Do other businesses or consumers that are looking for a service or product that your business offers discover your service? The answer might be a big "NO" to you. Just like us, you have placed advertisements in newspapers and magazines and the results were not as good as you expected. We once we placed an advertisement in a magazine that claimed to have over 1.5 million subscribers nationwide.

We spent nearly a thousand dollars for the ad and only got a few responses. What went wrong? The answer is very simple! Our ads were buried among dozens of advertisements, and it was not targeted to the right audience. We learned to advertise smarter and now we are getting good responses from our Ezine ads.

As businesses are shopping around for the right publication in which to advertise, they are learning that the Internet online newsletter, or Ezine, often provides a better chance for online advertisement.

Internet businesses find they can communicate with customers and market their services more efficiently via the online publications. A key advantage of Ezine advertising is that it is more targeted and much more cost-effective. What are Ezines? Ezines are content-rich and informational online publications that are delivered to subscribers with permission through email. Most Ezines are free to subscribers. Individual Ezines may focus on a particular topic or subject. For instance, our own B2B Ezine covers news and the latest trends in business-to-business markets in cyberspace. Each Ezine usually displays classified ads or feature advertising placements.

More and more businesses have come to realize the importance of advertising on Internet Ezines and newsletters. Here are some of the main reasons why you should focus more of your budget towards Internet Ezines advertisement:

Cost-efficient

Print publications such as magazines and newspapers usually charge $15 to $25 dollars per word for classified ads, or $200 to $300 per inch of column space. Needless to say, these are

Photo: Lucia Micarelli
<em>A Blog Supreme</em> is on vacation. Until we return, we are periodically leaving you with some shots from The NPR Jazz Photography Pool on Flickr. Here, Scott Bump writes about capturing a great violinist on film at the Newport Jazz Festival.

Instant delivery

Most Ezines are published on a daily or weekly basis. When you place an ad with your favorite Ezine you can always expect to see it in circulation the next day or within a week. With traditional advertising you will normally wait up to two or three months to see your advertising in print. With a good Ezine, advertisement information is just a click away for your audience since your ad is hyperlinked to your website URL, Ezine subscribers can simply click on your URL or email address and get your information within moments.

Less competition

A print magazine usually has dozens of ads while an Ezine only has about a dozen. Would you rather compete with many other advertisers or just a few?

More targeted

Almost all Ezines are opt-in mailing lists. People who subscribe to a particular Ezine are willingly receiving them. Ezines are targeted to those who share the same interests. Eventually, they will read your ad.

Global audience

Ezines are one of the very few ways to truly reach people all over the world. Even though I live in the central Illinois, my B2B Ezine reaches subscribers from over twenty five countries. It doesn't cost me a penny to send the Ezine directly to them. If your services are available globally you need to consider advertising in Ezines. If you are looking for a cost-effective alternative to print advertising, Ezine advertising is one of the most efficient ways to reach people who might be interested in your services or products. I hope this helps in your future marketing decisions.
About the Author

David Bell Advertising research and development center

# 1 Internet Marketing Agency -Online Advertising Agency