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These days publishing an ezine or email newsletter is a common small business marketing practice, especially for independent service professionals. It's an easy, inexpensive marketing activity and it offers a great opportunity to attract new prospects to your business and to build trust and relationships.

After all, those who know and trust you are a whole lot more likely to buy from you.

Anyone can publish an ezine.

Whether or not your prospects and clients actually open and read your ezine is an entirely different story. People are inundated with email and information and you need to break through a lot of clutter to get their attention. Even if they've opted-in to receive your ezine, don't expect them to read every issue.

What can you do to help improve the odds that your subscribers will open and read that e-newsletter you so carefully write and prepare for them every week or month?

Well for one, you must write a powerful subject line.

You probably spend a fair amount of time writing your ezine articles. But how much time are you spending crafting your subject lines?

Subject lines are like headlines on ads. If they don't grab the reader, the ad doesn't get read. If your ezine subject line doesn't grab your subscriber, your ezine won't get opened.

So what makes a good headline or subject line? Here are 10 tips:

(1) Use numbers.

For example, "10 Tips to Keep Your Clients Happy" or "5 Secrets to Being More Persuasive"

(2) Ask a question.

For example, "Are You Missing Out on Free and Easy Marketing?

(3) Address your readers directly.

For example, "A Trick to Get Your Prospect's Attention" or "Increase Your Sales with an Incredible Offer"

(4) Tell your readers "how to" do something.

For example, "How to NOT Waste Money on Marketing" or "How to Struggle Less and Achieve More"

(5) Tell them what to do.

For example, "Make More With a Marketing Funnel" or "Get People Talking About Your Business"

(6) Use a combination of several of the above tactics.

For example, "Hate Selling? You Can Still Succeed" or "Too Busy Working to Market? Here's 5 Tips"

(7) Use the curiosity approach.

For example, "My $3000 Mistake and What You Can Learn From It" or "Did I Make a Mistake?"

(8) Challenge them.

For example, "Take a Giant Step" or "Discover How To Market on a Shoestring Budget"

(9) Include "selling" words.

For example, "spectacular" and "hefty" instead of "big" or "many." "Words That Sell" by Richard Bayan is a great resource.

(10) Just be you.

Make sure whatever headlines you write are consistent with your personality and your writing style. It's important that your subject line is congruent with your personality and ezine content, otherwise your readers may not trust you.

So the next time you're getting ready to hit the "Send" button, take another look at your subject line and make sure it's as powerful as possible. Ask yourself if it would get you to open the email.

And if it doesn't pass the test, go back to the drawing board and pull from one of these 10 tips to make it something your readers can't resist.

(C) 2006 Copyright Debbie LaChusa, 10stepmarketing

Debbie LaChusa

Debbie LaChusa is a marketing veteran with 20 years in the business. After 13 years in the advertising and marketing agency business, Debbie founded DLC Marketing, Inc., a marketing consulting and coaching business. Her goal? To give entrepreneurs and small business owners affordable access to the same high-level strategic marketing and advertising expertise that typically only large companies with big budgets can afford.

Debbie's commitment to making marketing expertise accessible to small business also led her to pursue speaking engagements and teaching. She has spoken at meetings and conventions across the United States and in Canada. She also is on the faculty of Wellcoaches Corporation, where she teaches wellness coach trainees around the world how to successfully market their new coaching practices.

Debbie has written and self-published two marketing workbooks, "A Step-by-Step Marketing Guide" and "A Step-by-Step Marketing Guide for Your Fitness Business" which have sold copies worldwide. Her advice is also featured in Entrepreneur Magazine's "How to Start a Personal Training Business," part of the magazine's Business Start-Up Series. And she is a contributor to the San Diego Business Journal.

Debbie created The 10stepmarketing? System to provide small business owners, coaches, consultants and other independent professionals with all the tools they need to market themselves.

This simple, step-by-step system, features an easy-to-use question-and-answer format that walks business owners through every step they need to take to develop and implement their own marketing plan designed to achieve the success they desire and deserve.

On a more personal note, Debbie LaChusa is a fraternal twin. In 2004 she launched Twin Connections, a web site that celebrates the unique and mysterious bond shared by twins. She collects twin stories and hopes to compile them into a book.