Guest Author - Theresa Wilson

Think of your favorite magazines. The articles and advice held your interest, and you looked forward to the weekly or monthly editions. The topics were subject-specific to your hobby, career, or general curiosity and they were broad enough to enable you to explore areas you’ve never considered.

Some magazines offer “opinion columns” or “reader feedback” and “tell us what you think” space just for you. Your opinion counted. You, the reader, were the life line of the magazine’s existence. Well, ladies and gentlemen, in this world of high tech sophistication, we have just defined an Ezine.

An ezine is nothing more than an electronic magazine. It is a tool used to communicate the same information you received in print. Magazines are delivered through the mail to people who “subscribe”. Ezines are delivered through the email to people who subscribe.

Unlike printed magazines, ezines are usually free and there are many thousands available to select on almost any topic you could possibly consider. Nothing is too remote or far-fetched in the imagination.

Subscribing to an ezine is like joining a club or people with the same interests. There are ezines for the culinary arts, home and garden, interior design, spiritual and inspirational, educational, business, writing, marketing and promoting, training, and the list goes on and on. For your information, I will provide a link to a list of Ezine Directories. Take time to visit and select one of several directories to explore. Whether your interest is writing articles for ezines or developing an ezine of your own, you need to know the options available and how to access them.

Ezines thrive on quality content and credibility of its authors. People subscribe to an ezine because they have a need for advice and information or seek comprehensive research on a specific topic. As the editor, you are responsible to insure this happens which means you must know the subject so that you can scrutinize articles you receive. One way to guarantee success is to take the time to write several articles.

“Learning by doing” is the key to success in any endeavor. If you want to publish an ezine, you should understand the nuts and bolts of its creation and development. That can only occur by actually performing the tasks and functions necessary yourself. Remember, your name and reputation goes on this very public communication.

Why Ezines?

An Ezine is a marketing tool that drives traffic to your web site. It’s the “carrot,” the “draw” to what you want your visitors to really see. Your web site is the selling point of the product or service. Your ezine is an effective tool for leading potential customers to that site.

Let’s take another look at the print magazine. What do you think pays some of the costs for its publication? The products and services advertised for sale. Each time a subscriber reads an article, they have the potential of being led to a product or service sold in that magazine. The same thing occurs when using the ezine. Most of the articles and topics will spark an interest that can lead the reader to a product or service offered for sale on your web site.

For additional information, the following book entitled Starting & Running a Successful Newsletter or Magazine might be a helpful resource: