How to Make a Quality Newsletter Publication

Captivate and inform with a quality newsletter.

Newsletters have been used by sales organizations for more than a hundred years. The first newsletters of the Twentieth Century were hand-written flyers announcing product introductions and prices on cut up meat paper. However, they also had news about the company itself. These have long since been replaced by ultra-modern, Internet-delivered newsletters with audio and video clips. What has not changed, however, is the intent and goal of a great newsletter -- a detailed, attention-grabbing look inside a particular firm, its products, people and happenings. A well-designed newsletter is still a significant weapon in the marketing arsenal of all great firms.

Things You'll Need

• Personal computer
• Internet access
• Graphic design software
• High-quality color printer
• Flatbed scanner

Instructions

1. Define the purpose, frequency and goal of the newsletter. While most newsletters are intended to promote the firm and its products or services, they should do so by painting a broad picture of the firm and its involvement in its industry, city and its people. Decide and document the mailing list content for distribution of the newsletter. Determine how the newsletter will be announced both internally and to customers and the industry.

2. Decide if the newsletter will be a printed and mailed publication or simply available for download on the firm's website. Online newsletters with clickable audio and video clips are not always easily printable. If the newsletter is to be a published, hard copy document, its physical characteristics become separate issues. If the newsletter will be available on the firms website, its download characteristics have implications in regard to website navigation and control that must be considered.

3. Determine the industry tie-in that will be reflected in the newsletter. The greater the degree of change and rapidity of product evolution, the greater the need for substantive representation of the firm's place at the forefront of research or at least awareness of it. Decide who will maintain such data and how any statistics and trends will be researched, verified and shared.

4. Plan the involvement of the newsletter in the firms product strategy and development. Balancing secrecy and promotion are often issues that need to be decided by individuals at the officer level in the firm. Decide how this will become a part of both graphics and newsletter copy.

5. Decide the extent to which the newsletter will reflect on the firm's people and that element's contribution to the overall look and feel of the publication. Today, even multi-national firms often cite and share interesting family related issues of people on the factory floor. This key issue should not be overlooked.

6. Decide how the newsletter will be physically created. The size, page count, paper grade and quality of graphics and colors are issues to decide. If large quantities of the newsletter are required, a full-color offset printing process is appropriate. Smaller quantities of the newsletter can typically be produced on in-house color printers. Clarify the required resolution and formats of graphic quality. Printed newsletters often cannot sustain the graphic formats that are adequate for website presentation.

7. Determine the graphic design software that will be used to create the newsletter and who the developer, artist and editor will be. At a minimum, the software used should have document-object independence. This means that it should support the capability to open windows on a page within which to create or paste both graphics and text. Furthermore, these frames or objects should be click-hold-move capable for efficient format control and modification. The implications of both color management and output format control must also be considered. At a minimum the newsletter should be output as a .pdf format file for easy document sharing.

8. Define the physical layout and style of the newsletter. Older newsletter styles with blocked and wraparound text, bold text headers and heavy-line borders are still appropriate but newer look and feel options should also be considered. Review and resolve issues of color, background, graphics, fonts, and column and point sizes.

9. Determine and design the content dedication of each page of the newsletter. This means deciding on both the page location and the space allocated to each of the primary contenders -- industry news, product promotion, research and development, and personnel changes.

10. Decide on the approval process for draft versions of the newsletter and who will have final sign-off authority for its publication. At this point in the evolution of the newsletter there should be no issues left to resolve.

Tips & Warnings

• Pass the first draft of the newsletter around the firm and its customers to get reactions.

• Be aware of the issues of trademark law and statistical quotation.

References

• "E-Newsletters that Work"; Michael J. Katz"; 2003