by Terry Telford and David Geer
© copyright
David Geer sat down with Terry Telford to find out the
the secrets of publishing online. The biggest secret is,
there are no secrets. Listen to Terry's open and honest
answers as David candidly opens up the online
publishing industry.
David Geer:
Can you give us a little background information
about yourself?
Terry Telford:
Sure David. I graduated from college in
1991. I majored in Advertising and soon discovered that
this was my true calling in life.
Between 1991 and 2001, I tried lots of different things. I
started my own advertising agency, which I later sold to my
partner, I worked for two other agencies as an account
manager, I dabbled in the construction and real estate
markets and I managed a paint warehouse.
In 2001, I decided to try business on the internet. I
instantly loved it and built my first website,
BridgeportCommunications.com using software from
GoDaddy.com. I built my second website, bpcPublishing.com
using FrontPage and my third site,
TheBusinessProfessional.com using Dream Weaver.
In December 2003, I sold the majority share of BPC
Publishing so I could focus on building The Business
Professional, THE magazine for webmasters and affiliates.
The first issue of The Business Professional was published
on May 15th, 2004.
And that's me in a nutshell :)
DG:
How long have you been publishing an ezine? And, how
many subscribers do you have?
TT:
I started publishing The Marketing Pack Journal in
January 2002 to promote the BPC Publishing site. Today it's
published by Raj, the owner of BPC Publishing. He's really
done a great job with it. The subscriber base for The
Marketing Pack Journal is somewhere around 280,000.
The Business Professional is an online magazine, which
could be classified as an ezine, I guess. It's a
subscription based publication, and I've only started
publishing it, so the subscription base is still in its
infancy.
DG:
What effect have email filtering programs, such as
SpamAssassin, had on the delivery rate of your ezine?
TT:
It's hard to know exactly how much damage programs like
that are doing to the ezine/email publishing industry, but
it is making it more and more difficult to actually get to
the subscriber's inbox. With The Marketing Pack Journal,
we've been very fortunate. The majority of the advertisers
are receiving a substantial response to their offers, so it
seems that the ezine is getting through.
With The Business Professional, I've started looking into
some other options for delivering messages to the
subscribers. There are some interesting channeling programs
on the market which allow publishers to contact their
subscribers directly on their desktop and by pass the email
problems. After investigating several options, I'm leaning
towards http://www.thebusinessprofessional.com/channel.html
DG:
What adjustments, if any, have you taken to get around
those email filtering programs?
TT:
I started misspelling words like f'r'e'e and adding the
date into the subject line. But if a publisher is
delivering a publication to a Yahoo or Hotmail address
they're most likely being filtered, it doesn't seem to
matter what tactics are used.
DG:
What's the most effective tool/resource that you use
for getting new subscribers?
TT:
I built The Marketing Pack Journal subscriber base in
two ways. The first way was to put a sign up box on the non
sales pages of the BPC Publishing site. I also used a pop
up and a button at the bottom of each page. Second, I paid
for co-op leads where people sign up for more than one
ezine or offer at a time. Both systems worked well.
For The Business Professional, I've mainly concentrated on
joint ventures. Since it's a paid subscription publication,
the tactics are a bit different.
DG:
What, in your opinion, is the least effective way of
getting new subscribers?
TT:
That's a tough question. Almost everything works to a
certain degree. It's really a matter of how much time a
person wants to spend getting each new subscriber.
Obviously spam is a no no, but any serious publisher
already knows that.
DG:
What works best for getting your subscribers to
recommend your ezine?
TT:
In each issue of The Marketing Pack Journal, I always
included a note that said something like,
Please feel free to pass this publication along to your
friends and colleagues. All I ask is you leave the entire
ezine intact.
That worked pretty well.
The other key to getting your ezine passed along is to make
sure you provide good quality content.
With The Business Professional, I have an affiliate program
set up for subscribers only, so they get paid for each new
subscriber they refer. Subscribers get $5 per month for
each new subscriber they refer and an additional $5 per
month for each new subscriber that their referral refers as
well. That's a big incentive :)
DG:
Do you think that pay-for-subscriber programs, such
as Lead Factory or Post Master Direct, are a cost effective
way for publishers to get new subscribers?
TT:
I can't comment on the two programs you've mentioned
because I haven't personally used them, but buying leads or
subscribers is effective as long as they are profitable.
The best thing to do is buy a minimum amount of subscribers
and send them a test mailing. If you get a reasonable
amount of click throughs and minimal spam complaints,
that's a good first test. The second test can only be done
over time. If the new subscribers actually make purchases,
you can work out your average profit per subscriber and
base your lead purchase price on your profits.
For example: If you pay $100 for 1,000 leads, that's 10
cents per lead. If those leads purchase $500 in products
and services from you over a one year period, each lead is
worth 50 cents ($500/1,000 leads). This doesn't take into
account the extra income stream you could generate from
selling advertising space in your ezine.
DG:
What advice would you give to your best friend who
wants to start an ezine?
TT:
Basically the same advice I'd give him/her about
starting any business online. Dig deep inside yourself and
find your passion. If you're doing something you enjoy, you
never feel like you're working.
For me it's publishing and marketing. I love it. I live,
eat and breath these industries, so I can spend hours and
hours pounding away on my keyboard and still keep smiling
:)
DG:
What should be included on a web site sign-up form for
an ezine?
TT:
For a free subscription ezine, the max I ask for is
first name and email address. If you ask for more than that
on a simple sign up form, you risk losing a lot of
subscribers who become suspicious of your intentions. You
can gather more info about your subscribers by doing a
survey after they get to know and trust you.
You should always include a privacy statement or a link to
your privacy statement if you provide one. You want to let
your prospective subscribers know that you will not abuse
them by selling their contact info. This is assuming that
you don't sell their contact info.
I use a simple privacy statement right on the sign up form
that says,
Your contact details will not be shared with any third
party. Period.
DG:
On the above form, what should not be included?
TT:
Spaghetti. LOL. Seriously, the sign up form should be
minimalistic. Only ask for the bare necessities. In this
case less is more.
DG:
As you see it, what is the greatest challenge faced by
new ezine publishers?
TT:
Creating fresh content for each new publication. That's
another reason it's important to choose a subject that you
are passionate about. I could probably write a few issues
of an ezine about fishing, but it would be a chore for me
because I don't know anything about fishing. It also
becomes very easy to spot someone who doesn't really know
what they are talking about.
DG:
What ezines do you look forward to finding in your
inbox?
TT:
That's a good question. I don't spend as much time
reading ezines as I should, but the last one I read was
SitePro News.
DG:
Anything else that you'd like to add?
TT:
I think the best advice I can offer anyone who wants to
publish an ezine is choose a topic that you are passionate
about. Remember, you have to write a new issue every week,
or month and you always need new content. If you have
experience and passion about your subject it will come
through in your writing. Your subscribers will love your
enthusiasm.
The other thing to keep in mind is your ezine is a business
all on its own. You should be able to make a decent living
just publishing your ezine. You can develop income streams
from selling ads and recommending products and services to
your subscribers.
I wish you all the success you deserve.
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