Tips, tricks, tools, and techniques for Microsoft Office

The Office Letter is an online site and weekly opt-in e-mail newsletter devoted to helping readers get the most from the Microsoft Office suite. From the latest news about updates and bug reports to tricks and traps in Office features, The Office Letter provides the latest information about "everything Office."

NEWSLETTER CONTENT AND SCHEDULE

Our weekly newsletter is distributed by e-mail to arrive in our reader's inbox on Monday morning. The Office Letter newsletter offers:

There are two versions of the newsletter:

All subscribers must opt-in; that is, they must specifically request to be added to our mailing list. We do not solicit subscriptions, and our mailing list is not sold, traded, rented, or otherwise disclosed.

OUR AUDIENCE

Our readers are overwhelmingly intermediate and advanced Office users (95.1% identified themselves this way). In an April 2005 survey, our readers provided this profile:

TOL readers use this Office version...

Office 2003	39%
Office XP	33%
Office 2000	23%

with the majority using it for business:

Half our readers support colleagues, coworkers, and friends:

Reader and his/her immediate family	10%
Reader, family, and friends	30%
Up to 5 coworkers/colleagues in a    company or workgroup	19%
6-10 others	13%
11-25 others	9%
More than 25	18%

Our subscribers are long-time readers of our publication. Nearly 38% have been reading for more than a year. Furthermore:

When it comes to Office applications, subscribers use:

Word	98%
Excel	88%
Outlook	67%
PowerPoint	51%
Access	36%
Publisher	30%
FrontPage	20%

Overall:

57%	use Windows XP Pro
24%	use Windows XP Home
16%	Use Windows NT/2000

Readers are most interested in these add-in/companion products:

They're most interested in learning how to get the most value from Excel (64%), Word (59%), Access (44%), and Outlook (38%).

In a June 2004 survey, readers told us that when it comes to learning about Office:

85% experiment on their own
63% turn to books
21% use e-learning tools
15% use classroom training

Our readers are interested in making general-computing hardware and software purchases, most notably:

• software utilities
• LCD monitors
• hard drives
• CD/DVD drives
• desktop systems
• network hardware
• digital cameras
• removeable storage

Historically, reader response has been strongest to lower-cost products that offer excellent value.

ADVERTISING

There are two advertising positions in our Standard edition newsletter each week (ads appear in both online and e-mail versions). We do not offer banner ads.

Please see our advertising rates and policies page for more information.

Our first issue was produced on June 25, 2001. Circulation continues to grow weekly; please inquire about our current subscriber count.

PRODUCT COVERAGE OPPORTUNITIES

Most issues of The Office Letter includes a special section called Blink -- our quick look at software, systems, and peripherals of interest to individual, SOHO, and small IT department users. The Blink section is aimed at the Office user who is a decision maker for their own use or those of a small group.

We choose products that we believe enhance our reader's computing experience and which are good values. All stories are developed in-house; we do not accept vendor-written articles.

We have covered, or plan to cover:

Our reviews of software utilities have proved to be of the most interest to readers. We have reviewed a utility for viewing and organizing graphic files, an HTML generator for producing calendars in FrontPage, and a program for creating PDF files from Office documents.

We are interested in products specifically designed to be used from within Office applications (typically invoked by a button on an application toolbar or system menu), products that interface with Office applications (e.g., an OCR package) or use an Office component (sharing a custom dictionary), or consist of content (templates, macros, office clipart) for use in Office. TOL readers use Word, Excel, and Outlook most often, so products that complement those applications are considered first.

Review content appears online and in our newsletters. We also post each review to a separate Web page and provide you the URL which you can link to on your site at no charge.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

If you have a product you believe would be of interest to our readers, feel free to send a query letter first. Likewise, if your company produces Office components and you you believe we should be placed on your press release distribution list, please write us from this site: http://www.officeletter.com/feedback.html.

Software: If you have a software product that fits our Blink section, we will need the product (or the download URL and a registration code), product specification/feature list, product price, and the URL to direct readers for more information.

Hardware: Please send an inquiry letter first; hardware is returned only at the vendor's expense. Please include a specification sheet, feature list, and an electronic image (JPEG preferred). We need to know the product's price as well as the URL to direct readers for more information.

PROMOTIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

As an incentive for Standard Edition subscribers to upgrade to the Premium Edition, The Office Letter frequently offers free hardware and software drawings of products of interest to our readers. In most cases these are products that have previously reviewed.

Here is a sample of a promotion we ran in December, 2005:

FREE SOFTWARE DRAWING FOR PREMIUM EDITION SUBSCRIBERS

Looking for Office productivity improvements? Here's your chance to get extra Office power for FREE. On December 9, one lucky Office Letter PREMIUM EDITION subscriber will win their choice of one of the following products (retail value: $39.95):

• eMailMerge 4Outlook: Triple the response rate to your marketing e-mails and avoid getting your e-mails getting blocked by SPAM filters. Use a quick and easy Wizard to send personalized e-mail to customers, colleagues, and friends in no time. (Read our review at http://www.officeletter.com/blink/emailmerge.html.)
  
• QuickFile 4Outlook: File both incoming and outgoing e-mails into dedicated client/project folders at the click of a button. No more lost e-mails.
  
• Fax 4Word: Do fax merges to the Windows Fax Printer and send personalized faxes. Fax by selecting the Fax number directly in your Word document. Utilize the full power of the free Windows Fax printer directly from MS Word by avoiding the Fax Wizard.

For details, visit http://www.addins4office.com.

If it's time to renew your Premium Edition subscription, please visit http://www.officeletter.com/renew.html

The promotion announcement is made over two weeks. In the first issue of The Office Letter, we publish the announcement and set the drawing date as the Friday of the following week (11 days from initial announcement). In the second issue we publish a shortened description and remind readers that the drawing is that week.

If you wish to promote your product in this way:

• Your product must have a minimum value of $25
• You must provide at least two products for the drawing
• If you sell more than one product, we recommend you offer our readers their choice of a single product from a selection you determine (see example above)

To participate in a product drawing, please contact editor Jim Powell via this page: http://www.officeletter.com/feedback.html.

EDITORIAL CONTACTS

Jim Powell is the editor of The Office Letter, and is the primary contact for The Office Letter. He can be reached at:

James E. Powell
Editor
The Office Letter
3213 West Wheeler St., PMB 177
Seattle, WA 98199

(206) 284-1762
Send a message at http://www.officeletter.com/feedback.html

EDIT CALENDAR

The Office Letter is driven by the changing nature of the Office environment. For example, we provide news about bug fixes or workarounds as soon as they are available. The newsletter is edited on Friday of each week for distribution on Sunday evening.

Typically: