The trend in email newsletters is toward personalization. Tech trade publisher IDG is taking the concept one step further by letting users create their own newsletters.

On Nov. 30, IDG plans to launch TechDispenser, a Web-enabled application that lets users build custom newsletters based on technology topics that interest them. Choosing from 200 topics culled from more than 700 sources, users can choose both the amount and the frequency of the information they’re signing up to receive. They can even write their own subject lines.  

Tom Pimental, director of product development for IDG Enterprise, likens TechDispenser to an email version of iGoogle for tech information. It’s a logical play for IDG, since email is such a healthy part of its business. Pimental estimates that 30% of the traffic on its major brand sites comes from newsletters.

The goal is to make it easier for users to receive more relevant information. IDG tapped into its editorial expertise to identify the most valuable sources for TechDispenser content. “With so much information out there, content discovery is difficult for users,” Pimental said. “We’re vetting these sources for you.”

Importantly, those sources are not just IDG brands. TechDispenser is not strictly a promotional tool for IDG content. The benefit for IDG lies in the leads – lots and lots of potential new leads. The email addresses from new subscribers – along with the profile information that the users are providing as they select their topics of interest – will be gold for IDG’s database marketing arm.

“We’re a media company on the front end, but on the back end we’re a database company,” said Pimental. “That’s our most valuable asset.”

That’s why TechDispenser won’t look like an IDG media brand, nor will it offer original content. “We’re purposely trying to make this a valuable tool well beyond IDG,” said Pimental.

Pimental’s team built TechDispenser in about three months using open-source Rails development technology. Because the tool is such a departure from other IDG products, Pimental admits he had to do more than the usual amount of research and modeling to prove its potential payback. The potential of a new database product to drive more newsletter subscriptions ultimately was enough to get a green light from the higher-ups.

Even though TechDispenser hasn’t launched yet, Pimental already has his sights set on potential product extensions: a mobile app, for example, or brand-specific versions that IDG publishers can offer to their subscribers.

You can see a demo of the product here: