I love newsletters. They can be internal (for employees) or external (for everyone else), print or e-mail. While the brochure is a great tool to get new clients, a well-done newsletter is the best, most cost-effective tool to keep all of your markets informed about what you are doing. I tell clients to send their newsletters to past, present, and potential clients, associates, government officials, and suppliers.

If you plan to create a print newsletter, start with a quarterly, four page two colour piece. Producing a newsletter is very time consuming, so four pages in manageable and easy to read.

There are two elements to a newsletter: the design/layout and the copy. Over the past five years, I have conducted Newsletter Clinics for entrepreneurs, non-profits, and associations. Invariably, I find either the copy or the design of most newsletters is not great.

So what makes a good newsletter?

The first element, the design/layout, sets the tone. A well-designed newsletter can take four pages of unrelated copy and pull it together through the “look.” The elements to remember are the masthead, the body, screens, boxes, and borders. Include photos or art work throughout to break up the copy.

The second element is the copy. Make sure it is interesting, relevant, and conversational. A newsletter keeps people up to date. When sent to the media, a newsletter article can become the source for an article or segment.

The copy includes:

• Table of contents
• Letter from business owner or Executive Director
• Hard news and feature stories
• Contests and puzzles
• Illustrations, photographs,  clip art, and captions
• Reprints of articles
• Success stories
• Q and A
• Problems / Solutions
• What’s New: Products and Service
• Advertising
• Did you know? facts
• Build an action step