ANALYZING EZINES
After having selected ezines to advertise your program in based on how the content of the ezines relate to what you wish to advertise, there is still another process to choosing the best ezines for your marketing dollars.
Analyzing the ezines is a rather subjective process, however. There are no hard and fast rules to follow that give you a clear indication of whether or not an ezine is worth the cost. However, there is an information gathering process that can help you to make better decisions.
AD FORMATTING
One important aspect is how ads are handled in the ezine itself. Where are the ads located in the ezine? Are they made visible by being placed directly between or at the start of the articles, or are they pushed all to the end of the ezine or published separately in an ad sheet?
How many ads are run in each issue? Are the headlines of the ads offset to attract attention, are the ads separated in some way from each other, or does the entire ad section look like one big chunk of text?
Naturally, anything the ezine publisher does to give visibility to the ads is a plus for you as an advertiser.
SUBSCRIBERS: Who Are They and Where Did They Come From?
Don't be afraid to contact the editor, publisher, or advertising agent of an ezine and ask them some questions. Find out not only how many subscribers they have, but get their opinion of what type of markets their subscribers are interested in, AND how they get their subscribers.
Some marketing practices, such as automatically subscribing people that post to an FFA or ad site, may pull a lot of subscribers for an ezine, but result in very little readers. Ads for subs programs also have mixed results. Some stick around and read the ezine, but many don't. The best subscribers are those that are completely volunteer opt in readers.
However, many ezines use multiple means of gaining subscribers and while some use not so great methods, they may also clean their lists of non-responsive subscribers regularly. That's why it is best to ask and make a judgment based on the answer you receive. This may take some practice and trial and error, but at least if you have the information you are giving yourself something to learn from. So, ask where, how, and what type of subscribers the ezine has. Ask how effectively they retain subscribers as well. That is a good indication of many subscribers are reading the ezine and viewing it as worthwhile.
FREE vs. PAID ADVERTISING
There are many ezines that do offer free ads to their subscribers. Some of these are worthwhile others are not. It really comes down to reader involvement. If people are still reading the ezine and not just subscribed to put their ad in every week, it may be worth your time. If the ezine has passed all of you're other criteria up to this point, it has to be worth a shot. At least this costs you nothing but your time.
Paid advertising at this point where you have studied, selected, and analyzed many ezines and come up with a short list is definitely going to be worth the cost.
Let's just review what you have gone through in selecting the ezines to advertise in.
1. Targeted Content that matches the product, service, or opportunity you are advertising. 2. Acceptable Potential Market based on the content of the ezine and what the ezine's editor says about his or her subscriber's interests. 3. Acceptable Ad Formatting and Placement in the Ezine. 4. Acceptable Subscriber Base as described by the way the ezine gets it's subscribers and keeps them.
Now comes the kicker, ad cost. What's a good price, and what isn't?
Well, it just depends. That's not what you wanted to hear, I know. You'd rather I provided a simple rule to go by that made all of your decisions for you. Sorry, but I don't believe that is possible. It is a big subject, however, so we'd best save it for the final installment in this series.
Showing posts with label Ezine Advertising. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ezine Advertising. Show all posts
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Ezines Are Effective In Advertising Your Online Business?
'Ezines are the most cost effective way to advertise your business opportunity'. I'm sure you’ve heard that phrase many times if you’ve been marketing on the internet for a while. But is that a myth or a fact?
An Internet Marketer once advertised that he can guarantee $1,000 profit for the user within weeks if he used the techniques outlined in his ebook.
And the secret of the ebook - advertise in Ezines using $2,000 and you are guaranteed success unless your product is useless. Well I didn't try it at the time because I couldn't find $2,000 lying about in the house or in my bank account. However, it does show the belief people have with Ezines.
There are 3 types of ads in Ezines:
Classified Ads
These are small ads which you can find at the bottom of newsletters. There is limited space in these ads therefore your ads have to be eye-catching. Classified Ads in ezines are cheap and sometimes free due to its limited space and location which is at the end of the ezine.
