Expect to have to present an issue of your ezine every week or two weeks and avoid leaving long, long gaps in between mailings, otherwise, quite simply people will forget you. This is a great place to start if you're starting out, for the simple reason people like free info, and it's so much easier to get people to subscribe to this type of list compared to others, even when there's freebies involved. Of course, you will have to know a lot about your field of expertise to present regular useful issues, or even pull in outside articles from publishers to use as content.

The catch is you'll have to be on top of things, and it does take some time to come up with good content for issues. The up side to this is people will be waiting for your ezine. If it's good and keeps people reading content wise, it's a surefire way to keep response rates up and to make a connection with your subscribers, the personal touch, which in turn will add up to trust and a higher purchase rate for your own products.

Another great thing about the newsletter and ezine is it can be quite personal. As the readers and subscribers get used to you as a publisher, and you become white listed (In their spam filers and in their minds) you'll see a greater interest in your products, because after all, you're not just another marketer out there spouting rubbish to everyone to make a quick buck. You're a trusted publisher in an authorititative role, and people will listen to you, and buy your stuff. This takes time though. Don't expect to become well know to all your subscribers overnight.

Unsubscription Rate: Many ezines have become successful because of their great response rates and low unsubscription rates due to good content. A small lapse though and this can all go pear shaped, especially when it starts to turn into an ad list and subscribers trust is broken.

Subscription Rate: A higher than average subscription rate is good news. Reasons for this include people liking to get useful content for free.

Ad income: Excellent and steady ad income from your subscriber base. Compared to other lists that don't even sell ads, this is a great way to bring in the few extra thousand dollars per month. Be careful not to over do this though, as subscribers may start deleting mail from you on the basis they think it's an ad rather than anything useful.

Response Rate Over Time: Response rate over time is again higher than average. Of course this stat varies a lot depending on if your subscribers are actually interested in what you're sending them or not.

General usefulness: Very handy to get that all important information from your subscribers. Many have asked why their subscribers never write to them. I tell them that they need to ask them to write to them about something that effects them and they will. Again third party ads can be a distraction, but all in all, if your content is good and people are reading, this is prime research material, albeit not quite as personal as some of the other list types, which can bring in a lower response.

Summary: A great place to start if you have no list at all right now. The ease of pulling subscribers when you're giving them good content beats any other type of list out there. If you don't mind high maintenance and putting a lot of time into this, the ezine or newsletter may just be for you. If however you're short on time, or don't enjoy writing articles particularly, the other lists may be more up your street. The results however from running this type of list are plain to see, and are very encouraging. Just be careful how you balance out ads and content. And hey, if things get too much in the future, you can always slowly evolve the ezine into one of the other list types, which is indeed how many marketers start out. Hard work, but a great little earner, and an investment for the future.