Questions to consider when writing a newsletter are:
Why am I writing a newsletter?
- what do you want to achieve by having such a publication?
- what are the long-term goals?
- how often will it be published?
- how will you judge its success or failure?
- What format will it be? Will it be print only, email or PDF download?
Who is my readership?
- what type of person will be reading the newsletter?
- what is the appropriate style and tone of the publication?
- what impression do you want to make?
- do you want feedback and will this be managed?
- who else is writing for your market and how?
What should it look like?
- what the most suitable format if it is being printed? (paper stock, colours, layout etc)
- how many pages will it have?
- what type of imagery should be used?
- will anyone else be contributing content?
What is the schedule for production?
- when do your readers need to receive your newsletter?
- has adequate time been built in to cover production and printing?
- who are you relying on to produce content or deliver copies?
- have you allowed time for thorough proof reading and sign-off procedures?
I hope these brief checklists were useful to you. I shall return to this topic in due course to give a more detailed overview of the subject.
