VerticalResponse Names VegNews Magazine Winner of 2009 Checkie of the Year Award

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- VerticalResponse, Inc., a leading provider of self-service email marketing, online survey and direct mail solutions for small businesses, today announced VegNews as the winner of its inaugural Checkie of the Year Awards. VegNews, an American vegetarian lifestyle magazine, was recognized for excellence in email marketing success.

A VerticalResponse client since 2004, VegNews now boasts an opt-in mailing list of nearly 75,000 and sends out 127 email newsletters every year. With the easy-to-use features provided by VerticalResponse - plus stellar content and design - the media business has achieved excellent open and click-through rates. VegNews Magazine was selected as the VerticalResponse Checkies of the Year Award winner due to their successful 2009 Thanksgiving email newsletter campaign, sent to their entire email list of almost 60,000 customers.

Email results include:

• The Thanksgiving email newsletter had a 65.55 percent click through rate and an open rate of over 32 percent.
• As a result of this email, traffic to the VegNews Magazine website was triple the normal rate, and the company experienced a huge surge in orders to the online store.  

"We're thrilled that VerticalResponse selected our Thanksgiving Newsletter as the winner of the 2009 Checkie of the Year awards," said Colleen Holland, Associate Publisher of VegNews Magazine. "As an independent media company, VegNews relies on the robust, yet affordable services of VerticalResponse to help build our digital presence."

The Checkie awards were created to publicly recognize the marketing achievements of customers, and honor the most outstanding performances from among VerticalResponse's 70,000 small business customers.

"We are so proud to honor VegNews Magazine with the first Checkie of the Year Award for 2009, based on creative design and results achieved in email marketing," said Janine Popick, founder and CEO of VerticalResponse. "It's a tough time for small businesses, and customers like VegNews continue to inspire us with their use of VerticalResponse email marketing to grow their business."

Checkie Awards presented quarterly to VerticalResponse's most outstanding customers to recognize the creative work they do every day to build their respective businesses and keep small business a vital part of the economy. All previous winners of the quarterly Checkies program were invited to submit their results for consideration in the Checkie of the Year Award. Submissions had to include results from their best performing email, survey or postcard marketing campaign - based on metrics such as open and click through rate, and other factors such as design, website traffic and resulting purchases.

For more information about the VerticalResponse Checkie Award program, go to: http://www.verticalresponse.com/checkieawards/

About VegNews

VegNews, America's premier vegetarian lifestyle magazine, has a readership of 195,000 and is read in 38 countries. Named "Best Lifestyle Magazine" in 2009 and 2008, "Best Website" in 2009, and one of Chicago Tribune's "Best 50 Magazines," the publication has won numerous awards in its nine-year history. Each issue is filled with the latest in vegetarian news, events, recipes, nutrition information, restaurant and product reviews, celebrity buzz, and even vegetarian weddings. The Veggie Award edition is published annually and demonstrates the growth and sophistication of the vegetarian industry. The magazine is headquartered in San Francisco. Find out more at: www.vegnews.com  

About VerticalResponse

VerticalResponse, Inc. is a leading provider of self-service email marketing, online surveys and direct mail services empowering small businesses to easily create, manage and analyze their own direct marketing campaigns. VerticalResponse bundles email, online surveys and postcards to offer customers an integrated Web-based direct marketing solution that's intuitive and affordable. VerticalResponse is headquartered in San Francisco, California. For additional information, please visit www.verticalresponse.com

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Janine Popick

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SOURCE VerticalResponse, Inc.