This article is written for anybody who reads, publishes or plans to publish and e-zine or newsletter.
Whenever I read about the best ways to promote an online newsletter, listing in e-zine directories is always mentioned as one of those 'no-brainer' things that every publisher should automatically do.
So I figured, why not? Everyone else seems to be doing it, I'd better do the same.
Not so easy. In the first place, try looking up 'ezine directories' on google. I got 1690 results. A lot of those results turned out not to be a directory, but a list of other directories. The list seemed endless.
In the second place, most of the lists of directories I found turned out to be hopelessly out of date.
So I decided to build my own list of e-zine directories
As I started following the links I hit up against one of the worst aspects of the Internet. Here is a list of the 14 principle reasons why so many of the links turned out to be useless:
1. Site no longer exists 2. Site appears to exist, but content is all pre 1998 3. Site appears to be running, but many links are dead 4. Message says 'Site no longer maintained.' 5. Site so badly designed, navigation impossible 6. Site caused my eyes to bleed (figuratively!) 7. Site bombarded me with multiple pop-ups 8. Site not relevant (no e-zine list) 9. Site appeared to be a scam 10. Site redirected to a different URL 11. Payment required to list e-zine 12. Site offered no explanation, name or logo 13. Site no longer accepting submissions 14. Site 'under construction.'
According to my 'History' file, I have visited over 800 sites in the past 3 days. My back hurts, my eyes hurt and my brain has turned to jelly. But I think that I have done it!
All told, I have boiled these 800 'possibles' down to a list of 33 e-zine directory sites that all work, and all accept submissions. That list can be freely accessed on the BizE-zine web site at
http://www.BizE-zine.com/directories1.htm
In order to test them, I have submitted my newsletter details to every one (apart from paml.com which seems to be working, but the link to the submit page doesn't.) The responses I have had so far are varied:
1. No response
2. A polite email confirming my submission 3. Immediate listing
4. An onscreen notice confirming submission and advising that entry to the list may take some time.
I plan to revisit each of the sites after one month and report back on whether I got listed or not.
Of course, I have no idea whether I will get any new subscribers from all this effort, but I made my entries in such a way as to be able to track the source of any submissions that do arise. I will report on that too in a month.
Six of the sites also accept postings of articles. This could be very useful, but in a few cases, it seemed easier to post than to read those which were already there! Maybe that was just me.
Nine sites also had a good amount of extra content which would be very useful to publishers of e-zines.
These are all indicated on the BizE-zine web site.
Finally, I have ranked the 33 sites in order of their Alexa ranking. This purports to measure the site's traffic. I am not sure about the legality of quoting the Alexa figures directly, so I have simply put the sites in order - highest traffic at the top.
Is this list definitive? I hope not! I am sure that there must be lots more sites on the Internet that could be included. If you run one, or know of one, please email me at mailto:martin@BizE-zine.com so that I can update the list.
Similarly, if you have had any success with any of the sites I have listed, please let me know - perhaps I can include a 'users comments' section on the web page.
My next project is to do the same thing for Article repositories ... but not right now - I feel a migraine coming on.
Martin Avis publishes a free weekly newsletter: BizE-Zine - your unfair advantage in Internet marketing, business and personal success. To subscribe, and get 6 great free gifts, please visit http://www.BizE-zine.com