The object, of course, of any business is to make a profit. So a home based ezine publishing business is no exception. When people subscribe to your online newsletter or ezine, their object is to get the information that you are able to provide to them. When people subscribe to your online newsletter or ezine, your object is to make money by supplying that information. With the expansion and diversity of businesses and hobbyists into more and more specialized areas of endeavor, there is an increasing need for more information in ALL areas. And ezines (electronic magazines) are the high profit way to cash in on that market.
Just as ezine advertising has slowed down, paid subscription ezines are emerging as the next hot trend. More and more, the concept of free content on the internet is giving way to paid-for information and ezine publishing is no exception with ezine publishers beginning to charge for subscription to their ezines in lieu of (or in addition to) running paid ads.
So what does all this mean for you, the would-be internet entrepreneur? Quite simply, if you're an expert in anything (and we all are), or are willing to become one, you can turn that knowledge into the foundation of an online business by publishing an ezine on that subject, including your own original articles on a regular basis (don't bother just regurgitating someone else's - if you're publishing them, so are others and the object of the exericse is to make an original contribution) and either accepting paid advertising or charging subscribers a subscription fee.
What's really great about starting a home based ezine business is that you can write and produce your own ezine, with a potential for high returns -from even only a thousand subscribers- by yourself with almost zero investment. And if you're committed to publishing a high-quality, informative and entertaining ezine, you can bring in impressive earnings. As well, this is one of the few business models that's not only scalable (that means as your subscriber base increases you don’t have to work harder for the icrease in profits) but at the same time it's easy to setup and low-risk.
If you can write an email and press SEND, you can publish an ezine that brings in profits!
Why An Ezine?
There are tons of methods of making money online like AdSense publishing, playing the AdWords game, affiliate marketing and many others, but ezine publishing is one of the most lucrative methods online.
Take for example ezine advertising:
Advertising on email ezines, is becoming one of the most popular forms of online marketing. Many experts are making lots of money selling ad space in their ezines while at the same time buying ad space in other ezine ads as well. The cost of buying ad space on ezines is also much cheaper compared to Google AdWords (result may vary depending on the targeted keyword and the market).
Did you know that ads are never removed because people tend to send out archived ezine issues every now and then with your ads permenantly embeded in them? ezine ads have a very long life span compared to email marketing which is one time only.
You can also transfer an ezine easily. Many of the e4zine publishers encourage their subscribers to pass around the ezine to their friends, business associates, subscribers and mailing list for viral marketing effect. Ezines are also HIGHLY targeted. Their subscribers are generally more responsive to your product because they're very interested in your subject matter.
Elements Of A Good Ezine
A good ezine is a special, timely report on a single subject; with high-quality content and a humble resource box at the end. It's a personalized, concise statement from an expert or person thoroughly familiar with a specific field. High quality, content-rich material with virtually no advertising is the key.
The specialized information in ezines is current, and ideally cannot be found elsewhere. They are a logical extension to a trade or hobby. Aimed at a select group, they often contain inside information in the field, hot tips, humorous anecdotes and/or news scoops.
Ezines are not meant for the mass market. In fact, the average number of potential readers of ezines in any one field is relatively small.
With all the print media and visual communications in this country, you might think there is a saturated market.
And that is true when it comes to general interest mass market publications.
However, the need for specific information in highly specialized interests or fields is constantly increasing.
The focus of a good ezine is success:
- Success in business
- Success in hobbies
- Success in health and happiness
- Success in dating or relationships
- Success, success, success (you get the idea)
Getting Started
Starting your own ezine can be a lot easier than you think. This is because all you really need to get started publishing your own paperless ezine/newsletter is:
- a computer with internet access (high-speed is preferable)
- a comfortable desk and chair
- an email progam
- a word processor (you can get Open Office for free -which is even better than Microsoft Word in my opionion)
- a wealth of content
- an autoresponder with a broadcast feature
- domain name and website (which is optional)
Choosing Your Ezine's Topic
Now that you've decided that your going to publish an ezine, the first thing you must do is choose a topic. Your ezine should cover a topic or subject area that makes you happy. I'm not saying that it has to be a suject that you're intensely passionate about or crazy about; I'm simply suggesting that you focus mainly on a subject you will enjoy learning more and talking about. As with any endeavor in life, if you write about something that you enjoy doing, it's more likely that you will achieve long term success.
Your topic can be on the broad end of the spectrum and should, like I said, relate to something you already know about or something that you would like to learn more about. However, you should stay away from topics that are too broad or too narrow. You want your topic to be broad enough to attract enough readers to justify you spending time maintaining the newsletter and you want it to be narrow enough to allow you to identify the demographics (e.g., age, occupation, interests, etc.) of your audience. If your topic is too narrow you may not have an audience that is worthwhile, in terms of size, and you will be limited in terms of content. Alternatively, if your topic is too broad you will have difficulty identifying your target market's preferences and your newsletter will end up losing its appeal to readers and potential advertisers.
"Software" is an example of a topic that is too broad. "MineSweeper" is an example of a topic that is too narrow. There are just too many kinds of "Software" out there to cover and MineSweeper would attract very few people (I think!). If you narrow "Software" down a bit to let's say PhotoShop, you'd be moving in the right direction.
Now that you have a general idea about what your ezine will focus on, it's time to do some research. You'll need to find out more about existing ezines that cover your topic. If you subscribe to every ezine that you come across that relates to your topic, you'll gain a multitude of valuable information regarding your competition, ways to format your newsletter, and article subject ideas for your first publication. While in the research phase, be sure to write down, or bookmark, where you subscribed to each ezine because this information will be very helpful when it becomes time to begin promoting for yourself. Below are three excellent resources that will get you started.
http://www.marketing-seek.com/
http://ezinehub.com/
http://www.freezineweb.com/
In addition to subscribing to every ezine that you can find covering your topic, you should join related discussion groups and forums to get a better idea of what it is that your potential readers are interested in learning more about. After all, it is the readers that you're trying to appeal to. Below are a couple of forums to check out.
http://www.forumone.com/
http://groups.yahoo.com/
How to Choose A Good Ezine Name
Good ezine names are usually 2-4 words. If shorter, they can't explain what your ezine's about, and if longer, they'll be hard to remember. When choosing a name for your ezine, make sure its abbreviation is suitable. For example if it's "CNN", you should look for another name because it'll confuse your readers. A good name also describes what your ezine's about. For example "Home Business Success Tips" is a good name, but "Business Ezine" is not. Some people use "the" at the beginning of titles or "ezine" at the end - like "The Home Business Success Tips Ezine." But both of these words are unnecessary and just make your title too long and more difficult to remember.
Depending on your ezine topic and audience, your name can be serious or playful. If you want to choose a playful title, putting an "O" at the end of it makes it funny. An example of such names could be "The Great Gordino" which comes from the publisher's name - Gordon Bryan. You can browse ezine directories to find many good publication names about different topics. You'll get many creative ideas from other people's newsletter titles.
They have spent a lot of time and effort finding a good name and you can save time by learning from them.
Creating Your Ezine
Once you've decided on the topic of your ezine, you then have to determine what the easiest and most effective method of creating it will be. You have a few options available.
1. You could create each issue manually using Word or Open office, then print it out as a PDF and send it to your mailing list every week or month.
2. You could get an account at one of several autoresponder services (which you'll need to do anyway if you want to be able to really make money online!) Aweber is probably the very best service available, although they are not inexpensive! Another good service is Norabots (For less than $10 per month, you can get the same services, just not quite the same guarantee of deliverability). And then upload your finished work to your mailing list when you want to publish your next issue. Not quite as bad as option #1, but still a bit tedious.
3. Find an online newsletter service like Nuz4u.com that provides the templates, Private Label Content to start your creative juices flowing, hosting for not just your current issue, but also all of your archives, and the ability to create multiple newsletters with different themes and content in an easy to use web interface. If you can use a web browser, you can create an online newsletter! Then all you need to do is send the URL to your new issues to your readers!
The 4 Best Ezine Formats
Ezine publishers today use any one or more of the 4 most commonly used newsletter/ezine formats listed below. Ultimately, you can decide which format is the best choice for you, though each winning format has its pros and cons.
The text newsletter/ezine is the most commonly published. The advantage of this format is that other than writing, you don't need any special skills except those required to use a wordprocessing or text editing program.
The second (and third) option is the HTML based newsletter/ezine. There are two versions of this since there is now an online newsletter service available. Prior to the launch of Nuz4u.com, you only had the emailed version of the HTML newsletter to select from. The HTML version allows you the utmost flexibility when it comes to layout, and with Web 2.0 and the video craze that it has brought with it, the online version is probably the best option of them all!
While the HTML newsletter format requires a certain degree of HTML skills on your part, you can add more sophisticated features to your ezine issues, making them more appealing to your subscriber thus increases your readership value, something that text newsletters do not have. You can decorate your newsletter format, change your fonts, include pictures, videos, audios and more. However, the drawback often faced by HTML ezines is that they often get trapped into spam filters before they reach their subscribers’ inboxes. Whereas the online service allows you to send the URL of your newsletter which, more often than not, WILL get past the SPAM filters as long as you don’t load your email broadcast up with ten or fifteen different links in one email.
The forth and least used among the 3 formats is the PDF newsletter. Publishing your newsletter in PDF format can consume a lot of time and effort on your part but often make up in quality readership.
