Using focus groups to assess whether your content is serving your subscribers' needs.

"Focus groups are the very best way to engage in dialog with your subscribers, giving you the opportunity to ask follow-up questions and pursue any subject in whatever depth you want to pursue it," said M. Lee Smith, publisher of M. Lee Smith Publishers LLC, at last June's international conference sponsored by NEPA.

Smith's company publishes more than 80 newsletters, most of them state-specific legal titles written by law firms and sold to human resource professionals, attorneys, and others. MLSP also publishes an increasing number of ancillary products, and it provides an array of conferences and seminars.

Smith told conference delegates that they use five ways to "assess whether their content is serving their subscribers' needs":

* Focus groups

* Surveys

* Input from customer service reps

* Conversations on the phone

* Attendance at association meetings.

But Lee likes focus groups the best. "One great advantage is getting subs talking to one another," he said.

Here's an outline of how, when and why they stage focus groups.

Logistics

If he or one of the firm's other officers is planning a trip to such-and-such city, they put together a focus group of subs from that city. He said that 15-16 participants is enough to get variety but not too many to dilute the "focus." They offer a $100 honorarium, but that isn't really necessary.

They limit the focus groups to about an hour and a half--with the first half-hour for lunch or breakfast.

Objectives

MLSP's focus group objectives are:

* Feedback on existing products ("How do we market to you?")

* Staying current on industry trends

* Getting new product ideas

* Getting input on how to market most effectively.

Advantages

* You are face-to-face with a group of your subscribers in a relaxed, informal setting. You are looking for candor and spontaneity.

* You can ask follow-up questions and go into as much depth as you want, which you cannot do with surveys. But even with follow-up questions and wherever the answers may take you, keep focused.

* You can listen to subscribers talking to one another, exchanging ideas and discussing problems. Often, this exchange yields answers to that basic question on every publisher's mind: "What keeps my customers awake at night?"

* You can often identify among the attendees one or two subscribers who have exceptionally good feedback and ideas. Usually, those attendees will let you call them on occasion for more input. Also, this could lead to a high-quality board of advisers for your newsletter.

Disadvantages

* Participants tend to be among your more loyal, more supportive subscribers.

* The small number of attendees may not represent viewpoints of the full subscriber base.

Combination of techniques the best approach

While Lee Smith prefers focus groups, he emphasized that they should be undertaken along with surveys and the more informal means of feedback, such as phone conversations by you and customer reps, and attending their association meetings.

He concluded, "The best approach is some combination of these methods. But, however you do it ... YOU MUST DO IT."

M. Lee Smith, 5201 Virginia Way, P.O. Box 5094, Brentwood, TN 37024, 615-373-7517, fax [phone], www.mleesmith.com