Tips of the trade for newsletters.Move over magazines. Between ever-tightening association budgets and loudening groans from members too busy to read, newsletter may have become the communication vehicles of choice. It remains that a major reason members join an association is for access to information, and it's no news that they want it faster and in briefer form. The increasing popularity and importance of newsletters have spurred many associations to revamp re·vamp tr.v. re·vamped, re·vamp·ing, re·vamps 1. To patch up or restore; renovate. 2. To revise or reconstruct (a manuscript, for example). 3. To vamp (a shoe) anew. n. the ones they publish. The enhancements have been not only in editorial and design, but also in planning, budgeting, advertising, production, printing, distribution, and staffing. If you're ready to consider changes for your newsletter -- or you're thinking of launching one -- the following collection of tips may trigger content and design ideas, time efficiencies, or cost savings. The association executives and consultants who contributed the tips are listed near the end of the article. The majority of these contributors have won ASAE ASAE American Society of Association Executives ASAE American Society of Agricultural Engineers (Society for Engineering in Agricultural, Food, and Biological Systems) ASAE Alkali-Sulfite-Anthraquinone-Ethanol Gold Circle Awards in recognition of the excellence displayed by their publications. Planning * In your association's long-range plan, address the communication program, and include a description of the newsletter purpose, objectives, and audience. * Especially for newsletters in their first to fifth years of publication, write a statement of purpose. Having one helps the executive director and the editor deal diplomatically with leaders' demands for articles or desires to write columns. * Plan at least one year's worth of features, interviews, and debates. * Solicit input from members. Plan regular phone contact with a random sample, and use surveys and focus groups to garner additional feedback. * Avoid the temptation to delay publication for time-sensitive decisions. Establish a policy to guide staff in deciding whether to use the newsletter, fax, or mail to communicate time-sensitive information. * Realize that each columnist and regular contribute to the newsletter feels like the exception to the deadlines rules. Support your editor's efforts to deliver a well-planned, timely publication; promote the need for all staff to meet publishing deadlines. Budgeting * Consider expanding the circulation of your newsletter from member-only to industrywide in·dus·try·wide adv. & adj. Throughout an entire industry: sales that have decreased industrywide; industrywide cooperation. to make it more attractive to potential advertisers. If you do so, you'll need to budget for a publication audit and for promotions to sell the newsletter. * If you use a functional allocation system for financial records, allocate portions of your newsletter according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. their function as well. If you devote a page of your newsletter to promoting association products and services, allocate a proportionate pro·por·tion·ate adj. Being in due proportion; proportional. tr.v. pro·por·tion·at·ed, pro·por·tion·at·ing, pro·por·tion·ates To make proportionate. cost to marketing. Think about allocating staff time proportionately pro·por·tion·ate adj. Being in due proportion; proportional. tr.v. pro·por·tion·at·ed, pro·por·tion·at·ing, pro·por·tion·ates To make proportionate. , too. * Realize significant reductions in printing and mailing costs by providing members with fax-on-demand, electronic mail, and bulletin board systems. With these communication vehicles, members absorb materials charges to obtain hard copies of the information they want. Advertising * Be aware of the fact that commissions paid for advertising sales for association publications often fall within 15 percent to 20 percent of net ad revenue. If your newsletter advertising is expected to generate only a few thousand dollars, don't expect commission to be the sole income of your ad representative. Especially with a start-up, expect ad space to be sold by a salaried employee whom you dedicate ded·i·cate tr.v. ded·i·cat·ed, ded·i·cat·ing, ded·i·cates 1. To set apart for a deity or for religious purposes; consecrate. 2. to sales. * Because advertising space in an association's magazine may compete with space sales for the newsletter, consider offering advertisers an attractive package that includes placement in both. * Train your staff to refer all leads to the ad reps. In addition to contacting your exhibitors, your advertising department may sell ad space to people interested in seminars or services from the association, people seeking the association's endorsement for their products or services, and people who have inquired about mailing list An automated e-mail system on the Internet, which is maintained by subject matter. There are thousands of such lists that reach millions of individuals and businesses. New users generally subscribe by sending an e-mail with the word "subscribe" in it and subsequently receive all new rental or purchase. * If your newsletter is one- or two-color, offer potential advertisers the option of supplying you with full-color half or full sheets that can be folded, wrapped, blown, or bound in the newsletter. Don't charge only for preparation and handling; also charge based on access to members. * If your newsletter has a limited circulation, consider offering advertisers an exclusive sponsorship of an entire issue. * If you are planning to start an advertising program, be prepared to invest money in hiring an entrepreneurial employee to oversee the program. Weigh the cost in staff time to sell ad space and to perform the related administrative functions. * Develop research about reader demographics The attributes of people in a particular geographic area. Used for marketing purposes, population, ethnic origins, religion, spoken language, income and age range are examples of demographic data. to convince advertisers that your publication reaches their target market. Unless you are prepared to approach an advertising program aggressively and to bear the cost of demographic research, you may end up with a revenue drain. * Be prepared to conduct a publication audit, which potential advertisers might expect so that they know your newsletter is wanted by the people who receive it. The audit confirms the value of the publication to the reader. Editorial * Ask membership applicants to list the publications they read regularly. Note the common threads among the responses, and aim your newsletter's readability at that level. * Consider using an editorial board of members and industry leaders to help focus your newsletter. An effective board pinpoints issues that address member needs, suggests authors, and provides occasional articles. * Develop a well-defined mission statement to guide the editorial and design staff. Include a description of the primary and secondary audiences. If the secondary audience is sizable siz·a·ble also size·a·ble adj. Of considerable size; fairly large. siz  a·ble·ness n. -- perhaps 10 percent of
the readership -- avoid copy that assumes that all readers know the key
people, issues, and jokes of your industry or profession.
