companies

that have and use an active website," Bly says. For these

companies,

he says, "It’s one of the most effective tools." Embed the

website address into the E-mail solicitation and interested prospects

"click and they’re right there."

Bly says, but the number of lists of target prospects has "grown

phenomenally in the past two years." Lists are available from

about 12 major brokers. They are not hard to find, Bly says. A list

of E-mail brokers is on his website (www.bly.com).

saves paper and postage and eliminates the charges of "letter

shops" that send out mailers, the cost of obtaining lists of

prospects

is higher. "Internet direct mail lists are expensive," Bly

says. "They cost $100 to $200 per thousand." This compares,

he says, with charges of $75 to $150 per thousand for lists of

physical

mailing addresses.

E-mail marketers rent the lists, and the lists’ owners take care of

transmission. Some don’t charge to send out the bulk E-mailings, but

others charge from $50 to $100 a thousand.

In composing a solicitation, business owners need to keep in mind

how quickly ‘Net surfers click their "delete" buttons. Start

with a strong subject line, Bly says, and keep it under 60 characters:

"The shorter the better." Embed your business’ website

address,

its URL, high up in the message, in the first or second sentence.

And then repeat the URL, but only once. "Some people put it in

there 10 or 12 times," Bly says, but that just clutters up the

message without improving response rates.

people make," Bly says, "is putting the word `Free’ into their

messages." This is so, he explains, because many people on the

Internet use spam filters to block out solicitations. "Free"

is a sure tip off that the E-mail is an advertisement.

not as a stand alone transforming force, but as another tool.

"It’s

just a supplement," he says of E-mail direct marketing. "It’s

complementary."

"Two years ago, I used to think print was dead," Bly says.

And not just for direct marketing. "Think about it," he says.

"Some guy gets into a car and throws newspapers on the lawn. How

barbaric is that?" Barbaric or not, whether for news or marketing

materials, print is not going to go away in our lifetimes, Bly is

sure. But smart businesses will augment print with an Internet

presence,

and E-mail marketing can be an important part of that cyber strategy.

— Kathleen McGinn Spring

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Alternative Science Careers

<B>Tom Vasicek has traveled from the lab up to a

top executive spot with Internet startup LabSeek, a Minneapolis-based

exchange for laboratory outsourcing and services. Vasicek will talk

about the twists and turns his career has taken when he speaks on

"Alternative Careers in Science: From Tools for Drug Discovery

to Advancing Science Worldwide" at the monthly meeting of the

Princeton Section ACS on Tuesday, February 13, at 5:30 p.m. at the

Frick Chemistry Laboratory at Princeton University. Dinner follows

at Prospect House at 6:45 p.m. Cost: dinner, $20; lecture, free. Call

609-258-5202.

Vasicek, chief scientific officer for LabSeek, a company that uses

the Internet to connect customers with laboratory services and

consulting.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from MIT and a Ph.D. in

genetics from Harvard. Responsible for discovering the second human

gene on record, he also discovered a key gene in Siamese twinning.

Vasicek began his career in academic molecular biology research, moved

to gene discovery in the pharmaceutical industry, and then onto a

management role at LabSeek.

Using the turns his own career has taken — all within the world

of science — Vasicek will talk about alternative careers available

to scientists. Vasicek began his career in academic molecular biology

research, moved to gene discovery in the pharmaceutical industry,

and then onto a management role at LabSeek.

Top Of Page
Third World

On Wednesday, February 7, at 5:30 p.m.Jeanne-Marie

Col, an 11-year veteran of the United Nations, will address the

American Society for Public Administration New Jersey Chapter’s joint

dinner meeting with AGA on Improving Third World Governments. The

dinner will be held at Mastoris at the intersection of Route 130 and

Route 206. Cost: $25 for members, $30 for non-members. Call

609-298-1884.

Col coordinates a global program for the integration of public

administration

and the science of disasters. Her talk will center on her view that

failures in governance and public administration account for many

of the weaknesses in governments in developing countries and societies

in transition. Using experiences from her years with the U.N., Coll

also will highlight some of the best practices found at global,

national,

and local levels.

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MCCC in Hopewell

Mercer County Community College’s continuing education

division has four courses in personal finance, all taught by certified

financial planners, at Hopewell Valley Central High School. Call

609-586-9446.

better long-term tax decisions. Among the questions that will be

addressed:

Are you paying more in taxes than you have to? How can you avoid

losing

a significant portion of your 401 (k) and IRA savings to income taxes

when you retire? The two-session course starts on Tuesday, February

13, at 7 p.m. Cost: $32.

building

a stock portfolio for either the long-term or short-term investor.

The course will provide analysis and technical trading techniques.

Participants will assess their risk tolerance and arrive at a personal

strategy for a successful portfolio. The four-session course begins

on Thursday, February 15, at 7 p.m. Cost: $80.

of mutual funds, the risks involved, and the qualities of the top

performers. A financial planner will help participants learn to

differentiate

between open end and closed end funds, to buy mutual funds at a

discount,

and to avoid taxes on gains. The three-session course begins on

Wednesday,

March 14, at 7:10 p.m. Cost: $48.

Total Investment Management is designed for experienced

investors

who wish to refresh their investment skills. The course will enable

participants to identify the proper portfolio for their needs,

including

tax-free investments, stocks and bonds, mutual funds and more. The

four-session course begins on Tuesday, April 17, at 7:10. Cost: $80.

