Steve Klinghoffer's custom newsletters in "very favorable growth cycle".

During the 15 years I was with the newsletter association, without doubt the most common question I got on the phone was some variant of, "How can I get rich in newsletters without knowing anything about editing, marketing, or publishing?"

But the #2 question, equally frequent, was, "I work for a (insert dentist, doctor, real estate agent, accountant, lawyer, etc.) and we're looking for a newsletter we can put our name on and send to clients."

"If we had any brains," I'd say to my associate Patti Wysocki, "we'd dump this one-horse association and start our own newsletter custom publishing business.

We didn't.

Steve Klinghoffer did.

Twenty years ago, while practicing law, he became a passive investor in a firm producing one custom newsletter for accounting firms, one that had been published since 1952, The Client Information Bulletin.

Today Klinghoffer's WPI Communications Inc. publishes custom newsletter titles "in the mid-20s" aimed at accountants, financial planners, life insurance agents, and more.

"Our strongest growth areas have been in health care," Klinghoffer said. "We have titles for physicians, physical therapists, podiatrists, and most of the dental specialties including two for periodontists."

WPI does no editorial work in-house. "We do market research to select what we feel is a potentially attractive market. Then we have a whole methodology we use to select a qualified expert to serve as editor. We do layout, copyfitting and fact-checking internally, but none of the editorial writing.

Internet a boon to business

Klinghoffer added that in his operation, the arrival of the internet has been a boon.

"It's easy," Steve noted, "for an accounting firm or law office to set up a website. But then they realize they need editorial content in order to update it every month or quarter. You know what happens to websites that simply sit there unchanged. And there's where we come in, sellling content. The internet has definitely increased the demand for custom editorial content."

Marketing

WPI markets through both direct mail and telephone sales to inquiries. "You can get lists of professionals and specialists from associations and other sources and we have a large internal database of prospect names which is probably the single most valuable asset the company has besides our 11 or 12 employees."

Klinghoffer continued, "Our direct mail is not the traditional 'wham, bam, thank you, ma'm' sort of DM. All glitter and 'Where's your check?' Typically we ask if they'd like more information and offer to send them a special report.

"Then we follow up on the phone. Once we have a contact with a prospective firm, they will hear from us about three times a year forever. Our average sale is between $1,000 and $2,000. Before people write that kind of check, they want to have some information about your operation, to develop a relationship with Joe or Suzie on the phone."

Competition

I have a lateral file drawer full of information from competitors in this business. It's definitely an ease-of-entry business. It's a lot like traditional newsletter publishing in that it doesn't require a lot of capital and you don't have to know a lot to get into the business," Klinghoffer said.

"What is difficult is figuring out how to make money in this business. I know it took us quite a while.

"In that file drawer I probably have information from 100 firms, but I don't have any real idea how many of them are still in business.

"The custom publishing business provides a myriad of opportunities to screw up. Along with all of the regular newsletter problems, it has its own unique set of ways to step on your own shoelaces--custom printing, dedicated software, imprint changes, etc."

But for 2004 and beyond, Klinghoffer is bullish: "We're in a very favorable growth cycle." WPI, 55 Morris Ave., Springfield, NJ 07081, 973-467-8700.