In our dynamic and ever-expanding Internet world, what is the best way of getting your particular information message across? The possibilities for manufacturers trying to connect with their customers are many and varied so are the pitfalls. But there are dangers in relying too much on technology, saying: "It can be done, therefore let's do it". A better approach, is to say: "We've thought it through, let's do it". If it means you need the bells-and-whistles approach, then fine. But let's have a look at reasons for maybe bypassing glamour and going for the basics for the best of reasons: it makes sense, and it works.

We've all received messages with advertising banners, pop-up ads, shockwave images, and sophisticated HTML tags. Are they impressive? Sometimes, but not for me, and certainly not all the time. These messages can often be irritating. And do you read them? As has been highlighted elsewhere, people don't read graphics; people read text. [1]

There is a simpler way of getting your message across, says Colin Lloyd, outgoing president of the Direct Marketing Association. Email is an incredible tool, but its importance has been sadly overlooked. I have found no better (or easier) way to get my ideas across to people from around the world"[2]

And it's also proven highly effective for some firms. "Internet software developed by Perseus Development Corp. has marketed itself through trade show promotion, public relations, Web banner ads and direct marketing. But when it comes to generating immediate sales, nothing has worked as well as email marketing [which, after just 6-9 months] accounts for one-third to one-half of the company's sales leads" [3]

Seth Godin [4] is another who believes email is an effective tool to reach individuals interested in learning more about your product(s). The email newsletter is a key means of staying in touch with customers. It may also be useful in a number of others ways: it can be helpful for special promotions, new products, driving traffic to a website, or making important announcements.

The advantages of email marketing are significant:

• It's inexpensive;
• Highly targeted;
• Produces almost instant results;
• Has a high pass-along readership.

Jim Sterne and Anthony Priore [5]write that: "Email is Bigger Than You Thought" and feature a website which quotes various statistics backing up their assertion.

People do like reading emails. There is also a pretty good guarantee that people will receive them. Every time an email newsletter is distributed, subscribers will receive it through this "push-based" technology. But there is no guarantee people will find your website, no matter how good. Websites "pull" people in; i.e. people have to make the effort to find and access the Web pages; and keep accessing to check on changes, amendments, upgrades, etc.

Interest in countries where Web access can be charged by the minute means that users need to maximize their efficiency online; random surfing is not an economical option. Therefore, email newsletters will have a widespread international appeal. What's more, plain text is universally readable and takes up very little space.

Getting people to read

People do like reading email, but whether they'd like to read your email is a different matter. What, then is the best way of approaching people? Spam (unsolicited mail) is unlikely to endear you to potential subscribers. You should let subscribers opt-in or opt-out.

Opting-in means that people have to consciously agree to continue receiving your newsletter, otherwise they get no more; opting-out signifies that they must consciously request not to receive more. Sterne and Priore are blunt: "We'll be up front. We believe in a well-defined, hard line that says opt-in is where it's at. Anything less is asking for trouble."

Here are some points to keep in mind when thinking about whether to go for e-newsletters:

• Newsletters keep people informed;
• They keep your name top-of-mind;
• They give you a regular opportunity to sell something;
• You need to spend some time formatting your newsletter so that it's readable;
• You need to make sure your newsletter is a newsletter and not just a sales letter;
• You need to make sure it provides value;
• You should try out a multitude of ways of getting people to subscribe;
• You should encourage readers to get others to sign up;
• Do not give the impression that your email is a mass e-mail;
• Do not abuse information which is gathered on the customer / prospect;
• Do not over-email your database;
• Never assume the customer cannot function without your information.

There are books written about how best to format a newsletter for email distribution, and the various different ways of attracting subscribers, etc.

Here are some other issues that need to be addressed:
• Choose between text or HTML;
• Select list software;
• Address subscription management issues;
• Set up various features (reply-to address, who can mail to entire list, mail merges, etc);
• Consider frequency;
• Decide on subject line;
• Judge the amount of information to include.

And if all else fails, you can always simply ask your readers! Manufacturing / engineering email newsletters

There are two basic types of newsletters: the company / group newsletter, and the general news-reporting newsletter. Let's have a look at a few examples.

Ricardo's New Engine News (http://www.ricardo.com/pages/newengnews.htm) is a monthly newsletter which is offered in paper format or by email in Word format.

Porsche (http://www. porsche.com/english/dialog/newsletter/default.htm) offers a similar service; perhaps you could make use of it if your newsletter is an outstanding success!

Of the more general sources, the U.S.-based Manufacturing.Net offers a selective email newsletter (http://www.manufacturing.net/registration/newsletter.html) that highlights the latest additions to the site. The product releases, news stories, and trade show information selected for the newsletter match the preferences the user selects.

A similar service from Australia, is IndustrySearch (http:// www.industrysearch.com.au). "Australia's leading manufacturing portal", does not offer the profile option, but does offer to put breaking news in your inbox daily.

In the UK, Manufacturingtalk (http://www.manufacturingtalk.com/) and its sister, Engineeringtalk (http://www.engineeringtalk.com), provide product news direct to your desktop on a weekly basis. News is summarized and individual stories can be requested and are delivered immediately by email.

Feedback is provided to those who have submitted news stories or articles. The Manufacturing Times (http://www.manufacturingtimes.co.uk) is an example of a dual service site; its monthly issues covering news articles, contracts awarded and contract prospects are available both on the Web and as a monthly email newsletter.

For specific manufacturing sectors, Cahners Business Information (http://www.cahners. com/products/thelist/index.asp) is a case where a publisher of online magazines on particular engineering topics offers a free email product alert newsletter with each magazine.

Another is the Surface Finishing.com (http://www.surfacefinishing.com), which not only offers an email newsletter (with HTML, AOL, and text options), but also email bulletins in other areas (jobs, supplier announcements, training and education, bookstore).

For standards and specs, etc., a good example comes from Global Engineering Documents. They offer a number of separate email newsletters, apart from their main Global Engineering Journal (formerly TechSavvy Journal). The individual sectors covered are: automotive, aerospace and aviation, electro, government and military, and telecom. Details may be found at http://www.global.ihs.com/news/.

Not only commercial operations offer this type of information. Fieldbus Online (http:// www.fieldbus.org), part of the not-for-profit Fieldbus Foundation, offers users the ability to sign up to be kept informed of the latest fieldbus news. Similarly, the Remanufacturing Institute (http://www.remanufacturing.org/), a U.S. voluntary organization, provides the Reman Bulletin, a bi-weekly newsletter.

These and other newsletters (as well as other Web resources) can be uncovered on the EEVL (http://www. eevl.ac.uk) engineering subject gateway site.

References
Pirillo, C., 1999. Poor Richard's e-mail publishing. Lakewood: Top Floor Publishing Marketing 15 Feb 2001, 15 Briones, M.G., 1999. Perseus makes connection interactive. Marketing News 15 May, 11-12

Godin, S. 1999. Permission marketing. London: Simon & Schuster Sterne, J., Priore, A., 2000. Email marketing. New York: Wiley. Also, soon to be published:

MacPherson, K., 2001. Everything you need to know about permission based e-mail marketing. Chicago: Dearborn Publ.

Jim Corlett is a faculty liaison officer for engineering and computing at the Nottingham Trent University in the United Kingdom. He is a subject consultant on manufacturing and mechanical engineering for the EEVL website project, and writes for the e-journal ADAM with IT: Advanced Design and Manufacturing with Information Technology (www.cimwareukandusa.com). You can reach him by email at: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it