Newsletter Publishing Business Plan

The related services include the Infotext Strategy Letter, to be delivered monthly, and the Infotext website, which is available to subscribers.

3.1 Service Description

1. The Newsletter: Our target subscriber wants timely information about new developments in high-tech channel marketing including technology changes, economic trends, ideas and innovations, case studies, and interviews with industry leaders. We need to find the news that’s useful and relevant, but buried. Our subscriber is paying us $500 per year to find what’s important, and streamline their work of staying up to date with what’s going on and what’s new. The time function is a critical selling point – our subscriber saves time, but has the reassurance of knowing what’s going on.
2. The Website: The website contains archives of past articles, reports gathered from the rest of Acme Consulting, audio with interviews, and compilation of links, related information, etc. It is a valuable resource that contributes to the value of the subscription.

3.2 Competitive Comparison

The competition comes in several forms:

1. [Name omitted] – The quintessential high-tech newsletter, the one that others imitate. We won’t go straight up against this, because we have a different focus, narrowed more on the channels and marketing of high technology. This one should have a website attached to the subscription, but doesn’t.
2. [Name omitted] – Like us, with a direct link to management consulting. They have built the website add-on very much like what we propose, but the newsletter is too general and fails to provide vital, focused information.
3. The third general kind of competitor is the international market research company: International Data Corporation (IDC), Dataquest, Stanford Research Institute, etc. These companies are formidable competitors for published market research and market forums, and most of them also provide website information and newsletter subscriptions.
4. The fourth kind of competition is the market-focus specific smaller house. For example: ChannelCorp in Vancouver BC, Channel Marketing in the US.

3.3 Fulfillment

1. The key fulfillment and delivery will be provided by a newsletter and website editor-in-chief who will be responsible for the content. The newsletter will be delivered monthly. The subscribers can choose whether they want email delivery or hard copy delivery or both. The hard copy must be very well produced, edited, and always on time.
2. We will turn to qualified vendors for freelance back-up in editing and production.

3.4 Technology

1. The website will be built on Cold Fusion structure, to facilitate content management. Our editor will be qualified to manage the website through work with third-party vendors.
2. The newsletter will be developed in Windows using Adobe products and delivered as an html newsletter, Adobe Acrobat document, or hard-copy newsletter.
3. Complete desktop publishing facilities are an obvious necessity.