Read Parts One, and  Three, and Four 


Starting An Ezine Part Two: Putting It All Together
By Donesia Muhammad

In Part one of 'Creating an Ezine' you were able to understand the purpose of your ezine and what subject you plan on using for your ezine and what subject you plan on using for your ezine.

Today we will learn a few things:

How To Properly Format And Design Your Ezine So Everyone Can View
It.

Software Choices To Help You Create Your Ezine

Why Content Is The Meat And Potatoes Of Your Ezine.


Proper Formatting And Design

(Note: This applies to text based ezines. Creating an ezine using HTML will be another part of this series)


In order to be recognized as a professional, your ezine must sharp looking, easy to read and your words are properly wrapped. What am I talking about. Word Wrap is basically when you force all your text to fit under specific margins.

This makes your words look more organized. The general rule of thumb online is to wrap your words between 60-65 in margin length. Most of the software programs designed to help you create your ezine ( more on the software choices later in this article) will have this feature.

If you don't have this feature, a quick way to know when to hit return is to simply write out 1-65.

1234567890123456789012345678901234567890
1234567890123456789012345

Keep this on the top of your ezine to help guide you on your returns.


White Space Is In, Clutter Is Out...

Once you have the formatting down it is time to make your ezine look appealing to the eye of the reader. You have to make sure that every section of your ezine is spaced properly so everyone can read it.


Tip #1: Poor Design Equals Low Advertising Sales

Do you have any decorative dividers in your issues. You can use a variety of symbols found on your keyboard to help separate them.
(((, >>>>>>>,<<<<<, ~~~~,________,---------------, ###, @@@,
=====, +++++++, and many more once you put your mind to it.


Place any ads that you plan on using spaced far enough apart so that five ads doesn't look like one big ad altogether.

Of course, you can ignore these things and do what you want, but when the person who is ready to spend money to advertise with you, remember what they see is what determines whether they pull out their credit card or not.


Tip #2: Make Your Links Clickable. Provides Easier Access For Your Readers.

Are you adding http:// in front of all your URL's. You would be surprised how many don't do this.

Let's face it. We are all lazy and no one feels like copying and pasting URL's into their browser. Placing the http:// does it for them.

Are your email and autoresponder links have a mailto: in front of the address. Please don't assume that without a http:// or a mailto link in front of the address, that your email program will turn this into a hyperlink. It is easy to forget sometimes, I have done it myself a few times, but put it in a mental checklist in your head before you hit send.

If you would like to see what my first issue looked like it is located here and you can get an idea and realize the mistakes made as well. http://EzineAdHelper.com/firstissue.htm 



Is There Any Software That I Can Use To Make Creating My Ezine Quicker?


You may ask yourself 'Why can't I just type out my ezine in my email program, hit send and Voila?'

Well you can't do this for the same reason you can't put a bunch of java scripts, DHMTL scripts, and java applets all on one web page and expect John Doe with his 28k modem, Windows 3.1, and Internet Explorer 4 to be able to view your page.

We all have different software and different versions of each software. There are a variety of software choices out there that can help you create your ezine.

You can use Notepad the program that comes with Windows to format your ezine as well as these wonderful programs:


Text Pad: http://TextPad.com 

For a great online tutorial on formatting, which also comes with a few screenshots on how to use Text Pad:
http://www.marketing-seek.com/hop/format.shtml 


Ezine Assistant: http://EzineAssistant.com 
This free utility is great to handle all your needs. This program is favor ware, meaning you may need to run one of the companies ads or articles in your ezine. This is what helps keep it free.

Edit Pad Pro or Lite Version http://www.jgsoft.com /
A simple yet powerful text editor that really helps you to organize your ezine files, and to help keep the proper formatting.

Note Tab Pro or Lite http://www.fookes.com/ 

Ultra Edit 32 http://www.idmcomp.com/ 

Do a search of text editors in Cnet's Download.com
http://Download.com  and you will see more than enough editors to choose from.

You can also use a product named Text Soap http://TextSoap.com  to clean up your text. It will remove any bad formatting. It also cleans up email, HTML, and Web documents.

What Software Do You Use, Donesia?

Edit Pad Lite http://JgSoft.com  is the software that I use to create my ezine. I love it. Simple yet powerful. True, the lite version does not a spell checker but I have no problem pasting my ezine into my email program for a quick spell check. Yes eventually I will buy the pro version but for right now I am satisfied with the Lite version. If it 'ain't broke, don't try to fix it!



Why Content Is The Meat And Potatoes Of Your Ezine.

A quick and easy route would be to buy a large opt-in subscriber list and to hire someone to publish your ezine.

Sure you will make some sales but if the content of your ezine is lacking, you are not only hurting your product and/or service but you are also hurting the reputation of your name and business.

If the purpose of your ezine is to help others in your field, then your content should be informative, and helpful. Your content should be relevant to the topic at hand. Don't completely fly off the subject because you will confuse your readers as to the true purpose of your ezine.

Writing your own articles is something that I greatly encourage because it shows originality, and that is the key to success.

Think about it, most of us have over 200-300 emails a day. What are you going to put in your ezine that will make them want to click your email first?

Content isn't just about articles, it can be a joke, and
inspirational quote, tips, and tutorials. It means adding your personality into your ezine. They don't have to know that you and your spouse had an argument last night, but some simple things to maybe give them a laugh or something to ponder over.

Either way you are selling yourself so make it good.

In order to sell your products and services, you need to sell your good personality first. That is worth it's weight in gold.



 IN PART THREE WE WILL DISCUSS

The pro's and cons of sending an HTML ezine

Where can I find Content to use in my ezine?

Now that I am done, what software can I use to send out my list or should I use a list host?

Part One
Part Three
Part Four Conclusion


Copyright (c) 2002 Donesia Muhammad
Donesia Muhammad is an aspiring Netpreneur. Visit her site http://EzineAdHelper.com  for help
with your internet business and ezine advertising.
 

This article may be freely distributed as long as the above byline is included