It's great that you've decided to build an opt-in email list, but now what? Well, that sort of depends on how you want to run your business. I've found that supplying a newsletter is the best approach for long-term credibility and profits. So then the question becomes "how do I go about creating a newsletter?"

First, let me just give you a quick rundown of what I mean by newsletter (also called an ezine). A newsletter is really just ongoing communication that provides valuable content to your readers. It may sound complicated, but it really isn't. The great thing about this concept is that you can be yourself without having to play the pushy salesman role. Just be you, and provide quality content.

Creating a newsletter allows you to get close to your readers, who will eventually become customers as they grow to know and trust you. Here are a few things to consider, though, when it comes to tackling the content part of this. Email list joined for a reason, so you need to show them that it was a good decision.

*To begin with, you have to make sure that what you write about pertains to the reason your subscribers opted in. I know this sounds intuitive or obvious, but you might be surprised at how easy it can be to lose focus and wander in your subject matter just because you are trying to figure out what to say. So stick to the subject at hand. Since my subscribers are interested in internet marketing, I am always sure to write about topics such as opt-in email list building, article marketing, traffic generation techniques, and the like. I don't write about Kung Fu or retirement planning, even though those are areas of expertise for me. That's not why my subscribers are with me. Same goes for you. If your niche is underwater basketweaving, don't talk about random things that don't somehow relate to that.

*Don't skimp on the details. You need to provide well-written, content rich articles that are going to interest your subscribers. And I'm not just talking about an advertisement disguised as an article. That would be appropriate sometimes, but not as your primary form of communication. Be sure to be professional, so check your spelling and grammar. Be clean and concise in your writing.

*It's okay to use other people's material! You don't have to write everything yourself. There are a couple of things yo can do in this situation. You can use Private Label Rights material, which I absolutely love. Just be sure that if you do this, you rewrite the articles so that they come from you. You don't want to sound like someone you're not. Consistency is very important. You also have to be sure that the information is quality. Old news is not good news. If you're teaching something where fundamentals just don't change that much, you have a little more leeway here, as long as you can make it interesting.

*The other thing you can do in this situation is to take articles from online and send them to your subscribers. Be cautious with this. You cannot use copywrited material without the proper acknowledgements. If you use someone else's articles, you generally have to include the author's information provided at the end of the article. That's why they wrote it. If you need it, you can always hire someone from Elance or anywhere else online where people will write for you for a fee.

It is imperative that you maintain an opt-in email list if you want a long-term, viable business online. But you don't want to be "that guy" or "that girl" who always bombards their readers with ads, even soft ads like product reviews. Your readers want quality material, and a newsletter is the best way to give it to them. This relationship will be the backbone of your reputation and credibility. That's what will drive profits over time. Granted, the process may be longer than some hope for, but those people just looking for a quick buck are like stock market timers. They may do great from time to time, but in the end, after spending and getting things wrong after the last "big thing" fizzled and died, the have little to show for it (save for a few who do well, but that's literally one in a thousand at best). Consider what I've talked about here, and you should have no problems developing your newsletter and your relationship with your opt-in email list.