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I wouldn't say retention is a big "issue" - the word issue suggests its a massive problem which I wouldn't agree with (certainly not for my sites anyway).
Obviously, rebills are VERY important because it costs a heck of a lot less to keep a customer than to replace them with a new one - so you are right to make sure that the sales you do make, enjoy your site and stay a member for as long as possible. I have a forum on my sites and I think that certainly helps for retention because people start to feel like they are part of a community rather than an adult paysite.
The problem I had with newsletters was that to make them look good they had to be sent out in HTML format, which means every week someone has to create a webpage specifically for the newsletter - not to mention the fact you have to use a proper newsletter server or service to maintain the list. You really need to offer double opt-in at the beginning AND an easy way for them to unsubscribe at any time, so you're not looking at just putting an e-mail form field on your site and doing it all for free - get e-mail marketing wrong and you will get into hot ater very quickly.
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