsletter. I send along my latest article for viewing. I have to this date, never received a negative reply, as I am not sending them a bunch of ads or trying to sell them something, other than on idea that my articles could help their newsletter. But, as luck would have it, every article has what? That's right a resource box. The publisher knows this and does not consider this ad spamming, as it's just a part of your article. So you are also getting that ad of yours out there in front of them, and in such a casual way, that it is not really considered advertising to publisher. I have had many publishers write back that they were not at this time interested in outside articles, but their email address shows up on my subscriber list. Who knows maybe down road they'll change their mind, but for now it's nice to have them reading my newsletter right? For me, that is my sole reason for writing article in first place.
Joining Contacts:
There are so many fine newsletters out there that I could never even come close to reading all ones I really like. But I sign up for new ones on a regular basis. The first thing I do after signing up is send off my article submission request letter. If it's a good newsletter, I stay with it. If not I unsubscribe. But key is, I made that contact. Very few publishers operate on ideals that "you must belong to my newsletter to send me your articles". If they do and I don't find their newsletter worthy of my attention and time, I unsubscribe and continue to send them my articles until requested to stop. Tip: As with a newsletter, offer an unsubscribe procedure. If you are requested to stop, do yourself a favor and Stop!
Cold Contact:
If you feel that you can contact them safely, you can search ezine databases (such as egroups.com or topica.com) for ezines similar to your articles and contact them. Leave advertising at home, besides resource box at end of sample article. Ezine Archives are a never ending source of publishers. Please be careful how you step and who you step on.
Below, at end of this article is a list of places to help you get started.
Your Newsletter:
First subject and style of your newsletter.
The ideal of course is to find a subject that is under "mined" as far as newsletters go. My newsletters are in highly competitive field of internet marketing, so I cannot say that I followed this bit of advice. But, if you can find a subject that there are no major newsletters covering all better. As that old marketing saying goes, "You don't have to reinvent wheel to be successful". It all in way you market your newsletter. Don't try to please everybody. Keep your subject matter focused. If you're in marketing focus on marketing. How many marketers do you know that want to see granny's cookie recipe in their ebiz newsletter. Not I. Create a special "Niche Format" that other newsletters in your field have not yet covered. Research others and try to do what they have not done yet. Be creative and stick to your market group. They are your bread and butter, give them what they want and need.
Quick Tips For Your Newsletter:
1. Discussion Groups
I left this out of major groups above because I feel that it takes a certain amount of suave personality to be really successful in Discussion Groups. I myself picked internet marketing because of absence of immediate direct contact with other professionals. I am to easily tongue-tied and I feel that it behooves me to spend my "marketing time" in other areas, where I have time to properly word my replies and/or communication with others.
2. Offer Easy Sign Up On Your Web Site!
Small sign up box on every page and/or a pop-up on your leading page or pages. Make it tough to say no!
3. Joint Ventures
Get involved with other publishers. Start a co-op that will mutually benefit all involved. It could be by way of offering prizes every week or month, by rotating prize responsibility from one member to next. Each member would be required to do his or her part in advertising co-operative effort.
