Ezine Publishing Benefit: Review Copies



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Ezine Publishing Benefit: Review Copies
By Brian Alt

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Today's tip is simple, but worth mentioning because it's a benefit of publishing an ezine that's often overlooked by many publishers. Namely, the ability to acquire a lot of "free stuff" (for lack of a better term) in the form of review copies :)

As a member of the virtual "press," even the smallest ezine operations can request free review copies of books, music, software, and other products. The trick is to be able to offer something in return. In the case of your ezine, what you can offer to product or service owners is free publicity to your audience of interested readers. The larger your audience and the more relevant the products or services to be reviewed, the better chance you have of receiving free review copies.

Consider that:

Virtually every topic worth writing about has a number of books that would make suitable reviews in your ezine. Your subscribers benefit from a unbiased review of the product and you get to read up on your topic for free.
The same holds true for software. Identify software companies that publish titles related to your topic and offer to review their products for your readers.
Ezines covering musical topics can be utilized to increase the size of the publisher's CD collection while helping out music distributors and recommending (or criticizing) recordings to readers.
Depending on your ezine's topic, any number of other products or services may make suitable reviews for your readers.

I would never pay for a book or other product related to email publishing without first attempting to get a free copy to review here in Ezine-Tips. The exposure to the 11,000+ readers here would create substantially more value for the product owner than the purchase price of a single unit. And I, of course, wouldn't have to fork out the cash.

Most product owners are happy to send review products when asked to do so. When you inquire about review copies, however, do focus on the benefits that exposure in your publication can create for them.

It's a small point, and any money saved may be insignificant for many established publishers, but review copy "free stuff" does provide a good illustration of the power of an engaged email audience. If people are tripping over themselves sending you stuff that most folks have to pay for, you must be doing something right! :)

Ezine-Tips for February 22, 2001

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Ezine Publishing Benefit: Review CopiesBy Brian Alt

Ezine Publishing Benefit: Review Copies
By Brian Alt