As the economic recovery shuffles along - and “shuffle” seems to be the right word, companies and small business owners continue to look for ways to promote their products, services and brands in the most cost-efficient way.

And most understand that a newsletter can be one of the most powerful ways to build lasting relationships with their customers. But which deliver medium should they choose, email or print?

Both varieties share informative articles, customer resources, special offers and discounts. And either format requires a writer, a designer (at least once), and a mailing list.

E-newsletters have become so popular because they are a lot cheaper to distribute; can be sent more frequently; and can reflect up-to-the-minute price changes or offers. But they can be easier to ignore or delete, or blocked all together. And you also need to have - or begin building - an email list to distribute the piece. Sending unwanted spam to recipients is not acceptable to most legitimate businesses.

Print newsletters on the other hand usually have higher readership numbers and response rates, if only because the recipient is forced to view the publication, at least for a moment (perhaps on the way from the mailbox to the trashcan!) But More >