"People don't read newsletters!" WRONG! People Don't Read Bad Newsletters
Written by Lauron Sonnier
Company newsletters can be effective tools to establish your company and yourself as an expert and keep in touch with clients--if you do them well.
Here are a few initial tips to help you create a successful newsletter:
1. Remember that every newsletter must be a physical manifestation of your company, meaning they need to look and sound like you. Use your company colors--no exceptions. Be consistent and stick strictly to your company identity. Don't get cutesy by printing orange for Halloween and red and green for Christmas unless you use them in addition to your standard company colors.
2. Keep things informal by writing like you talk. Avoid stilted, boring corporate speak. Connect with your reader by being "real." Don't write in third person. Speak directly to your customers. Say "you" instead of "customers."
3. Give your audience real material and information that they can use. Reinforce what your company really does, why you do it, how you do it, and what that all means to them. Get deep and specific. People are busy and don't have time for fluff. Don't point out the obvious. Give them new information. Give them substance. Give them something they would want to spread around or post throughout the company.
4. If you aren't a good writer, hire one. Yes, it's that important.
5. Put impact into your titles. Your audience should be able to read only the headline and still learn something. Make sure the titles you choose accurately explain what the article is about. This isn't the time to be vague. Use succinct but colorful, descriptive titles.
6. Commit to high quality printing. Simply put, if your newsletter looks like junk, you look like junk. Only do as much as you can do well, even if that means your newsletter can only be a single sheet.
7. Include photos only when they are good quality and well-cropped. No one needs to see a messy desk, Joe from Accounting's left arm, or your place of business if it's surrounded by unsightly, overgrown shrubs. Bad backgrounds can send the wrong message. Keep in mind that absolutely everything in the photo represents you.
8. Yes, it's your newsletter, but it's about "them"--your target market. Why should they read it? How will it make them, their life or their business smarter, better, or easier? If you must use jokes or crossword puzzles, use them very sparingly. Make it worth the reader's time to read it.
By Lauron Sonnier of Sonnier Marketing & Communications, Inc. Lauron teaches and coaches companies how to turn their companies into marketing machines. She also writes, stars, and co-produces a series of marketing segments soon to debut on HoustonPBS called Standing Out with Lauron Sonnier. She may be reached at
Company newsletters can be effective tools to establish your company and yourself as an expert and keep in touch with clients--if you do them well. 
