One of the most effective methods of advertising your e-zine is placing ads in OTHER e-zines!
There are many reasons why, but the top three are:
1) you’re advertising to other readers whom you know
are already interested in e-zines
2) you can finely target other e-zines whose readers would
likely be interested in YOUR topic
3) it’s easy and inexpensive
First, you’ll need to get your ads ripe and ready. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to write them – it should only take you about 10 minutes.
1) Gimme the “meat.” What do you have to offer?
No one’s going to give a hoot about your e-zine unless you tell them what they’ll GET out of it.
a) What does your e-zine show, teach, or share with your reader?
Write them down now. For example, my other e-zine, “Publish for Profits,” tells how to publish and promote an effective e-mail newsletter..
b) NOW, translate those features into benefits.
By showing my readers how to publish and promote an effective newsletter, “Publish for Profits” helps them attract new clients/customers and increase sales. THAT’s what they really care about! Get your result down to one or two sentences. You now have the “body” of your ad.
2) Write your headline.
Often times your ad will be stuck in the middle of many others. Use your headline to make YOURS stand out. Here’s where you can really grab the reader, effectively saying, “Hey, look over here!”
Your headline copy should attract attention and can either sum up your offer or highlight a benefit of your e-zine.
Also, play with CAPS and punctuation to help your headline stand out. You can put your entire headline in ALL CAPS, just capitalize special words, or use asterisks (***) or other punctuation to grab attention.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Don’t overdo it! If you pump your entire ad full of caps and asterisks and exclamation points, it will lose credibility quickly. Grab your readers’ attention, but don’t cram your message down their throats.
3) Incorporate some “power words.”
These are words that give your ad ZING and get attention quickly. Here are 16 to get you started. See if any of these apply to YOUR e-zine offer, and use them as appropriate in both your headline and body copy.
“you, free, money, profit, secret, easy, yes, save, guarantee, today, first, how to, new, now, discover, learn”
4) Add your “call to action.”
All good ads give a call to action. Never make your reader have to assume what to do next!
YOUR call to action is obviously to ask the readers to sign up for your e-zine. Do this in your last line or two.
Example: ‘Sign up NOW at http://www….com or by sending an e-mail to subscribe@….com.’
5) Massage your result into the two sizes of ads you’ll need.
There are generally two ad sizes you’ll need for an effective e-zine ad campaign.
a) THE “CLASSIFIED” AD: Most e-zines offer spots for 5-line ads, so this is a great size to have ready-to-go. Remember to use all three components: headline, body, and call to action.
b) THE “SPONSOR” AD: If you choose to be a “sponsor” of another e-zine, you’ll have room for a longer ad. These are usually at the top of the issue and allow for at least 10 lines.
To write your sponsor ad, just take your classified ad and build onto it. Give us more benefits and details. Again, remember to use all three components: headline, body, and call to action.
Remember – your words are selling your ezine!
Everyone’s finally catching on to the fact that publishing an e-zine is an incredibly effective self-promotional tool. That means you have plenty of competition, and that you’ll have to work to SELL your e-zine to prospects. We’re all so overwhelmed with information these days, that it’s not enough to just offer us something FREE – you need to show us how it will be worth our time!
Take your time to craft a truly COMPELLING ad for your e-zine. It will be well worth it.
(c) 2001 Alexandria K. Brown
Alexandria K. Brown, “The E-zine Queen,” is author of the award-winning manual, “Boost Business With Your Own E-zine” and the publisher of the e-zine, “Publish for Profits.” To learn more about her book and FREE tips, teleclasses, and resources, visit http://www.EzineQueen.com.
