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 Rule One: Limit the outright ballyhoo about your company, so readers won't toss your newsletter away. That's oft-forgotten commonsense. Similarly, if the newsletter is for employees, it mustn't read like propaganda from management.
Rule Two: Stay lively. A newsletter is not a memo or report.
Rule Three: Run regular features that your readers will find useful. Are you a Realtor serving a certain geographical area? Then think about running that information in every newsletter.
Rule Four: Be more careful with proofing than on the Web. The perfectionists would say, "Don't make errors anywhere." That's impossible. You can, however, prioritize your time. A few keystrokes can fix an error on a Web site. Not so with pulped-wood newsletters.
Rule Five: Use your paper newsletter to send people to your email list and Web site. And vice versa. Point readers to your site and the sign-up page for the email list.
Rule Six: As with an email list, it's better to do no newsletter than risk making a botch of it. If you have more money than time, then turn the job over to a professional.
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Paper newsletters are alive and well in the Internet era. Not everyone feels comfortable online. David Rothman can help you reach older customers and busy, upscale people who, correctly or not, may feel they just haven't time to log on. What's more, David can also assist with employee-oriented newsletters.
He'll work with a fine designer and a quality-fixated printer to come up with an attractive, informative newsletter. Via a free reader from Adobe, you can check out a sample issue of a financial newsletter that David made over and managed (with stock selections and market predictions reflecting company policy).
David's newsletter services come in two flavors. He and a designer can give your newsletter a full makeover of content and coach your people on writing and editing. Or he and the designer can produce the newsletter themselves. Among other services, David can:
- Provide his thoughts on whether a newsletter would be suitable in the first place. Perhaps an email list, a Web site or other medium will serve you better.
- Come up with the right mission for the publication and help you fine-tune it for the people you're trying to reach. It isn't enough to determine if you're targeting employees, customers or both. That's just the start
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- Work with an appropriate designer--perhaps the same one who did the sample issue mentioned above--to give your newsletter the right looks and content. Your thoughts will count, too. For example, David can consult with you and your people to determine how the newsletter could be most effective for you.
- Help you come up with mailing lists to use the newsletter to reach new prospects.
Costs
The designer's minimum will be $2,000 and up for developing a newsletter; and David will charge equivalent amounts. Catch up with David for more pricing details such as his costs per issue.
These prices are bargains compared to the results that a good newsletter can bring in areas such as financial services. A newsletter played important role in David's $150-million case history., especially in the wooing of new clients.
In effect, you'll be getting a regularly updated brochure and calling card.
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