February 14

Top Of Page
Tighten Your Belts: G. Michael Moebs

Making a commitment to control expenses is the first

and hardest step, says Michael Moebs, a Chicago-based

consultant.

For the New Jersey Bankers Association, Moebs speaks on "Expense

Control & Fees for CEOs, CFOs, and COOs," on Wednesday, February

14, at 9:30 a.m. at the Eatontown Sheraton. His workshop will include

topics of particular interest to bankers: how to double fee income

for consumer checking, how to adjust the pricing triad (fees vs. rates

vs. balances) and how to reduce fees and increase the bottom line.

Cost: $300. Call 609-924-5550.

The next steps in controlling expenses: Divide workers into small

units that they feel they own. Keep track of how well each unit is

doing, and compare yourself to your peers using expense to asset

ratios,

not expense to revenue ratios. Classify and rank-order expenses by

category.

Then work with those categories. Plan to frequently inspect your

short-term

controllable expenses that make up the bulk of your budget. Inspect

less frequently the long-term controllable expenses. "Identify

why you are good or bad at controlling a particular expense category,

and emphasize the good," he says.

Top Of Page
Selling to Government

The Small Business Development Center at Raritan Valley

Community College and the Somerset County Chamber of Commerce will

co-sponsor two procurement workshops on Thursday, February 15, at

8:15 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. at the community college. Cost: $15 for the

first session, $22 for the second. Call 908-526-1200 extension 8516.

Madeline Britman, director of procurement programs of the New

Jersey Small Business Development Center, will present the two-part

session.

The first session will give an overview of procurement, explaining

the advantages small businesses reap by being registered as a small

business vendor. Differences in state and federal procurement

procedures

also will be discussed. The second session will be more detailed,

including information on how to gain access to agency contracts,

eligibility

rules for vendors, and how to sell goods and services to the state

and federal governments. Representatives of the U.S. Small Business

Administration and the New Jersey Commerce Division will participate

in this session.

Top Of Page
For College Bound

For those trying to plan for college expenses, a

toll-free

hotline at 800-792-8670 has answers on financial aid and scholarship

searches. Links to sites offering information on aid sources are

included

on the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority website.

Especially

helpful sites include www.mapping-your-future.org, an award-winning

college planning website; www.fastweb.com, which provides students

with free college scholarship search assistance; and www.finaid.com,

a comprehensive annotated collection of information about student

financial aid.

Scott B. Freedman, executive director of the New Jersey Higher

Education Student Assistance Authority has these tips for New Jersey

residents:

earnings

are free of state tax and federal tax is deferred when savings are

used for higher education expenses.

students

awards of up to the full cost of tuition to attend an in-state college

or university.

on SAT scores and/or class rank. The Garden State Scholarship Program

offers a renewable $1,000 scholarship in the form of an Edward J.

Bloustein Distinguished Scholar or Urban Scholar Award. The

Outstanding

Scholar Recruitment Program provides a sizable campus-based

scholarship

ranging from $2,500 to $7,500.

In addition to federal loans, New Jersey has a supplementary student

loan program, NJCLASS (New Jersey College Loans to Assist State

Students). Residents or non-residents attending a New Jersey

college

may borrow up to the full cost of college.

Top Of Page
For Developers

Developers building or rehabilitating rental housing

for low income residents are eligible for federal Low Income Housing

Tax Credits. The New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency will

allocate approximately $12.3 million in tax credits this year. The

agency will hold free all-day training seminars for developers on

Thursday, February 8, or Friday, February 9, at 8:30 a.m. at 637 South

Clinton Avenue in Trenton. Call 609-278-7578.

The seminars will include a legislative update, a review of the

proposed

2001 QAP, social service opportunities, and the top 10 tax credit

issues. State programs, including the Department of Community Affairs

Balanced Housing program and HMFA’s multi-family financing programs,

will be discussed. Representatives of syndication firms, including

Apollo Capital, Boston Capital, Columbia Housing/PNC, ESCI, First

Union, Intrust, Lehman Brothers, NEF, NW Financial, Related Capital,

the Richman Group, Sterling Financial, and WNC will be available.

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Innovation Garden State

Innovation Garden State, an initiative to attract new

businesses to New Jersey and to promote the state as a high tech

center,

has named fundraising co-chairs. They are Frank Ianna, president

of AT&T Network Services and Richard Lane, president of

Bristol-Myers

Squibb Worldwide Medicines Group. Innovation Garden State is an

initiative

of Prosperity New Jersey, a non-profit, private/public partnership.

Top Of Page
Corporate Angels

Sovereign Bank is helping underwriting a fund-raising art auction

for the Child Care Connection on Saturday, March 10, at 7 p.m. at

the Kirby Arts Center, Lawrenceville School. CCC is a nonprofit

resource and referral agency that provides recruiting and technical

assistance to potential day care providers and also offers childcare

training (609-737-9243). Patron tickets are available at $25, but

other tickets are $10 per person, $15 per couple.

Donations have also been made by McCarter Theater, Shear Magic,

Amici’s

Restaurant, Wegman’s Market, Hyatt Regency, Marriott Hotel, George

Street Theater, TJ’s Trattoria, Chazam’s, Alpha Books, Edo Sushi,

Marazzo’s Market, Custom Woodwork & Design, China Chef, Sovereign

Arena, and Lamberti’s Restaurant.

Corrections or additions?

— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.