Starting an Ezine

Starting an Ezine is an essential component to building your small business. This article gives in-depth tips on content ideas, frequency of publishing, and ways to ensure you add value to your subscribers.

Starting an Ezine: Tip #1 – HTML or Text?
The first decision to be made is whether to have a text-based or html-based ezine. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. A text-only ezine can look like an email you might get from a friend, especially if it is personalized. However, an HTML-based ezine allows you to use graphics and colors in order to set a look and feel that is similar to your website.

There have been many online surveys that have tried to solve the text/HTML question. The problem is that some of these surveys say HTML has a better open/read rate while others vote for the text-only version.

What to do?

My recommendation is to stick with HTML. When you're first starting an ezine, an HTML format will allow you to come across in a more professional manner. It will allow you to create a look and feel that mirrors you're own website. This consistent look and feel is an important part of branding your business.

Starting an Ezine: Tip #2 – Frequency of Publishing
When starting an ezine, a common question is how often to publish. If this is your first time putting together a newsletter for your business, I highly recommend once a month.

You could go weekly but please keep in mind the time requirements for sending out a newsletter every single week. It’s quite a commitment and I don’t recommend it unless you are sure you have the resources and can find enough relevant content to send your customers.

Once a month is enough to keep your business in the customer or prospect’s mind but not frequent enough to become annoying. You want to design a newsletter that your customers really look forward to reading.

What about once every other month? I don’t recommend it. It’s just too infrequent and your customers may simply ignore it. Keep to once a month unless your particular business has frequent news updates that need to be communicated. An example of this might be an investment business where your customers need and want weekly tips on investment opportunities.

If you’re not sure how often to publish, stick to once a month and when you get a sizeable subscriber base, publish a survey asking if they would like to hear from you more frequently.

Starting and Ezine: Tip #3 – The Subject Line
If you have a lawn business, here’s an example of a poor ezine subject line.

Boooring! Will somebody wake me when it’s over? Instead, find something compelling to use for your subject line. Something like –

Wouldn’t you agree the above subject line is a bit more compelling? Each ezine you send out should have a compelling feature topic. Find a way to communicate that topic in your subject line and you’ll be well on your way to making your readers want to open your ezine.

By the way, I should mention that testing your ezine subject line is a great way to improve open rates. Click here to read an article that discusses subject line testing.

Starting an Ezine: Tip #4 – Ideas for Content
Starting an ezine is one of the most important ways to build an online contact list for your small business. But what exactly should you write about? Here are some ideas to get you going.

• Write a "how to" article. After all, you are the expert. Give your readers a guide on how to perform a specific task.
• Publish an interview with someone in your field that is considered an expert. This will also help lend credibility to your ezine.
• Write an editorial on an important current topic in your field.
• Provide the results of polls that pertain to your field. They can be either independent polls or the results of an email poll you conducted yourself.
• Provide links to important articles in your field. Your customers will appreciate that you have their best interests in mind.
• Publish question & answer topics you get from your customers. If one customer has a particular question, chances are others will have the same question.
• Provide reviews on specific products and resources in your field. Feel free to promote your own products but make sure to weave your product links within meaningful and relevant content.

Starting an Ezine: Tip #5 – Using Your Ezine to Presell
One of the most powerful ways you can use your ezine is to PREsell your customers and prospects. PREselling is simply the ability to use words to create an open-to-buy mindset. You PREsell by providing valuable content that will help your customers and prospects solve a particular problem or educate them on an important issue.

If all you do is use your ezine to push your own products, you’ll find they start hitting that “Unsubscribe” button pretty quickly. If you follow the content ideas outlined in Tip #4, you should be well on your way to providing valuable content to your readers.

So, is it wrong to sell your products in your ezine? Of course not. I assume you didn’t start your business to just give out free information. But the key to selling is to first PREsell. Warm up your prospects with compelling and helpful content first. Bring them back to your website for additional great content. And yes, weave in information on your products and services if they are relevant to your ezine content.

I know this may sound contrary to traditional marketing techniques, but writing for the web requires a very different mindset. PREselling develops trust and confidence by delivering highly relevant and compelling content to your readers, thereby reducing the friction to purchase.

Start PREselling your way to higher profits today!