While cleaning out my files this week, I came upon a stack of back issues of a four-page print publication I used to write and produce as a volunteer for one of my networking groups for entrepreneurs. Before recycling the pile, I went through it and kept a copy of each issue, filing them neatly in a binder. (This is part of the reason I need to declutter fairly often; you’ll find a sample of just about everything I have ever written somewhere in my office!)

As has happened, sadly, to many a print publication, this one no longer exists. It was a controversial decision that I won’t get into here. Suffice to say a number of us mourned and still feel its loss, despite its eventual replacement with an electronic version.

As I flipped through the issues, enjoying the smooth touch of the paper and the simple, clean design (by one of the group’s talented graphic designers), I was pleased to see that the content stood the test of time. We have a number of talented writers in the group who contributed, and it showed. The newsletter covered a variety of useful tips for things like riding out the peaks and valleys of solo work, cold calling, dealing with “scope creep” and maintaining a professional business with children home during the summer. The newsletter introduced new members and shared updates on projects in which existing members were involved. If you couldn’t make it to one of the regular meetings, you knew you’d be able to read about it in a summary that was the next best thing to being there.

Don’t get me wrong; e-newsletters can be great, and I subscribe to quite a few. The best make sure the content is king, with useful guidance on whatever the newsletter topic happens to be. And they are regular; if the newsletter is monthly, you get one every month. Although many people think an e-newsletter has to be flashy, a strictly text newsletter is fine; looks aren’t that important if the content is there.

But what’s so great about print?

• It’s portable. Employees can read it on the bus or subway, and take it home to share with their families.
• It’s easy to keep. You can file it and refer to it later, as our independent communicators often told me they did.
• It’s easier on the eyes than staring at a computer screen.
• It can be more economical than something employees read online, since many times they will print it out at work anyway, at higher expense than the bulk printing of hard copies.
• Not everyone has a computer. I know, it seems like we all do, but what about truck drivers? People who work in a mine or in construction? They may have shared access to a computer at certain times, or are connected by a BlackBerry or other mobile device that isn’t the best place to view an online newsletter.

Respected communications expert Dr. TJ Larkin notes that “The Web is best for short, quick, information retrieval. The Web user is a hunter: leaning forward, senses pricked, visually aware, searching and eventually tracking down the targeted information. This is a great mental state for searching but a much poorer one for comprehending.”

Dr. Larkin says companies should “think paper” when communicating things like a major change to benefit plans, a big strategic change in business direction or a new software application. “Messages that are new, long, and complicated belong on paper, not on Web pages,” he says. “Paper’s strength is comprehension. People use the Web — they read paper.”

(Download Dr. Larkin’s free report, Communicating Big Change Using Small Communication, at www.larkin.biz > Publications.)

In his recent Alertbox newsletter discussing how non-profit web sites can attract new donors (you’d think it would go without saying, but obviously not: it’s be clear about what you are trying to achieve, and tell potential donors how you are going to spend the money), Jakob Nielsen comments:

“For encouraging customer (or donor) loyalty, e-mail newsletters remain the Internet tool of choice.”

The link from this comment takes you to Nielsen’s June 12, 2006 Alertbox, “Email Newsletters: Surviving Inbox Congestion.” Lots of good advice, and this statement:

“Our main conclusion remains the same: Email newsletters are the best way to maintain customer relationships on the Internet.”

I share Nielsen’s love for newsletters. The best ones are warm and familiar. They contain interesting and/or useful information. They arrive often enough to build a relationship, but not so frequently that the reader starts to get annoyed. (What? Another one already? I haven’t had time to read the last one!) They keep in mind that the reader wants to know “what’s in it for me?” and go easy on the sales pitch.

Nielsen notes that readers have different expectations of newsletters compared to web sites. Newsletters create a highly emotional reaction, a bond between the reader and the company. Web sites are all about usability.

“Even a website that you visit daily will feel like a tool where you simply want to get in and get out. The negative aspect is that usability problems have a much stronger impact on the customer relationship.”

Nielsen has lots of advice about writing and designing for scanners, crafting subject lines, opening lines and headings, and making it easy for readers to get on and off subscription lists. Find much of it in the free summary and even more in his full Email Newsletter Usability Report ($398).

Companies are always looking at print publications with a critical eye, and wondering why they don’t just put the newsletter online and save money. There are plenty of reasons (studies show people retain more after reading print vs. online; it’s harder to read online; not everyone has access to computers on the job) and measurement guru Angela Sinickas provides excellent ammunition in a Melcrum article on “The real cost of killing print.”

I especially liked her comment on what you could say to executives anxious to wield the axe: “…that you’d be happy to reconsider your point of view when all the business newspapers and magazines read avidly by Finance and IT executives eliminate their printed versions.” I don’t see it happening soon.

Jakob Nielsen’s latest Alertbox pointed to his June 12, 2006 issue in which he talked about e-mail newsletters. Despite in-boxes that grow ever more crowded, Nielsen says, two years after their last study of e-mail newsletter usability, “Our main conclusion remains the same. E-mail newsletters are the best way to maintain customer relationships on the Internet.”

I agree that e-newsletters are a great way to stay in touch, which makes it all the more embarrassing that I – sometimes introduced as the Newsletter Queen for all the newsletter writing that I do – have not yet launched my own e-newsletter. Oh, I’ve thought about it. Here are some of the reasons for this terrible lack:

• As Nielsen notes, “people are getting extremely choosy about which newsletters they’ll allow into their overflowing inboxes.” That means my own had better provide something of real value, and I’m still mulling over what I have to say that fits the bill.
• I already volunteer time to do a monthly e-newsletter for a networking group I belong to, which eats up time I might otherwise spend on my own e-news. This is a cheap excuse, though; you make time for what’s important to you.
• I have to “one up” Michael Katz of Blue Penguin Development, who writes the warm, witty, funny and useful E-Newsletter on E-Newsletters. A local radio station has a feature called “Damn, I wish I wrote that,” wherein the on-air personality (a musician) plays tunes he wishes were his own. I often read Michael’s newsletter and think, “Damn, I wish I wrote that.” Michael recently started a blog (It Sure Beats Working) with “advice and steadfast encouragement for the first-time, mid-life, solo professional.”

So I’m still thinking it over.

In the latest issue of Nick Usborne’s bi-weekly Excess Voice e-newsletter (about writing online; subscribe here), he talks about the similarity between e-newsletters and blogs:

1. Good newsletters and blogs seek to engage your attention at a personal level.
2. Good newsletters and blogs both deliver timely information.
3. Good newsletters and blogs expand their readers’ world with outbound links.
4. Good newsletters and blogs both invite interaction.

I have a great fondness for newsletters, which make up a large part of my freelance writing business, and in fact I sometimes introduce myself as the Newsletter Queen. That may be why I feel comfortable with a blog. The big difference is that blogs don’t have a schedule and a deadline the way newsletters do, which may be why I don’t post as often as some bloggers do. I may have to set myself a schedule! Until then, there is no danger of being mistaken for the Blogging Queen.