Sponsor Ads
These ads are placed at the top of the newsletter and sometimes in the middle. Some ezines have more than one sponsor ads. Sponsor ads are more expensive than Classified ads and can contain more words so your ad can be more descriptive. Sponsor ads are more effective than Classified Ads as their position in the newsletter is better.
Solo Ads
Solo ads is the most effective way out of the three type of ads for generating response.
Solo ads fills up a whole email which only contains your advertisement. The newsletter is sent on your behalf to its subscribers. Thus your ad will have the biggest exposure. Solo ads are more expensive than Sponsor ads but more effective.
'Great. Super. Fantastic. So what's your advice Alan?' My advice is advertising in Ezines do work. And they work very well. Some people don't think so because after placing some ads and seeing very little or no response they think they have proven that Ezine advertising is a lie used by Ezines Publishers.
Well I can tell you now that they are getting poor responses because they have not followed the rules for advertising successfully in Ezines.
Rules in Advertising in Ezines Successfully
1. If you can, save money and advertise using Solo ads. They have the best chances of being read by the subscribers and they have no other ads distracting or competing against.
2. Work on your subject line. Even with Solo Ads, people will not open your email if the subject is of no interest to them. Subjects which promises massive fortunes in a few days will get deleted with second thoughts.
3. Work on your Content. After the subscribers open your email, your next task is to try and get them to read the content. So make damn sure your content is interesting and enticing enough for them to take some action. Believe the saying “Content is King”.
4. When you’re advertising other peoples’ products using affiliate programs do not send the visitors to the product’s website. I think people are crazy when they do this. The reason is that you are sending traffic to other peoples websites and if they won’t buy you’ve lost that lead for good.
Therefore the aim of you ad is to capture their email address so that you can advertise to them again and again. If they don’t buy product A then you can advertise Product B to them. Now don’t you think that makes more sense?
5. Advertise in well known Ezines and which are related to the topic you are advertising. Advertising stock recommendations to Golf enthusiasts will surely give you a terrible response rate.
6. For Classified ads, make sure you are advertising in large numbers such as 100,000. Not many people read Classified ads and you will be listed among other ads as well. However, you might get lucky if your headline is attractive enough.
To end this article I’m going to share a secret with you on what I think is the best and cheapest way to advertise in Ezines. That is to write your own articles and ask the Ezine Publishers if they are interested in sending out your articles in an issue of their newsletter.
Now let’s think about this for a moment. Your own article is published in ezines and placed on their websites. People who write articles are given more respect and are trusted more. Plus your articles will stay on some websites for years which also means that it will generate traffic for years. The traffic is generated with a resource box you can put at the bottom of your article. You can put your URL here and also write a little bit of background about yourself.
You are creating a name for yourself on the internet scene and you are also generating leads which you can email your recommendations to. There is no cost for you when Publishers decide to include your article so the only cost coming out of you is the time needed to write the article.
In my opinion, writing articles for ezines is the most effective way to advertise using ezines. Not to mention it’s cheap and will generate traffic even after many months.
An Internet Marketer once advertised that he can guarantee $1,000 profit for the user within weeks if he used the techniques outlined in his ebook.
And the secret of the ebook - advertise in Ezines using $2,000 and you are guaranteed success unless your product is useless. Well I didn't try it at the time because I couldn't find $2,000 lying about in the house or in my bank account. However, it does show the belief people have with Ezines.
There are 3 types of ads in Ezines:
Classified Ads
These are small ads which you can find at the bottom of newsletters. There is limited space in these ads therefore your ads have to be eye-catching. Classified Ads in ezines are cheap and sometimes free due to its limited space and location which is at the end of the ezine.
Sponsor Ads
These ads are placed at the top of the newsletter and sometimes in the middle. Some ezines have more than one sponsor ads. Sponsor ads are more expensive than Classified ads and can contain more words so your ad can be more descriptive. Sponsor ads are more effective than Classified Ads as their position in the newsletter is better.
Solo Ads
Solo ads is the most effective way out of the three type of ads for generating response.
Solo ads fills up a whole email which only contains your advertisement. The newsletter is sent on your behalf to its subscribers. Thus your ad will have the biggest exposure. Solo ads are more expensive than Sponsor ads but more effective.
