Make them interesting – When you are committed to a concept, get some professional design input for the general layout, graphics and banner artwork. Invite contributions from your colleagues and staff readers as well as readers. A letters section is a good way to fill space and make the readers feel more involved. Especially invite comment about the content of the newsletter itself, which will help to convince you how and whether to continue publishing future issues.
Commit to a frequency and size that you can sustain – Don’t promise a monthly and then fail to get the next editions out on time, which would defeat the object of building your image. Newsletters should be 2, 4, 8, pages – 4 page increments (signatures) for cost savings. To reduce the costs discuss the dimensions, paper stock of the piece and number of copies with the printer.
Adopt a format and styling that is fit-for-purpose – Keep it simple, easy to read, and avoid anything
off-the-wall or extravagant. Use a format that is cost-effective and amenable to your method of distribution (think about rack dispensing, inserts, door-to-door, mailing, etc).
Include photographs and details of your staff – If your newsletter allows inclusion of photographs,
pictures of customers and other people will help bring it to life. Publishing pictures of staff is also otivational. Photographs should always be high resolutions (300 dpi), no website photographs, icons and
other small graphics, especially if the job has large dimension, wihich will them hazy, distorted etc.
Include positive and happy stories – Keep the content up-beat, optimistic and positive. You
can’t distort facts of course but you do have some license to present issues in a way that will reflect as favorably as possible on your business and your people.
Maintain a consistent design – Consistency of appearance is essential to build recognition, awareness and positive association with your business. Don’t compromise on corporate colors, quality of artwork and logos, and typestyles, even the type of paper you use should not be changed without proper reasons.
Relate the news to your customers and their community – Keep in mind all the time who your audience is, and assess the content to make sure it is relevant, and presented in a way that your readers will want to read it. It may be possible for you to recover some of the cost of the newsletter by selling some advertising space, but be careful about the type of suppliers you include so as to avoid detracting from the image you are presenting.
Make one person responsible to the graphic designer and/or printer – Often the most difficult challenge in producing a newsletter is sustaining it. It is extremely difficult to collect good ideas and news for content, and if there is not a clear point of responsibility, with schedules and deadlines, the whole exercise will end up being rushed, perhaps late or incomplete, with the result that it has a poor effect on staff and readers alike. Art should be commercial print ready and have the ability to allow the printer to
make minor changes/corrections (should be free).
Print Media Collective has designed and printed numerous newsletters for a variety of clients over the years. We are happy to provide a free evaluation of your project. Give us a call at 310-659-8193 or email us at david@printmediacollective.com.