Planning Your Newsletter
“The purpose of every newsletter is to unite a group of people who have a common interest by giving them the common base of information they need to be useful members of that group. That strengthens the group because people can do so much more together than they can do alone.”
-Paul F. Eno, founder and owner of New River Press
NEW RIVER PRESS IS NOT ACCEPTING NEW NEWSLETTER CLIENTS AT THIS TIME
Before launching your newsletter, you must be clear on exactly what you want, need and can afford. This checklist is the place to start. Your New River Press editor will guide you through it and help you make the right decisions for your readership and your budget.
1) WHAT DO YOU WANT YOUR NEWSLETTER TO DO? Good newsletters inform, excite and entertain, and even inexpensive ones can do all these things to some degree. But you must have a clear focus in mind: Do you want two pages of basic news with a calendar of events? Or do you want 32 pages with original news, feature stories, columns, photo spreads, opinion pieces, advertising and more?
2) WHO IS YOUR AUDIENCE? This is crucial in determining what kind of newsletter you need. Will it target retail customers for your business? Residents of your condominium or apartment complex? Members of your trade association? Employees of your company? Will your audience tend to be highly educated? Do they have specific interests or needs? What will the readers have in common? How will they be different?
3) HOW MUCH CAN YOU SPEND? Of course, the larger your budget, the more ambitious your newsletter can be. But a high-end newsletter won’t necessarily be the most effective for your purpose and your audience.
4) HOW INVOLVED DO YOU AND/OR YOUR STAFF WANT TO BE? Are you or a staffer prepared to do news gathering and writing, or do you need New River Press to handle it all? At the very least, you will have to proof the newsletter and approve it before it goes to press.
5) HOW MANY PEOPLE WILL RECEIVE THE NEWSLETTER? The more you print, the more expensive the newsletter will be.
6) DO YOU WANT COLOR? This, of course, can significantly affect price. Cheaper “spot” color and grays can be used very effectively if full color is too expensive.
7) DO YOU WANT YOUR NEWSLETTER ONLINE? New River Press will upload your newsletter in .pdf format, and even host it on the New River Press website, free of charge as long as you are a customer in good standing. But online can’t take the place of print: If it’s only online, people have to work to get to it (log in, type in an address, etc.) and they don’t like to do that. A printed newsletter falls right into their hands.
8) CUSTOM OR GENERIC? New River Press is developing several lines of very inexpensive, “generic” newsletters for several constituencies, notably commercial contractors and condominium associations. We are willing to consider others. Would you be willing to subscribe to this service, with largely “boilerplate” copy but a unique newsletter name and personalized sections for your own group?
NEW RIVER PRESS IS NOT ACCEPTING NEW NEWSLETTER CLIENTS AT THIS TIME
New River Press
Full Editorial, Design and Production Services for Companies, Associations and Authors
Writers, Editors and Producers of Award-Winning Newsletters for Companies and Associations
Advertising Sales for Client Publications · Publishers of Unusual New England Books
645 Fairmount St. · Woonsocket, RI 02895
Phone: (401) 765-4948 · Toll free: (800) 244-1257
Fax: (401) 356-0913 · E-mail: info@newriverpress.com
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