Thinking of starting an Ezine

[Jon Tees]

I’ve been considering this for years, don’t know what the delay has been. It would be a great way to feature my own ads, as well as make some money by charging others to post their ads, and also a fantastic way to send out special promotional notices etc. So should I Or shouldn’t I? I have made hundreads of contacts over the years, and I’m pretty sure that I could harvest e-mail addresses by offering people incentives to give me their name/e-mail address. This is sort of why I asked a while ago about e-mail capture without auto responders, as I wanted to find a way to capture the e-mail addresses but since the ezine would be sent only every so often, there would be no need to bombard people with e-mail messages.

[ezine ads]

Originally Posted by Jon Tees

So should I Or shouldn’t I?

Why not? Make a plan and start it, don't waste anymore the time!

[Jillian Slack]

Do not take all of the email addresses of everyone you have ever done business with EVER and add them to your ezine list.

It's great that you have a lot of contacts already. But you need to be careful so you don't get accused of spam.

If they suddenly get your ezine without knowing what's up, some might consider this to be spam and click the button to report it as spam, without realizing that they did business with you four years ago and actually know who you are.

Just my opinion, but I think the best thing to do would be:

* Get the first issue of your ezine ready to go

* Harvest the names and email addresses of people you have already done business with

* Shoot a separate email off to all of these people, reminding them of who you are and the fact that you did business together in the past. Make it nice and conversational, like talking to an old friend (not stiff and formal). Mention that you have a new, free ezine that is published weekly (or monthly) and you thought they might be interested in taking a look at the first issue to see if they would like to sign up.

* Include the link for them to opt-in

Send out the email.

Some will sign up. Some won't.

But I think it's better to do it this way vs. assuming they want the first issue and sending it to them out of the blue.

[markshields]

My advice is just get going with it and seize the opportunity here and now

[Jason_V]

Just be prepared for a lot of work. I used to write for an ezine in the mid-90's and I became close with the owner.

His biggest headache was getting people to supply quality content. Of course, back in the mid-90's you didn't have as many people willing to provide content as you do now.

Back then it was nice because email was still relatively new so people were actually happy to get stuff and actually read it.

Today, you're competing desperately for people's attention through email.

All I'm saying is be prepared for the long haul, if you're going to do it, do it right and don't do it half gluteus maximused

Remember if you only send ads, you're going to have a horrible attrition rate. You have to provide at least 3-5 good quality pieces of content within the newsletter.

Also, don't try to be all things to all readers. Pick a niche and stick with it. You'll get better advertising rates that way.

[Jon Tees]

I’m looking to take the next step and get this thing started. However, I’m pretty sure I’d need double opt in e-mail capture forms to avoid spam complaints from people signed up by others against their will. But don’t really know where to get them.
If anyone can answer this I’d really appreciate it.

[ezine ads]

Originally Posted by Jon Tees

I’m pretty sure I’d need double opt in e-mail capture forms to avoid spam complaints from people signed up by others against their will. But don’t really know where to get them.

In order to distribute your ezine to your subscribers you will need a mailer. If you signup for a pro system, they will provide also the capture form code. The most known providers are Aweber & GetResponse. You can also use MailChimp - it's free for the first 500 subscribers (however the number of emails you can send monthly is limited in the free version).