A few years back I lived in a rural community on Virginia’s Eastern Shore.  One of my neighbors had a beautiful rustic farm.  Their home was an incredible place to visit.

Once I asked the secret to creating such beautiful Home décor and the lady started to brag about the numerous items she had received as an inheritance from the generations of farmers that had preceded her.  Then she went into another room and her husband called me over to a bookshelf.

“It’s one thing to own all that crap she was talking about,” he said. “It’s quite another to know what to do with all that crap!”

Then he pulled a magazine off the shelf and showed it to me.  It was a copy of “Country Living Magazine.”

I thunmbed through the magazine and unerstood how this woman had taken an old farm house and antiques from the farm and had turned them into beautiful home décor.  She made her house a home – but it wasn’t guesswork.  It was the the wisedom and advice of the editors and writers of the magazine.

As I looked through the magazine, I noticed the unique flavor of the NICHE was understood by the advertisers.  With “Country Living,” I had access to all the materials necessary to make my own house a rustic home.

Those looking to create ezine success would benefit from targeting their own list promotions (and those they may sell to others) to their particular NICHE.

Until recently I was a subscriber to a list I highly valued to the information it provided – as well as the products that fit its theme.  Then the marketer started sending me all sorts of promotions for items totally unrelated to his NICHE.  The last straw was a product, of dubious scientific backing, that promise to correct visual impairments without glasses or surgery.

Perhaps the product actually works – that’s not the point.  The point is that I subscribed to his list for one kind of information.  When he started sending unrelated information and promotions, I lost faith in his integrity.  No longer were we in a publisher/reader relationship.  Instead I felt like a mark.

Most print magazine do not make their money from the cost of a subscription.  This is true for newspapers as well.  When you consider the coupons and other discounts that are offered by a magazine like “Country Living,” then usually the subscription fees are less than the cost of the paper and publication.  The real income is generated by selling advertising or marketing products.

Ezine success works the same way.  That’s why it is important to maintain trust with your list.

Consider taking advantage of the discount and coupons available for a subscription to “Country Living.”  You’ll see what I mean and you might just take your house or apartment and turn it into a rustic home.