'Great. Super. Fantastic. So what's your advice Alan?' My advice is advertising in Ezines do work. And they work very well. Some people don't think so because after placing some ads and seeing very little or no response they think they have proven that Ezine advertising is a lie used by Ezines Publishers.
Well I can tell you now that they are getting poor responses because they have not followed the rules for advertising successfully in Ezines.
Rules in Advertising in Ezines Successfully
1. If you can, save money and advertise using Solo ads. They have the best chances of being read by the subscribers and they have no other ads distracting or competing against.
2. Work on your subject line. Even with Solo Ads, people will not open your email if the subject is of no interest to them. Subjects which promises massive fortunes in a few days will get deleted with second thoughts.
3. Work on your Content. After the subscribers open your email, your next task is to try and get them to read the content. So make damn sure your content is interesting and enticing enough for them to take some action. Believe the saying “Content is King”.
4. When you’re advertising other peoples’ products using affiliate programs do not send the visitors to the product’s website. I think people are crazy when they do this. The reason is that you are sending traffic to other peoples websites and if they won’t buy you’ve lost that lead for good.
Therefore the aim of you ad is to capture their email address so that you can advertise to them again and again. If they don’t buy product A then you can advertise Product B to them. Now don’t you think that makes more sense?
5. Advertise in well known Ezines and which are related to the topic you are advertising. Advertising stock recommendations to Golf enthusiasts will surely give you a terrible response rate.
6. For Classified ads, make sure you are advertising in large numbers such as 100,000. Not many people read Classified ads and you will be listed among other ads as well. However, you might get lucky if your headline is attractive enough.
To end this article I’m going to share a secret with you on what I think is the best and cheapest way to advertise in Ezines. That is to write your own articles and ask the Ezine Publishers if they are interested in sending out your articles in an issue of their newsletter.
Now let’s think about this for a moment. Your own article is published in ezines and placed on their websites. People who write articles are given more respect and are trusted more. Plus your articles will stay on some websites for years which also means that it will generate traffic for years. The traffic is generated with a resource box you can put at the bottom of your article. You can put your URL here and also write a little bit of background about yourself.
You are creating a name for yourself on the internet scene and you are also generating leads which you can email your recommendations to. There is no cost for you when Publishers decide to include your article so the only cost coming out of you is the time needed to write the article.
In my opinion, writing articles for ezines is the most effective way to advertise using ezines. Not to mention it’s cheap and will generate traffic even after many months.
TEN Tips for Successful Ezine Advertising
When it comes to advertising, I've tried just about everything. I tried free classified ad sites, I tried FFA sites, I tried banner exchange programs.
The results? Not much.
I was tired of hearing that the Internet is the largest market in human history. Maybe so, but how could I reach those millions of people?
The answer, I discovered, is ezine advertising.
Ezines are sometimes called 'opt-in' lists because everyone who receives an ezine has chosen to do so.
And that's why ezine advertising gets results. People read ezines and they'll read your ad. And if you've matched the ezine to the product you're selling, you've reached your target audience.
There are currently around 90,000 ezines being published every month. So whatever you're selling, there's more than likely an ezine that will take your ad straight to the audience you want to reach.
Ezine advertising is not only effective, it's cheap as well. A 5 line ad in an ezine that goes to 3000 people will cost you between $5 and $20 per issue.
As a general rule, you'll always get back at least the cost of the ad, and usually much more. So there's very little risk.
But there are some tips for successful ezine advertising. Here they are:
1. The first and most important rule is: "Track your Ads!" Say you place an ad in 5 different ezines and get a hundred responses. If you don't track your ads, you won't know which ezines were pulling responses and which weren't.
But how do you track your ads?
The simplest method is to place a key or a code at the end of your email address:
yourname@yourdomain.com?subject=ezineA
Then, when you get a reply with 'ezineA' in the subject field, you'll know which ezine it came from.
