How to Attract and Keep Contributors to Your Ezine
If you have a successful business but are looking to increase your profit, an ezine is a great way to do that. Regular newsletters can be used to sell your own products as well as those of others, and can also be a great way to increase traffic to your sites. But the backbone of a good ezine is good content. Contributors are vital to creating a product that people want to read, and keep reading.
While you may be able to get away with writing content for your own ezine for a while, it’s hard to keep up a good product this way. A well-rounded magazine needs varying viewpoints and opinions. Plus, coming up with all the content on your own can be a lot of work. That’s why it’s important to have a solid base of quality contributors to keep a great product going.
One of the easiest ways to find contributors is to look on websites designed specifically for people looking for workers to finish their projects for them. This can include anything from coders, to graphic designers, to writers. Generally you post the project you want done, writers will post their bids for completing the project, and you pick one. While this is convenient and most of the work is done for you, it may be difficult to find a qualified writer, depending on your topic. And someone with an actual background in the area will be more pricey.
Chat rooms and message boards are a great place to find writers who are interested in your ezine’s topic and often have a background in it as well. Plus, by reading their posts and such, you already know their writing style and general knowledge level before you even introduce yourself. While this method requires a bit more work, you’re more likely to get a quality product.
Once you’ve found contributors for your ezine, it’s important to keep them working for you. This will help you attract dedicated readers and build your customer base. Not only will fans of that writer come back for more, but people will continue reading because they know what to expect when they open the email.
While writers may be working for you, that doesn’t mean they have to continue. If you are a pain to work with, they’re probably just going to take their services elsewhere. This means you need to have prompt communication and payment, and be sure to hold up your end of any bargain. You wouldn’t want to help establish their name and then have them write for someone else.
The best way to work with contributors is to set up a regular routine and schedule. That way, they know ahead of time when material is due, when they are paid, what is expected, and how communications are handled. This will not only help make communication easier, it will cut down on the amount of questions they need to ask because they are told all this information up front.
It may take some effort to find good contributors and keep them around, but you will notice the difference when it comes to the quality of your end product.
