| Five Content Rules For Newsletters |
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| Written by Mike Alexander |
| Friday, 01 January 2010 09:32 |
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The Five Rules: One vital rule intended for every newsletter is always that it has to always have up- to- date material. In other words, it must present news, for that is what makes it a NEWSletter. Every single newsletter should furthermore be simple to read and include useful information. This information therefore should be countered against different information to make the complete publication appropriately balanced. Finally it needs to have a strong level of reader appeal. What is meant by this is that the information the newsletter consists of ought to be of the type which the reader expects, or probably hopes, to obtain from it. Topicality: Each newsletter, exactly like each and every newspaper, should be completely topical and contain the very latest news in order to justify itself as a newsletter. The individual responsible for supplying copy for a newsletter needs to keep notes and alerts that may come in handy when planning upcoming editions. A properly kept and maintained collection of jottings and reminders will assist in ensuring that he or she never runs out of ideas or topics to write or comment on for future editions. Readability: So as to make the newsletter readable, which is an absolutely critical quality every newsletter should aim for, good use should be made of spell checkers and sentence structure checkers, if you have one. Many times, it is the spelling and grammar that lets content authors down these days since they often forget about the need for proof reading. Readability can also be improved through a conversational tone as opposed to a more formal one. This is especially true when the readership covers lots of various kinds of people and the majority is likely to not be technically orientated. Information: What people seek usually in a newsletter is practical knowledge or information. This could take the form of advice or help columns or a narrative like a historical background story about a common or group event. Or it may take the form of a "how- to" type of article that explains how to get this done or that. To a reader, the whole objective of a newsletter is that it ought to provide useful information of this sort. Balancing: Trying to achieve balance is not invariably easy, particularly for beginner publishers. To put it in simple terms, any heavy or staid content should be balanced(wherever feasible) by light- hearted or slight material. As far as the visual content of the newsletter is concerned, significant areas of textual content needs to be balanced by the generous use of white space at any time when possible, or by inserts like 'pullquote' additions, subheadings and the like. Some people might consider the balancing act a bit hard at first but it usually improves with practice. Reader Appeal: How do you make your newsletter compelling? By adding newsletter content that is irresistible to your reader; in other words, the things that they're most interested in. You must know your readers. The better you understand about the readers the more relevant you can make your articles and the more compelling your newsletter. Don't forget likewise how compelling it is for individuals to read about themselves! Even better can be seeing a picture of themselves or one that includes them or their group. What about a consistent feature like 'Volunteer (Worker, Committee Member, Customer etc) of the Month' or randomly picking somebody in your club for a 'Focus on a Member' spot? Summary: All five of the rules stated in this article need to be included and applied to each and every newsletter as long as it is possible. That ought to be the case regardless of the type of readership the newsletter has or what type of subjects their newsletter covers. Don't forget, it's the reader who determines what is the best type of content. Should you be new to newsletters, you will definitely notice an improvement when you apply the rules listed above without exception. True reader appeal is not that difficult a quality to attain but without doubt the acquisition of it will make for a much more dynamic publication. About the Author: Mike Alexander is a 'content' expert, having created and edited a print publication with nation-wide distribution. He has several online interests, among which is ClipCopy Content Solutions, where you will find a number of articles covering topics similar to above. Click here to get your own unique version of this article with free reprint rights. Kindly provided by LJ-Marketing.dk You are welcome to use this article on your own website, if you include the link just before this text. |