To continue on with the promotion part of this series of articles, I would like to discuss networking with discussion lists and message boards as a way of promoting your business/ezine.

Those of you who know me, know that I am a big believer in online networking as an effective method of promotion. I enjoy it for other reasons as well, such as meeting new people and making friends, but that is the icing on the cake! ;-)

Participating in message boards and discussion lists gives you a chance to make yourself known as an expert in your field and also to build your reputation.

What you need to do is give advice, help, support and share your experiences whenever the opportunity arises. This will draw people to you and get them to check out your site and/or subscribe to you ezine.

There are a few things to remember when getting involved in boards and groups.

• Always follow the rules and guidelines when posting.
• Never insult people or put them down. This is flaming!
• Do not spam.
• Help others when you get the chance.
• Make sure you have an effective sigtag. This is how you promote your ezine.
• Give of yourself and get involved with the people.
• Relax, enjoy and have a good time!

Here are some lists and boards to get you started:

Message Boards

• http://www.momtomomchat.com/boards.html
• http://zineadz.com/forum/
• http://www.internetbasedmoms.com/bb/index.php
• http://www.ablake.net/forum/
• http://www.friendsinbusiness.com/board1/

Discussion Groups

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Another effective way of promoting your ezine/business is by getting involved in joint ventures with other publishers. This would include things like:

• ad swapping - discussed in last week's article
• group pop-up or group pop-under windows
• sharing your subscriber thank you page
• promoting each other in your welcome letter

Things like this have proven to be very effective in gaining subscribers. I participate in each and everyone of these methods and am very satisfied with them. You can find an example of the sharing a thank you page at http://www.myownezine.com/subscribing.shtml You can also see a group pop-under at MOE. This is just to give you an idea of all the different and varied ways you can promote your ezine by working with - not against, your fellow publishers!

This is the last article in this series. I hope they have given you some useful information and have helped you. Please feel free to email if you have any questions about this or any other article.

Good luck and much success to you!