Should You Publish an Ezine?
By Darlene Bishop


If you've read much information on the Internet about
marketing and how to be successful, you probably know that
one of the first things the gurus tell you to do is start an
ezine, or what in the offline world, would be called a
client newsletter.

This sounds like good advice at first read. After all, what
is an ezine but a client newsletter? And what benefits does
a client newsletter afford but to increase sales, increase
your customer base, keep your name in front of your
customers and prospects, present a professional company
image and position you as an expert in your field? This is
what we're all looking for, so the progression seems
logical.

But, at the risk of being flamed, I choose to differ.

Yes. You NEED a client newsletter - an ezine. You NEED the
benefits it can provide your business. But, again, at the
risk of offending ezine publishers everywhere, you don't
need an ezine if you can't do it right.

I know I'm opening myself up for criticism here. You can
say, what makes her such an expert? HER ezine isn't the best
I've seen. And I'm sure you're right. I am certainly not the
world's most eloquent writer and I certainly don't know all
the ins and outs of Internet marketing - I'm learning daily,
just like you. One thing I DO know is what a good newsletter
consists of. And the majority of what I receive in my email
box are not good newsletters. They are poor replications of
inferior newsletters which become, in turn, pitiful examples
of what a newsletter could be.

Ask yourself "What is my purpose for producing an ezine?"

Probably something we've already mentioned...to increase
sales, to increase your customer base, to keep your name in
front of your customers and prospects, to present a
professional company image, or to position you as an expert
in your field. Right? Ultimately, to help you make more
money.

Then consider this. If an ezine makes you look
unprofessional, unlearned in your field, incapable of clear
communication, and overall, presents a sloppy image of your
company, how is it going to help you make more money? Would
you buy from a salesman who showed up at your door in an
unpressed suit, with uncombed hair, with his shoelaces
untied and who handed you a torn brochure that had been
dragged through a mud puddle? You may offer him a free
lunch, but I don't think you'd buy anything from him. Is
this really the image you want your customers and prospects
to have of you and your company? I don't think so, Tim.

Yet every day I receive ezines that present this kind of
image of their publishers. What do I do with them? I hit the
delete button. I don't even read them. Do you? Would you
listen to a one-hour presentation from that salesman who
showed up looking like he'd been run over by a city bus? I
wouldn't. I don't have the time, nor the inclination. If his
appearance doesn't instill my confidence, immediately, I
have no desire to listen to him stutter through a sixty
minute sales presentation.

Maybe I'm picky. No, let me restate that. I AM picky. I
expect something useful for my time, and especially for my
very hard-earned money. I expect value. And I expect, not
perfect packaging, but packaging that has been put together
with some thought. Not thrown together on Sunday night for
Monday morning distribution. (Ouch...that one reached my own
toes.) But it's truly the way I feel.

I Corinthians 13:1 says, "If I speak in the tongues of men
and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding
gong or a clanging cymbal." (NIV)

Let me paraphrase, "If I speak with the words of marketing
experts or successful entrepreneurs, but have no concern for
my customers, I am only a slamming door, or a screeching
chalkboard."

Grabbing a couple of over-used articles from a sloppy
website, throwing in 25 ads and mailing it out to 6,000
people without even running it through a spell check program
does not constitute an ezine. You may call it one. But it
has no value.

And let me be the first to say, I use other writers'
articles. I use previously published material, and I have
ads in my ezine. But I still look for some value to add to
each and every issue. This is key.

When reprinting content from other sources, search for
articles that you haven't read. If you've read them, so have
your readers. They read many of the same ezines you read.
Odds are you'll still have at least one or two readers who
have read one of the articles you're reprinting, so offer
some fresh content as well.

Take your time to sit down and write an article that has
never been published before. You don't have to be a
Hemingway to write an effective article. Content is much
more important than flowery phrases or catchy prose. Tell
your readers something they need to hear. Something you've
learned about marketing on the 'Net, or running a small
business. Share your insight and your experience. That's
what they need more than rehashed articles they've read
before.

If you truly can't write, hire a writer, or barter with one.
If it means more money in your wallet, it's worth a few
dollars to give your readers something worth reading.

As to the ads, don't get carried away. Your customers
subscribed to your ezine to read your articles, not to
listen to your commercials. Think of how frustrating it is
to sit down to watch a movie or a ball game and see ten
minutes of the show and five minutes of commercials. The
same principle applies to advertising in your ezine. Don't
force your customers to change channels out of sheer
self-defense. Give them more of what they expect and they'll
reward you by reading your ads and maybe even responding to
a few of them. Limit the number of ads you print in each
issue. Your readers will thank you for it by remaining on
your mailing list.

Ask yourself, "What are my readers getting out of this?"
"What can they learn or realize by reading this ezine?"

If the answer you find wouldn't satisfy your pickiest
prospect, maybe you need to reconsider publishing an ezine
until you have something worthwhile to say.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Copyright © 1999 Darlene Bishop. All Rights Reserved
Worldwide. Darlene Bishop is a professional with over 16
years experience writing and editing ezines and newsletters,
press releases, website content, sales letters, and much
more, and is the author of numerous articles on a variety of
topics.
http://www.copelandlane.com
http://www.writebusiness.com