If you want to do business online you need to publish an ezine. If you have a website you need to establish a newsletter/ezine to go with it. You can't have one without the other. An ezine will allow you to establish a mailing list and obtain the email addresses of your site's visitors and establish a relationship with them. Maybe they won't buy from you the first time they visit your site, but down the road after they get to know and trust you through your ezine, they will.
Your ezine needs to be related to your website.
Take my ezine MerlesMission
for example the theme is webmaster freebies and that's the kind
of thing my ezine includes. It's all about goodies for people
who build and run their own sites. If you had a pet store website
you might produce an ezine with dog and cat care tips for pet
owners.
You need to publish at a minimum of once a month
but even better is twice a month. Anymore then that you'll drive
people nuts any less they'll forget who you are. Make sure you
pick a regular publishing schedule and stick to it. Don't just
send it out whenever you feel like it, bad, very bad.
There are many ways to host a list. You can download a script and do it yourself or you can use a third party service to host your list for you. Some you'll find for free and others will cost you monthly. If you're just starting out a free service will work fine but just be aware most of them will put an ad at the top of every one of your ezines that you send out. A small price to pay for free.
Once you get a large enough subscriber base you'll be able to sell ezine ads. Standard is a minimum of 1,000 subscribers before you sell ad space. There is usually a top ad which you can charge a little more for and regular classified ads which are a little cheaper. Some ezines even sell solo ads which are stand alone mailings with no other content, just an ad. If you do solos take my advice and send no more then 2 a month or you'll piss people off and lose a lot of your subscribers.
Topica
Exchange: A professional service hosted by Topica
which will host your list according to your needs.
Sparklist: In business since 1998 Sparklist is a reliable host for publishers and their permission based email lists.
Browse through the services page for package pricing.
Email Factory: Helps companies like yours build superior customer relationships with sharp, targeted permission e-marketing tools. A start-to-finish e-mail marketing solution, EmailFactory offers you every tool you'll need to achieve your unique marketing.
SmartGroups: A free service to host your email list. Just register pick a name for your list and you're off and running.
Yahoo
Groups: Another free service offered by Yahoo. Keep
in mind they will put an ad at the top of everyone of your mailings.
Reliable and great for any beginner.
The Handbook of Ezine Publishing: If you're new to ezine publishing there's lots to learn. Start with the basics and learn as you go. This site will teach you how.
EzineArticles:
Yes, if you're going to publish you should write your own articles
but from time to time it's ok to use guest articles. Browse
thru hundreds here for your free use.
Promotion
Base: You'll find some excellent articles on all aspects
of ezine publishing/promotion and ad writing here. All written
by some of the Net's Top Experts.
IdeaMarketers:
If you write articles you can archive them here for other publishers
to use or you can browse through the archives and find articles
to use in your own ezine.
Line
Formatter: Ezine ads and articles and even your ezine
itself need to be formatted correctly so they show up without
a problem in the majority of email clients. Use this online
formatter to break your ads or articles at whatever line length
you prefer. 65 is standard and works well for most newsletters.
50
E-zine Publishers Interviewed: Free E-book containing
interviews by 50 of the top online ezine publishers featuring
great tips that will help you become more of a successful publisher.
Ezine
Masters: Free E-book:Learn from the top ezine publishers
exactly what it takes to put together a high quality ezine.
Over 100 pages of top notch info.
How
to Write Ezine Ads That
Guarantee Results: Ezine advertising is a great way
to hit your target market but your ad needs to grab the reader's
attention and pull them in. Download this free e-book that will
tell you how to write award winning ads that will improve your
sales.
Ezine-Tips:
Learn about ezine advertising, ezine promotion, content creation,
and more in this daily column on email newsletter publishing.
Opt
In Lightning: Optin Lightning is the HOTTEST Internet
Permission Marketing Script to hit the Internet Since E-Mail
Itself. If You're Serious About Selling on the Net you MUST
Have a Mailing List. The Features of this Script are too Numerous
to list here and I Think it's Best to Leave That to the Author.
Marketing-Seek:
Free content and exposure for article writers, ezine publishers,
and webmaster entrepreneurs. Publishers can gain access to free
content for their ezines. I love this site!
List
Mail: Why use a thrid party to host your mailing
list when you can purchase this awesome script for under 100.00
and install it on your own server. Loaded with features.
Mojo
Mail: Mojo Mail is an intuitive, web-based e-mail
list management system, which runs on any hosting account that
can execute custom CGI scripts. Free.