An interesting editorial appeared in this month's PROFITeer Ezine published by Profit 100 Canada (http://www.profit100.com) in which some numbers that were reported were quite astounding. Gathered by senior editor Ian Portsmouth from a conference held in Edinburgh, Scotland (an annual gathering of Europe's 500 fastest-growing companies), findings indicated that Europe's fastest-growing firms in a global economy are the smaller ones.

According to Portsmouth, in the past five years Europe's 500 fastest-growing companies created more than 180,000 jobs but at the same time slashed their payrolls by 600,000. It goes to show that the future of business and particularly online business is in smaller companies. It is also fair to say that, since a smaller business' advertising budget is considerably smaller than that of a larger one, methods of promotion are not as accessible.

However, one tool that is increasingly gaining stature is the ezine (or electronic newsletter). As pointed out in a recent ezine article, even targeted opt-in direct mailers such as Targ-It! (http://www.targ-it.com) are starting to turn to ezine publishers for building their awareness in the marketplace. According to Targ-It!, "Our lists are primarily from the Newsletter Library, […] the Internet's most widely used source for requesting sample copies of newsletters."

Search engines are also turning to opt-in lists for direct email marketing. As mentioned in a http://SuccessDoctor.com/articles/article23.htm, Yahoo!'s partnerships with Yoyodyne and ValPak Coupons are not alone. Another great example is Altavista's recent ploy in which it has recently teamed up with NetCreation's PostMaster Direct, an opt-in email firm (read the article at http://www.dmnews.com/articles/1998-11-02/2242.html).

A Publishers' Paradise

Publishing an ezine is one of the most economical ways to gain publicity online. But more important, it is also one of the most effective tools in building relationships with prospects and clients. According to Cognitiative, Inc. (http://www.cognitiative.com), more and more people are buying from companies that they trust and with which they have built online relationships.

Giving your prospects and customers a constant supply of specialized information has a number of benefits. Since the Internet is dimensionless and faceless, ezines help to give your business a human aspect along with greater credibility. Moreover, they help to establish you as an expert in your field, position your company or product, keep you in frequent contact with your customers and subscribers, and maintain good top-of-mind awareness.

Ezines also help create publicity channels with which your expertise in your specific niche or industry can be easily developed. In fact, more and more media personnel are seeking such channels to find qualified people or stories. By narrowing your focus the media will seek you out rather than the other way around. They do so because they particularly like stories from people who are uniquely qualified -- stories that affect or appeal to their specific audience.

Out of Sight is Out of Mind

By supplying a regular stream of specialized information, you will be able to turn prospects into customers and customers into referral-sources. To that end, ezines can become effective platforms through which you can increase your exposure. You can easily create trust, credibility, superior relationships, sales and of course referrals. Since a relationship exists between you and your subscribers you will naturally get a higher response rate from offers to subscribers than you would with offers to non-subscribers.

In addition to informative articles, you can make new product announcements, important updates, and special offers. But more important, you can use your ezine as a tool to gain considerable market intelligence. Successful direct marketing relies heavily on the ability to compile specific information about the types of products or services for which your clients are looking. Through ezines, you can thus obtain that kind of information very quickly and easily.

For example, surveys can be conducted among your subscribers regarding new products and services, current products and services, customer service procedures, promotional campaigns, strategic company goals, and so on. But while surveys and polls are the most common methods, hosting other company products in your ezine and then finding out the kind of response they have generated is another potentially great source of information.

Let's Swap, Shall We?

(Of course, there's the ezine database in the "Internet Marketing Challenge," a private site at http://SuccessDoctor.com/IMC/ maintained by the publishers of the "Internet Marketing Chronicles" -- the ezine of which I am the senior editor. They also offer many other tools and resources.)

There are also newsletters, discussion lists, directories, and web sites geared specifically for publishers and writers. For example, check out the Writer's Connection at http://www.homeincome.com/writers-connection and iCopyright at http://www.icopyright.com. There's also the Email Publishers Discussion List at mailto:epub-subscribe@onelist.com, Ezine Tips as http://ezine-tips.com, and List Resources at http://list-resources.com

And by writing articles in other publications, your byline can advertise the fact that you publish your own ezine and thus invite readers to subscribe. Nevertheless, you can also have strategic marketing alliances promote subscriptions for you. In exchange for a certain number of subscribers they have generated, you can offer them free advertising in your newsletter.

So, write on!

 

Michel Fortin, of http://SuccessDoctor.com/, is a marketing professor and a highly sought-after consultant whose advice has helped countless clients earn millions in record time. His latest book, "Power Positioning Dot Com," reveals how to keep your business or product indelibly carved into your prospects' uppermost consciousness at all times -- see http://successdoctor.com/pp/.