Due to the commitment, PDF newsletters are usually published on a monthly basis. The great part, though, is that you can put in your affiliate links in your PDF newsletter issue and allow your subscribers to pass the newsletter issue around.
Given the choices, however, you do not have to necessarily choose strictly one newsletter format, as some newsletter publishers today do publish in more than one format. So there are your current choices for an ezine.
Design Considerations
The title at the top of the ezine is the most visual aspect of the publication. It reflects the content and it reflects you. The best name for your ezine is the same as your domain [U.R.L.] name.
Make up a few titles of your own:
How do they compare with the titles of other ezines?
Which rings true for your enterprise?
Check at the library to be sure your title is original and doesn't duplicate other publications currently on the market. The title is your trademark [logo].
Since your ezine is vitally important as a means to generate on-going income, it would be worthwhile to have it designated a ISSN- absolutely free- which is the electronic equivalent of an ISBN for a hard copy document.
Not only does this legally protect your ezine with the National Library of Canada or the Library of Congress , it also ads a very professional touch! You can get an ISSN free. Just Google ISSN or ISBN and your governmental
agency's website will show up. You can download a PDF form from the site, or apply directly online.
The logo can be very simple.
Another aspect of the title at the top of the publication is the date and the issue number. These should be considered in the original design.
Start out with one colour and keep it as homespun and fresh as the news you'll publish. Avoid fancy type styles or those that are hard to read. And don't go overboard with a clever or cute design.
Something simple and clear is what you're after, so an elaborate logo may look out of place. Since a ezine has timely information, the date of the issue should be easy to find.
Any graphics should be kept minimal and simple, but don't be afraid to use subheads- as well as liberal use of bullets- to break up the copy. A few words capitalized or in a larger or darker print help the reader identify the information, and make it easier to read. Keep enough white space to encourage reading, but fill the pages to make the subscriber feel the ezine fulfills its promises.
How Often To Publish
There are a lot of factors to consider when deciding upon a publication schedule. The main one is how fast can you produce a ezine. However, you'll also need to consider how much time you can committ to your publication, and how easily new content can be found, written or purchased.
Work Backwards
You want a subscriber to receive the ezine on a certain date. It needs to be in the autoresponder or mail (hard copy) a few days before that. And before that, how long will it take you to decide on the final layout?
How long will it take you to research and write material for your ezine?
This may be a deciding factor in the size of the publication.
Perhaps you'd prefer to get a four page ezine out every week rather than an eight-page ezine out every other week. If your topic is filled with today's news, then you'll want to get that out to your subscribers as fast as possible.
Other subjects can be done monthly, bimonthly, or even quarterly. Be careful with infrequent mailings, however, because the subscribers may just forget about it.
And what use is a small ezine only a few times a year? Keep your subscribers involved and stimulated; deliver the ezine on a regular basis.
Cordially invite them to participate in your blog or forum, each and every issue!
Give them- absolutely free of charge- the download link to one or two premium info goodies, each issue.
Whatever production schedule you've decide on, commit to it.
Later, when it's successful and you have more people to help you with it, you may step up the production and publish more frequently.
Methods Of Profiting From Your Ezine
There are several methods of earning a substantial living from a simple electronic collection of words that we call a newsletter. You can sell advertising slots if you have a large reader base, include affiliate products where you earn a percentage of the sale, include your own products (if you have any), provide reviews of products or programs for a fee (similar to advertising, but you are putting your seal of approval on the item so you need to know quite a bit about it first!) and the one that I personally use and like the most.
Use your newsletter to ‘filter’ your readers into classifications so you know what they are interested in so you can send them promotions for things they might buy and not just bombard them with sales pitch every week for products they will probably never buy.
By ‘filtering’ your readers, it allows you to market to a tighter niche thereby increasing your odds for a sale. While there may be some copy writers that can sell ice cubes to folks in Alaska in November, chances are pretty good that you may not have obtain that level of wordsmithing just yet.
So, you need an edge, by separating your readers by interests (this is called demographics) you can pin point your promotions better. Send a webmaster a promo about a great new website script and chances are better that they will buy it than if you sent the same promo to one of your readers who wants to read about gardening.
Last Word
Writing and publishing a ezine is a challenging and exciting way to express yourself, give you prestige and acknowledgment in the Web Community and allow you the luxury of insanely profitable JV's!
You can start one with virtually no overhead and a small amount of capital, and you can build up to making profits in the five to six-figure bracket.
There are no secrets or special tricks or skills you need.
What is important is coming up with an idea for a ezine that will appeal to a select group who desires specialized information. And then being informative, entertaining and consistent.
Well that's today's home business idea. I hope it was helpful. Have fun with it.
Until tomorrow,
Terry
