© Copyright 2003 (c) Rosalind Gardner, All Rights Reserved.

If customers must be exposed to a product an average of 7 times
before they buy, and you don't have a way to contact a surfer
after their first visit to your site, how do you remind them
about your product six more times?

Do you simply hope they'll remember your name, your company
name or your URL? Do you invite them to use a 'Bookmark
Now!' link?

Have you ever seen a typical file of 'Favorites'? I use the term
'file' very loosely. Filing is rarely involved, and it's unlikely
anyone will find your site again amidst his or her 500 other
'favorite' sites.

Even if those methods did work to bring your visitors back,
how would reading your sales copy six more times convince
them to buy?

It wouldn't.

That's why Internet marketing experts all agree, without an
opt-in list or email newsletter, you are losing sales and
money. Put simply, having your own ezine is absolutely
essential if your online business is to achieve its maximum
potential.

'Ezine' is essentially a contraction for the term
'electronic magazine'. They are also known as opt-in lists,
email newsletters or simply 'zines.

Ezines allow you to contact your subscribers via email without
spa*mming, as they've 'opted' to receive your information.
In other words, interested prospects have given you permission
to send them news and information.

Publishing an ezine that captures and holds your
subscribers' interest takes some time and effort. You must
commit to a schedule, and give your readers
attention-grabbing, useful information in an easy-to-read
format. Your objective is to earn your readers trust by
establishing yourself as a credible source of valuable
information.

Does that sound like too much work? Are you not convinced
that publishing an ezine is worth the effort? Consider this.

What is the first thing most people do when they turn on
their computers in the morning? They read their email! If
your newsletter is in their Inbox, your product gets seen
before the competition's site is visited. Browser windows
may be closed without book-marking, and names forgotten, but
your email is still in your subscribers Inbox!

The ezine itself is relatively simple to set up. Do not use
software that resides on your computer to build your mailing
list. As your list grows in size, you run the risk of having
your ISP shut down your connection for excessive bandwidth
use or allegations of sp*am. It happened to me and it's a
costly mistake that you can and should avoid. Instead,
purchase a service from one of the many companies offering
mailing lists and autoresponders.

As your autoresponder or mailing list service charges remain
the same, your customer acquisition costs decrease as your
list grows. That makes publishing an ezine the most
inexpensive way to build relationships with your website
visitors.

Your effort and investment will pay off. Sharing your
knowledge to help others is both good for the soul and
financially rewarding. A newsletter that readers look
forward to can grow to thousands and tens of thousands of
people. An average conversion rate of one percent on a very
large list can be a large reward in exchange for
the time it takes you to write your newsletter.

Communicating with your customers on a continuing basis
builds trust, goodwill and increases their willingness to
buy from you. Remember that it is 7 times less expensive to
market to an existing customer than it is to acquire a new one.

Start your own ezine. The effort will be well worth your time.

Rosalind Gardner is the best-selling author of 'The Super Affiliate
Handbook: How I Made $436,797 Last Year Selling Other People's Stuff
Online. Her incredible online success  has been profiled in numerous
popular publications including 'Secrets to Their Success', 'Small
Business Opportunities, 'Six Figure Income' and 'Revenue' magazine. To
learn how you too can grow your own lucrative eBusiness, please visit:
Click Here To Find Out More