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Home
Based Business Idea
E
Z I N E E D I T O R:
 Business
Description:
An
ezine is an electronic newsletter that is published and distributed over
the Internet. There are thousands/possibly millions of these
electronic documents transmitted each day. They are a
cost-effective and environmentally friendly way of proving knowledge and
services to people quickly to anywhere in the world. If you
have a specialty business or possess unique knowledge on a topic you
should learn more about this unique small business or complimentary
product to an existing small business. It can help to generate
more attention to your existing website or business or become a
profitable venture on it's own.
Use
your ideas, stories, resources etc. that are
designed to fill the need of a specific target market to capture your
specialty audience. Most
online editors do all of their writing at the keyboard. By
capturing the email addresses of your site visitors (via an
ezine sign-up form at your site), you can develop a large
mailing list of a target market. With a large, targeted
mailing list you can earn a handsome income by accepting paid
advertising and/or charging the potential recipients for
subscription. An ezine editor and writer spends almost 90% of
their time at a computer desk and specifically keying.
Your
Unique Skills:
You must be a skilled writer, editor, and researcher (especially
online). Of course being organized is a must. You
will have to keep records of where you have been and where you
are going in your journalistic pursuits. You can outsource
your list maintenance for a small fee or be proficient in
spreadsheet or database management software. Some of the skills
that make a great ezine writer are: understanding your target
audience, and being a good writer. Expertise in online
searching/researching, typing skills, and having an area of
expertise - such as small business startup, financial management
etc. all are keys to success in this home based venture.
Tools
of the Trade
Keeping in touch with your subscribers is your number one concern.
The basic equipment includes a comfortable/ergonomic computer
desk, chair and workstation in general. You do not want to
fool around with Carpel Tunnel Syndrome (CTS). So make sure you
are set up efficiently. Of course a printer, fax machine, copier and computer with spreadsheet,
word processing and database software. Your online connection should be
the fastest you can afford. Investigate the latest
offering in your area. Investigate providing online
payment options through a service like PayPal.
Costs
to Start-Up
Just to install equipment and create a website to launch
your ezine will cost approximately $5,000 at the bare
minimum. This does not include cost for time and education.
Equipment - $2,500 to $4,000 (cheaper if you can find some items used,
such as the adding machine and copier).
Show
Me the Money
Once you have achieved
a following and a quality list of subscribers you can begin
to charge for paid advertising A good rule of thumb is
over 1,000 subscribers and you can charge for advertising.
Determine what your advertiser perceives is fair for their
advertising dollar by evaluating your competition. Of
course you need to be flexible - you are a pioneer in this new
small business idea. Charge what the market will bear and
be prepared to raise or lower prices quickly. Focus on
producing quality and you will maintain/attract subscribers and
advertisers will be interested in associating their products
with you.
If
your ezine is packed full of valued information that your
subscribers find truly valuable then by all means - charge for
the subscription. Just remember - there is alot of
competition out there. The barriers to entry into this market
are minimal and you may lose your subscribers. Test the
market. However, the good quality ezines are only able to
flourish due to providing a high quality end product. More and more,
you will see the the concept of free content/advertising on the Internet
giving way to end user pays.
Getting
Your Foot in the Door:
You
have a great idea - right? Or you are an expert in a field
where people are dying to read your information. Begin by
writing a few articles and submitting them to online editors for
review in their sites. Create a byline that describes who
you are and provides a link to either your newsletter sign-up or
a website describing your topic.
You
can send copies of your original articles to other webmasters on
the Internet and they can choose whether or not it fits the
interests of their website viewers. If it does then they
will often copy it verbatim and attach a "byline" to
the end that you have written that identifies who you are,
approximately 25 words about your website and a link to your
site (or ezine signup).
Once someone signs up for your ezine they should receive an
introductory letter from you. Be responsive to your
subscribers and on-time with your issues. Be professional.
