When you starting publishing your ezine, you likely had pre-
conceived notions about how it really would not be that hard
to be a publisher. People had always said that it was what you
needed to do to be in business online, but they never told you
just how hard it was.
Sometimes, you might notice that it is really hard to bring
yourself to publish an issue of your ezine. Even though you
may use content provided entirely by others, you still find
yourself nose-to-nose with writer's block.
Don't feel bad. It happens to the best of us.
The important thing to remember is that you cannot choose to
skip an issue on account of writer's block. Once you skip that
first issue, it becomes easier and easier to skip an issue
down the road. By skipping issues, you will soon discover
that you have not published in months.
Your subscribers need stability to stay subscribed and
interested, and you need the stability of habit to keep
yourself in the publishing business. You cannot afford to
take time off, unless it was a planned time off and your
readers knew about it well in advance.
Unfortunately, writer's block is not the only challenge you
have to face as a publisher. Sometimes, life itself can throw
a curve ball at you and keep you from your work as a publisher.
Suppose a loved one ends up in the hospital? You might find
yourself at their bedside while they are recuperating from
whatever ails them. Suppose, you are the one in the hospital?
What if you have to work overtime at your real-world job on
the night of publication? Then what?
There are certain things that you can do now to prevent skipped
or even late issues down the road.
You should always have one issue prepared in advance that can
be sent on a moments notice. All you will have to do with this
issue is get the date right and send it.
A pre-prepared issue is ideal for those times when you have
only ten minutes to spare to get an issue out. It is perfect
for those late nights at the office or that unexpected trip
to the hospital.
In this manner, you can take ten minutes to get the issue
out without having to concern yourself with putting the
issue together from scratch.
Another thing you can do to save time in developing an issue
is to use your mail folders to sort out materials for placement
in an issue in advance of your actually needing it.
By creating special folders in your mailbox for content, you
can pre-sort articles to be placed at a later date. You can
also pre-sort blurbs of content that you feel will match your
readers interest. If you see a special item that you would
like to run, you can copy it into its own email message and
mail it to yourself for proper sorting. This is especially
handy when the original document has several pieces from
different topics nestled inside of it.
By taking the time now to organize the content that will appear
at a future date, you can be that much further ahead of the
game on publication day.
Ideally, you will be able to pre-sort enough individual pieces
of data in various email folders to always have available
enough material to fill three to four issues in a crunch.
Even better is to have prepared in advance three to four issues
of your publication.
Preparing issues in advance is only a challenge if your ezine
publishes an "In the next issue" section. By running the "In
the next issue" you are tying yourself down to what the
material will be for the following issue.
Of course, this is not too bad of a deal if you will take the
time and effort to go ahead and write issues ahead even in
this scenario.
Professional magazines and television shows generally stay
6 weeks to 6 months ahead of the publication and broadcast
schedules.
By mimicking what the professionals do, you can prepare
your ezine to always meet the appearances of a professional
publication.
It is important to remember that your ezine is your business.
Wouldn't it make sense to help your readers see that your
ezine is a professional publication, and you --- as the
editor --- are a professional too?
By preparing ahead for the day when you cannot meet your
publication schedule as planned, you are laying the groundwork
to protect everything that you have worked so long to build.
Your ezine is your company's mouthpiece. If your mouthpiece is
quiet, your business might as well be dead. Don't take that
chance with your future!
Prepare for the failures of tomorrow, so that you can meet
your long-range plans for the success of your business.
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About the Author
Max Shifrin, the owner of http://www.FunEzines.com specializes
in helping ezine owners build their subscriber base. Max uses
massive promotions to generate hundreds, even thousands of sub-
scribers every month for over 100 ezines! Want Max to grow your
Ezine? Visit: http://www.FunEzines.com/clients_signup.cgi. Make
sure you subscribe to Max's Popular Marketing & Publishing Ezine
Send an email to: mailto:promotion-tips-subscribe@topica.com