For a URL, it's the same principle:
http://www.yourdomain.com?ezineA
However, if you're going to code your URLs, you'll need a good webstats program to track the coded URLs. These two programs are excellent and they're both free:
Here's another way to code your URLs: for every ezine ad, create a duplicate of your homepage and name the page after the ezine that your ad will appear in. So, if the ad is appearing in EzineA, this is the URL you'd place in that ad:
http://www.yourdomain.com/EzineA
2. Target your audience. It may seem obvious but some advertisers overlook this. If you're selling a web-marketing course, don't advertise in an ezine that deals with stock options; they probably won't be interested.
Use the 'subject categories' in any ezine directory to find ezines that relate to the product you're selling. You can find a list of 56 ezine directories in 'The Free Directory of Ezines' at:
3. Once you've chosen a number of ezines that target your audience, subscribe to them and examine the ads closely. If you see an ad that keeps repeating issue after issue, you can be pretty sure that it's getting results. You've found a good ezine to advertise in.
4. Check to see how many ads are in the ezine. You probably won't get much response from an ad in an ezine that has 15 or 20 ads per issue. Readers of those ezines have become hardened to the ads and have learnt to skip them.
5. Check to see if the ezine publisher has a policy of never running ads for two similar products in the same issue - your ad will be much more effective if it's the only one of it's kind in that particular issue.
6. Small ezines Vs. Big ezines: bigger is not always better. The big ezines with 1000's of subscribers tend to have more ads than the small ezines. Also, small ezines with only a few hundred subscribers often have a much more targeted audience than the big ezines.
7. Repeat your ads. Research shows that off the Web, an ad has to be seen about 21 times before someone acts on it; on the Internet it's about 9 times. If your budget allows, try and have your ad repeated at least three times in a particular ezine. Most ezines offer discount packages for bulk advertising.
8. Email address Vs. URL. The advantage of giving an email address is that it gives you the opportunity to send a powerful sales letter to the person who responded to your ad. It's also much easier to track your ads with an email address than a URL.
9. Offer something free in your ad copy. It'll often tip the balance between a response and no response.
10. Keep your ads short, even if you're not using the number of words you're allowed. Short ads are more likely to be read. Keep your sentences short too; they pack much more power. Use the word 'You'. Don't describe your product but tell the reader what your product can do for them.
The results? Not much.
I was tired of hearing that the Internet is the largest market in human history. Maybe so, but how could I reach those millions of people?
The answer, I discovered, is ezine advertising.
Ezines are sometimes called 'opt-in' lists because everyone who receives an ezine has chosen to do so.
And that's why ezine advertising gets results. People read ezines and they'll read your ad. And if you've matched the ezine to the product you're selling, you've reached your target audience.
There are currently around 90,000 ezines being published every month. So whatever you're selling, there's more than likely an ezine that will take your ad straight to the audience you want to reach.
Ezine advertising is not only effective, it's cheap as well. A 5 line ad in an ezine that goes to 3000 people will cost you between $5 and $20 per issue.
As a general rule, you'll always get back at least the cost of the ad, and usually much more. So there's very little risk.
But there are some tips for successful ezine advertising. Here they are:
1. The first and most important rule is: "Track your Ads!" Say you place an ad in 5 different ezines and get a hundred responses. If you don't track your ads, you won't know which ezines were pulling responses and which weren't.
But how do you track your ads?
The simplest method is to place a key or a code at the end of your email address:
yourname@yourdomain.com?subject=ezineA
Then, when you get a reply with 'ezineA' in the subject field, you'll know which ezine it came from.
For a URL, it's the same principle:
http://www.yourdomain.com?ezineA
However, if you're going to code your URLs, you'll need a good webstats program to track the coded URLs. These two programs are excellent and they're both free:
Here's another way to code your URLs: for every ezine ad, create a duplicate of your homepage and name the page after the ezine that your ad will appear in. So, if the ad is appearing in EzineA, this is the URL you'd place in that ad:
http://www.yourdomain.com/EzineA
2. Target your audience. It may seem obvious but some advertisers overlook this. If you're selling a web-marketing course, don't advertise in an ezine that deals with stock options; they probably won't be interested.
