1. A great name that defines the topic
2. A defined audience and clear purpose
3. A compelling headline or subject line
4. Valuable information readers can use
5. A call to action
6. A customized template or plain text formatting
7. A bonus incentive for subscribing
8. CAN-SPAM Compliance and a privacy statement

You will notice the first five ingredients refer to the actual content of the ezine; the last three elements refer to how it is delivered. Each element contributes to the overall effectiveness of a newsletter for growing your business.

With an ezine, the content is most crucial, and when you send valuable information your readers can use, you can't go wrong, or if you do, it is easily forgiven by your subscribers.

Send too many messages, or messages that don't benefit your readers, and they will at best delete, unsubscribe, or worse, report you for spamming them - even when they have opted in to your list! Even if you have a reader's permission, if you annoy them they will forget they signed up and declare you a spammer. It's not fair and it happens all the time. If you have opt-in proof you will extricate yourself, but you will still have to go through unnecessary hassles.

The only way you can ensure fewer email marketing woes is to segment your list and be sure you only send messages to those people who have indicated an interest in a certain group of products or information.

With an efficient database management system such as KickStartCart, you can keep your lists separated and pay attention to reader's interests. That is why it is so important to use a powerful database marketing system. For more information, to learn how a good database management system can keep your email marketing safe and within the law visit KickStartCart.com.

There is no doubt that email marketing is here to stay, and it is evolving with delivery systems that segment readers' interests, allowing messages that are specific and personal. Smart professionals who use these tools will have more success with their email marketing. Others who indiscriminately broadcast their messages to everyone in their lists will discover the problems of spam complaints and unsubscribe requests.

Like everything in life, too much of a good thing is not good. Email marketing is powerful cost effective tool for spreading your messages, but not when abused or over used.

Getting people to sign up for your ezine is a problem because of overcrowded inboxes and information overload. Savvy professionals offer a reward (called an ethical bribe) to readers in exchange for their permission to email to them.

Here are several incentives that work for increasing sign ups:

1. A report, article, or white paper with valuable information readers can't get elsewhere
2. Insider secrets or tips to professional resources
3. Exclusive results from a survey or poll
4. Participation in a drawing with valuable prizes, such as an iPod pre-loaded with your exclusive content
5. Entry in a contest, with free tuition or registration to a seminar or teleconference to the winners
6. Entry in a contest or drawing, with the opportunity to refer the most number of other friends or colleagues for additional prizes
7. If you are speaking at a conference and offer a raffle prize, when people give you their business cards for the drawing, tell them you will also give them a free subscription to your ezine, unless they specifically write on the back of the card “no email.”

You must reassure subscribers you will keep their email addresses private and not share, rent or sell your list. Be sure to include this privacy statement next to your sign up form and on your ezine subscription page.

Your subscription form should go at the top of every web page. Have a separate page for newsletter subscriptions and include a description of the ezine next to the form, clearly outlining the benefits to readers for signing up.

So the debate continues: HTML graphic formatting or plain text for ezines? We recently ran a poll. Here are the results of what our blog READERS prefer after only a few days:

• HTML - 79%
• Plain text - 21%

So where does this leave you? Experienced marketers know you get better deliverability with plain text, but your readers like to see graphics. If you deliver your newsletter in HTML format, make sure your readers have a way to access it online. Include a text announcement at the top of the ezine of where to read it online (the URL) for those people whose email reader does not permit viewing HTML formatting.

The issue is more complicated that learning what readers prefer. It will also depend on the nature of your business, and whether the content takes precedence over form.

If you do use HTML, have the template professionally designed. Do not try this yourself, unless you have design skills. You want your template to appear uniform the way it is intended across many platforms and email systems.

You also want your ezine to coordinate with your website and other branding. Get a graphic designer to create the banner with the newsletter title and tag line. There are several standard formats for HTML ezine templates; one consists of a main column with the article and a sidebar with your marketing message and links to products and services. You can also put sections stacked, one over the other.

Do not include too much content in your ezine; too many links confuse the reader. One main article for each issue, and one promotional item or recommendation. Be sure, however, that you make it clear who you are, what you do and how someone can hire you or buy your products and services. Be sure you are CAN-SPAM compliant and include your contact information (more on that later).

