How to Find Advertisers for an E-mail Newsletter

If you publish an e-mail newsletter, you might want include advertisements to bring in some cash, or you may want to promote your "e-zine" through barter arrangements.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• E-mail Accounts
• Computers
• QuarkXPress (Windows)
• E-mail Software

Paid Advertisers

1. Attract paid advertisers if your newsletter has many thousands of subscribers. Be prepared to prove to the advertiser that you have as many subscribers as you claim. You may also be asked whether your subscribers match a target market that the advertiser is trying to reach.
2. Conduct Internet research to determine the current rates paid for newsletter advertisements. The price you can charge is usually based on a formula of x dollars per thousand advertisers.
3. Visit online directories that list newsletters that accept advertising. List your newsletter or contact other newsletters and invite them to advertise.

Bartered Advertisements

4. If you have a small subscriber list, consider trading ads with other newsletter publishers. This will attract new subscribers to your newsletter or visitors to your Web site.
5. Write an ad promoting your newsletter or business service. Four lines of text is a good size. Remember to include your URL or your e-mail address so people can contact you.
6. Run an Internet search for "e-zine directory" or "newsletter directory." Many of these directories list other publishers that trade or barter ads. Contact those that interest you or post your own e-zine and invite others to contact you.

Tips & Warnings

• Advertisers are trying to reach a target market. They will want to be sure that your publication is a good "fit." For example, if your newsletter is about fly-fishing, and your advertiser sells fishing gear, then it is probably a good match. If your advertiser sells perfume, perhaps not.
• If you are signed up as a reseller for one or more of the online businesses that offer associate programs (such as Amazon.com, Beyond.com, etc.), you can run ads promoting your associate programs in your newsletter as well.
• If you barter ads, you want to ensure that the other e-zine's subscriber base consists of people that you want to reach. If you are trying to attract more subscribers to your newsletter about running a home business, for example, you will want to trade ads with someone whose subscribers share that interest.
• Newsletters that contain too many ads will annoy your readers. You will receive many "unsubscribe" requests. It's best to limit the number of ads per issue.