Things You'll Need:
- Internet access
- Mailing list provider
- Domain name
- Website host
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Step 1
Research your competition. Using Google or your favorite search engine, search for free ezines related to yours. Upon discovering those ezines, study their content. Ask yourself: What don't they offer that you'd like to know more about? For instance, let's assume your ezine will be about dogs. You search for other dog-related ezines and find many that discuss different breeds of dogs as well as some offering information on caring for dogs. Based on this information, you could have your ezine focus on traveling with dogs, and you could even include stories where dogs are the hero (interview the pet owners for the information). Now do you see where I'm going with this? Offer something the others don't, but keep the content and features focused on dogs or whatever your topic may be.
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Step 2
Find message boards, forums and groups related to the topic of your ezine. Join those social networks and ask the members what they'd like to see in an XYZ-related ezine that other XYZ-related ezines don't offer. If you have a website related to the topic of your upcoming ezine, then you could run a free survey to help you gather answers as well.
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Step 3
Speaking of websites, if you don't already have a website about the topic of your ezine, create one. Find a domain name and a website host. Domain names can cost less than $10 a year, and web hosting can too. In fact, some web hosts will include a free domain.
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Step 4
Search for a mailing list provider for your ezine. Once you've narrowed your list down, make sure the provider you choose offers the features/benefits you will need or want for your ezine. There are free mailing list providers if you don't want to pay for one. I use the EZezine website for my writing-related ezine (Coffee Break for Writers), and thus far I have been very happy with the service. That's all there is to planning a successful ezine. Now all that you have left to do is announce your launch through a press release, collect subscribers, set the publication date(s) and market your ezine through the Internet. Good luck.
