Offering a free newsletter or ezine on your web site's topic of interest is one of best ways to generate traffic to your site and a build a reputation as an expert. But why give something away when you can get paid for it? Print publications charge a yearly subscription fee, why can't you do same for your ezine?

You can and it is possible for a paid-subscription ezine to be extremely profitable. But with Internet swamped with free ezines on just about every topic imaginable how do you convince people to pay for yours?

Most ezine publishers are able to make enough money from promoting affiliate programs and selling advertising in their publication that charging subscribers seems silly. They don't want to limit their potential customers.

But done correctly you can make more profit with fewer subscribers with a paid subscription ezine. The key is extremely valuable content. If something is really of value to a person, they will pay for it. To create extremely valuable content you must do following:

- Become a complete expert on your topic and be able to write original and exclusive articles for your ezine.

- Offer your subscribers information they cannot find anywhere else.

- Network with others in your field to get 'inside' information first and be first to tell your subscribers about it. Speed can be a very valuable thing.

Those basic elements, according to Small Business Administration, are a description of business, a marketing plan, a management plan and a financial plan. Consider each element in context of a Web store and you’ll develop a business plan that can’t lose. Here are some tips to get you started:

Business Description Define products and services you’ll be selling online and evaluate your strengths against online and offline competition. Describe your Web store content — information on your site that merchandises your product or service. Exactly what kind of content do you expect to provide, and how will it relate to your product or service?