Never
let an ezine "roll-out" without editing it with a fine tooth
comb. You should consider having someone read each ezine before it
is published. Don't forget the age-old adage "two heads are
better than one".
Creative
Marketing Techniques
Create
"themed" newsletters. Plan ahead and decide in advance
that for example Junes issue will have a theme where all the articles
will focus on a similar topic or subject area. Typically themes
can include such topics as seasonal topics, physical well-being,
personal goals such as "getting organized" etc. Look for
advertisers that provide a complimentary product to your theme and
notify them of your planned issue.
Resources:
Free tool that add subscribers to your e-zine automatically,
click here
- SubscriptionRocket.com.
constantcontact.com
Article
Submission Sites:
Yahoo Groups (submit from the Yahoo Groups website
at http://groups.yahoo.com/
- you'll need to subscribe
to these groups first):
aabusiness, aageneral, aainet, article_announce,
ArticlePublisher
articles_archives epub
hersmallbusiness
Free-Content
publisher_network
PublishInYours
Web Sites:
http://www.makingprofit.com,
http://www.ideamarketers.com,
http://www.marketing-seek.com,
http://www.womans-net.com,
http://www.boconline.com/sub-art.html,
http://www.connectionteam.com/submit.html,
http://www.certificate.net/wwio/ideas.shtml,
http://www.mailbiz.com,
http://www.UltimateProfits.com,
http://www.atozines.com/content/subartic.htm,
http://opportunityupdate.com/articles,
http://www.selfgrowth.com,
http://www.internetday.com/submit,
http://www.marcommwise.com,
http://www.vectorcentral.com,
http://www.goarticles.com,
http://www.hotlaunch.com,
http://www.ezinearticles.com,
http://www.webmasterslibrary.com,
http://www.ezineuniversity.com
-
For assistance with the nuts and bolts of actually creating
your ezine (including what should go where and why) and
sending it out.
Generating Subscribers
- Ezine Announcement Lists
Before being able to submit your newsletter to these lists
you'll need to subscribe first. Just go to Yahoo
(http://www.groups.yahoo.com)
or Topica
(http://www.topica.com) to
sign up for the lists you want
to be able to submit to. (Onelist and Egroups are at Yahoo):
1_List_Advertise@onelist.com,
a1promo@egroups.com, Aannounce@egroups.com,
Announce@topica.com, ezine_announce@egroupscom,
freelistresources@topica.com,
GetMoreSubs@egroups.com,
GetMoreSubs@topica.com,
ListAdvertise@egroups.com,
List_Builder@topica.com,
Lits_Of_Lists@egroups.com,
Listpromote@egroups.com,
List-Your-Lists@egroups.com,
List-Your-Lists@topica.com,
Mailman@topica.com, Promote_Your_List@topica.com,
WritersZines@egroups.com,
ZineDirectory@egroups.com,
eAnnounce@egroups.com,
compu-list@egroups.com,
List_announcements@egroups.com,
PromoteList@topica.com,
Announce_Lists@egroups.com,
Announce-A-List@egroups.com
Ezine sites and
directories:
http://scout18.cs.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/lwgate/NEW-LIST/,
http://www.the1000.com, (JimWorld's Top 1000 Submission
Sites Directory)
http://alabanza.com/kabacoff/Inter-Links/listserv.html,
http://new-list.com/,
http://www.escribe.com/internet/-aannounce/,
http://www.escribe.com/internet/lbd/,
http://www.escribe.com/internet/listbuilder/,
http://www.goodstuff.prodigy.com/Lists/main.htm,
http://www.liszt.com/,
http://www.paml.net,
http://www.newsletteraccess.com/,
http://www.promotefree.com,
http://www.virtualpromote.com,
http://www.wcsu.ctstateu.edu
/library/rr_electronic_discussion_groups.html,
http://www.webcom.com/impulse/list.html
List
Provided by a home-based business online ahbbo.com
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