I’ve been publishing ezines for years – and I have seen some pretty awful ezines – no original content, just pushing products of their own, etc. Some have high subscriber numbers – watch out and verify – I tried some and guess what? They often go to safe-lists or some other listings that do NOT qualify as subscribers. Many publishers keep their bounced addresses in their count – another red flag.
There isn’t an easy way to absolutely verify the subscriber number – people lie. If they send via a list service – often the subscriber count is listed there. It may not be absolute – I send my ezines using a combination of my own list I grew plus the list service at Topica – that is because a former list service I used went belly up and took my subscribers with it.
A good option is to contact a previous advertiser and ask his experience. Look at his ad, though – would you buy from it? If not – don’t talk to that advertiser.
If subscribers are purchased or gained via free ads, they are usually no good. They are not targeted and they didn’t specifically ask for the ezine. As for free ads – run from them. I used a couple of those programs to gain subscribers with, and all I got were people who subscribed with either a bogus address or unsubscribed as soon as they thought their ad ran. They have no interest in reading the issue other than to look for their ad. Plus the issues are loaded with free ads no one wants to read through.
Paying for a quality ad, well placed as a sponsor ad, or as a solo (although solo ads do not pull as well as they used to unless the headline is outstanding and the offer is outstanding), will get you the best response – if the ezine is targeted and if you confirm the subscriber base and targeted audience. If you publish an ezine, swap ads with like ezines you have checked out.
Writing articles for ezines to pick up is a good option, and then put your site in the “resource box” after the article. There is no guarantee the articles will be picked up, though.
Writing your own ezine isn’t easy either – spam filters are bouncing issues back, and the number of bounces is increasing. You need to build a solid trust with your readers so they will want to see your issues – be creative, original and useful to them. You can write a short blurb every week of a new offering at your site – and give a new tool or freebie of related topic. For your loyal site visitors, that’s all you need to do. It may not build up fast, but you’ll be credible with the people who trust you.
The trick is to test different areas, and when something works, pump up your efforts there. It will likely only work for a length of time – and then you need to try something else. There is no exact science, no guarantee – it’s all hit or miss, testing all options. Some people do well in one type of avenue – others do well elsewhere. It depends on your ad, the audience that sees the ad, and other factors.
So, advertise as you are comfortable with, and check that you are not being conned. Make sure your advertisement is good, is going to the right audience, and then perhaps you will succeed.
P. Roe does website optimization work, and is working on her sites all the time – many are in number 1-10 ranking on Google and Yahoo! Subscribe to “Wise Little Tidbits” for more optimization tips. mailto:ezineshere@aol.com?WLT http://doubleii.com/webservices.htm
