Newsletters

1. Newsletters AGED 3142

2. Purposes of Newsletters • To communicate primarily with known audience members • Most newsletters have “selected” or “concerted” audiences, usually the members/clientele/constituents of the organization producing the newsletter • To persuade, inform, educate, entertain • To meet public relations goals • Image building and visibility

3. Advantages of Newsletters • Newsletters... • Communicate with specifically defined and well-targeted audiences • Provide opportunities for visual as well as textual information in printed form • Have a larger channel capacity than other media forms • Can be relatively inexpensive

4. Pitfalls of Newsletters • Newsletters… • Often “preach to the choir” because of the nature of the selected or concerted audiences • Are sometimes designed and by people with little or no training in desktop publishing • Poor design and editing = loss of credibility • Sloppy design can damage image building efforts • Poor editing and proofing can hurt credibility and can cause miscommunication

5. Avoiding Pitfalls • Develop distribution techniques that get the newsletter into the hands of audience members not on the mailing list • Hire or contract a newsletter editor • Proofread!

6. Audience Analysis for Newsletters • Stories in newsletters must have some meaning for everyone in the audience • Write for the “lowest common factor” • Audience traits to keep in mind • Education • Professional and personal interests • Age • Gender • Geographic location (urban/rural) • Socio-economic status

7. Getting It Right • Verify, Verify, Verify • Take special care to verify electronic sources • Having a web page does not make anyone an expert at anything • Newsletters are notorious for inaccurate dates and times • Affects credibility

8. Proofread! • Ensure that typographical, grammatical, and content errors don’t appear in the final version of your newsletter • Have as many other people as possible proof your newsletter • Set the newsletter aside for a while and come back to it later • Don’t depend on your word processor’s “Spell-check” feature. Here’s why:

9. Spell-check Poem I have a spelling checker, It came with my PC; It plainly marks for my revue Mistakes I cannot sea. I’ve run this poem threw it, I’m sure your please to no Its letter perfect in it’s weigh, My checker tolled be sew. —Annonymous

10. Production Plans • Make a detailed schedule • Set deadlines for yourself and for others • Communicate closely with your printer

11. General Design Principles for Newsletters • Simplicity • Balance • White Space • Sequence • Neatness

12. Simplicity • Are the newsletter’s pages uncluttered? • Is the design attractive? • Are graphics simple? • Does the design include bulleted lists, numbered steps, etc.? • Is the clip art appropriate and professional? • Are photos are helpful as long as their meaning is clear.

13. Balance • Are the graphics placed so that pages aren’t weighted too heavily on one side? Unbalanced pages can cause readers to overlook information.

14. Whitespace • Is there plenty of space around the text and graphics? White space makes readers feel comfortable. Readers who have to work at reading will often give up.

15. Sequence • Does the design lead the reader through the publication? Are the most important ideas represented with the most eye-catching graphics?

16. Neatness • Is the design free of errors? • Is the copy free of errors • Is the content readable and accurate? • Can readers trust the information?

17. Most Importantly... KISS!