* To help encourage members to write, use their photos to garner recognition from peers. * Use photo captions as an opportunity to engage skimmers in an article. Write captions as if the reader will only look at the photos. One approach is to restate re·state tr.v. re·stat·ed, re·stat·ing, re·states To state again or in a new form. See Synonyms at repeat. re·state a single point from the article so that skimmers pick up a major theme. Another approach is to incorporate into the caption some information that doesn't appear in the story. * Develop a working relationship with the trade press. In addition to promoting good public relations public relations, activities and policies used to create public interest in a person, idea, product, institution, or business establishment. By its nature, public relations is devoted to serving particular interests by presenting them to the public in the most placements, you'll also garner leads to issues and occurrences that others in the field consider important. Design * Make sure the design of your newsletter reflects the image of the association. * Do not expect a person with computer inputting experience to be able to design a newsletter even if you provide appropriate software. Design skill requires training. * Unless you have a substantial amount of design work at your association (because of multiple publications, for instance), consider outsourcing this function. It might be best to hire a freelance professional to create for the first issue a design format that is then followed by an in-house staff person responsible for successive issues. * Consider the weight and focus that should be given to articles. Size of headline, placement of articles on the page, length of each article and accompanying sidebars and graphics, and sequence within the publication guide readers to the stories with the most importance. * Think about redesigning the newsletter when the association reaches an important anniversary year or adds a significant new pool of members. A publication redesign is an excellent means of communicating a major milestone in the life of the association. * Enter your newsletter in design competitions to help you obtain an objective evaluation. Production and printing * If you outsource typesetting typesetting: see printing. typesetting Setting of type for use in any of various printing processes. Type for printing, using woodblocks, was invented in China in the 11th century, and movable type using metal molds had appeared in Korea by the 13th and design and are considering a switch to desktop publishing desktop publishing, system for producing printed materials that consists of a personal computer or computer workstation, a high-resolution printer (usually a laser printer), and a computer program that allows the user to select from a variety of type fonts and sizes, , analyze all aspects of the change and calculate the net gain. While you may save money in some areas by bringing your newsletter in-house, your staff-time allocations will have to shift to cover these services, with consequence to salary and compensation line items. * Remember that desktop publishing equipment and software require a trained user. Understand the skill level of the staff person who will handle desktop publishing, and plan to outsource as necessary to complement that person's skills. Some areas for outsourcing: original design of the masthead mast·head n. 1. Nautical The top of a mast. 2. The listing in a newspaper or periodical of information about its staff, operation, and circulation. 3. , template designs for each page, and color scanning. * Be careful not to buy software that exceeds the skills and training you are willing to provide your staff. * Send your editor for a site visit with the printer to be sure the editor understands how your newsletter fits into the usual production runs at the plant. This knowledge can help the editor prevent printing delays. * Review your paper costs: They may be higher than necessary for your needs. Are you using a standard- or nonstandard-size paper? Is your paper the appropriate quality? If your newsletter master is created on a dot-matrix printer dot-matrix printer An impact printer that prints text and graphic images by hammering the ends of pins against an ink ribbon. This produces characters or images made up of a matrix, or pattern, of dots. at 300 dots per inch, you are better off with a coarse paper. If your camera-ready work is laser output, a high-quality paper is appropriate. * Low competitive bids on newsletter printing are important, but do not automatically jump to the low bid. Service is especially important. One editor of a weekly newsletter noted that a three-hour turnaround is delivered every Friday by a printer who receives the master by 2 p.m. and mails out the finished product that evening. Other printers bid the project lower but will not commit to the demanding turnaround. * Meet the printers at least annually to learn how their new technologies can help meet your needs. If you have been sending hard copy for a typesetter See imagesetter. to input, you may now be able to send a disk. If you've been sending a disk, you may now be able to hook up a modem and download. Distribution * Fax your newsletter to the board whenever you have information to impart that the board should receive in advance of the membership. * Put critical information online for members to access even when the association office is closed. For example, multiple listing services for real estate agents work well online. * Use first-class mail, despite the extra cost, if the members' need for timely information is great. This is especially the case for associations that serve a narrow membership base that is not well covered by other industry or professional publications. Legal * After each issue of the