Do You Really Need an Ezine? Only if You Want More Business Monday, May 2nd, 2011
I haven’t sent out an ezine (email newsletter) in over a year. Why? I was immersed in several large projects and I didn’t really want more business. And I knew from experience that sending out a newsletter meant more business and I already had too much on my plate.
So if you already have more business than you know what to do with, stop reading. There are probably better things to do with your time then writing a newsletter. But if you don’t have a steady stream of business, an ezine is one of the best and most inexpensive ways to make it happen.
Does the idea of writing a long, “traditional” ezine stress you out? If that’s the case don’t do it.
There are non-traditional ways that work just as effectively. Over this last year I have been busy writing newsletters – for my clients – and I’ve been watching what works and what doesn’t. So let’s take a look at the difference between traditional versus non-traditional ezines and see what’s best for you – maybe it’s a mix of the two.
Traditional Ezine
If you want to learn about the traditional ezine the best person to learn from is the Ezine Queen, Ali Brown. She recently wrote an article on “7 Ways to Market Yourself Within an Ezine” with great suggestions. What Ali describes in her article is the ezine you’re probably used to seeing in your inbox – it includes a note from the editor, a main article, promo blurbs, special announcements etc.
The thing is these ezines take a lot of time to write and a lot of time to read. So if you’re short on time and your target market is short on time maybe it’s time to consider a non-traditional approach…
Non-traditional Ezine
Instead of a big, long ezine try sending a short tip with a link to your blog for more information. The beauty of this strategy is that it drives traffic to your blog. When we implemented this technique for one of my clients, she saw a dramatic increase in blog traffic and comments.
Let me give you an example of what I mean. Let’s say I want to send an email to my list about this blog post that you’re reading. I could say something like…
Hi XXX,
If you already have more business than you know what to do with, stop reading. There are probably better things to do with your time then writing a newsletter. But if you don’t have a steady stream of business, a newsletter is one of the best (and most inexpensive) ways to make it happen.
Maybe you feel like you’re too busy to write a newsletter? Check out my latest blog for a strategy that works and takes only five minutes to do!
All my best,
Jennifer
Do you see how quick and easy it can be? Regardless of its simplicity it still maintains the communication open between you and your target market. They continue to view you as someone who has valuable content to share. Once they land on your blog you can usually include something you want to promote at the end of the post, such as an upcoming event, product promotion etc.
Several of my clients send an entire blog post as the main article for their newsletter and include links to other recent blogs if their readers want to learn more. This requires hardly any additional writing but keeps them front and center with their newsletter list.
Now what if you’re saying, “This sounds great but I don’t have a blog or I don’t post regularly…”? That might mean you really hate writing or are just too busy with other aspects of your business. If that’s the case maybe it’s time to hire a copywriter that can help you maximize the content you already have or create new content. Contact me for a free consultation if you want to learn more.