Use the 'subject categories' in any ezine directory to find ezines that relate to the product you're selling. You can find a list of 56 ezine directories in 'The Free Directory of Ezines' at:
3. Once you've chosen a number of ezines that target your audience, subscribe to them and examine the ads closely. If you see an ad that keeps repeating issue after issue, you can be pretty sure that it's getting results. You've found a good ezine to advertise in.
4. Check to see how many ads are in the ezine. You probably won't get much response from an ad in an ezine that has 15 or 20 ads per issue. Readers of those ezines have become hardened to the ads and have learnt to skip them.
5. Check to see if the ezine publisher has a policy of never running ads for two similar products in the same issue - your ad will be much more effective if it's the only one of it's kind in that particular issue.
6. Small ezines Vs. Big ezines: bigger is not always better. The big ezines with 1000's of subscribers tend to have more ads than the small ezines. Also, small ezines with only a few hundred subscribers often have a much more targeted audience than the big ezines.
7. Repeat your ads. Research shows that off the Web, an ad has to be seen about 21 times before someone acts on it; on the Internet it's about 9 times. If your budget allows, try and have your ad repeated at least three times in a particular ezine. Most ezines offer discount packages for bulk advertising.
8. Email address Vs. URL. The advantage of giving an email address is that it gives you the opportunity to send a powerful sales letter to the person who responded to your ad. It's also much easier to track your ads with an email address than a URL.
9. Offer something free in your ad copy. It'll often tip the balance between a response and no response.
10. Keep your ads short, even if you're not using the number of words you're allowed. Short ads are more likely to be read. Keep your sentences short too; they pack much more power. Use the word 'You'. Don't describe your product but tell the reader what your product can do for them.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
10 Ezine Advertising Strategies For Starters
If you're like most ezine advertisers you wish to generate FAST Sales by sending your message in front of thousands ezine subscribers.
Some spend hundreds in ezine advertising hoping to generate a BIG profit... but it ends up costing them more than they earn.
Yes, ezine advertising works, but if you really want to WIN the ezine advertising GAME you must take in consideration the strategies below:
1. What do you plan to advertise?
e.g. an affiliate product, your own product, a course by e-mail, an ebook, etc.
You must know exactly what you want to promote in other ezines before advertising in them; ask yourself these questions:
Is the product related to your target audience?
Is the product valuable?
Does the seller offer a money-back guarantee?
Does the Web Site make you want to purchase the product yourself?
Does the Web Sales Letter convert into Sales?
2. Who is your target audience?
The product you plan to promote in other ezines must be related to a certain niche (target audience) so don't make the mistake to think that everyone needs or wants what you promote.
e.g. if your product is related to dog lovers, don't advertise in ezines related to cat lovers because you won't make any sales.
3. Where to find the 'BEST' ezine to advertise in?
The 'BEST' ezine to promote a product in is the one targeted to your audience.
The more specific your target audience and the ezine TOPIC, the more sales you could receive.
Also, the 'BEST' ezine to advertise in is the one where the publisher has already built TRUST with his/her subscribers and they purchase regularly from their recommendations.
Ezine Advertising List
http://www.probiztrack.com/go/p.cgi/ezines
4. What's your BUDGET?
If you only afford $300 to spend on ezine advertising, you don't want to spend it all on one ezine. Try to invest your money wisely, step-by-step.
Have you seen a publisher claiming their ezine has 90,000+ subscribers and they sell advertising for $25 - $50 or so?
If these offers sound too good to be true, maybe it is!
5. How many subscribers does the ezine have?
Numbers don't count, the quality of the ezine CONTENT itself is what makes the difference; if a publisher sends too many ads to their subscribers, I suppose you imagine there are not too happy seeing all those ads.
The more CONTENT and less advertising an ezine has, the better RESULTS you could receive from your advertising.
6. Who wrote your Ad Copy?
You know exactly the 'BEST' ezine to advertise in, how much you want to spend on advertising, but your ad copy is weak ... try to improve it yourself or ask a copywriter to rewrite it.
How to make your Ad Copy bring in GREAT results?
