E-zines or electronic newsletters are an
excellent way to promote any business no matter
how large or small. By publishing an e-zine you
are accomplishing several things that will work
in your favor to build your business. Providing
interesting or informative information to your
customers or prospective customers, staying in
contact or keeping your business in the eyes of
the public, and advertising sales or new products
are only a few of the benefits.
Before you actually start to publish an e-zine
there are several things you will need to decide
that are important to the success of your e-zine
and your business. The title, subject, content,
format, and when to publish are key factors. You
will also need/want to decide if you will be
publishing your e-zine yourself or if you will
hire someone or a service to publish for you.
There are a variety of services that will for a
fee do all or any portion of the work for you.
The very first thing you will need to do is
decide what the subject of your e-zine will be.
What information will you be providing to your
readers? This should relate somehow to your
business; a camping supply company may publish an
e-zine about different camping locations, a
beauty shop may discuss different hair styles,
and insurance agency may provide tips on
different types of insurance. When deciding this
simply look at your company or business and think
what people who may be interested in your
business may find useful.
Once you know what your subject matter will be
then you will need a title for your e-zine. The
title can be the key to your success from the
start. Your title should connect the e-zine with
your business but be something that the reader
will remember. Joe’s Bait Shop may be
recognizable to your local clientele but
won’t mean a thing to the rest of the world.
Joe’s Fishing Tips would be a much better
choice. Easy to remember and lets the reader know
what’s inside. This title should be viewable
in the ‘from’ line of your e-zine.
Next is the subject line of your e-zine. The most
important feature of your subject line is to get
your subscriber to open the e-mail before they
delete it. Do not be tempted to use something
like ‘Weekly Newsletter’ in your
subject line. Not only is this boring but there
are a million of people using it. Spark the
interest of your reader – make them want to
rush to see what information is inside. Phrases
that include “Secrets of…”,
“Mistakes to Avoid…” and “How
to…” are a few examples you might want
to use. The key is getting the reader to open
your newsletter or you might as well not publish
one.
Once you have your topic, title, and subject line
its time to get into your e-zine and create your
content. All studies show that text or content is
what produces sales. What that means is if you
give your subscribers content that interests them
that content will result in sales. Filling your
e-zine with tons of banner ads will not produce
the result that a well written article pertaining
to your business will produce.
Because the content of your e-zine is so
important to your business there are a couple
different options you will want to take into
consideration. If you feel confident that you can
provide quality information for your readers then
by all means you should produce your own content.
If you’re not sure about that then you have
the options of hiring a writer or writing service
to create your content for you (more on this in
another article) or you can use content that is
already written that pertains to your business.
Remember however that an e-zine is an on going
effort and needs fresh new content continually.
This brings us to yet another feature of your
e-zine to give thought to. How often and when
will your e-zine be published. Will your e-zine
be published daily, weekly, or monthly? There are
a number of thoughts on this but the most common
practice is weekly – daily tends to be a
burden on both you and your readers while monthly
is too long and subscribers tend to forget they
subscribed. This is entirely up to you.
At the same time there has been much discussion
on when the best day to publish and e-zine is but
it really boils down to what works best for you
and making sure you do produce when you say you
are going to. Consistency in your e-zine
publication will reflect on your company as being
consistent so choose a day that best fits your
schedule or hire someone to publish for you.
Along with your main content you will also want
to consider adding a short bit of humor or
something to spark the reader’s attention
more such as a pole or quiz of some sort. Think
interactive, something that requires or
encourages participation will make your e-zine
even more memorable to your readers and have them
looking forward to the next issue.
In closing, every issue of your e-zine should
contain two other features. An option to
‘un-subscribe’ and your policy on not
sharing your subscriber’s information with
others. Both of these will make your reader feel
more comfortable receiving your e-zine and keep
them as regular readers.
If you are publishing a weekly e-zine this means
that every single week of the year you are
putting your business in the e-mail box of each
of your readers. Use this to your advantage and
make the most of this type of e-mail marketing to
your business customers and at the same time
encouragement for new customers.
Faith Wright-Draper (aka
byfaithonly) has been writing for over 40
years as a journalist, ghostwriter, and
freelancer. She currently writes for
several blogs, freelances, and writes on
her own website www.byfaithonly.com