Virtual page-turners
Blogs, podcasts, RSS feeds; the Web keeps inventing methods of delivering information to our desktops, cell phones and laptops. One precursor, however — e-zines — had more in common with traditional print communications than with the Internet.
E-zines are the more in-depth version of an electronic newsletter, both of which are typically delivered by e-mail. If the newsletter sends snippets and links, a true e-zine — electronic magazine — delivers full-length articles on a topic of interest.
Starting around 1999, e-zines flourished on the Net as companies found they could reach thousands of people easily.
But the onset of blogs cut the legs out from under e-zines.
E-zines are still alive but in much smaller numbers.
The Spokane region has several successful e-zine businesses, mostly involving counselors or investment advisers.
“It’s the funnel system,” explained consultant and public speaker Karen Wright. “You use it to give people a taste of you and you build a relationship through the e-zine. You hope they move down the funnel and start becoming a regular customer.”
Spokane residents Deanna Davis and her husband, Michael Davis, jointly publish two e-zines. Living With Intention focuses on methods of deepening personal and business relationships. The other, Marriage Essentials, promotes premarital education. Both are free, a common characteristic of most e-zines.
Through the e-zines, the Davises say they reach maybe 1,000 people across the country.
“We wanted to find a way to reach more people and to develop a cadre of people who might want to stay in touch with us and maybe order our products,” said Deanna Davis. Those products include audio tapes, books and downloadable programs.
“Three years ago our business was all local. Now 35 to 45 percent of our business is from the online products,” said Deanna Davis.
Wright’s e-zine is Waking Up, a self-actualization guide that is currently sent to a subscriber list of about 1,400.
A workshop facilitator, business consultant and public speaker, Wright uses the e-zine both as a marketing tool and as an emotional benefit, she said.
In September, a series of financial setbacks left Wright ready to close her consulting business. She wrote in her e-zine then: “It seems to be expected that we paint a smile on our sorrows to perpetuate the appearance of a life of success and excitement. As I sit here realizing I’ve fallen for that deception, I wonder how many others are a scratch ‘n sniff away from falling apart too.”
She also appealed for readers to order a book she wrote, “The Sequoia Seed.” Within two weeks she received $7,000 in orders for the book, reviving her business and helping her continue the e-zine.
Along with the financial value, the e-zine connects her to the community of people who read the twice-monthly effort.
“I interact, by e-mail, with a couple hundred of the readers of my e-zine,” she said. “It’s very much a case of me benefiting from having that community.”