If you decide to publish your ezine in plain text, there is still some formatting necessary. Use a formatting utility such as formatit.com to make the width 50 or 60 characters wide. Separate sections of your ezine with subtitles. You can set them apart by using line characters:

=====================

Subtitle Goes Here

=====================

In plain text, be sure to use http:// in front of www, so your links are active.

We recommend you always send a test issue to yourself and at least one other person before you send to your list. This allows you to make sure your message comes across the way you intend it and all your links are working.

What do you want your reader to do? This is a big challenge for most ezine publishers. Either the ezine is all marketing hype, with a BIG Call to Action splashed throughout the content (BUY NOW! BUY NOW!), or they are all relationship-focused and information without ANY call to action.

The truth is the Call to Action part of an ezine is a big trap for many professionals, especially those not used to selling, or not comfortable with marketing. Why? Because for many people it's all or nothing. Too much, or completely missing in action!

It doesn't have to be that way. The more you think of your ezine and your email messages as a conversation with a friend, the more likely you will resonate with readers. Let's face it, they know you're in business. They expect you to sell something to them. Just do it nicely. Remember the value you are giving them.

If you read your ezine or email message aloud, it should sound like a conversation - not a commercial!

Most experts advise giving plenty of free information and tips long before you ask readers to buy. Put your information up front, then your call to action last. Try for an 80-20 proportion of information to offers.

Try varying your calls to action, some free, some for a small fee, some larger. Offer them the possibilities to interact with you in more ways than just giving you money. Ask them to submit questions, answer a poll, vote, enter a contest, register for a free teleseminar - all ways to get them more involved.

A key way to boost your list is asking subscribers to forward the email to colleagues and friends. A good example of this is Erik Feder's Parkazine which you can see archived online at wheretofindparkingblog.com

Important to keep in mind is that if you don't ask, nothing will happen: no sales, no registrations, no new subscribers. It's as easy as that.

(NOTE: Be sure to test all your links to your products and services before emailing. People sure can't respond to your call to action if your links are dead or misdirected.)

Where do you find consistently valuable and interesting ideas to write about? Writing online has never been easier, because powerful search engine directories make your research fast and thorough. Here are a few ideas on where to find ezine ideas for content:

1. Burning desires: what rocks your boat, gets you steamed up, or energizes you?
2. What are your readers' pain points?
3. What are others talking/writing about?
4. Any good resources you've found that can help readers?
5. Use Google Alerts for key topics
6. Interview experts
7. Review a book you're reading
8. Common questions your clients ask you
9. Emails clients send you; include both positive and negative ones
10. Share a big mistake you've made and how others can avoid it
11. Share a personal story and then relate it to your readers' and clients' situations
12. Definitions of words or terms
13. Run a poll and report on results (good list builder)
14. Run a contest (also a good list builder)

What are other content ideas? I like to think of growing “content antennae:” by being aware and sensitive to my environment, I can pick up ideas for writing every few minutes. However, you need a clear, receptive state of mind to do this.

Your email subject line, which is most likely the same as or similar to your article title, should be clear, clever and compelling.

Creating a good ezine article title or email subject line is may be more important than the actual content, given that so few readers (11%) actually read the entire content of emailed newsletters. Most readers scan, making the headline and subheadings very important. In the context of an ezine, the headline can be both the email subject line and the title of your articles. In both cases, you want to compel the reader to first open your email and second, read your article.

The best headlines are those that start a story, make a shocking statement, tease a bit, offer a benefit or prepare the reader for what's to come.

Experienced copywriters are extremely good at writing headlines and titles that pull in readers. One such expert is Michel Fortin, who uses his “3 X 3 Rule:”

That is, your headline should cater to:

The three greatest human goals to make or save:

1. time
2. effort
3. money

The three greatest human desires:

1. lust
2. greed
3. comfort

The three greatest human teasers:

1. curiosity
2. scarcity
3. controversy

If you think writing a compelling headline is easy, then you haven't done it enough. Good headlines actually lead the reader down a path towards a call to action, which can be to make a purchase, register for a program, or click through for more information. However, if it is too obvious, you will alienate your readers and they will not only stop reading, they will delete the email or unsubscribe.

Don't despair; there are many good copywriting handbooks that include headlines you can model. You can create your own original headlines based on ones already proven to work. In particular, we recommend David Garfield's "Advertising Headlines that Make You Rich" and Dan Kennedy's "The Ultimate Sales Letter."