- write an eye-catching headline or no one will read your WHOLE ad copy;
- use powerful / action words in your headline & ad copy like 'INSTANT', 'FREE', 'GET', 'CASH', 'UNLIMITED', 'TURN', 'BOOST', 'CREATE', etc.
- write your ad copy to promote a FREE offer like a FREE course by e-mail, a FREE ebook or a FREE sample of a product.
7. Don't want to track your Ad?
Why not? How will you know that the ezine you advertised in is profitable or not?
Most advertisers don't track their ads. Just look in other ezines and you'll see their regular Web Site link, no tracking URL available.
A tracking URL will show you how many clicks your ad receives and how many sales it makes from those clicks.
http://www.probiztrack.com
8. Don't want to use autoresponders in your Ad Copy?
Autoresponders are one of the SMARTEST internet marketing tools simply because they allow you to follow-up with your leads and send out more promotional offers automatically. You only write your messages once and then put them on the autoresponder sequences to be delivered at pre-determined intervals like 1, 2 or more days. You can even use autoresponders to build your own mailing lists of leads and customers.
Instead of sending prospects to your main Web Site page, direct them to a Web Page where they can GET a FREE course by e-mail. Use this course to educate them and build a relationship with them, gain their trust.
9. Want to play with 'SPAM'?
Don't do it if you are SMART. Search on your favorite search engine for "spam laws + email marketing" and you'll get a picture of what 'SPAM' is and how you can protect yourself!
Make sure you read about the CAN-Spam law if you want to know how to legally send commercial emails.
Also, don't forget about the FTC laws on e-mail marketing!
10. What ads are 'BEST'?
If you want to sell something directly from your ad, try Solo Mailings (one e-mail sent to all subscribers with no other ads in competition!)
If you want to TEST your ad or want to promote a FREE offer, try Classified, Top Sponsor or Bottom Ads.
They are much cheaper than Solos and could bring 'POOR' results.
If you invest in Solo Ads, make sure your ad copy is short and to the point, don't bore your prospect with long ad copy.
Some spend hundreds in ezine advertising hoping to generate a BIG profit... but it ends up costing them more than they earn.
Yes, ezine advertising works, but if you really want to WIN the ezine advertising GAME you must take in consideration the strategies below:
1. What do you plan to advertise?
e.g. an affiliate product, your own product, a course by e-mail, an ebook, etc.
You must know exactly what you want to promote in other ezines before advertising in them; ask yourself these questions:
Is the product related to your target audience?
Is the product valuable?
Does the seller offer a money-back guarantee?
Does the Web Site make you want to purchase the product yourself?
Does the Web Sales Letter convert into Sales?
2. Who is your target audience?
The product you plan to promote in other ezines must be related to a certain niche (target audience) so don't make the mistake to think that everyone needs or wants what you promote.
e.g. if your product is related to dog lovers, don't advertise in ezines related to cat lovers because you won't make any sales.
3. Where to find the 'BEST' ezine to advertise in?
The 'BEST' ezine to promote a product in is the one targeted to your audience.
The more specific your target audience and the ezine TOPIC, the more sales you could receive.
Also, the 'BEST' ezine to advertise in is the one where the publisher has already built TRUST with his/her subscribers and they purchase regularly from their recommendations.
Ezine Advertising List
http://www.probiztrack.com/go/p.cgi/ezines
4. What's your BUDGET?
If you only afford $300 to spend on ezine advertising, you don't want to spend it all on one ezine. Try to invest your money wisely, step-by-step.
Have you seen a publisher claiming their ezine has 90,000+ subscribers and they sell advertising for $25 - $50 or so?
If these offers sound too good to be true, maybe it is!
5. How many subscribers does the ezine have?
Numbers don't count, the quality of the ezine CONTENT itself is what makes the difference; if a publisher sends too many ads to their subscribers, I suppose you imagine there are not too happy seeing all those ads.
The more CONTENT and less advertising an ezine has, the better RESULTS you could receive from your advertising.
6. Who wrote your Ad Copy?
You know exactly the 'BEST' ezine to advertise in, how much you want to spend on advertising, but your ad copy is weak ... try to improve it yourself or ask a copywriter to rewrite it.
How to make your Ad Copy bring in GREAT results?
