ARTICLE:

These points shouldn't even need to be discussed, but it never ceases to amaze me how many ezine publishers give no thought to the content of their advertising pages. There are no "secrets" to be told here. Just good, old-fashioned common sense is all it takes to get more advertisers to your ezine on a REGULAR basis.

It doesn't take much to make me give up my advertising dollars for a quality ezine, and I'm more than ready -- IF I can find one. Here are five easy steps for getting advertisers to spend our money on advertising in YOUR ezine:

1. Tell us how many subscribers you have!

Wouldn't you know I was out looking for ezines to advertise in recently, and only about 1 out of every 15 ezines had their current circulation listed on the site? Most times, even that one STILL didn't have it ON the actual advertising page, but buried somewhere else on the site.

I had to go hunting around on the home page, on the contact page, on the subscribe page ... and why? What the heck do potential subscribers care how many subscribers you ALREADY have to your ezine? DUH! But, surprisingly enough (sarcasm), these publishers were sure to have all the payment methods outlined nicely on the order page.

So eager to snag our hard-earned advertising dollars, but not in the least bit interested in giving us the information we need to make an informed buying decision.

2. Give us the option of paying for our ads NOW!

Again, only about 3 out of every 15 publishers offered the option of paying for advertising by credit card or online check. Can you guess the most popular method of payment offered?

You got it -- U.S. SNAIL MAIL.

Now I don't know about you, but when I'm ready to start making money, I'm ready to start making money. I don't want to have to go through the trouble of writing you out a check and wasting stamps to send it with my ad enclosed.

Why don't these people have online payment options?

Clickbank AND PaySystems.com are just two of the many processors who'll process orders for services (like advertising), and will even accommodate International clients.

So what's the deal?

Although they both charge a $49 set up fee, I think it's a smart investment to help the guilty publishers secure the other 85% of their sales that they're letting slip away by NOT accepting credit cards online.

I'm not even about to consider buying any ads that I can't pay for and submit online.

One of the main benefits of ezine advertising is getting your ad run as soon as technology will allow. Why wait a week or more for people to get your money by postal mail, then *possibly* approve my ad?

I definitely wouldn't ... and neither should you.

3. Supply us with a recent issue of your ezine!

  "What's this now? A sample issue? My, you're demanding..."

Doggone right I am.

Part of finding a profitable ezine to advertise in involves actually checking out a few issues of that ezine. Are there a lot of repeat advertisers? Are the ads high-visibility? Will your ad be forced to compete with tons of others? Is the sponsor ad spot buried below a mess of editor's notes, "welcome to this issue" verbiage, and other equally suffocating info?

These are all things that advertisers need to take into account when choosing ezines, which is why a sample issue is necessary.

At least 75% of the sites I went to made me subscribe to get an issue. They could have put one on an autoresponder, in archives online, or something else immediate. But I suppose the concept of using autoresponders to supply immediate information is still too new (again, sarcasm).

Anyway, when I gave in and subscribed for the sample issue I was promised, I found out that it wasn't really a sample at all. I'd have to wait for the next issue to come before I could even hope to evaluate that ezine as an advertising choice. And by the time I get the first issue, I've usually forgotten I was supposed to evaluate it as a possible ad source instead of just read it. :-|

In short? No good.

4. Tell me when my ad is going to run!

Okay. So after weeks of searching, I FINALLY found one or two quality ezines to advertise in, and I paid for my ads online ... and I waited. And waited some more. Then, after a few more days of waiting, I had to e-mail the publisher.

  "What's up with my ads," I ask? "When will they be run?"

I think that's a nice thing to know when you're supposed to be tracking your ads like effective marketers do, don't you? Even after we decide to spend our advertising dollars in their ezines, would you believe that we'll probably never hear from them again unless *we* e-mail *them* for ad running dates?

We haven't heard from them before the transaction unless we've contacted them for info (or that elusive sample issue!), and we likely won't hear from them again UNLESS we contact them AGAIN.

What's up with that?

I really couldn't care less if you don't write me to say "hi," but can't you at least tell me when the ads that I BOUGHT from you will run? Sheesh ... I know that's a lot to ask and all.

5. Create a prime ad spot for advertisers that actually care about quality results!

Most ezines have classified ads thrown at the very bottom of the issue, branded with the dreaded word "Classifieds" in big, hairy, uninviting letters.

I like to advertise in ezines that just kind of throw an ad or two at the reader WITHOUT WARNING, so they're "surprised" into reading the headline of the ad. So many ezines cast them all down at the bottom of the issue, without a second thought.

To sum it all up...

So, you're still thinking of offering advertising in your ezine? Well beware, my friend. There are more potholes than you know.

The very things that you might dismiss as unimportant are the same things that could be driving potential advertisers away. So wise up and get YOUR ezine right using the tips above, to start pulling in some real money. ;-)