Income is a big part of investors' returns. Stocks, mutual funds and fixed income ideas in this column are featured because they are relatively solid in their ability to pay dividends or interest. We're giving income investors a resource to start their research for investments that give better yields with lower risk.

The Classmates Media segment offers online social networking services under the Classmates brand name; and online loyalty marketing services under the MyPoints name. It also provides international social networking services under the StayFriends and Trombi names. This division has approximately 6.0 million social networking pay accounts.

The Communications group offers dial-up Internet access under the NetZero and Juno brand names. It provides broadband services, email, Internet security services, and Web hosting services. The company also offers Internet marketing services for advertisers. United Online was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Woodland Hills, California.

Let's put the positive right up front: the yield is 8.1%. Hard to find these days. But there's a catch. Actually a number of them. Before you rush to add this stock to your portfolio, best to read a little more about it.

The first risk is the size of the company. It's very small. Market cap is $459 million. The stock price is $5.18, well below the $29 of 2003 when it traded at its zenith. Sales went from $990.1 million in 2009 to $920.6 million in 2010. This year, they should finish at $908.64 million. Expectations for next year are for $908.91 million.

In the second quarter (ended June 30), sales were up by 15% in the FTD (flowers) division which were 69% of all revenues. That pushed the top line higher by 5% because other divisions had weaker sales compared to last year in the second period. Analysts don't have high expectations for improvement for the rest of the year. Continued weakness in the Content and Media and Communications segments should be evident for the next several quarters, keeping total sales about even this year and next.

If consumers feel better and start spending more in 2012, things should improve for the bottom line. Sales during Valentine's Day and Mother's Day would see the biggest gains. Lower interest payments will also increase the bottom line. Of course, the big "if" is whether consumers will feel better.

Currently, earnings are forecast by 4 anlysts to be 92 cents a share, this year, down form $1.10 last year. Next year, they see 81 cents. Look for 18 cents a share for the September quarter vs 25 cents made in last year's third. For the final quarter, estimates are for 22 cents, down from 30 cents in last year's fourth.

One of the divisions that will face strong competition is Content and Media. It's a social networking site that has a fee. It competes with Facebook and other free social networking sites. Another one is the dial-up Internet access business. Consumers are moving to broadband services as it delivers faster downloads. Ultimately, these trends affect the ad revenues for UNTD's sites. Traffic is what makes revenues go higher. If fewer people are on United's sites, there will be less advertising or at least lower rates.

Counterbalancing some of these negatives are the company's focus on reducing debt (now 35% of capital). As it shrinks the outstanding obligations, interest costs go lower. The company has a healthy cash flow to pay the dividend and interest payments. With less debt, management has more flexibility to grow the business, offer more services, and increase marketing.

Essential numbers: Forward P/E is 6.4. Trailing P/E is 8.6. Price to sales ratio is .5. Price to book is .97. Book value is $5.34. Operating margin was 11.69% for the last 12 months. Profit margin was 6.01%. Return on equity was 12.21% and Return on assets was 6.89%. Total cash is $111.44 million for $1.26 a share. Total debt is $262.23 million. Total debt to equity is 55.34%. Current ratio is 1.01. Beta is 1.49. The stock is up 4.86% in the last 12 months. There are 88.69 million shares Outstanding with a Float of 84.71 million. Insiders own 1.9% of the stock. Institutions have 77.8% of the Float.

The dividend is 40 cents a share, as it was in 2009 and 2010. In 2007 it was 80 cents and in 2008, 70 cents. Currently the yield is 8.1%. The next ex-dividend date is approximately November 10 and the next pay date should be November 30.

Income investors who can take risk with their reward will find this stock of interest. While some of the businesses (particularly dial-up Internet access) are clearly fading, others have good potential. Also management has the funds to try new businesses or buy others. The next few years will be challenging as this company evolves. As it does, shareholders should be paid handsomely every quarter as they wait to see what happens.