newsletter comes out, file copyright papers with the copyright office. While a printed claim of copyright is worthwhile, actual filing provides your association with additional protections. * Have authors sign an agreement that transfers copyright for their articles to your association. Ideally, this agreement transfers full ownership of all rights, titles, and interests. Staff * As you bring more and more of the production process in-house, offer as much staff training as necessary for editors who may have concentrated more in the past on editorial content than design, for department managers who are expected to write for the newsletter, and for any other staff expected to acquire new skills. * To help keep the newsletter on time, look for the right balance between staff writing and freelance writing. Freelance writers many times are dedicated to deadlines in a way that's more difficult for staff, who get sidetracked by conflicting internal priorities. * Make sure the newsletter is mandatory reading for all staff. Every employee should be familiar enough with the information contained to answer member questions or quickly direct members to the appropriate staff person for a response. Resources The following resources are available from ASAE's Association Management Press. Phone: (202) 626-2748. Fax: (202) 408-9634. Text telephone for people with hearing impairments hearing impairment n. A reduction or defect in the ability to perceive sound. : (202) 626-2803. * Every one's Guide to Successful Publications, by Elizabeth W. Adler (Peachpit Press, 1993); #AMR (1) (Adaptive Multi-Rate) A variable rate speech codec selected by the 3GPP for the 3G evolution of the GSM cellphone system (WCDMA). Using the Algebraic CELP (ACELP) compression technology, AMR provides toll quality sound at transmission rates from 4.75 to 12. 210688; $28 members; $34 nonmembers * Newsletters From the Desktop: Designing Effective Publications With Your Computer, 2nd Edition, by Joe Grossmann with David Doty (Ventana Press, 1994); #AMR210390; $24.95 members; #30 nonmembers * Producing a First-Class Newsletter, by Barbara A. Fanson (Self-Counsel Press, 1992); #AMR210835; $14.95 members; $18 nonmembers Contributors * Carol Bufton, CAE (1) (Computer-Aided Engineering) Software that analyzes designs which have been created in the computer or that have been created elsewhere and entered into the computer. , President, Minnesota Safety Council, St. Paul St. Paul as a missionary he fearlessly confronts the “perils of waters, of robbers, in the city, in the wilderness.” [N.T.: II Cor. 11:26] See : Bravery * Annette Cohen cohen or kohen (Hebrew: “priest”) Jewish priest descended from Zadok (a descendant of Aaron), priest at the First Temple of Jerusalem. The biblical priesthood was hereditary and male. , Associate Publisher/Advertising, National Association of Realtors The National Association of Realtors (NAR) is made up of residential and commercial realtors who are brokers, salespeople, property managers, appraisers, and counselors, and others working in the real estate industry. , Chicago * Bill Fischer Bill Fischer can refer to:
abbr. 1. National Education Association 2. National Endowment for the Arts NEA (US) n abbr (= National Education Association) → Verband für das Erziehungswesen Today, National Education Association, Washington, D.C. * Marjorie Green, Associate Publisher/Editor, Realtor News, National Association of Realtors, Washington, D.C., office * Kristin Josephson, Director of Public Relations, The Greater Baltimore Board of Realtors, Inc., Maryland * Karen Keating, Director of Communications Director of Communications is a position in the private and public sectors. The Director of Communications is responsible for managing and directing an organization's internal and external communications. and Meetings, Association for Advanced Life Underwriting Underwriting 1. The process by which investment bankers raise investment capital from investors on behalf of corporations and governments that are issuing securities (both equity and debt). 2. The process of issuing insurance policies. , Washington, D.C. * Ann Kulenkamp, Director of Communication, Minnesota Safety Council, St. Paul * Polly Pattison, Designer and Consultant, Westminster, California * Julie Reeves Julie Reeves (born June 18, 1974) is an American country music singer. Reeves grew up in Ashland, Kentucky and made her way to country music mecca Nashville in 1994. She worked as a singer on demo recordings and in other odd jobs. , Manager of Communications, National Council of State Housing Agencies, Washington, D.C. * Janet Riley, Editor and Designer, AMI Newsletter, American Meat Institute The American Meat Institute is an organization composed primarily of US meat producers. It was founded in 1906 and is today located in Washington, DC. AMI provides assistance and representation for member organizations. , Washington, D.C. * Janet Smith This article is about the judge. For the professor of moral theology, see Janet E. Smith. Dame Janet Hilary Smith, DBE (born 29 November 1940), styled The Rt Hon. , Publications Director, National Association for Law Placement, Washington, D.C. * Kim E. Williams, Director of Publications, International Communications Industries communications industry, broadly defined, the business of conveying information. Although communication by means of symbols and gestures dates to the beginning of human history, the term generally refers to mass communications. Association, Fairfax, Virginia Fairfax is an independent city forming an enclave within the confines of Fairfax County, in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Although politically independent of the surrounding county, the City of Fairfax is nevertheless its county seatGR6. |
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