SIX STEPS TO MORE SUCCESSFUL NEWSLETTERS by Dr. Jeffrey Lant If you're already producing either a free client or subscription newsletter, you're spending a bundle on it. (Take note if you're thinking of getting into the newsletter game.) Frankly, with all the money you're spending, you'd be crazy not to want to maximize your investment and get the last dime's worth of return from it. That's why I'm so pleased my friend Roger Parker, the hard-working desktop design specialist, has written a new book on the subject. Called NEWSLETTERS FROM THE DESKTOP: PRODUCING EFFECTIVE PUBLICATIONS WITH YOUR COMPUTER, it's packed with the kind of no-nonsense information Roger's become famous for. I asked him to share some tips on how to get better results from your newsletter. Prompt as always, he whipped up the following six-step Design Improvement Program that'll pay big dividends for you. Says Roger, "Improving the appearance of your newsletter contributes to its effectiveness by making it easier for readers to understand your message." In addition, improved newsletter design non-verbally signals your readers that your words are important. Just as you wouldn't buy an expensive suit from a poorly dressed sales person, your readers subconsciously use the appearance of your newsletter to place a value on its contents. According to Roger, "The best way to design a new newsletter, or redesign an existing one, is to divide the newsletter into its component parts. By analyzing and refining each part you can easily develop a newsletter which projects the right image and makes your words easy to read." Here are the six major parts of a newsletter and things to look for -- and look out for -- within each area. Step One: Provide a strong nameplate Roger points out the nameplate is the distinctive way the title of your newsletter appears on the front cover. A successful nameplate, or banner as it's often called, becomes a visual symbol of your newsletter. Nameplates provide clues about newsletter contents and editorial thrust. Successful nameplates also provide important issue-to-issue consistency. "An effective nameplate," recommends Roger, "is large enough to be noticeable at a glance. Yet, the nameplate should not be so large that it dominates the front page of your newsletter and competes with adjacent photographs and editorial material." There are three parts to the nameplate: title, subtitle and dateline. The title should be as short as possible, set in a large, distinctive typeface. All the words in the title do not have to be the same size. You can emphasize the most important word by setting it in a larger type size or a heavier weight type than the others. Roger says, "One way to add character to the title of your newsletter is to tighten-up letter spacing. You might even experiment with having the letters touch each other. Or, you can space the letters across the top of your newsletter." A free source of inspiration for designing newsletter nameplates is to visit a local newsstand and look at the images projected by the various magazine titles on display. The subtitle should be set in a smaller type size than the title. The subtitle should elaborate upon the title by emphasizing the target market or editorial slant of your newsletter. The dateline portion of the nameplate contains volume and issue number plus publication date. Nameplates can be boxed, highlighted by parallel rules, or reversed -- that is, white letters can appear against a black, shaded or colored background. As you evaluate your newsletter, here are three questions Roger recommends you ask yourself: . Is the nameplate large enough to provide visual identification without overwhelming the page? . Have I added visual interest to the nameplate by emphasizing the most important words? . Have I tightened up letter spacing to add character to the title and eliminate unwanted space between letters? Step Two: Guide your readers "A great deal of the effectiveness of your newsletter is based on the reader cues you provide," stresses Roger. Reader cues include headlines, subheads, pull-quotes and jumplines. Reader cues make it easy for readers to make favorable "read now!" instead of "read later, maybe" decisions. Headlines are the most important category of reader cues. Headlines tease readers into reading the articles they introduce by summarizing article content and providing a transition into the body copy. Roger warns that headlines succeed to the extent that they visually contrast with adjacent body copy. "Headlines should be set in a larger type size than the articles they introduce. Contrast can be heightened by using a bolder or heavier weight type." Roger points out that your newsletter's appearance gains to the extent that you use the same typeface for all headlines. This avoids the "ransom note" effect which occurs when every headline is set in a different typeface. Although the same typeface should be used, a larger type size can be used to introduce articles of greater importance. Subheads break long articles into manageable, bite-sized chunks. Subheads increase article readership by permitting readers to preview article contents by skimming the articles. Each subhead offers readers a "hook" to begin