List Marketing

E-zine Marketing: An Exclusive
Interview With The "E-zine
Queen", Alexandria K. Brown

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! I've
compiled a slew of content ideas that I've listed in my manual. You'll
be amazed at the content you can come up with once you've "lit the
spark," so to speak. Also, avoid sending out separate

promotions (or "solo ads") to your e-zine list, unless they're very
infrequent. 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. (I list several of these in "The E-zine Queen
Resource Report" that comes free with my manual.)

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.

Oh, and think I forgot to mention that the package comes with a
FREE half-hour phone consultation, so if anyone has extra questions,
I'm here for them!