Reviewed October 2009

Christa Hartsook                                                
Communications Specialist
Ag Marketing Resource Center
Iowa State University Extension
hartc@iastate.edu

Newsletters are a solid form of communication. A newsletter can be informational to your current customers, but also a marketing piece to attract and interest potential customers. Newsletters can be sent via email subscription or in print.

Know Your Audience

Before writing your newsletter, you must know your audience. Know their interests, their knowledge of the subject and their reading level. Get to know at least a representative sample of your audience on a personal level.

• Write what your audience is interested in.
• Get ideas from:
  • personal contacts
  • phone calls
  • home/farm visits
  • commodity meetings
  • specialists
  • other agents' newsletters
  • popular press
• Write clear, concise, and interesting "news." Present tomorrow's issues today. Keep your reader up to date.
• Write about your audience and what they are doing. Include quotes from some of your clientele. Feature their successes.
• Plan ahead.
• Use a personal touch, if appropriate. Once your audience feels that they know your business and operational style, they may be more likely to call on you for additional information.
• Make it easy to read.
• Write titles, pull-quotes (quotes set in bigger text to stand out) and leads (opening paragraph) that grab the reader. The title, pull-quote or graphic gets them to read the first paragraph or lead. This is your opportunity to get them into the article. If you have a lousy lead, they won't find out how great the rest of the article is.
• Be consistent in your tense and person. Use correct grammar and spelling.
• Spell out any acronyms or abbreviations at least the first time they are used in each issue. Avoid technical jargon as much as possible.
• Use white space and clipart or photos to break up the page. Nothing is more daunting or boring than a page full of text.
• Have someone else read it. Pick someone willing to return the articles with scratches and notes all over it.
• Publish on a schedule so your readers will come to expect it. If you have regular articles announcing upcoming events or chores to be done at this time of year, your newsletter will serve as a reminder. You need to plan ahead for those extra chores and upcoming meetings as well.
• Be aware of postal regulations, for bulk mailing, including sorting, packing and sealing.
• Quote your sources.
• Adding articles written by others (with permission) can add to the credibility of your newsletter. It can also give the perception of having less personal bias.

To easily create a newsletter in Microsoft Word, follow these steps:

1. Open Microsoft Word and click File, New.
2. Go to Microsoft Office online and download the template you like for your newsletter look.
3. The newsletter opens automatically in the Word document you previously opened.
4. Fill in your information, proof, print and send.