reading. Subheads also make it easy for readers to go back and review important points. As a rule of thumb, include subheads every three or four paragraphs in long articles. "Subheads should be midway in size between headlines and body copy," suggests Roger. Approximately twice as much space should separate subheads from preceding paragraphs than the paragraphs they introduce. Best results are often achieved by using the same typeface used as headlines. Pull-quotes are short phrases, sometimes entire sentences, which summarize adjacent articles. Pull-quotes are often set in italics, because italics communicate in a conversational tone. Jumplines help readers locate articles which are contained on different pages. Jumplines should be set in a smaller type size than body copy. As you evaluate the reader cues in your newsletter, Roger suggests you ask yourself these four questions: . Are headlines large enough to be easily located? . Do my subheads stand out from the body copy they introduce? . Have I used pull-quotes to personalize my newsletter and summarize adjacent articles? . Is it easy to locate articles continued on inside pages? Step three: Making body copy easy to read According to the very knowledgeable Roger, "There are three steps involved in making newsletter articles easy to read: choose the right typeface, choose the right type size and choose the right alignment." One of your first decisions involves deciding between serif and sans serif type for body copy. Serif typefaces are characterized by letters with tiny decorations, or feet. Serifs enhance body copy readership by providing letter-to-letter transitions which guide the reader's eyes from letter to letter and word to word. Times Roman is one of the most popular serif typefaces. After choosing the right typeface, choose the right type size. There is a close relationship between type size and the width of the columns it's placed in. Warns Roger, "Large type set in narrow columns is difficult to read because many words will be hyphenated, or split between two lines." Small type set in wide columns is difficult to read because readers lose their place between the end of one line and the beginning of the next. As a rule of thumb, Roger Parker recommends aiming for between 26 and 40 characters per line. There are two ways text can be placed in columns: flush-left/ragged-right and justified. Flush-left/ragged-right type is characterized by equal word spacing and unequal amounts of white space at the end of each line. Justified text occurs when each line is the same length. Lines of equal length are created by increasing or decreasing word spacing on each line. Roger reminds that your choice of flush-left/ragged-right or justified type influences both the appearance and tone of your newsletter. Flush-left/ragged-right text often projects a friendlier, more contemporary appearance. The varying amounts of white space at the ends of each line opens up the pages and makes them more inviting. Justified text, however, projects a more dignified and serious appearance. As a general rule, whichever alternative you choose, you should be consistent throughout your newsletter, i.e. if some articles are justified, all articles should be justified. As you design, or redesign, your newsletter, Rogers suggests you ask yourself: . Have I chosen an easy-to-read body copy typeface? . Is there a pleasing relationship between type size and column width? . Have I chosen a typeface alignment which is appropriate for the atmosphere I'm trying to project in my newsletter? Step Four: Making the most of photos and illustrations Roger points out you can greatly increase the impact of photographs by cropping and silhouetting. Cropping involves removing unnecessary detail at the edges of a photograph by cutting in from the top, bottom or sides. Cropping places emphasis upon important details by removing unnecessary foreground or background details. Cropping permits you to increase the size of the important parts of the photograph. Silhouetting is another way to eliminate distracting backgrounds. Silhouetting involves completely eliminating the background. You're left with just the shape of the most important object -- often an individual's head. This eliminates background distractions like computer screens, walls, florescent lights, etc. Silhouetting adds visual interest to photographs by changing them from squares or rectangles to more interesting shapes. When including pictures of individuals, Roger says "make sure the people are looking into the page, rather than staring off the page, (or over the reader's shoulders)." Place photographs looking to the right on the left hand side of your page, for example, and place photographs looking left on the right hand side of your page. When assembling pages with photographs of more than one person, be sure to make the sizes of their heads approximately equal. This unifies the page and eliminates confusion -- and possible hard feelings. Roger rightly says "Readers tend to rate a person's importance by the size of the head." As you evaluate your use of photographs, here are the three questions Roger says you should ask yourself: . Have I emphasized the important, story-telling parts