Are you thinking that you need to send some type of ezine or newsletter to your customers and clients, but are afraid that you don't have the time or the content to publish one on an ongoing basis?

If that's the case, you may want to consider one of the below alternatives. They will help you stay in touch with your clients, capture email addresses on your website and establish your credibility without requiring you to come up with new content each week.

The first two alternatives require an autoresponder service. I love KickStartCart which includes unlimited autoresponders and a F*REE 30-day trial. AWeber is another autoresponder service with an excellent reputation.

What is an autoresponder?

Wikipedia defines "autoresponder" as "a computer program that automatically answers e- mail sent to it. They can be very simple or quite complex."

An autoresponder automatically sends an email out when someone requests it or signs up for your list. For example, my e-course "How To Write a Dynamic Marketing Plan" is an autoresponder. Once you request the course (by sending a blank email to a specific email address), the first lesson is emailed to you immediately and each subsequent lesson will be sent out based on a schedule that I established.

EZINE ALTERNATIVE 1: E-course or Special Report

E-courses and Special Reports are very popular and a great F*REE gift to offer on your website when someone gives you his email address. Your prospect enters his email address, confirms his email address (assuming you have double opt-in) and then receives either the first lesson in your e-course series or the special report.

See the beauty in this? You do the work once and are then automatically able to "touch" every prospect that visits your website and signs up for information. I currently offer a F*REE Special Report for website visitors who sign up for this ezine.

If you choose to do an e-course, select a topic that relates to your field. For example, if you are a virtual assistant, you could do a F*REE e-course called "How to Work With a Virtual Assistant". This would allow prospects who are unsure about virtual assistance to learn a bit about you and the field before feeling the need to "commit". Your last lesson could be an invitation for the prospect to call or email you if he is interested in your services.

EZINE ALTERNATIVE 2: "Evergreen" Newsletter

An "evergreen" newsletter contains information which doesn't change. It's the same today as it is next week and next year.

You can write one set of newsletters, set them up on an autoresponder and let them go! One thing to note about this – not all of your ezine subscribers will get the same ezine on the same day.

For example: If you published an evergreen ezine every week and I signed up for your ezine on January 1st, I would get Evergreen Ezine #1. On January 8th, I would receive Evergreen Ezine #2.

If Harry signed up for your ezine on January 3rd, he would receive Evergreen Ezine #1 on January 3rd and #2 on January 10th.

Make sense?

All your subscribers would be in different "places" with respect to which day they receive your ezine and what information they receive on that day.

EZINE ALTERNATIVE 3: Promotions

Promotion-only emails work very well for some product-type industries where an ezine may not be necessary.

I receive coupons via email from Borders Books and sale notices for Vera Bradley bags – these are email promotions which don't include an ezine, but are very effective in prompting their target audiences to act.

If you choose to send out promotional emails, you will want to have a good offer for your customers – X% off or F*REE gift with purchase, etc. Remember not to send too many of these type of emails as they will become overwhelming and "less special" to your customers.

Your prospects, clients and customers want good content. Give them that and they will stick with you!