Who Is Your E-zine Really FROM?

One morning this past fall, I was going through my e-mail inbox, relentlessly deleting junk mail. As you're likely well aware, many spam messages are made to look like they're from a real person.

One name briefly caught my eye: "Jeff Bezos." But because I was in furious deletion mode, I didn't recognize it. Also, it had a salesy subject line: "New Apparel Store Now Open." So I hit the delete key.

A few minutes later, it occurred to me that I knew that name -- Jeff Bezos is the CEO of Amazon.com. I rescued the message from my delete folder and opened it. Turns out it was an announcement to all Amazon Associates (affiliates) about the opening of Amazon's new online apparel store.

What was wrong with this promotion? (Which was unusual for Amazon, by the way.)

This e-mail should have been sent FROM an address that included the name "Amazon" in it, because as an Amazon affiliate, I'd never before received an e-mail that was from a personal name. Also, the subject line made no indication the message was from Amazon. So it was a prime target for that delete key!

So ... whom should YOUR e-zine be from? You, or your company name?

The answer depends on whom your readers are familiar with and whom they're expecting to hear from.

SOLO PROFESSIONALS

If you are a solo professional and work on your own (e.g. coach, consultant, freelancer, practitioner), then your clients and prospects are familiar with YOU. You ARE your brand. So make sure YOUR name is in the "FROM" field of your e-zine when it's sent out.

BRANDS and LARGER COMPANIES

If you're the marketing person at a larger company who's sending out the e-zine, make sure the FROM field of the e-mail message has your COMPANY NAME.

Like in my Amazon example, your customers/clients are familiar with your company's name and not you personally.

Another example: Say your name is Suzy Q and you're the marketing manager at Clinique's corporate office. If you send out your e-zine from "Suzy Q", many of your recipients may delete your message without blinking, since they'll have no idea who you are.

However they WILL instantly recognize your e-zine if it comes from "Clinique" and also includes a related subject line.

Now, if you're a solo professional who's trying to build a brand name that's not your own personal name, you should do this as well. For example, my e-zines are from "E-zine Queen."

BUT WHAT ABOUT THE CONTENT?

Whether you represent yourself or a larger company, it's still best to make your e-zine FEEL like it's from an individual when it comes to the content itself.

So think about who you want this person to be -- it may be you, it may be someone else in your company. Having the content be written from a real person will make your e-zine a more personal (and therefore effective) communication.

(c) 2002 Alexandria K. Brown

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alexandria K. Brown, "The E-zine Queen," is author of the award-winning manual, "Boost Business With Your Own E-zine." To learn more about her book and sign up for more FREE tips like these, visit her site at http://EzineQueenTutorial.com/

---

5 Essential Online Tools for Writers and Publishers

Writing a newsletter or article can be very time consuming.First,... Read More

7 Power Packed Tips To Increase Your Ezine Publishing Success

1. Use autoresponders to publish and promote your ezine.Autoresponders with... Read More

6 Ways to Catch More Opt-ins Than Ever Before

Remember that when you have new visitors at your website,... Read More

Print On Demand Questions

Print on demand (POD), a cross between self-publishing and digital... Read More

Section Ideas to Include in Your Newsletter Design

A good newsletter template is not only consisted of a... Read More

11 Quick (and Good) E-zine Content Ideas

Publishing an e-zine is the ideal opportunity to showcase your... Read More

Email Newsletter Software

Should I create my newsletter in a word processor or... Read More

7 Ways to Self-Promote Within Your E-zine

We all know that an e-zine won't attract and keep... Read More

Why I Started My Ezine

Why I started this E- ZineSit back, and travel with... Read More

OK People - Lets Get Real!

It's all about numbers - or so some ezine publishers... Read More

Ezines, Ezines Everywhere!

There are literally thousands of ezines being published online these... Read More

10 Ways, How To Get Significant Exposure For Free

Ezine are one of the best source of information on... Read More

Internet Marketing Strategy: 9 Pragmatic Ways Increase Your E-zines Subscription

It is possible to increase the subscription to your e-zine... Read More

Ezines ? An Excellent Approach To Internet Marketing

What is an ezine? An ezine is an abbreviation for... Read More

Write Your Weekly Ezine in 5-Minutes! (or better yet, dont write it at all)

How to write your ezine in 5 minutes by legally... Read More

Finding the GOLD with Ezines and Google!

HiHow'd you go with your product search?Here's another way to... Read More

Producing Ezines for Growing Your Business

What an ezine is ? An ezine is an electronic... Read More

What Ive Learned From My Subscribers

As editor/publisher of Book Promotion Newsletter, I am fortunate in... Read More

How To Make Your Subscribers Stick To You Like Super Glue

One of the biggest obstacles to building a good sized... Read More

Search Engines Can Be The Online Writers Best Friend

It's an exciting time for online writers, with a wide... Read More

Email Newsletters: Privacy and Unsubscribing

As you likely know from personal experience, the value of... Read More

How To Write Effective Ezine Ads... And Then Some

When writing an ezine ad, there is a big mistake... Read More

Tips on Using Constant Contact to Create Your Company Newsletter

If you run your own business like I do, you... Read More

Talking Pictures Are the Go!

A Tokyo day care company has begun marketing a "talking... Read More

Work Less, Earn More As An Infoproduct Publisher

There's no doubt, publishing information products to sell online is... Read More

The End of Email, Ezines and Online Marketing?

Ok, it's time to bring out my soapbox.Something has been... Read More

How to Make Your eZine Work for You Long After Its Published

If you publish an email newsletter, do you convert the... Read More

Writing, Publishing, Self Publishing, Website Promotion, Blogging, Internet Marketing

Are You Ready For The Publishing Revolution?Writing has traditionally been... Read More

What Every Ezine Owner Should Know About Unsold Ad Space

The deadline approaches and your ad STILL has not sold.... Read More

The Biggest Mistakes That Can Spell Doom For You As A Newsletter Publisher And How To Avoid Them

A lot of newsletter publishers spend a great deal of... Read More

Delivering Your Email Newsletter

After creating your email newsletter, you face the challenge of... Read More

Writing Effective Newsletters

It's obvious but true that your newsletter can only be... Read More

Is It a Newsletter or Just One More Commercial?

When I purchased my very first computer, not too long... Read More