In the 1980's many newspapers were developing their copy using a cut and paste technique. Obviously this was an improvement over typeset, but still time consuming. As desktop publishing came to prominence newspapers began to be developed on a computer and sent electronically to have a film made of the copy for print.



Darkrooms were replaced as digital cameras gained wide acceptance. Now virtually all the functions of a newspaper (except for some of the interviews and photos) can be accomplished while sitting in front of a computer.

This change in function also allowed thousands of home-based publishing businesses to develop using the same software and contracting with the local or regional newspaper to print their publication.

In this story of falling dominos some home-based publishers opted for either an online ezine that operated in tandem with the print version or in other cases it was established in place of a print edition.

These early endeavors into online print helped establish the marketing form of ezine publications. These online electronic magazines generally provide a topic specific magazine that draws from multiple sources to complete a publication that can be of great interest to a niche market.

This method of marketing draws on list building activities as well as trust marketing. Beyond getting individuals to visit the business site ezines are also designed to be so informative that visitors find a growing sense of trust in the information and products that you supply.

Ezines can be archived and indexed for easy referral when new members sign up. This means that they can then access any of the topic specific ezines you have published in the past to gain even further value from their membership.

Businesses can subscribe to services that provide essential statistics on their ezine. They can learn the number of visitors; track how many visitors drop by on an hour-by-hour basis and other valuable data that can help them gauge the success of the ezine.

Ezines can provide a boost to traditional online business as well as affiliate revenue programs. If you can keep the idea that visitors to your ezine are interested in a specific topic, and then keep the ezine focused on that topic, you are more likely to not only develop an ezine that will be read, but also one that will be referred to and shared over and over again.

The growth of ezines has been offset a bit by the introduction of business blogs, but the core idea remains. In both scenarios it is the goal to develop material that is aimed at helping customers understand your product, it's uses and how the product may best fit their needs.

Ezines generally appeal to those who like a news format while business blogs appeal to those who want something a bit less formal, updated more often and only deals with a single subject at a time.

The ultimate goal in marketing is information sharing. Ezines makes the sharing of information a bit easier simply because it can be made available quickly and to a list that has already expressed an interest in the information you want to share.