Do I really need an ezine?

by Wendi J. McNeill

Do I really need an ezine (online newsletter)?

Simple answer: Yes. You need a way of communicating and sharing with your interested and opt in readers. It is important that your audience (readers) come to know you, like you and trust you before they will be comfortable with you and want to learn more about you and your services. Having an ezine will allow you to share your expertise, help them solve their problems, make them feel better, it will build your credibility and in turn, you will have faithful followers who are eager to receive your ezine every month and many will convert into buyers or clients. Be consistent in delivering your ezine whether it’s once a month or bi-weekly. I don’t suggest every week as I feel its too much and really a month may be too long, but the best way to know is ask your readers how often they would like to hear from you.

When creating your ezine remember it is important to share high content to meet the specific needs of your target audience. I usually say about 90% content and 10% sales and as time goes by and your readers start to know you then you can try 80% content and 20% sales. Don’t ever send out an ezine that if full of sales pitches either for yourself or for joint venture partners because you will find your readers opting out very quickly.

How do I create an ezine and where do I find content?

First you will need to decide on a program to use in which I highly recommend Constant Contact. Some others can include Aweber.com or iContact and all three have a free trial, so try one out and see which one works best for you. As far as your content make sure you always provide high content and that it is very helpful to your target audience.

I always say it is best to use your own content in your ezine as it places you as the expert, but some use other people’s articles that contain relevant information for their target audience. I don’t suggest doing this all the time. You may be thinking but I don’t know what to write, what to share, or I don’t have any content. Yes you do, because as speakers you should have a ton of content to share, perhaps its in your presentation material where it can be broke down into pieces and shared over time or perhaps its an audio you created and you can convert into written content to share, maybe its just some tips you have to share but look at what you have already created before sitting too long scratching your head wondering where you will come up with content for your readers. Another idea is if you blog, use some of your blog content to share with your readers. If you need to find outside content a good source is EzineArticles.com and remember to make sure it fits your audience’s needs and always leave the original author’s bio intact.

What if I don’t have time to create an ezine on a regular basis?

It’s important to find the time, possibly cut back on things that aren’t as important such as spending time surfing your inbox and finding things that are not helping you grow but only distracting you or another option is to outsource your ezine publishing to a Virtual Assistant. Many VA’s are trained in creating and managing ezines for their clients.

One last tip: If you really want to get an idea of how to create an ezine and what kind of content to add then search the internet for publishers or other speakers you admire or have the same type of expertise as you and sign up for their ezine, read it, examine it and if you like it then use the format to model your own – with your own content of course.

If you haven’t started an ezine yet or are thinking about it I highly suggest implementing it into your business for the year 2009, trust me you will be very glad you did and will be greatly rewarded for all your efforts.