An Overlooked Fr~e Advertising Opportunity

When you have an online business you need to utilizeevery possible avenue of advertising and promotion.As I sign up for more ezines and discussion groups,I am finding numerous publishers are overlooking a very effective and fr~e advertising opportunity.After I sign up for an ezine or email discussion group,I await the welcome letter for guidelines and to learna bit more about the ezine/website/webmaster. Toooften all I get in the welcome letter is the standard default letter. No personal welcome, no introductions,no links to check out and no email.This disappoints me as I always like to check out the sites of the people I am signing up with. It almostmakes me want to unsubscribe.......almost. ;-) But I know that some publishers may just not know that youcan take advantage of this advertising opportunity.I also didn't know of such opportunity when I was first starting. So, by writing this article, I hope to make publishers and listowners aware of this fr~e advertising.Whether you use Yahoogroups, Topica or a list manager that you have purchased, you can change the welcomemessage. Personalize it by introducing yourself and letting the subscriber know about your website/business.*Inform them of any specials you might have.*Tell them your advertising rates and add a testimonial.*Invite them to your site to utilize the fr~e resources.*Let them know your email so they can contact you.*Use some of the space for ad swapping with otherpublishers and their welcome letters.*Add an affiliate product or program review.There are numerous things you can promote with yourwelcome letter. Also, do not overlook your goodbyeletter. You have one last chance to get this person back. Make it a good one. ;-)I also have a little message in my goodbye letter thatencourages people to let me know why they unsubbed.Example: Thank you for being a subscriber to My Own Ezine. I am sorry to see you go. If you could take a minute to let me know why you unsubbed, I would appreciate it.Please drop a quick note tomailto:ter02@newnorth.net?subject=unsub Thank you.You might learn ways to improve your ezine by askingformer subs this question. Of course, they do not allanswer, but a good many do! Always reply to them with a short but appreciative thank you note!I also promote many of the same things as I do with my welcome letter. By doing this you just might get thisperson to think........"Maybe I will take one last lookand see what they have." In this business, you have to utilize every opportunity possible and this FR~E advertising could turn out to bea golden one! Happy Holidays to you and yours!