How to Make a Community Print Newsletter
Print publications are still alive and kicking. A print newsletter with information about what's happening around the neighborhood and filled with community-related news is a great way to keep you and your neighbors informed and build stronger community relations. Take these steps to create a vibrant community print newsletter that everyone in the neighborhood can be proud of.
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Instructions
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First, determine how the newsletter will be funded. Create a budget of how much it will cost you to produce the newsletter, accounting for printing costs, time and distribution outlets. Kivi Leroux Miller advises contacting local printers about bulk printing rates and account holder discounts. Some of the printers may print the publication for free or at deep discounted rates for free advertising in the publication. You can distribute the publication yourself to save on hiring someone to distribute your publication within the community. You will just have to cover your own gas. You can also sell advertising space to local business owners to offset the costs.
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Determine your circulation or how far-reaching your community newsletter will go. It will cost less to distribute and print your newsletter to your immediate housing division, but you may get more people involved if you publish your newsletter for an unincorporated city, several housing divisions or a certain mile radius.
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Now, what will your newsletter include? Your newsletter can be rich with content about upcoming events in the neighborhood, birthday listings, anniversaries, wedding announcements and obituaries. You can also put your finger on the pulse of the neighborhood. If there are popular hobbies in your neighborhood, such as gardening, you can include articles with tips on the subject. Great community themes can include cooking, cleaning tips and grilling tips. Your newsletter can also have a social slant, such as political or religious. Be cautious. Newsletters founded on social issues can alienate some members of the community.
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Once content is decided, create a system for producing your publication that will make it easier to produce it on a regular basis. Use publishing software newsletter templates to make it quick and easy to plug in the article content or event dates. Microsoft Publisher, Desktop Publisher Pro and Abobe InDesign are great resources for desktop publishing---from simple and cheap to complicated and more expensive. Ladnan Likshri, who publishes wedding poems, says "Why spend a lot of time creating your newsletter design from scratch when you can save a lot of time and finish your newsletter by easily using newsletter templates?"
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Finally, ask neighbors to contribute articles, pictures, event dates, wedding anniversaries and birthdays. Andrew Alleman says, "Get someone to write content for you." He used this technique to promote his website via a newsletter. Also, the more the community is involved, the more rewarding it will be to publish your newsletter.
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Tips & Warnings
Once you get your publication up and running, stick to a regular publishing schedule. This will increase interest in your publication as well as encourage timely submission of event dates, articles and image submissions.
