[epub] The *other* side of "Doomsday?"

["Dr.Mani Sivasubramanian" <drmani@xxxxxxxx>]

> Boogie Jack's latest newsletter, which he published online,
> is a veritable shocker - even for those of us who
> anticipated this kind of thing in one way or another:


I'm different - but I see an opportunity here to discover the gold
hidden in our lists.  Booj's strategy might not have had that as
his primary intention, but you can - if you want.

List cleaning or pruning is a healthy practice.  It removes the
deadwood from any list - and no matter what your sign up process,
there's always a little bit of it.  While in most cases, these non-
responsive subscribers don't harm you, they do COST you - in time,
energy and effort.

The new legislation just increased the risk that they *might* actually
harm you, the ezine publisher.

How to look at the positive side of this issue?

1.  You'll find out who your readers (or 'responders') are.  By asking
them to perform a particular action, or cease to continue receiving
your ezine, you're putting it all on the line.  It's a risk, sure.  But one
worth taking.  Because the folks you're losing are the ones you WANT
to lose!

2.  You'll find out just how valuable your e-pub is to your readers.
Dennis set his price too low, in my opinion.  He should've started
at something like $79 a year, or even $97.  His zine is worth that
much to serious folks - and he offers far greater value than that.
I've been his subscriber since 1997.  I-Sales and the other Marketing
Wonk group of discussion lists are moving to a subscription model
charging $147 a year.

Anyway, what *you* could do is put a price on your ezine, and ask
subscribers to pay it - as a means to verifying that they really WANT
your ezine.  Track response, twiddle with the figure, and you just
might be surprised to see how many of your list members may
consider it worth paying to continue to receive your zine.  In one
fell swoop, you'd have made your ezine financially viable, even
profitable - without needing to rely on advertising or sponsorships.

When I launched "Create YOUR eZine", I invited my Ezine Launch
Monthly no-cost subscribers to join it - for $9.95 a year.  Around
5% said yes!  I was stunned.  That figure is holding - for almost a
year now.

3.  By doing what Booj does (asking 'readers' - not subscribers, mind
you, but READERS) to reassert that they're listening to you, and are
willing to accept inclusion of advertising in return, you've just made
your list incredibly valuable to ADVERTISERS and SPONSORS.  In
effect, your list is saying: "I like what you're giving us, and we're
accepting you need to run advertising to support it - and so we'll
agree to seeing it in your zine". What more can an advertiser ask for
than *receptive* eyeballs?  Beyond that, it's the advertiser's
job to attract and keep attention.

So I'd argue that Booj has made a VERY smart move.  One many of us
can learn from - and copy or modify in a manner suitable to each of
our ezines.

Hope this helps.

Dr.Mani
...the Ezine ANTI Marketer ;)
http://www.EzineMarketingCenter.com/anti/



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