David Lee makes his Tufts University colleagues happy by running a newsletter profit center on campus.

To read this article you need to take a deep breath, exhale, and rid yourself of any lingering images of universities as cloistered, ivy-hung groves of academia.

In late 2001 Tufts University in Boston got a new president who came (from MIT) with a clear goal of making the university "more entrepreneurial," and Tufts Media LLC was launched with the stated aim of making profits for the school.

Meanwhile, David Lee was working in Cincinnati at F & W Publishing, which publishes The Writer's Digest and other titles aimed at the creative arts; titles for artists and designers. They publish books, magazines, and conferences and even run the Writer's Digest School.

It had been a family-owned company, but was sold in '99 to a CitiCorp venture and then again in '02 to Providence Equity Partners. Lee was willing to listen when a search firm contacted him about an opportunity at Tufts.

Tufts published three newsletters, the Tufts Health & Nutrition Letter (12x, $28/year), Catnip (12x, $29/year), and Your Dog (12x, $29/year) all in partnership with others.

With the new set-up, all were brought in-house. As Lee says, they began at ground zero and have now about 250,000 paid subscribers. The newsletters are published in conjunction with schools within the university (there are 10).

They are currently testing a new product and, Lee says, there are tremendous opportunities for further expansion with all the groundbreaking research going on at Tufts. He cites their Center on Human Aging & Nutrition as one, focusing on baby boomers as they reach late middle-age.

"We're open to delivering information in many formats," he says, "newsletters, books, continuity series, special reports, digital products. (The Your Dog newsletter currently has a very successful 6-book continuity series, "The Good Dog Library")

Very profitable

Lee describes the current newsletter operation as "very profitable." "We pay royalties to the schools within the university which have already totaled millions to date. They love us. It comes to them as 'unrestricted funds' that they can use as they choose without having to develop grant applications etc.--it's 'walking around money.'"

Editorial is outsourced

The editor of Catnip, Arden Moore, actually lives in San Diego, and the contributors listed on the masthead are colleagues of hers. Lee says, "She's won major awards for her writing. Did you know there is a Cat & Dog Writers Association?" Editor's Note. Actually there is a Cat Writers Association and an Association of Dog Writers, but oil and water ... Moore, however, belongs to both.

Every issue is reviewed by veterinarians on the Cummings Vet School faculty at Tufts before going to press.

Marketing is in-house

Lee's staff of 5 at Tufts Media handles the marketing (direct mail, I got an outstanding package from the "Good Dog Library"); financial planning; computer modeling, as well as overseeing production and fulfillment.

"Lists," David agrees, "are not easy. We are always seeking affinity lists and ways to extract prospect names from larger sources. We are precise in our marketing. We have hurdle rates to achieve. We are willing to make an investment to acquire a new subscriber, but we have to be able to predict eventual profit."

Pet newsletters are a dog-eat-dog business (sorry, I tried to stop myself). For example, Tufts' Your Dog is going nose-to-nose with Cornell University vet school's DogWatch and Belvoir Publications' The Whole Dog Journal.

As an ancillary service they also review and sell other publishers' books in their newsletters. "Also," Lee notes, "we recommend 'books to avoid.' Especially in the nutrition field, there is a lot of just plain bad information out there." The vet school at Tufts includes an animal behavior clinic, and they even offer a "Pet Loss Hotline" to aid bereaved owners.

Website is in development

Asked about their online offerings, Lee says, "This is an area where we have not yet made an appropriate investment. (The Catnip website, for example, basically offers a few sample articles and an 800 number to call to subscribe.)

"In this area we've been on the trailing edge, but on the other hand we haven't lost a lot of money over-reaching.

"There have been obstacles in dealing with the university. Their first IT priority is dealing with the needs of their academic community. Just yesterday, I had a meeting with an outside web development company and I suspect I may recommend that as the direction we pursue."

Media consumption patterns

"In 2007, any newsletter publisher has to investigate patterns in media consumption," Lee says. "How do our subscribers and prospects want to receive information? I see that a lot of newsletters now offer both print and online options. That's 'value added,' but it doesn't save the publisher any money or appear to generate additional revenues."

Tufts Media LLC, 200 Boston Ave., #3500, Medford, MA 02156, David Lee, 617-627-5632, www.tufts.edu