Before you name your ezine, you must get clear about its purpose, the purpose of your business, and why you care. In our Quick-Start Ezine Guide, we suggest writing down two purpose statements:

1. What is your business purpose? (Sell more products, get clients, for example)
2. What is your “higher” purpose? (To provide the best products or services, to help others to achieve something, to make lives easier, etc.)

These two layers of purpose will connect your passion to the realism of making your business successful. By articulating your true values and your business goals you will discover more energy when it comes to writing your ezine.

This will help you find an appropriate name for your ezine. Ideally, like naming anything, your title should be clear, clever and compelling. However, never sacrifice clarity in order to be clever. You want readers to know what your ezine is about just by its name, if possible.

You also want your ezine's name to tie in with the name of your business, your website or your blog in some way. Of course, it can also depend on finding an available domain name. You will want to register a domain name for your ezine to protect it and so it does not get confused with another business.

One technique is to use the name of your business followed by Insights, or Updates, or even Ezine, News or Tips. Examples are Newsletter Nuggets, the ezine for Customized Newsletter Services, and Savvy eBiz Tips for The Blog Squad. Other useful words for naming an ezine are Perspectives, Opinions, and Notes.

Once you have a name and have registered the domain name, you may wish to have a newsletter banner or masthead created. Be sure to keep the colors and fonts you use for your website and blog for branding consistency. You only need this if you are going to publish an HTML or PDF newsletter (designed with images). Plain text newsletters do not have graphic images.

You also have the option of including a tag line after the title of your newsletter, a few words that clarifies the subject matter. Savvy eBiz Tips is “… smart ideas for using the Internet to get more clients and grow your biz.” Newsletter Nuggets is “…tips and tricks for writing great ezines and blogs.”

We have found e-zines that work well for attracting new clients usually have these eight key ingredients:

1. A great name that defines the topic
2. A defined audience and clear purpose
3. A compelling headline or subject line
4. Valuable information readers can use
5. A call to action
6. A customized template or plain text formatting
7. A bonus incentive for subscribing
8. CAN-SPAM Compliance and a privacy statement

You will notice that the first five ingredients refer to the actual content of the e-zine; the last three elements refer to how it is delivered. Each element contributes to the overall effectiveness of a newsletter for growing your business.

First, are newsletters really necessary for a strong online marketing system?

Should You Publish an E-zine?

If you want to leverage the Internet and expand your reach to a global audience of prospects interested in your products and service, you need to regularly write and publish a newsletter. Deliver it via email and post it on your website or blog.

Most marketing experts agree that a prospect must hear from you multiple times (at least 7 to 10) before he or she develops a sense of comfort and trust to buy from or hire you. Online this is probably longer since you have to convince a prospect with your written word. Email, because it is so inexpensive and easy to deliver, is an obvious choice for stay-in-touch relationship marketing.

A newsletter, when well written with useful information will strengthen your credibility and build relationships with readers. However, email is not without frustrations and problems.

It has become more difficult to obtain opt-in confirmations for subscriptions because people are cautious of spam and inbox overload. Email deliverability can be problematic, with over-zealous spam filters stopping legitimate e-zines. We are all experiencing information overload not to mention marketing-fatigue.

So, if you publish an e-zine, do it right and do it smart. Only in rare cases should you not include an e-zine as part of your online marketing: if you can't write; you don't want to expand your business and grow a list of qualified leads; you have a strong referral source in place and do not need new prospects; and you have enough business already.

Having a blog is not a reason to stop publishing an ezine. The two have different styles, and are delivered to readers in different ways. We recommend doing both and linking and referring to both.

Having an e-zine that your website and blog visitors can subscribe to is an important way to build a list of qualified leads. When people are interested in learning more about your business, you have an opportunity to inform, educate and inspire them. They are on their way to becoming clients.

For more leading edge ezine tips go to Coach E-Zines. To learn more about how to create and publish great e-zines, go to E-Zine Publishing System. Patsi Krakoff, Psy. D. is a retired psychologist with over 7 years experience marketing online. Denise Wakeman has been marketing online since 1996. Between them, they write on 10 blogs and publish two newsletters, including Savvy e-Biz Tips.