A newsletter is a piece of written communication intended to promote a business or a cause, advance the objectives of voluntary organizations, or just maintain communication amongst family and friends. The traditional newsletter is a printed document that you send through the mail, but today electronic newsletters have become very popular; you can email them out to many people, or just post them on a website. Whether online or on paper, writing a newsletter comes with its own set of guidelines to success. This web page gives tips and advice on how to write a newsletter.
Here are some tips on writing your newsletter:
- Relevant. Keep the content on topic. If you are creating a newsletter for your dry cleaning company, do not write newsletter articles about the strategic use of trenches in World War I.
- Useful. Give topical information that the reader can actually use. Good articles; stuff that will be of value, not just page-filler.
- To the Point. No one likes a newsletter that drivels on and on. People want to be able to access useful information quickly and easily. A newsletter should not be an information treasure hunt.
- Balanced. Provide a healthy mixture of serious and humorous articles, of written text and photos, contests and statistics. Newsletters heavily weighted towards one medium (i.e. text or photos or statistics) lose their effectiveness.
- Variety. It is the spice of life. Provide an assortment of compelling topics that are within the main newsletter topic. This may take some thinking and research on your part, but it is worth it.
- Polished. Proofread, proofread! Don't be caught with typos, hanging sentences, orphans, and the likes. Make sure your newsletter looks polished and complete, especially if you are doing it for your business.
I highly recommend a few excellent books and guides on newsletters and how to write a great newsletter:
Manager's Guide to Newsletters: Communicating for Results. This guide shows you how to logically and methodically manage your newsletter--for results like these. It walks you through each planning step, helping you make the critical decisions.
The Business Writer's Handbook. This book offers guidance on research, documenting sources, brochures, formal reports, newsletters, proposals, sales letters, promotional writing, presentations, and visuals.
E-Newsletters That Work: The Small Business Owner's Guide to Creating, Writing and Managing an Effective Electronic Newsletter. A guide that helps give your newsletter a focus and a voice.
Here are some great Internet sites that deal with writing effective and successful newsletters: