Of the many reasons that exist for subscribing to ezines,



one of the main reasons must be the free and easy access

to quality info on just about any topic one is interested in.

In the online marketing segment almost every aspect of

the business - from scratch to perfection - and every step

in between too, is covered by the gurus and experts in

their respective fields. Thank You, Guys.

As any ezine subscriber knows, few issues from a handful

of ezines is enough to collect huge megabytes of info on all

the aspects of an online business - right from selecting your

biz opp, developing it, growing it, expanding it and finally,

sustaining it. Every topic is explored, explained, and made

easy for the possible financial benefit of us marketers.

How many of us profit from all this free info?

Not many it seems. The oft-quoted statistics say 97%

of new online biz's shut shop in the first year itself.

Sad? Maybe! But Something Can Be Done About It!

Here are a few suggestions that could help convert

word-info into cash-info, i.e. articles to profit!.

A few initial ground rules first:

1. Take Control!

Take Control of the number of ezines you are subscribed to.

Make a conscious decision to limit your subscriptions to a

number you can reading and act upon. Keep in mind your

other reasons for joining ezine lists like, paid advertising,

free advertising, etc.

2. Try reading as opposed to scanning!

Time is never enough and if your inbox has too many

ezines in it you will most probably be 'scanning' your

ezines instead of reading them. On the other hand a

controlled subscription list will give you enough time

to 'Read & Reap' instead of "Rush & Weep' (There

is a lot more to ezines than just articles and ads. Look

carefully and you will find emerging trends you could

capitalise on, read the ads and you could very well be

looking into the minds of your target market. There is

a lot more than just articles and ads but that will need

another article altogether)

3. Stop making 'mental notes'

When you come across valuable info STOP making

'mental notes' for later use, Later Rarely Comes!

We often find brilliant articles which we feel will make

a huge difference to our site or to our advertising maybe

and we make mental notes to apply this new info to our

online efforts, that is, just as soon as we finish going thru

the remaining messages in our inbox! And ever so often

we end up forgetting! Stop making 'mental notes' there

is a better way.

4. Stop saving articles, hints, tips for 'later'

Quite often - while starting out especially - we create

neatly organised folders in folders in folders where we

save every article, hint, and tip we come upon. One

day - when time and stars are perfectly aligned - we

will apply all this advice to our online business and

shoot it off to the next level. One day, that is...till then

we collect more and the day never arrives!

Stop Collecting, Stop Just Saving!

To really profit from your article-reading try this:

Whenever you come upon an article which you feel

may help in refining some aspect of your online business,

send a silent thanks to the forces that be, then show your

gratitude - ACT - immediately!

*Copy and save the article in a 'notepad' file.

*Copy and save BUT do not close the file.

Now open whichever aspect of your business this article refers

to...Alt+Tab(windows) between the two and while reading the

article immediately apply it to your own efforts - correcting,

editing and making changes as you go along.

You will be surprised at the results! And Pleased Too!

If it is ad-copy, yours will change right before your eyes.

If it is headline-copy, yours could morph into that 'hypnotic'

spell that simply grabs your viewers eyes. Maybe you could

finally understand what triggers are needed and where they

should feature on your site for people to buy stuff from you.

(I'm working on this for my site)

Instead of copying to notepad it could be easier and faster

to toggle directly between the ezine where the article is and

your efforts and apply useful suggestions instantly. I prefer

notepad for it is extremely easy and quick to copy, save,

and open again later when needed. Besides, its stark black

and white format with no toolbars etc helps the mind in

staying focused on the task at hand and this gets the job

done as quickly as possible. And efficiently too!

Now all those helpful articles which normally would

be scanned and most probably canned, are...

Saved, Read, Applied!

Take a bigger step forward - Take a print-out:

Hard-copy allows you to read the article in different places

and from more 'angles' than is possible on your desk-top or

lap-top. This is important for inspiration has absolutely no

regard for time, place, or position. Keep a pencil or pen

at hand to jot down its fleeting caresses.

Speaking for myself I have realised that this approach

has inadvertently tackled one of my biggest obstacles -

Procrastination. It could do the same for you too.

All The Best.

Jerome D'souza