"The goal of my ezine is to build relationships with prospects and turn them into customers."
You probably didn't get it the first time, so please say the sentence out loud once again...
"The goal of my ezine is to build relationships with prospects and turn them into customers."
If you are building a large ezine list just to sell advertising, then you are missing out on the primary income stream it can provide you with. Your ezine is the gateway into selling more of your products and services.
If you are the member of an affiliate program, then your ezine is the gateway into selling more of their products and earning higher commissions. Your ezine should become the source of multiple streams of income from selling both your products and the products of those you affiliate with.
One of the biggest mistakes I see being made from ezine owners is not inserting your own personality into your ezine. Part of the advantage to having a small business is you are a real person they can contact, agree with, disagree with, etc.
Don't just publish other people's articles and call that an ezine. Sure, you can use some articles from other people. Even all of your articles could be from other people.
What you need to do is add in a few paragraphs you wrote
yourself to the top of the ezine. Do an editorial section just like in magazines.
Don't just run ad copy from an affiliate program. Tell your readers how you feel about the product. What did you gain from it? How did you learn from it? What don't you like about it?
You may be so afraid of making mistakes in this area that you don't do anything. So, make some mistakes. We all do. It is part of being human.
What you say may offend some people and they may unsubscribe from your ezine. So what? They weren't planning on buying from you anyway!
I'm not telling you to purposely offend anyone...just letting you know it's going to happen. Use spell checkers and have some one edit your writing for you, but guess what? There are still going to be mistakes people will let you know about.
Be a real person
People always ask me how I have gotten my name published all over the web. Here's the secret...
"Be a real person."
It's not what you were expecting, is it? It's not exciting or highly technical. It's just the truth. People online are looking for people who are real, who have opinions, and who make mistakes.
One of my most popular articles being published around the web mentions a cow named "Oscar" who lives next door. Some people won't like you mentioning daily life such as this. Let them unsubscribe. The ones who stay on your list will buy more once they know you.
"Personality" is one of the most under used tools in the ezine publishers arsenal.
Right alongside personality is good content. You need to balance the one with the other. You won't be able to produce a growing ezine without good quality content.
If you don't feel you can write good content for your newsletter, then use other people's articles. Just keep in mind your primary goal - "to build relationships with prospects and turn them into customers."
About the Author
Terry Dean, a 5 year veteran of Internet marketing, will Take You By The Hand and Show You Exact Results of All the Internet Marketing Techniques he tests and Uses Every Single Month". Find Out More: http://www.netbreakthroughs.com
