This is a very lucrative business and it's growing in demand and popularity. There are thousands of people in all parts of the world who are making hundreds of dollars each week, just reading and clipping news items in the privacy of their own homes!

Clipping services monitor what is being said about your company and it's products. Traditionally, clipping services combed newspapers and other print media to find mention of your company's name or products. Now, clipping services can monitor all types of media, including the Internet.

The Value Of Clipping Services

Clipping services can be used to:

Track public opinion, Monitor critical or time-saving issues, Plan crisis management strategies, Asses the impact of media relations and marketing campaigns, Track mentions of products, services and company names, Find out what competitors doing, Identify potential market trends and consumer issues.

Different Types Of Clipping Services

As new technologies emerge, clipping services expand. There are three main types of clipping services.

Print - These services usually cover newspapers, magazines and other printed publications.

Broadcast - Monitors television broadcasts for mention of your company or product. Results are usually returned as video clips.

Online - Scans the Internet for keywords you supply. Online clipping services can deliver clips about as often and quickly as you want them via email or a private web page. Online clipping services also have the ability to return your results on a disk or CD-ROM.

Why People Use An Online Clipping Service

The Internet is growing rapidly each and every day and more and more people are turning to it as a source of news and information. Online clipping services can give people extensive, personalized clips so that they can have the latest information about what is being said about their company online.

How Do These Services Work?

Most online clipping services start by asking to have keywords submitted and a topic and/or search paramaters. Based on this information, your services can conduct searches all over the Internet.

What Areas Of The Internet Do These Services Cover?

Online clipping services cover different areas of the Internet depending on what serivce is chosen. A good clipping service can cover: Newsgroups, Bulletin Boards, Online Newspapers and Journals, Search Engines, Competitor Sites, Online Newswire Services, Listservs, and other sites of your choice.

How Are Results Returned?

The return of results varies depending on the clipping service. Some services email the results throughtout the day, others email only once a day. More advanced services can generate a web page with the results. These pages usually include hyperlinks so the customer can easily go to the original article. Most services leave results active for about a month. Often, these results are for customer use only and cannot be posted, published or reproduced.

How Much Do These Services Cost?

Prices of online clipping services vary depending on how much coverage you provide, how many search items you use and the frequency of reports. In depth national coverage can cost upwards of $1000 per month. Many services charge a flat monthly, weekly, or daily rate and an additional per clip charge. Because per clip charges are common, it is important to keep the search narrow so that irrelevant clips are not retuned.

To promote and build your business, you can scan your local business services directory and send out a solicitation letter to each of those listed. A couple of days after you've posted your sales letter, you should follow up with a phone call.

A short, to-the-point ad under "Business Personals" in your daily newspaper will also bring in new clients for you. And as soon as you can afford it, go with at least a small display ad in the yellow pages of your telephone directory.

You should definitely contact the public relations firms, advertising agencies, and civic organizations in your area. Explain your services and ask them if they have any special clients or needs you can help them with. You'll find many of your local political and "cause" groups very interested in receiving clippings about their opponents.

Clipping services in one form or another have been around since the advent of the printing press, and as stated earlier, they're becoming more in demand. It's definitely the kind of business anyone who knows how to read can set up and operate with an absolute minimum investment.