Rob Steuteville succeeds by finding an emerging professional field with two outstanding attractions: he likes it, and it had no publication.

People come into newsletter publishing through several avenues. Frequently a reporter thinks, "I've been covering the FCC for the National Journal for nine years, I know more than anyone in the building about what happens, why don't I ...."

Or, a would-be entrepreneur identifies newsletter publishing as a business opportunity and casts about for a subject to carry a newsletter. One classic case involved three partners--a newsletter editor, an ad copywriter, and a guy who had a printing press in his basement.

Rob Steuteville of New Urban News, taglined "Connecting You to the Latest Developments in New Urbanism and Smart Growth," took another route. With a subject in which he had a passionate interest, he created a publication to write about it.

Steuteville studied journalism at Penn State. "I can't remember if newsletters were ever mentioned. The career paths were newspapers or radio and TV. I went the newspaper route, first on a weekly and then a daily.

"But I got tired of writing 'birdcage liner' articles forgotten in a day. I was tired of not being an expert in anything, of being part of a gaggle of reporters waiting to pounce on Public Official A for a comment.

"So I moved to trade publications and eventually became a magazine editor. But during all that time I continued an interest in what is known as the 'new urbanism,' a style of development that includes mixed-use buildings, lower density, and walkable places."

No trade publication

"I found there was no trade publication for the emerging field and decided to launch one. I figured out quickly that there didn't appear to be potential for much advertising support, so I thought of a newsletter.

"I'd have to say I backed into the newsletter business in a naive way. Over one Thanksgiving weekend I wrote a business plan. I still have it. It's pretty laughable, especially my expense budget.

"The business plan committed me to produce my first issue in five months. And I did it while keeping my full-time job.

"And then my first sub came in. I realized I had to figure out how to fulfill it. I opened a bank account to deposit that check and began planning to get more subs--and then to begin planning for renewals," Rob said.

"I drafted a DM piece, worked with a graphics designer, and our first mailing went to 1,700 names I had culled from every source I could think of. We got a 15 percent response. I mailed 30,000 to the American Planning Association and got a two percent response (600 orders). That package remained our control for 10 years. Within a year I had 1,000 paid subs and realized I had a business."

First new DM package in ten years

"Last year we developed our first new package," Rob said. "It did extremely well among developers (who see profitability and are increasingly interested in the field) and also had about a 10 percent response bump from planners, a group we had been mailing the previous control for 10 years."

Expanding their reach

New Urban News has an odd frequency, 8x annually at $79. "Monthly seemed like too much work, but 6 issues a year didn't seem like enough. So we settled on this, it's about one issue every 6 1/2 weeks.

"We're working on a Directory. We're selling ads now and expect to publish in October or November," Rob said.

That used to be a common practice when publishers wanted to keep advertising out of their newsletters. Instead, they'd corral advertisers into an annual directory.

"In 2000 we published a 'Best Practices Guide' that sells for $129 ($99 to subs).

"We've published the SmartCode Manual--the first thing we haven't written ourselves. We went to the experts in SmartCode and we publish what they wrote. SmartCode codifies the new urbanism that, I have to note, is being used extensively in the planning for the rebuilding of towns on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and for some parishes in Louisiana."

New Urban News website

Rob Steuteville's website, www.Newurbannews.com, is impressive. The home-page features a photo of the newsletter and three or four complete articles from the current issue. One of those in the July/August 2006 issue, titled "New Urbanism in the Crosshairs," explores the debate about the appropriateness of new urbanism in "planning the recovery of hurricane-damaged communities in Mississippi and Louisiana."

Then, to entice non-subscribers, the homepage lists headlines and the lead sentence of "articles that are available in print only."

If you're at all interested in learning more about new urbanism, Rob Steuteville also provides a very long and detailed history and analysis of the subject.

Published bound volumes of first ten years of newsletter

"Last year, for our 10th anniversary, we published three handsomely bound volumes of all 10 years of New Urban News. Our total printing was less than 100, which are priced at $499 and are selling," Rob said.

"New Urban News is a highly technical publication. Each issue runs 24-28 pages and contains 12-15 features, 30-40 shorter articles and nice graphics."

I have to say that conventional wisdom would suggest that, publishing at least 192 pages a year, they could go to a 16-page monthly and raise the price--but why argue with success?

Rob continued, "We did do audio conferences for a couple of years. Some were successful, some struggled to cover costs. We decided, in all, they weren't worth the trouble involved."

Staff

Asked about his staff, Rob said, "Myself, a full-time senior editor in Connecticut and three additional people here." ("Here" is Ithaca, N.Y.--"A personal decision by my wife and me. It has sometimes been difficult finding qualified people here, but the editor in Connecticut has been a major help.")

"I wouldn't be interested in publishing in any other subject area. Our readers are a combination of practical businessmen and theorists. They are like me. I believe in new urbanism, but I am running a business here."

The association deal

Rob explained how he cut a deal with an association. "The Congress for New Urbanism was founded in 1992 by architects and planners interested in the field. By 1996 they still didn't have a regular publication. It was largely a volunteer effort run from someone's desk drawer. We signed a deal with them that their members would receive New Urban News as part of their membership. They send me two pages of copy for each issue and it's pretty good.

"I admit I had some concerns initially, but the association has never requested any editorial coverage or complained about anything we wrote, never once in nine years.

"The association member price is a bit more than half of our regular $79 price. They represent about 2,300 of our 5,000+ subs and, for them, I'm spared the problem of renewals."

Hats off to Steuteville

Over the years I have often heard of these (potential) deals: "The association will take subs for all 1,100 of its members and we'll offer a price to them of $89 on our $177 biweekly." But it almost never seems to actually happen. Rob Steuteville seems to have made it work for him.

New Urban News, P.O. Box 6515, Ithaca, NY 14851, 607-275-3087, fax [phone], www.newurbannews.com

RELATED ARTICLE: The Sometimes It All Seems So Futile department

I was executive director of the newsletter association from 1979 to 1994. During those years we dropped about 500,000 pieces promoting memberships, conferences, and successive editions of my book. The message of those half-million pieces was the same: "Everything you need for success in the high-profit business of subscription newsletter publishing."

Then, the very next year, in 1995, Rob Steuteville, armed with a journalism degree from Penn State, where he doesn't recall "newsletters" ever being mentioned, and a dozen years of experience in newspaper and magazine journalism, decides to launch a newsletter, a business about which, he now concedes, he knew almost nothing. And was an immediate success. And has continued to be for over a decade.

--F.G.