How To Set Up an Ezine Encyclopedia

Do you read all your Ezines? Or do you file them

away in special folders and then forget about them?



I used to be like that.



When I first started subscribing to ezines I was

amazed at the quantity of valuable information that

was available for free.



But I soon became complacent about it. If anything,

the 60-odd newsletters I was receiving each month

became a burden. I was suffering from 'information

overload'.



Ezines contain a wealth of information. Every week,

in hundreds of newsletters across the Web, experts

share with their readers the latest tips, techniques

and resources they're using to succeed in the world

of online business.



But if you don't have a system for processing and

organizing that information, you'll quickly become

overwhelmed by it.



I use a system that I call the 'Ezine Encyclopedia'.

This is how it works:





1. Open a document in Microsoft Word. At the top of

this Word document, type in 15 to 20 'Category

Headings', one per line. These are the categories I

use:





Ad Tracking

Affiliate Programs

Auction Sites

Auto Responders

Banner Advertising

Copy Writing

Credit Card Processing

Discussion Boards

eBook Compilers

eBook Promotion

eBook Publishing

Email Marketing

Ezine Advertising

Ezine Articles, Writing and Publishing

Ezine Promoting

Ezine Publishing

Free Classifieds

Free Software

HTML coding

Internet Marketing

Java Script

Joint Ventures

Online Community

Portal Websites

Search Engine Positioning

Traffic Building

Viral Marketing

Visitor Management

Web Hosts

Website Design

Website Promotion

Webstats





2. Now highlight all of these category headings.

Then go to the toolbar at the top of your Word screen

and click on 'Format'. In the drop-down menu, click on

'Style'. A new window will open with a box titled

'Styles'. Click on 'Heading 1' and press 'OK'. These

category headings will now all appear in 'Heading 1'

format.



3. Now place your cursor at the end of the first line

(in my example, 'Ad Tracking') and press RETURN twice.

Two paragraph marks (in 'Normal' style) will appear

beneath your first category heading (this is where you

will insert the text of your articles). Repeat this

for each category heading (place your cursor at the

end of the line, and hit RETURN twice).



4. When you see an ezine article that contains

valuable information, highlight it, copy it, and paste

it under the appropriate 'Category Heading'.



5. Highlight the title of the ezine article and use

the same procedure described above, but choose

'Heading 2' (instead of Heading 1).



6. Now click on INSERT in the toolbar of your Word

screen and go down to 'INDEX AND TABLES'. In the new

window that opens up, click on 'Table of Contents'. In

the lower right of that window is a box with a white

background that allows you to set the levels between 1

and 9. Choose 2. Then click 'OK'.



You'll find that your 'Information Categories'

appear as Chapter Headings and the Title of the

ezine articles appear as a Sections within a Chapter.



Notice that the page numbers at the far right of your

Table of Contents are hyperlinked; you can go to any

ezine article with the click of a mouse.



This Word document will become your personal 'Ezine

Encyclopedia'.



It will contain everything important that you've ever

read in an ezine. Isn't that better than having that

information scattered amongst 20 or 30 ezines?



When you have in place a well organized system like

this, it changes the way you view new information.

Instead of feeling overwhelmed by new information,

you'll simply place it under the appropriate

Information Category.



And when you need that information, instead of

searching through dozens of folders in your email

client, you'll know exactly where it is. This system

has saved me an enormous amount of time.



Eventually you'll end up with a large document that

contains as much valuable information as any web

marketing book. And it'll be much more up to date!