I Want to Do an Ezine! Part 2 How Do I Start?

Copyright 2002 Terri Seymour

When starting your ezine, the first thing you want to
do is name it. I would suggest keeping the name as
close to your website/business name as possible. If
you do not have a website or business yet, use a name
you could name your business as well.

For example:
If you sell gifts/products for you & your home and
your business name is Gifts Galore, you could then
name your ezine "Gifts Galore News" or
"Gifts Galore Ezine".

For content, you would include home decorating links,
beauty tips and ideas, articles on frugal decorating
home remedy recipes, camping tips and resources,
whatever pertains to the gifts you are selling. This
type of ezine would be great fun to publish!

Now to get started with the design and layout of your
ezine...the first thing you want to do is to find a good
text editor such as Textpad. You can download the
free version at http://www.textpad.com. This is what
I use and I love it. It is very easy and efficient.

A lot of people format their ezine to 60 or 65
characters per line, but I prefer 55. That means
that after every 55 letters/numbers/spaces typed, you
would press enter and start a new line. You can set
the Textpad to do this automatically, but I find it
works better to do it manually. Just watch the number
at the bottom right of the TextPad screen and hit enter
when you get to 55 or 60/65.

Create a template for your ezine so each week you can
just open up this template and fill in the necessary
sections. This will save you lots of time.

At the top of the ezine, you want a centered heading
with your title, and contact info.

It should look like this:

Gifts Galore Ezine
October 15, 2002 Issue No. 1
Jane Doe, Publisher/Editor
mailto:janedoe@giftsgalore.com
http://www.giftsgalore.com
(c) 2002 All Rights reserved

You should have all your contact info in your closing
at the bottom of your ezine as well.

If you are not sure how to do the layout of your ezine,
there is a free template you can use or use as a guide
here: http://www.myownezine.com/tutorial/page1.shtml
Just read through the info and take a look at the
template.

Try a few different ideas, change things around a bit
until you find the layout you like and are comfortable
with. You can make improvements/changes after you
start publishing as well.

One thing I suggest is not to have too many squiggles
and decorations. Some are ok, but keep it clean and
sharp looking. Too many decorations can make it hard
for some people to read.

Some things that should always be included in your
ezine are:

Your contact info - top and bottom of ezine
Subscribe and unsubscribe info
Privacy Policy - at or near the top
Disclaimer - towards the bottom
Table of Contents - at the top of the ezine
Editorial - chat a bit with your readers and discuss
any current events or happenings at your site/business.
Start forming that all important bond with them!
Thank you to your subscribers - include this in the
editorial section.

Once you find the layout you are satisfied with, fill
in your standards like disclaimer, contact info and
anything else that will remain the same from week to
week and save it in a folder on your desktop. Each
week or however often you publish, just open this
template and you are ready to get going.

In Part 3, I will be going over content. What to have
for content and where to get it.

Ezine publishing is very important and you can do it!
DO NOT let your doubts stop you form this rewarding
and enjoyable experience! Please feel free to contact
me if you have any questions.