As I learned more about internet marketing, I kept hearing that I needed my own 'in house' mailing list. This is a list of visitors who are interested in what my site has to offer. I could try to capture information on my visitors (ie: email address) but somehow this just didn't seem ethical to my way of thinking.

I decided the way to build a list was to publish a newsletter. The advantages of publishing a newsletter are many. It is a great way to help establish your internet presence. It helps to build your credibility online. It's also a terrific way to get to meet a lot of people. Once your readers have become comfortable with your presence, and gain confidence in your knowledge and abilities, they are very likely to become life long customers at your website.

I thought about this for a long time before I actually did it. I knew it was going to be a lot of work, and I wanted to be able to do a good job. So I thought about what makes an ezine (newsletter) worth reading. I determined that its the same thing that makes a website worthwhile. Content! I needed to have content that people wanted. I knew I could find plenty of content on the internet. But I also knew that I would have to create some original content of my own. So I started writing articles.

It had also ocurred to me that I could sell ad space in my newsletter once I had a decent number of subscribers. People would want to run ads in my newsletter because it was a targeted audience for their ads. This is far superior to just placing classified ads on general ad sites.

I also had determined that my 'targeted' readers would be interested in some of the things I was promoting through my affiliate programs. So my newsletter gave me an avenue by which I could tell my audience about these products. And, when they purchase these products, I make a commission. What a great way to reach masses of people without spamming!

I already knew I did not want to manage my own list. One of my fears was losing my ISP. I had heard horror stories about people getting kicked off their ISP's because they sent out a large volume of emails. ISP's generally don't ask questions first, they just get rid of you if you appear to be a spammer. So, I opted to use one of the many list servers that are available on the internet. Some are free and some are not. It only takes a little research to find the one that will work best for you.

How do you find subscribers? There are many directories of newsletters where you can list your newsletter. Most of my subscribers found me in these directories. You should also create a web page specifically for your newsletter. Then this page can be promoted and even listed in the search engines. By far, the quickest way to gain subscribers is by word of mouth. If your readers are impressed with what you are doing, they will tell their friends and you will have more readers. Then they tell their friends........

All in all, publishing a newsletter is a very gratifying experience. I receive wonderful emails from my subscribers telling me what a wonderful job I am doing. This tells me that I am establishing a credibility that can only serve to make my other online endeavors a huge success.