of photographs by cropping and silhouetting to eliminate unnecessary details? . Are people looking into the page? . Are all head shots approximately the same size? Step Five: Use graphic accents to organize your pages Rules and boxes can be used to organize your reader's eye movement through your pages. Boxes and rules -- or lines -- of different weight can be used to tie together the top and bottom of each page. Boxes can be used to isolate sidebars -- short "articles within articles." Horizontal rules can be used to separate articles within columns. The detailed Parker points out that one of your most important decisions involves whether or not to add vertical downrules between columns. Often, vertical downrules are used because of habit, rather than necessity. Vertical downrules should be considered barriers to prevent readers from reading across columns, instead of up and down within columns. Vertical downrules are best used with a relatively larger type size and narrow column gutters. Vertical downrules are often not needed with justified text. Adds Parker, "Screens, or shades of gray, can be used to add emphasis to sidebars or short features. Always make sure that the background screens do not interfere with typeface legibility." According to Roger, as you evaluate your newsletter's graphic accents, ask yourself: . Have I chosen borders which provide page to page unity? . Can I defend my use of rules, boxes and screens on the basis of desired function rather than habit? Step Six: Working with repeating elements Each issue of your newsletter is likely to contain several repeating elements, like departments or features repeated in each issue, masthead information and address panels. You can speed-up newsletter production and strengthen issue-to-issue unity by developing consistent ways of handling these elements. For example, many newsletters contain a Letter from the Director or President's Report. You can increase the effectiveness of your newsletter by developing standardized department heads to introduce these features. These might be based on a photograph or signature which personalizes the feature. Other repeating features include calendar listings of upcoming events and "milestones" such as listings of births, weddings, promotions, and retirements. Mastheads contain address, telephone and subscription information plus a listing of those responsible for producing the newsletter. Since this information rarely changes from issue to issue, it's worth investing the time in designing a good-looking masthead. Mastheads are best placed on page two, although sometimes they're found on the front page. Each issue of your newsletter is likely to contain an address label panel. This should contain sufficient space for the postal permit (or stamp), mailing label as well as return address information. One of the most important repeating elements is the table of contents. A strong table of contents can increase newsletter readership by encouraging readers to turn to inside pages. Although usually found on the front cover, the table of contents can be placed in the address label area -- the first part of your newsletter readers are likely to encounter. When evaluating your use of repeating elements, here are two questions Roger suggests asking yourself: . Have I been consistent in the way I have treated departments and features which are included in each issue? . Does the masthead and table of contents appear in the same location in each newsletter? Conclusion The object of a newsletter, whether free or subscription, is to make sure people read what you've written... and take the action you want them to take when they've finished any individual article. Following the sensible design suggestions of authority Roger Parker will make sure they do! Resource Box Roger Parker is one smart cookie and knows what it takes to get people to pay attention to the copy you write in your newsletters. I'm delighted to recommend his new book NEWSLETTERS FROM THE DESKTOP: PRODUCING EFFECTIVE PUBLICATIONS WITH YOUR COMPUTER. ($26.95 postpaid). It's astonishingly detailed like all Roger's books and contains over 200 illustrations showing all aspects of newsletter design as well as an extensive glossary and information about the latest desktop publishing hardware and software. Get your copy from the Sure-Fire Business Success Catalog, 50 Follen St., Ste 507, Cambridge, MA 02138 or with MC/VISA from (617) 547-6372. Don't forget to ask for your FREE YEAR'S SUBSCRIPTION to this quarterly business resources guide with over 125 recommendations on how to make your business more profitable. _________________________________________________________________ Whatever you're writing -- newsletters, ads, brochures, cover letters, proposals, reports, etc -- use Dr. Jeffrey Lant's book CASH COPY: HOW TO OFFER YOUR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES SO YOUR PROSPECTS BUY THEM... NOW! 480 pages $27.95 postpaid from The Sure-Fire Business Success Catalog. To see if the documents you're producing will get people to buy what you're selling, call Jeffrey at (617) 547-6372 and read them. He'll tell you if you're throwing your money away -- or if you've got some winning marketing copy.