Your employees may not admit it, but they are a curious bunch. They want to hear the inside scoop on how the company landed that new customer last week. They want to know more about their co-worker’s lives. And, they want to be reminded that there is only one week left to enroll in a new health plan. A monthly company newsletter can deliver all of that information and more.
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done
Know what to write about
It’s easier to generate article ideas if you have identified general topic categories that you can cover in every issue.
I recommend: Freenewsletters.com suggests
seven topic categories to get you started.
Take the paper route
If your employees don’t have easy access to a computer, or if you simply like the idea of literally putting the newsletter into employees’ hands, a printed newsletter is the way to go. Newsletter templates will help you make quick work of designing and laying out your publication. Before settling on a design, ask your printer about margin widths and other important specifications.
I recommend: Microsoft offers templates that are designed specifically for print newsletters. You can download them for free and use them with Microsoft Office. Get printing quotes from local printers or visit a Web-based printing company such as
VistaPrint.
Go electronic
How about giving employees the option of reading the newsletter on their computer monitor or printing it out for later reading? You can do that with a newsletter that is e-mailed to them as an attachment or pasted into the e-mail message window.
I recommend: Constant Contact offers several attractive templates that come with a template wizard to guide you through the process of inserting articles and other newsletter elements.
Microsoft also provides dozens of e-newsletter templates that are suitable for an employee newsletter.
Outsourcing options
If you don’t have the time or staff to produce your newsletter in-house, a freelance corporate communications writer can produce the content for you. He or she can also help you find a freelance graphic designer to design the newsletter if you don’t want to use a pre-designed newsletter template (see above). A more costly option is to sign on with a firm that will take care of the entire newsletter production process for you.
I recommend: To find a qualified employee newsletter writer, contact your regional chapter of
The International Association of Business Communicators. If you prefer to work with a turnkey newsletter company, consider
Company Newsletters or
Grapevine Communications.
Find out if your readers are happy
Once or twice a year, ask employees what they think of the newsletter and solicit their ideas for improving it.
I recommend: Use an online survey tool. You can conduct a basic survey for free through
SurveyMonkey.
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