Technology for business: say 'so long' to snail mail.

We laughed at the Beverly Hillbillies for hauling water into the mansion from the "ceement pond," but there isn't a business out there that fully taps the technology it already owns. E-mail may be the best example--an incredibly powerful yet inexpensive force for your business once you crank the faucet wide open.

E-mail can help your firm perform a variety of functions: build and maintain business relationships, cut mailing costs, respond automatically to certain types of queries, independently route requests for more timely customer service, create a sense of community, relieve telephone support staff from answering the same questions over and over, and advertise promotions at frequencies chosen by customers. All of this can be done without "spamming," or sending unsolicited commercial e-mail.

The keys to winning with e-mail are gaining client consent and satisfying customers' wants quickly and efficiently.

CONSENT: OPTING IN AND GETTING OUT

To build great relationships with existing and potential customers, it's vital that they don't perceive your e-mail as junk or spam. Get explicit permission to send mass mailings. Obviously you can respond to mail you receive, but don't take a question about one of your mutual funds as an invitation to send unsolicited information about other financial products. Instead, answer potential clients' questions accurately and quickly, and ask if they would appreciate getting your semimonthly e-newsletter with helpful tips on investing and timely news on particular products (SEC and other regulatory agencies permitting). Always make sure your mailings follow the rules for your industry and heed liability issues.

To reach people who haven't e-mailed you first but have an interest in your product category, use other media and correspondence to ask if they'd like to be included in free mailings of valuable information. You can do this by asking people to:

* Check a box: on their monthly bill

* Check a box in a form when they visit your Web site

* Click mailto:newsletter@your biz.com at your Web site and type "subscribe" in the subject line of the letter that action creates

* Circle a number on a magazine's reader service card

* Check a box when they fill out a contest entry form, questionnaire, registration card or other form

* Tell sales or tech support people "yes" when they call for information, for help or to place an order.

Whatever mechanism you use to add customers to your list, make an effort to double-check identities with a confirmation e-mail;, registration number or the like, so people aren't signing up others as pranks. Provide a reminder at the top of each mailing that the customer asked to receive your newsletter, but can get off the list instantly by sending an e-mail to (for example) yourbiz@your domain.com with "unsubscribe [e-mail]" in the subject header. (Then, take them off without delay.) To respect customer privacy, suppress the list of recipients--use an alias (single name for the whole list) in the To: line.

SATISFY CUSTOMERS: PUT THEIR GOALS FIRST

Now that you have a list of attentive friends, treat them like patrons who've paid $80 a seat to get into a professional show. Like you, they're busy, and in terms of information they want the pearls out of the oysters, strung, ready-to-wear and polished. Regarding news mailings, remember to:

* Keep them short

* Use a consistent, accessible format from one newsletter to the next, with a table of contents at the beginning

* Give useful tips and information.

Start with helpful information not tied specifically to your products or services, keeping the focus on customer needs. Work in what your products and services can do to help, but never make the message about your company, its history, people, internal world, strategies or accomplishments readers will hit the Delete key. Make every word something clients can use in their business, home or organization, preferably that very day. Make sure to use plain ASCII text--never HTML or other formatted text. The recipient's mail program may not be able to read it. Don't send attached word processing files, either. Most cautious Netizens delete them to avoid macro viruses.

MAKE IT SNAPPY!

One of the best and most cost-effective, time-saving things you can do to boost your e-mail power is to use an e-mail program that filters and autoresponds to mail, such as Qualcomm's Eudora Pro Email 3.0 or 4.0 ($39, free demo, Windows, Mac, www.eudora. com). Another is to add an autoresponse utility such as Procmail (free from UNIX, ftp://uiarchive.cso. uiuc.edu/pub/packages/mail/proc mail/) to an existing mailer.

In Eudora, for example, you can set up filters to sort incoming mail so that all mail with the subject header "weekly special" goes to a certain mailbox, and the sender gets an auto-response detailing the week's specials--all without your staff having to open that request or even paste in boilerplate text by hand. You simply tell Eudora that for any mail with the subject "weekly special," it is to reply with a particular, template created from the Tools menu. You can do the same with requests for "product info," "price list," "instructions," etc. It's all easy, through pointing and clicking. (Hint: State plainly in the reply letter that the response is automatic, and to reach personal help, the customer can put "real person" in the subject header.)

For even more power and elegance, register a domain name with the InterNIC (www.internic.net/rs-inter nic.html), and exploit the ability to receive mail to anyname@your domain.com. This allows users to write to: "[e-mail]," "[e-mail]," "[e-mail]" or whatever name fits your needs on the spot. Again, a program like Eudora can filter that mail to the right department's or person's mailbox as it's delivered, so the right people can give it their personal attention immediately.

Registering a domain name with the InterNIC now costs $70 for two years, down from $100. You must provide the addresses of two domain name servers. If you can't supply these yourself, you'll have to make arrangements through an ISP to do the paperwork with the InterNIC. An ISP might charge $10, $20 or more per month for this service. Shop around for a good price with a reliable ISP, and make sure they will also configure www.yourbiz.com for your Web site and ftp.yourbiz.com for your FTP site, as well as unlimited e-mail [e-mail], if you choose. If you make the most of your e-mail, you can build loyal, repeat customers at low expense.

RELATED ARTICLE: TECH TIPS

Make the upgrade

Taking apart a computer isn't rocket science. In fact, in his latest book, author Galen Grimes confirms that you can Teach Yourself PC Upgrades in 10 Minutes. Sure, the premise may seem like hype, but it really is accurate. Armed with a few small tools, you'll soon be swapping hard drives and installing video cards with the best of them. However, such an undertaking isn't for those short on time. Although you can teach yourself in 10 minutes, it will take considerably more time to actually perform the upgrades.

Grimes takes you step-by-step through the upgrade process, helps you determine when you should just purchase a new PC rather than upgrade and describes which components to replace in you aging computer. The book is easy to understand and does not assume that you are already a computer expert. You'll find explanations for confusing computer jargon as well as hands-on directions for removing and installing many of your computer's innards.

The photographs used in the book are helpful in identifying the components you are looking for, so make sure its' handy when you're performing PC surgery. Helpful tips, like keep yourself grounded at all times and label the wires when you remove them, are welcome. The book even guides you through installing peripherals, such as monitors, printers, scanners and digital cameras. Once you've worked up the nerve to put your PC on the operating table, don't forget to scrub up.

Teach Yourself PC Upgrades in 10 Minutes, SAMS Publishing; $12.99; 800-858-7674. www.samspublishing.com

To order, call BooksNow! At 800-Books-Now or visit www.BooksNow.com/BlackEnterprise.