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NEWSLETTERS
~by
Robyne Beaubien Newsletters are a great way to encourage
and inform women in your church. They can also be a great outreach
tool. Here are some tips for newsletter publications. Pray. Continually
ask that you do God's will, not your own will. Make your publication
accountable and purposeful. Take a stand. Make it clear
who is writing it and what the purpose is. Know your audience. Know
who they are, what their expectations are, what their needs are.
Focus on them, not on what you want to say! Clearly differentiate
between opinions and facts. Facts usually have dates,
times, paragraph references associated with them. Opinions should
obviously start off "It is my opinion that .......".
or "It seems to me......." Find the good stuff.
Quote other sources frequently. Network with experts to help share
ideas. Get permission to use articles, poetry, recipes, tips, and
stories you have found on websites. People will generally be glad
to help you out as long as you give them proper credit. Make it easy to read. Write
so everyone can understand. Use headlines so that people can skip
over things not of interest. Use footnotes for references to large
quotations. Repeat yourself. Repeatedly hammer on key truths. Find
interesting ways to share announcements. Be as accurate as possible. When
publishing dates and descriptions be sure that you have correct times,
dates, and information. It is frustrating for the readers (and the
publisher!) to have inaccurate information. If this happens several
times the readers will not value the information they are receiving
- making the newsletter ineffective. Involve others. Get women
to submit articles, book reviews, recipes, etc... People love seeing
their name in print and the more people you involve, the more enthusiasm
there will be for the project. Balance meat and potatoes with
dessert. Vary the articles on each page. Group like
items together, but don't fill the first half of the newsletter
with fun stuff and stick all the serious items at the end. Use graphics. Art,
charts, cartoons, pictures... whatever you like. Don't be afraid of the white space. Leave
some here and there around articles and art to give the readers'
eyes a rest. Newsletter format. Several
formats work well for the distribution of a small newsletter. Here
are two formats that we especially recommend. The first uses one
11"x17" sheet of paper, folded lengthwise to create a 4-page
8-1/2"x11" newsletter. Your issues should never be more
than 4 pages in length. With this format, the newsletter can be quarter-folded,
taped or tabbed at the edges, and mailed without an envelope. The
top of the fourth page will be used for your return address (a P.O.
Box or home address) and space will be provided for the mailing label.
The second format uses one 8-1/2"x11" paper, giving you
a two-page newsletter. This one piece of paper is then tri-folded
and stuffed into a No. 10 envelope for mailing. Proofing. Once
the newsletter is complete, you should carefully proof it to be sure
it is exactly what you want and error free. Note any changes or corrections.
While you should try to correct any mistakes, this is not the time
to make a lot of changes or to add a small section. Changes such
as these may involve re-laying out entire pages, which takes time.
Have one or two other people proofread for grammar, spelling, punctuation,
etc... Easy
readability is essential. How will a reader seeing your layout
for the first time perceive the message you’re trying convey?
Here are some facts on publications:
> Reversed body copy is 50% less effective than non-reversed.
> Headlines below illustrations or photographs are read by
10% more readers.
> More people read captions under photos or illustrations
than read body copy.
> Body copy that tells a story will get higher readership
than sales copy that stresses only benefits. People want to be entertained.
> Serif typefaces allow the eye to follow faster and
are a good choice for body text.
> Studies have proven it is difficult for the reader's
eye to follow and return to the next line when the line length is excessive. > Break
wide text areas into easier to read columns. Below is an example of a online newsletter
that could be adapted for publication. |
