| To grow your ezine subscriber numbers, you
need to let people online and offline know about it. Here's seven ways:
1. Network offline.
Visit professional like-minded groups. These groups usually
meet once a month, have speakers, and networking time for you to mix with other
professionals. Have your free ezine 30-second "tell and sell" ready at
networking time, or put your free ezine announcement/ad on a half page flyer to post on
the networking table. Always include the top 3-4 benefits of the ezine. Example: I'm Judy
Cullins and work with small business people who want to manifest their book dreams. To get
my free monthly ezine, The Book Coach Says, full of tips, articles and resources on book
writing, publishing, and promotion visit my site at www.bookcoaching.com.
2. Speak to groups as a teleclass guest speaker or to a
group in your city.
Pass a clipboard around that has your ezine's title and
space for signups below. Ask them to print clearly their name and their email address.
Make sure you let them know it's free--that's the big attraction usually. After receiving
good information for a few months or so, you may start getting sales from people who now
trust you as the savvy expert.
3. Promote your ezine on your web site.
Don't just say "Subscribe to my Free Ezine." Give
your audience a reason to buy. The free ezine helps you finish, publish, and sell your
book-fast! Dan Poynter, Mr. Self-Publishing says, "totally worth your time."
Offer an opt-in and opt-out place to subscribe and unsubscribe that automatically sends
the notice to your email.
4. Promote your ezine through your signature file that you
put at the bottom of each email you send out.
In 5-7 lines include your name and business benefits, your
book title, and your free offer, your ezine. Online audiences like monthly ezines so they
don’t get too much email. Make the subscribe address a hyperlink, so your readers can
just click and sign up. Make sure your ezine matches your company's focus.
5. Offer your subscribers a free gift subscription to send
to their friends.
You can use another autoresponder to send the gift, plus
whom it's from, and a little blurb about what they will be receiving. Always include a way
for subscribers to unsubscribe.
6. Submit a short version of your actual ezine to the
opt-in (no spam) ePublishers who want your useful articles as well.
This approach reaches a whole new audience that you don't
have to look for. If you have already subscribed to 10-20 of these such as
aainet@egroups.com, your ezine will reach 10-20 thousand subscribers. Don't include
hyperlinks within the ezine, but only in the signature file. EPublishers don't want them.
7. Send out press releases via email about your ezine.
Press releases by email are different from print ones. They
must be short! They must be newsworthy! We at Skills Unlimited Publishing send out over
150 different print releases a year, and are just beginning the great adventure online.
Rather than a pitch for your ezine, include a useful tip, so more people will read it and
think you offer great free how-to information.
You have something valuable to share. Let people know about
your ezine, because what most people want is free information. That helps them eventually
have enough information to buy from you.
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