You've been running your ezine for a while now, maybe a few months, or a few years. And it's getting dull, people are unsubscribing, new subscribers are few and far between. What you need is to put the Oomph! Back into your newsletter!

It's easy to get into a rut once the whole e-newsletter thing is old hat. It happens to the best of us, but there's no need to let boredom set in and ruin all that hard work. Let's take a look at some of the most common mistakes made by ezine publishers and how to fix them.

? Reusing Content. Obviously, it's easier to republish a few articles here and there, but what you might not realize is that any older subscribers will rapidly lose interest. They will assume (perhaps correctly) that you have no new information to impart and will unsubscribe!

How to Fix It: Always, always give your readers fascinating new content. Running short on time? No problem, just hit a few free article directories and pull some new articles from your topic area. I don't recommend doing this all the time, some original content is always a good idea, but it's a quick fix.

You might also consider investing $10 in original articles if you have a couple of days before the deadline. Go to a freelance writer's job board and post an ad looking for writers. Many writers are more than willing to write short articles for $3-5 and can usually have them done within 24 hours. Ask to see samples, though, to make sure you are getting good quality.

? Too Many Ads. I've seen far too many ezines (and print magazines, too!) get into the habit of adding more and more ads to their publication as time goes on. While subscribers will be fine with a couple of extra ads, it's never a good idea to fill your ezine up with banners and links. It devalues the content you do have and your subscribers will lose interest.

How to Fix It: Easy, limit your ad space. If you're selling ads, keep it down to one main ad or banner plus three to five classifieds. If you are including affiliate links, make sure you only include relevant ones and keep them to one or two per ezine issue. You should never have more than 20% of your content comprised of ads.

? Fluff. We've all done it at least once, included a bunch of nonsense fluff just to fill up a newsletter that had to get out in an hour or so. Subscribers will lose interest and trust almost immediately if they get an email that contains essentially 0 content.

How to Fix It: Keep a file full of extra articles and tidbits for those last minute deadlines. You can write them in your free time, or even just save interesting, relevant information that you find while surfing, to be converted into a story later on.

If you really don't have time to write, then spend five or ten minutes a day checking out free ezine article directories and copy one to three articles into your file (complete with resource box) for later use.

? Too Much Personal Info. Another trap that is easy to fall into is to write about yourself instead of filling your ezine with quality content.

How to Fix It: Unless you are writing a family newsletter, personal information should be limited to a couple of paragraphs. Sure, it's good to connect with your readers, but at the same time, you need to give them the information that they signed up to receive.

By simply fixing these common mistakes, your ezine will be back on top. But what if you want to add even more Oomph! to your ezine?

Something new will always grab your readers' attention, so why not try a new section? You could add a small piece where you review the latest books or software related to your topic or maybe a Q & A column. Use your imagination, or, if that doesn't work, ask your readers what they would like to see added to your ezine!

Another idea to consider is to take out a current section that has just gotten too difficult to write. If you can never think of a new problem to address in your ?Troubleshooting Basics? column, it might be better to drop it than to keep recycling the same info.

Use your readers. Ask them for their opinion on your ezine, what sucks, what could be better, what is their favorite feature. You'll be amazed at the suggestions you get and how implementing even one or two of the most popular ones will make your ezine pop again!

Genesis Davies is a Canadian freelance writer living in Guatemala. Check out her website, OptInIncome.com for more ideas.