Is anyone making money from an ezine newsletter outside of the internet marketing arena?

Yes

Though in my case probably not in the way that you think. I am running a side business (that is quickly growing into a full time business) writing the newsletters for various companies around my local area to keep in touch with their client/customer base.

It has dramatically helped most of them increase repeat custom and brand awareness.

More directly to your question I have recently started developing lists for 2 non-IM newsletters and already they are showing promise and a small profit (both in the sports arena).

I know a large number of those who post on the forum make money from lists in a wide variety of industries, from weddings to freebies. I'm sure they can instruct you on how they do so better than I.

In order for it to work you need to build a realtionship. Some people already have a name and reputation out there for themselves and rarely even need to build a realtionship (for the unknown it's imperitive)

With the nihce you were looking at and whatever anyone tells you about the MMO niche, one thing for sure is that it is not saturated, there are just far too many angles to look at it from for it ever to become staturated as such.

Now to get succesful with your ezine style newsletters (list building) you need to build a reputation for yourself so that the people whom join your newsletter trust you.

A good way to start the ball rolling is to provide something vauable and for free, then to follow up with more of the same for the next few days (building a trusting realtionship, one where they see you as an authority figure in solving their problems), then after a few days send them to an offer, one that you have seen and highly endorse.

If you don't build that initial realtionship, it's highly unlikely that it will work and your emails will just be registered as another spam, and probably not even opened.

Create buzz, build realtionships, market your best product.

That's how to do it properly. I hope this helps you.

I'm a dog trainer and make money with my dog owners list selling dog training info products.

Yes, I make money from a list I started in the alternative health niche.

It isn't rocket science to build a successful list campaign.

1. Offer something of real value to get them to opt in. I offer a free report explaining how the drug companies are killing people. This creates a lot of buzz.

2. Follow up with more relevant information on the topic in the form of a
daily or weekly newsletter, or whatever frequency you want to use. Just
be up front about it so subscribers know what to expect.

3. Give more than you pitch. I find I can make a sales pitch in one every
three or four emails. Each list will behave differently so you'll have to test
this.

Because of the nature of my list, I sell a number of different products
related to different health issues, so I can sell many different products to
one or more people on my list depending on what problems they have.

Building generic lists like this can be tricky, especially since there are so
many ailments, which is why one of my products is a generic "how to
take care of your health" product (diet, exercise, etc.) This will appeal
to somebody with a generic kind of problem (anemia, overweight, etc)

Then, I have specific products targeted to things like asthma, diabetes,
cancer and so on.

The articles I use to generate the list are both generic and specific so I
get all kinds.

My conversion on any one product is not great, but the number of sales I
make from the many different products I promote make up for it. And this
is to be expected with such a diverse list.

I could have taken the more specific route and started a very targeted
list for just one problem. However, that would have taken a different
kind of report and would have restricted the articles I could write (not as
many) and the number of products I could promote (also not as many)

IMO, either model is doable, though I am sure most people will say to
target your list as specifically as possible. I don't agree with this. My IM
list is very diverse and I have people buying products ranging from
article writing to list building to email marketing to niche research to
you name it.

But the short answer to your question is, yes, you can build a responsive
list outside of the IM niche.

I'd argue that there is more money with certain non-IM niche newsletters because you're not marketing to marketers.

Just think of all the things people buy that aren't related to IM that they need advice on.

Sure, lots of people. What did you do (or are doing) before turning to internet marketing? It's not like you were born and then became an internet marketer.

Forget the search engine traffic searches, KEI, and the other "how to pick a niche" mumbo jumbo for a moment.

If you owned a business in another niche, it's very easy to write and create products for that niche. Or an activity or sport that you were very good at... that's another easy niche to establish a foothold in.

Case in point, I owned and ran my own massage therapy center for many years that I started from scratch... so when I started online marketing in 2004, it was very easy for me to focus on the massage marketing niche. I have had a very successful marketing newsletter for massage therapists ever since.

If you play to your strengths, it's easy to establish a strong reputation as an expert in a non-IM niche. They may not be the biggest or most lucrative niches, but they are still niches with a fillable need nonetheless.

Best of luck,

Mike