- write an eye-catching headline or no one will read your WHOLE ad copy;
- use powerful / action words in your headline & ad copy like 'INSTANT', 'FREE', 'GET', 'CASH', 'UNLIMITED', 'TURN', 'BOOST', 'CREATE', etc.
- write your ad copy to promote a FREE offer like a FREE course by e-mail, a FREE ebook or a FREE sample of a product.
7. Don't want to track your Ad?
Why not? How will you know that the ezine you advertised in is profitable or not?
Most advertisers don't track their ads. Just look in other ezines and you'll see their regular Web Site link, no tracking URL available.
A tracking URL will show you how many clicks your ad receives and how many sales it makes from those clicks.
http://www.probiztrack.com
8. Don't want to use autoresponders in your Ad Copy?
Autoresponders are one of the SMARTEST internet marketing tools simply because they allow you to follow-up with your leads and send out more promotional offers automatically. You only write your messages once and then put them on the autoresponder sequences to be delivered at pre-determined intervals like 1, 2 or more days. You can even use autoresponders to build your own mailing lists of leads and customers.
Instead of sending prospects to your main Web Site page, direct them to a Web Page where they can GET a FREE course by e-mail. Use this course to educate them and build a relationship with them, gain their trust.
9. Want to play with 'SPAM'?
Don't do it if you are SMART. Search on your favorite search engine for "spam laws + email marketing" and you'll get a picture of what 'SPAM' is and how you can protect yourself!
Make sure you read about the CAN-Spam law if you want to know how to legally send commercial emails.
Also, don't forget about the FTC laws on e-mail marketing!
10. What ads are 'BEST'?
If you want to sell something directly from your ad, try Solo Mailings (one e-mail sent to all subscribers with no other ads in competition!)
If you want to TEST your ad or want to promote a FREE offer, try Classified, Top Sponsor or Bottom Ads.
They are much cheaper than Solos and could bring 'POOR' results.
If you invest in Solo Ads, make sure your ad copy is short and to the point, don't bore your prospect with long ad copy.
How To Properly Use Ezine Advertising - Part Three
ANALYZING EZINES
After having selected ezines to advertise your program in based on how the content of the ezines relate to what you wish to advertise, there is still another process to choosing the best ezines for your marketing dollars.
Analyzing the ezines is a rather subjective process, however. There are no hard and fast rules to follow that give you a clear indication of whether or not an ezine is worth the cost. However, there is an information gathering process that can help you to make better decisions.
AD FORMATTING
One important aspect is how ads are handled in the ezine itself. Where are the ads located in the ezine? Are they made visible by being placed directly between or at the start of the articles, or are they pushed all to the end of the ezine or published separately in an ad sheet?
How many ads are run in each issue? Are the headlines of the ads offset to attract attention, are the ads separated in some way from each other, or does the entire ad section look like one big chunk of text?
Naturally, anything the ezine publisher does to give visibility to the ads is a plus for you as an advertiser.
SUBSCRIBERS: Who Are They and Where Did They Come From?
Don't be afraid to contact the editor, publisher, or advertising agent of an ezine and ask them some questions. Find out not only how many subscribers they have, but get their opinion of what type of markets their subscribers are interested in, AND how they get their subscribers.
Some marketing practices, such as automatically subscribing people that post to an FFA or ad site, may pull a lot of subscribers for an ezine, but result in very little readers. Ads for subs programs also have mixed results. Some stick around and read the ezine, but many don't. The best subscribers are those that are completely volunteer opt in readers.
However, many ezines use multiple means of gaining subscribers and while some use not so great methods, they may also clean their lists of non-responsive subscribers regularly. That's why it is best to ask and make a judgment based on the answer you receive. This may take some practice and trial and error, but at least if you have the information you are giving yourself something to learn from. So, ask where, how, and what type of subscribers the ezine has. Ask how effectively they retain subscribers as well. That is a good indication of many subscribers are reading the ezine and viewing it as worthwhile.
