Want your ezine list to catch fire and really start to fill up? Jenna Glatzer took her own list from
hundreds all way to 75,000 in 7 years by simple, steady marketing, and using many of these techniques. (Jenna bought only 4000 opt-in names along way.) Here are some tips we provided, and some I've pulled from my own experience, building my list for The Joy Letter to 17,000 over five years.1.Free Stuff. Pick genuinely useful free stuff that you know your audience wants and needs. For instance, my brand new ezine, Expert Status, attracted 600 readers in just a few weeks by offering a report, "25 Top Self Help Literary Agents". The practical freebie works. Jenna Glatzer offers two free ebooks/reports to subscribers on agents who are receptive to new writers, and on writer's markets. She notes: "Before I did that, my subscriber numbers were in hundreds, not thousands.
2.Put a subscribe box on every page of site. This has worked for both Jenna and me. Mine is parked in left hand column of site. Experts advise putting a simple sign up box (with freebie mentioned) in top left hand corner, as that's where eye naturally travels first. A simple sign up box that requests only email address works best.
3.Ad swaps. Exchange plugs for your ezine with another website, to run in each other's ezines. Be sure to mention those freebies! Doing this on a regular basis with a rotating selection of web partners will keep your subscription page busy.
4.Cross-registration. I've found subscribers by having a plug for my ezine on thank you page of a comparable (but not directly competitive) website. This offer is made to folks who just signed up for an ezine, and are therefore deemed 'in mood for more.' Offer a swap with your site, and try not to list more than about two other ezines. Also, make a point of including only really good, reliable publications that reach your target market.
5.Give away a bonus for other sites to use, based on your ezine. A popular web marketing technique is special one or two-day promo that offers big bonus lists when you buy a certain product on those particular days. (I cover this promo technique in more detail in my e-book/binder, Get Known Now; How to Build Your Platform as a Self Help Expert.) So collect some of your best ezine essays, pack 'em up in a downloadable PDF-based e-book, and offer it as a bonus these sites can use in their special promos. Don't forget juicy descriptive copy about your ezine, and a subscribe link at end of your e-book. I've gotten hundreds of new readers this way, and much traffic to my site.
6.Announce ezine 'events' on PRweb.com and other PR sites. There's an entire world of web-based press release distribution services out there, some of which are low cost or even free. So use them. But be sure to only plant press releases that are truly newsworthy, and thus likely to get press attention. Even if media don't use your words this time, they'll hopefully file you as an expert for future use.
7.Use discussion boards or groups. These are sites frequented by gangs of people interested in same thing. Avoid unmoderated sites, because they're likely to be spam targets that generate little bonafide traffic. Boards found on member sites are best. Don't spam board with your subscribe message. Instead, offer some genuinely helpful info. Then sign off with a signature line that includes ezine and subscribe info. You can find some of these groups at groups.yahoo.com, topica.com, mail-list.com, and listfool.com for starters.
