To subscribe visit http://www.lotsaperks.com or mailto:subscribe@lotsaperks.com with your first name in body of email.

KH: How important has publishing an ezine been to your business?

PG: It has been most important thing I have done online. It's best way to develop relationships with people. The Internet is so impersonal and so many people have been scammed online that you really need to give them a chance to get to know you before they will think about trusting you enough to purchase anything from you.

KH: How long have you been running an ezine and how many subscribers do you have?

PG: I have been publishing LotsaPerks Newsletter for over 3 years now and have over 10,000 subscribers.

KH: Do you submit your ezine to directories and/or announcement lists and if so how effective has this been in gaining new subscribers to your publication?

PG: The first thing I did was to go to www.google.com and put in ezine+directories and then I listed my ezine in every one of them. I recommend listing your ezine everywhere you can find. You can never get too much exposure!

If they had had Ezine Announcer when I first started, it would have saved me hours and hours of time, but it didn't exist then.

KH: Do you write and use your own articles to promote your ezine? How valuable has writing articles been in promoting your ezine?

PG: Writing articles is best free advertising you can get! You not only get your business out there in front of many people, but you also get links to your business, as many ezine owners keep copies of their ezines on their sites, which helps you with link popularity in search engines.

Plus, you allow people to get to know something about you and your business which allows you to develop a rapport with potential customers. In addition, I have met and established some great business contacts and met some fine people by writing articles.

I remember first article I wrote, I thought, "If I know this, EVERYBODY must know it!" Well, I found out that not everybody knew it. There is always someone out there who knows less than you do, so never be afraid to write about things you know.

KH: What methods do you use to promote your products or services within your ezine?

by Peter A. Schaible

If you're a writer, researcher, subject matter expert, enthusiastic hobbyist, or an authority on almost any topic, there has never been a better time to start your own subscription website or online newsletter.

And if you're already publishing a hobby website, now is ideal time to convert at least a portion of content to fee-paid access.

Smart website owners are now realizing just how valuable their hard-earned knowledge is to others. Much of information that used to be available for free to anyone and everyone on World Wide Web is moving behind closed doors, accessible only to paying subscribers.

Savvy writers and publishers are not giving it away anymore. They're setting up profit-driven, members-only websites and building online communities of subscribers who value their knowledge. Perhaps surprisingly, resistance to paying for content is gradually melting away.

The end of free

This trend away from websites offering free information and toward a subscription, or pay-for-access business model, has several causes.

First, only a few websites operated by big companies can afford to provide valuable content without being compensated. Some of them can do it for public relations value, but they are exception.

The rest of us can't be so generous. And trying to recapture our expenses by selling advertising on our websites has failed to pay bills. Online advertising and click-through rates are on decline.

Second, many people are now more than willing to pay to learn what you already know, as thousands of online publishers of subscription websites have already proven.

Why subscribers are ready to pay

The Internet has enabled people with similar interests to find each other and form online communities. Whether your interest is in politics, gardening, or model railroading, Internet enables you to connect to others who share your enthusiasms and values.

But in current political and social climate, there is heightened anxiety and concern about privacy. If you previously contributed to public online discussion forums, you may now be feeling vulnerable. You never know who is lurking and reading your comments, or gathering information about you. One frequent concern: what spammers are harvesting your e-mail address?

However, in seclusion of a subscribers-only website, you feel more protected. You can share ideas with an affinity group of like-minded people with less fear of ridicule or repercussions. The publisher moderates forum and promises to honor your privacy.

These concerns are not diminishing over time, they are intensifying as people perceive world -- and cyberspace -- as an increasingly dangerous place. The result has been a proliferation of private, members-only, subscription websites and online newsletters covering literally hundreds of diverse and specialized topics.

Finding right subscription business model