Ezine Advertising - The Fastest Way to Affiliate Profits

If you're on a tight budget or want to get started quickly without a website or a list of your own, then ezine advertising should be your number one choice.

Ezine advertising is the perfect solution for beginners who want to test a market and get into profit fast.

Here's why:

It's highly targeted. People subscribe to ezines to receive information about specific topics. You just need to find ezines that cover topics related to the product your are promoting.

It's cost effective. You can find ezines that sell ads for as little as $8 - perfect for testing a new product idea.

It's a cheap way to test your ad copy. You can track several ads at the same time for next to nothing and find out which ad pulls the best.

What Is An Ezine?

An ezine is similar to a printed magazine except that it's delivered electronically via email. And instead of purchasing an ezine, people sign to receive it for free or a monthly subscription fee. Most ezines are published weekly, but some are published daily, monthly or bi-monthly.

Types of Ezine Ads

Classified Ads: the cheapest and the least effective ads you can buy. Classified ads are limited to two or three lines and placed at the end of the ezine. Some ezines even give away free classifieds as an incentive to subscribe. Unless you place a classified ad in an ezine with 30,000 subscribers or more, your chances of getting a response are very small.

Sponsor Ads: these are more expensive than classified ads, but will give you a much better response. Sponsor ads can be placed at the top, middle or bottom of an ezine issue. You can include more text in a sponsor ad so it's a good way to test your copy before going all out on a solo ad.

Solo Ads: this is the king of all ads because your offer is sent exclusively to everyone on the mailing list and gets full attention of the subscribers. No articles or other content is included. Solo ads can be expensive, but they can increase your response by as much a 100% over sponsor ads. You can usually expect a 20% - 30% response rate from a good solo ad.

In other words, if you purchase a solo ad for $100 in an ezine with 5,000 subscribers, you should expect about 1,000 highly targeted visitors.

Note: Solo ads can be purchased for as little as $10. You will get a much better response from a $10 solo ad sent to 500 subscribers than you will from a $10 classified ad sent to 5,000.

Here's your step-by-step guide to successful ezine advertising.

Step One: Subscribe to 10 or more ezines.

Subscribe to ezines that offer top sponsor and solo ads within your budget. Subscribing to ezines before you place your ads will allow you to determine the quality of the list and potential profitability of your campaign before you spend any money. You may want to set up a specific email address for your subscriptions and filter them into a specific folder in your mail program for easy access.

You can search Google for "ezine directories" and "ezine advertising to find quality ezines.

Step Two: Select three quality ezines.

Here are some guidelines for choosing a quality ezine:

1. Does the ezine have a domain name and website where you can subscribe and purchase advertising? This shows that the publisher runs a serious business and is not likely to take your money and run.

2. Is there an article archive? This shows you how long the publisher has been in business and how consistent the publication is.

3. Are subscriptions confirmed opt-in? After you subscribe, you will receive an email to confirm your subscription. This is a sign of a high-quality list. However, this should not be the only determining factor.

4. How often does the ezine owner publish? A weekly or bi-weekly publication is optimal. If you receive daily ads, that's a good sign that people may be desensitized to your message.

5. Does the publisher offer solo ads? A solo ad is one that is sent to the entire list all by itself and usually the most profitable type of advertising.

6. Do the solo ads display the advertiser's subject line? If the subject line is not personalized, results will not be as good.

7. Does the body of the message contain a lengthy disclaimer from the ezine owner that explains their SPAM policy and that they aren't associated with the advertiser and aren't responsible for the content? This is a red flag to me because it makes the reader less receptive to your ad.

8. Do you see the same advertisements multiple times? This is a good sign that the advertiser is getting a good response. One way to be sure is to contact the advertiser and simply ask.

9. Is there waiting period to run your ad in the ezine? A responsive list becomes popular fast and may have a waiting period of a month or more. If you find one, book your ads quickly and mark it on your calendar. It will be worth the wait when your ad finally runs.

10. Does the publisher respond personally to your questions? No response could mean that your mail was filtered. And if you mail doesn't get through, you can bet your ad won't either. Get a solid response before you pay.

Step Three: set up your ad trackers.

Never advertise unless you can track the response. You need to know how many visitors and sales you get for each ad you place so you can determine whether or not you want to run another ad in a particular ezine or upgrade from a sponsor ad to a solo ad.

This information is critical for determining how well each ad campaign does and how well you're converting visitors into sales. Sometimes you just need to tweak your ad copy and run the ad again for better results.

If you get good results the first time, run your ad again in a week or two. Not everyone will buy the first time around. And many who were "on the fence" the first time they saw your ad, may purchase the second time around.

You can find a good ad-tracking service on Google.

Step Four: write your ad.

There are numerous books on writing good copy that you can find by searching Google. But, the best way to come with ideas for good ads is to read the ads in other ezines.

Look for ads that catch your eye. Modify them to fit the product you are promoting and then add your own personal touch. You can include an exerpt from an ebook you are selling, a section from the sales letter, or your personal endorsement.

Step Five: place your ad.

This is the easiest part. You simply fill out a form with your ad copy and credit card information. After you process the order. You will receive a confirmation of when the ad will run. And since you are already subscribed to the ezine, you can verify it yourself. Don't rely on them to send you a "courtesy copy."

Step Six: put half your profits back into advertising.

Okay, sounds simple enough. But where do you put the extra profit?

That's why you track your ads. So you can make an informed decision and maximize your profits.

So if you were going to put half your profits back into advertising, where would you put it?

Let's say you're total profit was $400. Take two hundred and invest it back into the successful ezines and invest the other two hundred into two new ezines. And then multiply your profits from there.

The profit potential of this method is incredible. Once you tap into the strategy and see it working you'll see exactly what I mean. And until you do, you'll have a hard time understanding why I get so fired up about it.

Note: it can take up to two weeks (or longer) to get into some ezines. So it's important to get your spot as soon as possible.

Once you set this system up and find some good ezines to advertise in, you'll be making money completely on autopilot!