How To Create A Newsletter

How to create a newsletter
Why?
Creating a newsletter is a valuable way of communicating with a specific audience
group. However, its production does take time, energy and resources so it’s important
to be clear about who you’re communicating to, what you want to achieve and the
reason for your reader to read it.
A good starting point is to write a paragraph on your mission for the newsletter.
Answering the questions below will help you.
Publisher’s point of view:

• What am I trying to achieve with the newsletter?
• What is the primary/ secondary message?
Reader’s point of view:

• What information do they want to see?
• How will they benefit from this newsletter?
Key decisions
Establishing consistency in terms of the frequency of publication, methods of acquiring
it and the format, layout and type of content will help your newsletter be seen as a
trusted source of information.
Before beginning production you’ll need to identify:

• the budget
• how often you can produce it
• who is going to write it
• who is going to design it
• how it is going to be distributed.
Budget
The first thing to work out is how much you can afford to spend on your newsletter
because this will affect every other decision. The good thing about newsletters is that
an effective one can still be produced with a very small budget.
Frequency
It should be regular but the frequency will depend on resources – both budget and staff
to produce it. Monthly or every two months would be ideal and having it ready for either
the very start or the very end of the month gives readers an idea of when to expect it.
Content
There will need to be an editor for the newsletter – someone who takes overall
responsibility. However, it can be a lot for one person to write. Try to get contributions
from several people; enrol colleagues, volunteers, members of the community and
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local businesses to help write articles. Be specific about what you want from them,
give them plenty of time but also give a clear deadline. Make sure their contributions
are then edited to ensure they are consistent with the overarching message of the
newsletter.
Design
Will you be doing this in-house? In this case you’ll need someone with an eye for
design and access to a relevant software package. Microsoft publisher offers a good
range of newsletter templates.
If you decide you have the budget to use a designer (note that printers often have in-
house designers that are very good but tend to be cheaper than agencies), then factor
in extra time to sign off a design template for the first newsletter, which can be used for
all that follow.
For more information see ‘Professional publications: introducing the design and print
production process’ in this series.
Distribution
There are two main formats by which your audience could receive your newsletter:
• electronic ‘soft’ copy (emailed pdf)
• paper ‘hard’ copy (printed copy, either printed professionally or on a deskjet
depending on quantity).
Sending a soft copy

If you’ve chosen to distribute the newsletter via email you’ll need to create a mailing list
in Outlook with the email addresses for everyone who will receive it. Keep your mailing
list in good shape and work on expanding it. Ideally readers should ‘opt in’ to say they’d
like to receive your newsletter, but there absolutely must be a method of ‘opting out’
included in each email you send.
N.B. when emailing make sure all the addresses are blind copied (in the bcc section).
Sending hard copies

Will you be posting the newsletter (this is likely to depend on budget)? If so carefully
construct a mailing list. Using Excel or Access makes it much easier to manipulate the
data than a list of addresses saved in a Word document. Keep your mailing list in good
shape and work on expanding it. Consider printing enough copies to make them more
widely available as well; it’s possible to distribute them around the community – in
places such as town halls, sports centres and libraries – for nothing more than the cost
of the print.
Once you’ve made these fundamental decisions about your newsletter you can get
down to the detail of producing your first issue.
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Production schedule
Create a production schedule to help you deliver the newsletter on time. To create a
schedule it’s normally easiest to work backwards – so, for example, if you know when
you want your newsletter to be published, working out how long it will take to print
gives you your deadline for sign off. Allow plenty of time to produce your first edition as
this always takes longer, but it does becomes much quicker and easier the more issues
you produce. An example schedule follows:
Task Deadline
Source stories/ approach contibutors
Send an email round advising of the copy deadline
Copy deadline for contributors
Copy edited and final ready to be formatted
Deadline for any photos (gain necessary permissons)
Copy formatted into the template
Newsletter prooferad
Amends returned to desinger
Final proofread
Newsletter to print
Publication date
Choosing a structure/ format

Aim for varied content that includes different types of articles to keep your reader’s
attention. Sections that encourage a reader response – such as a reader question
page or competition – tend to increase popularity.
For example, your newsletter could include:

• editor’s introduction
• articles from community figures
• the big issues facing the community
• features on events held
• campaign updates
• dates for the diary
• successes
• requests for help (i.e. volunteers)
• useful information – local contacts/ local groups
• Q&A
• letters to the editor
• sources for more information.
Four pages is a fairly standard length for a newsletter. It can help to sketch out a page
plan to help you visualise what content could go where, and how all your different
sections best fit together.
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Developing content
Things to consider when developing the content:
• Select a title that helps to communicate the purpose of the newsletter.
• Remember what you are trying to achieve and make sure each article works
towards achieving this.
• Think about the tone of the newsletter. An editor’s letter will help set this. One tip
is to have an individual in your head that represents your target audience and
write as if you were talking to that one person.
• Only run items that won’t be out of date in a month (or however long it takes to
produce the newsletter).
• Bear your word count in mind from the outset (this is dictated by the template to
a large degree).
Top writing tips:

• refer to house style guidelines
• keep it short and to the point
• always give articles a heading
• always give pictures a caption
• find a local angle for your readers
• provide a list of URLs where readers can find out more
• always get someone else to proofread the content
• encourage a reader response.
Using photos:
• Take a camera along to any event – images and photographs always make a
newsletter more appealing to the reader.
• Always seek permission from individuals before publishing their photo.
Designing the template

Design, in visual terms, is to do with making your information as engaging, distinct and
as accessible for your audience as possible.
Top layout tips:

• Decide on a size, and how many articles can comfortably fit on a side.
• Allow room for photographs and other visuals.
• Use headers/ sub-headers/ pull-out quotes from the body of the text to provide
different levels of information to different people.
• Make images quite big (ideally across two columns) so that they stand out.
• Align columns to the left. The ragged line on the right makes it easier for the eye
to read.
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Design a striking header that will be Choose a 2 or 3
used on every issue. column grid.
Always use a catchy
headline.
Always give Use sub- Include contact details

Include a footer pictures a headers for and website. Also add
with the Boxing off different
caption. registration details.
newsletter title, sections like the
articles.
publication contents makes it
month and easier to read.
issue.
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How to create a newsletter

Publisher’s point of view:

Reader’s point of view:

Before beginning production you’ll need to identify:

Sending a soft copy

Sending hard copies

Choosing a structure/ format

For example, your newsletter could include:

Top writing tips:

Designing the template

Top layout tips:

Always give Use sub- Include contact details

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