Ezines
Ezines are a form of online magazine or news letter, and cover a vast range of subjects. Depending on the owner of the Ezine they tend to published either weekly or monthly. Instead of having to go to the store to get each issue, they are delivered straight to your email in-box, and are usually free to subscribe to. The owner makes their money through selling advertising space in each issue.
Ezine advertising can be a very effective if you spend a little bit of time doing some homework. Normally they offer both Free and Paid Advertisements. Obviously the paid Ads are more effective than the Free ones, but if you are just starting out and are on a limited budget they shouldn't be overlooked.
The cost of paid Ezine ads varies from around $5 to $100's of dollars and is usually linked to the number of subscribers and readership. The cost doesn't automatically reflect the effectiveness of the ad though.
The first thing you should do is find a directory that lists Ezines by category. This will make it easier to find ones suited to your product. One such directory is the The Free Directory of Ezines but there are plenty of other directories available. Just do a search on your favorite Search Engine.
Once you have got your directory and brought up a list of Ezines that match your category, take a look through the descriptions and write down the names of any that you like the sound of.
Once you have got your list go back to the first one on your list and take a closer look at it. Does it have a web site you can visit or back issues that you can view? If so go and have a look at it and see what you think. What you are looking for is something that you would read yourself.
If the Ezine is more concerned with filling it's pages with ads rather than content you can be fairly certain it isn't going to be read to often. Most Ezines will have a Top Sponsor Ad, a middle ad and one at the end followed by classified ads. The good ones will also have a good amount of relevant content as well. But if you feel all you are reading is ad after ad then you'd be better off passing it by.
If you are happy with the Ezine's content then check the ad rates. Are they within your current budget? If not then move on, but make a note of the publications name you may want to come back to it at a later date.
Keep going through your list of Ezines until you find one that has content you're happy with and has ad rates inside your budget. Once you have found one sign up to it and check it out for a few weeks before placing an ad. Do they mail on time, Do they flood you with solo Ads. If your getting Solo Ads delivered to you every day, there is a good chance people may set their mail client to send the mail to a trash account automatically. If they do this, your Ad will never get seen.
Once you have found an Ezine that meets your target audience, has genuine content, mails on time and doesn't swamp you with Solo Ads, you are ready to place your Ad. Ezines offer 5 types of Ad :-
- Solo Ad - These are usually the most expensive form of ad. They are sent out on their own, so have nothing else competing for your viewers attention. They can be a lot longer than other ads, some Ezines may limit them to around 2000 characters whilst others place no limit on their length.
- Top Sponsor Ad - These are cheaper than Solo Ads and are usually at the very top of the Ezine. So they tend to be one of the first things the viewer sees. They are normally limited to between 4 and 8 lines long and 65 characters wide.
- Mid Sponsor Ad - Cheaper than the previous 2 Ad types. Placed about mid way down the Ezine in a prominent position. Again they tend to be limited to between 4 and 8 lines long and 65 characters wide.
- Bottom Sponsor Ad - These tend to be the cheapest form of paid ad and are placed at the bottom of the Ezine in a prominent position. Once again they tend to be limited to between 4 and 8 lines long and 65 characters wide.
- Free Ads - These normally appear right at the end of the Ezine. They are least effective of all the ads but can generate some sales and are worth considering when starting out on a small budget.
The two types of ad that I've had most success with are Top Sponsor Ads and Solo Ads. These two types of ad tend to get the best viewing because of there positioning. Solo's get the viewers undivided attention and Top Sponsor Ads are one of the first things they see when they open the Ezine.
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