SHRM's e-newsletters continue to evolve, Clark said. She has retreated from running long articles and full abstracts, choosing instead to leverage other content. Items are more teaser-like now without being coy, the equivalent of a full lead paragraph. Because readers often print them out, SHRM's e-newsletters still contain nuggets of useful information, such as lists of requirements found in new laws. Her e-newsletters run about 1,500 words in length. She gets the most click-throughs to the website from a weekly news quiz, links to link pages (e.g., workplace smoking sites), and regulatory deadline calendars.

SHRM uses a web-based third-party newsletter solution (GetActive -- www.getactive.com; see also Sparklist -- www.sparklist.com), a turnkey product covering subscriptions, uploading, and content management. Frost likes having a vendor look after technology issues so he can concentrate on content. He sends out about 1.5 million e-newsletters a month for which GetActive charges around $10,000.

Third-party solutions have other benefits as well. They are good for managing relationships with organization members and can replace listservs, one audience participant said. For Frost, GetActive has opened up new possibilities for advertising because it can segment readers by state or other descriptor. Organizations can send basically the same newsletter to different states leading with local news and carrying ads from local law firms, for example.

How do you know if your e-newsletter is working for you? To Butterfield, the most important metrics are the click-through rate and the open rate. He wants to know how many times readers click on links to go to articles and how many readers open the newsletter in the first place. The latter is more important to him because ads are not seen unless the newsletter is opened. Invisible one-pixel graphics call the server to send an image, enabling the system to count how many recipients open their newsletters. There is no way to tell whether recipients open a pure text newsletter, Butterfield said.

The renewal rate is important to SHRM. If readers request the newsletter, it is significant how many decide not to renew their subscriptions. Still other metrics are found in reports from the third-party vendor, including unsubscribes, forwards, and delivery failures in absolute numbers and percentage terms.

The panel also warned editors that the CAN-SPAM Act might apply to e-newsletters, especially ones that contain advertising.

Providing a meaningful point of contact to respond to delete requests is one requirement of the law. Frost is not set up to administer his list of over 200,000 names himself and relies on the third-party vendor to do so. He also advised reviewing your organization's privacy statement to determine whether anyone is being contacted in violation of your stated policies.

Butterfield advised editors to go beyond an auto-unsubscribe link in the text. The best approach is to have readers opt-in, not opt-out, he said. That way, nobody gets email unless they request it.

Other tips from the panel:

• Spam filters are making it more difficult to get unsolicited newsletters through to potential readers.
• Boost circulation by advertising the newsletter in other association publications, linking to a click-to-subscribe page from articles in the website, distributing flyers at conferences, and including a forward-to-a-friend link with a click-to-subscribe button in the newsletter itself .
• Consider alternatives such as podcasts and RSS feeds.
• Readers can get fatigued if too many departments send out a constant barrage of newsletters. Consider establishing a news desk or other coordinator, using the coordination features in the third-party solution, or sending departmental news alerts referring readers to an integrated upcoming newsletter for more detail.

Wright is a D.C. ASBPE Board Member and freelance writer specializing in business and technology topics for national and international clients.For more about Wright, visit www.sinewaveinvestor.com