Interview With An Ezine Marketing Pro
Alexandria K. Brown
Copyright © 2002 Joshua Rose
Joshua: I've been very much looking forward to this,
Alexandria. Can you start by telling us a little about
your Internet background? You know, sort of a summary of
how you got started and what you are doing now.
Alexandria:
Sure thing! About four years ago, I left my NYC advertising
agency job and began my own freelance writing business. I
needed an easy way to stay in touch with past associates,
current clients, prospective clients . everyone. I wanted
to be seen as an "expert" in their eyes, to encourage them
to hire me and/or refer me to possible clients. So, I
started my own e-mail newsletter, or "e-zine."
As my subscriber numbers grew, I began getting calls from
people who had been getting my e-zine, and some of them
turned into well-paying clients. And that's when I realized
how powerful my little e-zine was. So I started madly
researching all about e-zines and Internet marketing. I
downloaded tons of information about e-zines, but most
everything I found was full of hype. So I wrote my own
manual, "Boost Business With Your Own E-zine". It's written
especially to help other entrepreneurs and small business
owners publish and prosper. I'm excited to share that it
even won an international APEX Award this year for "how to"
writing!
Joshua: That's wonderful, congratulations! It sounds like
your e-zine has been a very important element in your
success, but how about the "average" internet business?
How important do you think publishing an e-zine is to
someone's success on the Internet?
Alexandria:
I've learned that building a marketing list is a big key to
success. You can have all the people in the world visit your
Web site, but if they're not ready to buy, you've lost them
forever - unless you get their e-mail addresses. Inviting
them to sign up for an e-zine is the most effective way to
do this, because you're offering practical, free information
that your prospects can really use. Then you've got a
*targeted list* of ideal prospects to market to over and
over again.
Joshua: This raises another question. Building a subscriber
list is only the first difficult challenge. The second is
actually writing one that keeps readers interested and
responsive. What do you think are the key ingredients to a
responsive e-zine?
Alexandria:
Content, content, content. Keep about a 75/25 ratio of
useful content to self-promotion. We all get so many e-mails
every day, that your e-zine had better be good, otherwise
people won't stay on your list! You'll be amazed at the
content you can come up with once you've "lit the spark,"
so to speak. Keep your customer in mind always, and think
about what type of information she's interested in and
would make her life better.
Joshua: How about for people who feel they're not great
writers? Is it really possible for the *average* person
to publish a growing and thriving newsletter?
Alexandria:
The best thing is that almost anyone can do this - you don't
have to be a great writer. Writing an e-zine is more like
talking. It's conversational, not formal. So just write to
me like you'd talk to me. If your grammar and spelling
aren't up to par, hire someone just to proofread each issue
before it goes out. (If you don't want to pay someone, have
a friend who's an English whiz look it over.)
You don't even have to write whole articles. Instead, just
offer a tip of the week or month. The simpler the better!
There are also several places on the Web where you can pick
up free articles that you can reprint in your e-zine.
Joshua: Okay, so we have a list and we have content. The
next question then is how often do you think people should
publish? How much subscriber contact should we have?
Alexandria:
I'd recommend to start off publishing monthly, and then
increase to no more than weekly. Publishing *does* require
some work, so plan accordingly. Try to interact with your
subscribers as much as possible through Q&As, polls, and
asking for feedback. This not only leads them to trusting
you more (and therefore being more likely to hire you or buy
your products), but it will help you learn more about them
and what type of information they're interested in.
Joshua: Let's finish off with some promotional ideas since
we all want to grow our subscriber bases. What are some of
the important marketing things we should be doing?
Alexandria:
This is the fun part. I give dozens of ideas on this in my
manual, but here are three things you should do right away:
(1) Invite people to subscribe on every page of your Web
site, as well as a pop-up box.
(2) List your e-zine in all of the major directories and
announce lists on the Web. (There are more than 200 of these
listed in The E-zine Queen Resource Report.)
(3) Send out a sample issue with an invitation to subscribe
to everyone you know (but don't sign them up without their
permission).
Joshua: This has been a great pleasure for me, Alexandria.
Thank you.
Alexandria:
You're very welcome! Anytime.
Joshua: Any last tips or comments?
Alexandria:
I'd really like to emphasize that no matter what services
or products you sell, an e-zine will help you attract new
customers and increase sales from current customers. No
buts about it. But you can't just start publishing blindly
- take the time now to plan a quality publication from the
start, and you'll be amazed at the long term benefits. I
made a lot of mistakes in the beginning because I had no
guidance, so that's why I share all this information in my
manual and report.
Joshua Rose is the Editor of The Internet Profit Wizards
Newsletter. To subscribe, or to read more articles, visit
http://www.internetprofitwizards.com. For more information
about Alexandria K. Brown's award-winning manual and free
newsletter, visit:
http://www.internetprofitwizards.com/NewsletterMark.html
