How to Build an Ezine
Creating an ezine, or "electronic magazine," is a simple and cost-effective way of publishing content on the Internet. Ezines can be about any topic and any size. Most provide new issues on a monthly or weekly basis. Ezines are different than blogs. Ezines are designed much like print magazines and in some cases offer versions in print. Some ezines have only one writer/publisher and others feature contributing writers from all over the world.
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Instructions
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Decide if your ezine will be a business or a hobby. If it's a business, create a business plan with help from SCORE and the Small Business Administration. SCORE has free counselors and free templates for most aspects of launching and managing your business. The SBA offers many services and advice as well as financing sources. If your ezine is a hobby, you will still need a plan for resources, audience, focus, content and technology platform. How much time are you willing to devote to your hobby?
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Decide on the theme of the ezine, and what will make it stand out from other ezines. Create a mandate which clearly outlines the purpose of the ezine. Determine who will be writing and editing the content, and how often you plan to publish. Assess your realistic potential to regularly produce new content. Determine your target audience and how you can satisfy their demands. Research other ezines that have similar themes.
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Design the outline on paper for the ezine. Find a unique, memorable name that says something about the theme of your ezine. Get feedback on the names you have in mind. Create the images you will need for the ezine, including a logo, banners and images to accompany the articles. Your logo must be bold, simple and adaptable to different sizes and formats --horizontal and vertical. Your logo must be recognizable as a thumbnail size.
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Design the outline of your title page and how you want to arrange the links. Determine the number of separate pages you will need, such as an editorial page, article pages, link page, contact page, letters to the editor section and a page about the ezine and its mandate. Decide who will be responding to questions and other email.
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Sign up with a hosting service to publish your ezine on-line. Buy a basic hosting package, which will provide ample space for an ezine. Use the HTML editor provided by the host to create your pages. Create the prepared title page of the ezine. Place the text, links, images and banners until the page looks complete.
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Create the inside pages. Name the pages so that you can create working links from the title page. Create a flow on your website that allows viewers navigate through it with ease.
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Use colors that make the text easy to read. Create good contrast between text and background.
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Add your images and captions. Test all the links and double check your text for spelling errors. Complete the first issue. Begin advertising your presence. Use marketing tools and search engine optimization. Get listed in directories. Use Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media. Use "Share" and "Like" features. Make it easy for viewers to send an email about your ezine to friends. Encourage viewers to share their opinions. Adapt good ideas from your audience. Tell your viewers when your next edition is out.
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References
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