The joy of PDFs.

The Mequoda Group's daily e-mail alert recently highlighted "How Publishers Are Using PDFs to Generate E-mail Subscribers, Sell Online and Offline Subscriptions, and Create New Sources of Ad Revenue."

When you choose to use PDFs as a platform for distributing your content, you are offering your customers instant gratification. Some of the ways publishers are using PDFs as a part of their online publishing strategy include creating two- to twenty-page free reports as "freemiums," earning revenue with ad-sponsored PDFs, even selling newsletters without any means of distribution other than the Internet.

PDFs are a wonderful way to distribute content because:

* Adobe PDF Reader is free and pre-installed on most computers.

* PDFs can be read online or printed out depending on preference.

* PDFs are inexpensive to produce and virtually free to distribute.

* PDFs can be SEO'd and found in search engines just like any other page on your website.

* You can link to and from a PDF anywhere on the web.

* You can use full color photographs without worrying about printing costs.

"Tricky"forced free trial

Meanwhile, Dale Debber of Providence Publications--which produces three newsletters on workers' compensation and OSHA--reports on his ownforays into publishing PDFs:

"We recently converted one pub from print to PDF and announced that this was a step toward a full online system. We also told our readers, now viewers, that because of increasing costs of printing, paper and postage, this was a way that many publishers are holding down costs and preventing price increases.

"So we did not change our price but did cut our printing and mailing expenses. We had no complaints this time, but with a different pub using the same plan we lost one subscriber the first 60 days."

Lets multiple users slide--for now

"We also tracked opens and forwards and found that, overall, five times more people read it than subscribe (paid or were comped). We figured this would happen and chose to make this move strategically because when we go to the other pure online format (no PDF), we will (we hope) sell more site licenses.

"Our plan is to create addicts by letting them cheat for 90 to 120 days, which is six to eight issues. It's sort of a TFFT--Tricky Forced Free Trial.

"When we change, we will become a daily instead of a twice-monthly."

Mequoda Group, www.mequoda.com Providence Publications, 7824 Kirk Court, Granite Bay, CA 95604, 916-774-4000, fax [phone], www.appealsboardreporter.com