In my last search on the Internet, I found over 11,000 electronic newsletters and I predict this number will grow at an astronomical rate over the next year as more and more companies realize the tremendous advantages of developing this type of communication with customers and prospects alike.

CASE STUDY

One of my smaller clients had a regular monthly newsletter, which was mailed to a subscriber list of 850 people. It was 4 pages long, reproduced by a copier machine and collated and stapled together. By the time the client paid for copies, envelopes, 1st class postage and envelopes, this cost of mailing this newsletter was about $.80 each — or $680.00 per month.

When I developed the company's web site, I encouraged my client to convert his subscribers to an e-Zine edition instead of receiving a print edition. We developed several reasons why receiving this newsletter electronically would benefit the subscriber (faster delivery, they could save the newsletter electronically and email it to other people in the company instead of "routing" the newsletter, and yes, we told them it would save the client money — not to mention trees!). We included a form in the next newsletter mailing, asking people to give us their email address.

It took the client 3 months to convert 80% of his list to his e-Zine and the response from his subscribers was enthusiastic about the change. They preferred to receive the e-Zine rather than the printed version.

The client delivers his e-Zine by using a program provided by his ISP called majordomo. He pays about $8.00 per month for this extra service. (Although there are now stand-alone software programs that you can purchase that will do the same thing for you.)

Besides the obvious cost advantages of converting a print publication into an electronic publication (this client saved $7,200 the first year!) there is another big advantage to having an almost free way to communicate with customers and prospects. You can expand your market.

Because this client was spending almost $8,000 a year to provide this free newsletter service, he could only afford to offer this service to a select group of customers and prospects. But now that the cost of sending the newsletter is virtually free, the client was able to expand his offer to more people. Over the past year, through space advertising and email messages, his subscriber base has more than doubled.

Another advantage of having an e-Zine is your ability to increase your communication frequency without additional cost. Companies can easily turn a quarterly publication into a monthly or weekly without having to increase the marketing budget.

And, by offering a free e-Zine, you provide a reason for people to give you information about themselves and "opt-in" to receiving other messages from your company.

As you build you list of email address of prospects and customers who want to hear from you, you are adding an important asset to your business. An asset that is guaranteed to pay off in increasing your sales to this group.

So my advice is, if you have a print newsletter, convert it to an e-Zine. If you don't have a newsletter, create one today! And, be sure to ask people for their email address on every marketing piece you send out and offer this free service as part of your sales program.