FREE vs. PAID ADVERTISING
There are many ezines that do offer free ads to their subscribers. Some of these are worthwhile others are not. It really comes down to reader involvement. If people are still reading the ezine and not just subscribed to put their ad in every week, it may be worth your time. If the ezine has passed all of you're other criteria up to this point, it has to be worth a shot. At least this costs you nothing but your time.
Paid advertising at this point where you have studied, selected, and analyzed many ezines and come up with a short list is definitely going to be worth the cost.
Let's just review what you have gone through in selecting the ezines to advertise in.
1. Targeted Content that matches the product, service, or opportunity you are advertising. 2. Acceptable Potential Market based on the content of the ezine and what the ezine's editor says about his or her subscriber's interests. 3. Acceptable Ad Formatting and Placement in the Ezine. 4. Acceptable Subscriber Base as described by the way the ezine gets it's subscribers and keeps them.
Now comes the kicker, ad cost. What's a good price, and what isn't?
Well, it just depends. That's not what you wanted to hear, I know. You'd rather I provided a simple rule to go by that made all of your decisions for you. Sorry, but I don't believe that is possible. It is a big subject, however, so we'd best save it for the final installment in this series.
After having selected ezines to advertise your program in based on how the content of the ezines relate to what you wish to advertise, there is still another process to choosing the best ezines for your marketing dollars.
Analyzing the ezines is a rather subjective process, however. There are no hard and fast rules to follow that give you a clear indication of whether or not an ezine is worth the cost. However, there is an information gathering process that can help you to make better decisions.
AD FORMATTING
One important aspect is how ads are handled in the ezine itself. Where are the ads located in the ezine? Are they made visible by being placed directly between or at the start of the articles, or are they pushed all to the end of the ezine or published separately in an ad sheet?
How many ads are run in each issue? Are the headlines of the ads offset to attract attention, are the ads separated in some way from each other, or does the entire ad section look like one big chunk of text?
Naturally, anything the ezine publisher does to give visibility to the ads is a plus for you as an advertiser.
SUBSCRIBERS: Who Are They and Where Did They Come From?
Don't be afraid to contact the editor, publisher, or advertising agent of an ezine and ask them some questions. Find out not only how many subscribers they have, but get their opinion of what type of markets their subscribers are interested in, AND how they get their subscribers.
Some marketing practices, such as automatically subscribing people that post to an FFA or ad site, may pull a lot of subscribers for an ezine, but result in very little readers. Ads for subs programs also have mixed results. Some stick around and read the ezine, but many don't. The best subscribers are those that are completely volunteer opt in readers.
However, many ezines use multiple means of gaining subscribers and while some use not so great methods, they may also clean their lists of non-responsive subscribers regularly. That's why it is best to ask and make a judgment based on the answer you receive. This may take some practice and trial and error, but at least if you have the information you are giving yourself something to learn from. So, ask where, how, and what type of subscribers the ezine has. Ask how effectively they retain subscribers as well. That is a good indication of many subscribers are reading the ezine and viewing it as worthwhile.
FREE vs. PAID ADVERTISING
There are many ezines that do offer free ads to their subscribers. Some of these are worthwhile others are not. It really comes down to reader involvement. If people are still reading the ezine and not just subscribed to put their ad in every week, it may be worth your time. If the ezine has passed all of you're other criteria up to this point, it has to be worth a shot. At least this costs you nothing but your time.
Paid advertising at this point where you have studied, selected, and analyzed many ezines and come up with a short list is definitely going to be worth the cost.
Let's just review what you have gone through in selecting the ezines to advertise in.
1. Targeted Content that matches the product, service, or opportunity you are advertising. 2. Acceptable Potential Market based on the content of the ezine and what the ezine's editor says about his or her subscriber's interests. 3. Acceptable Ad Formatting and Placement in the Ezine. 4. Acceptable Subscriber Base as described by the way the ezine gets it's subscribers and keeps them.
Now comes the kicker, ad cost. What's a good price, and what isn't?
Well, it just depends. That's not what you wanted to hear, I know. You'd rather I provided a simple rule to go by that made all of your decisions for you. Sorry, but I don't believe that is possible. It is a big subject, however, so we'd best save it for the final installment in this series.
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