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Newsletter Template & Design
The advantage to having a newsletter template, no matter what software you use, is simply to save repetitive work every month. It is the same concept as having a letterhead for a business or ministry. The logo or style brings familiarity to the reader and the important contact information is always there. In fact, a letter with a letterhead is a great start if you are going to do primarily a email newsletter, but want to supplement that mailing with a postal mailing. You can simply take your email newsletter text and copy and paste it into your letter - simple and quick. Here are the major components to a template: 1. Design:Come up with a simple design that you will use over and over. The more powerful the software, obviously the more design you can add. Below is a simple text version of a newsletter template I have been using for years with one of my newsletters. Simply by using keys that are rarely used in a pattern you can develop a design. Look at your keypad right now and come up with a combination you like and then repeat it: ~*~*~*~ You can put a design at the top, bottom, or anywhere where you want a divider or break in your newsletter.2. Title:Have a title to your design that is used every time - add it to your newsletter template. It can be as simple as your name - but keep it consistent to every issue - it is the title of your newsletter, not the title to the current months news. That can be a separate title underneath.3. Date:You will want to date your newsletter template. Both you and your readers may want to go back and re-read or check on one of your issues and this is the easiest way that makes sense.4. Personalize Greeting:This is an absolute must. With your offline version, you can add a personal note to a newsletter with your pen - so a newsletter without a personal greeting is ok when accompanied by a personally signed letter. With an online version, having a personal greeting is one way you can make your on-line version more personal. This is the only place or field where you will need to type in each name seperately into the newsletter, but it is worth it! When your list becomes too big for this, there are tools or software you can use that will "mail merge" names into the newsletter automatically, just as in a "mail merge" function with a good word processor. When your list gets to be over 50 or 100, you may want to look into a service like Awebber - http://www.aweber.com - that will provide email list and sending management tools for you. Go here for more understanding on why to personalize your newsletter.Tip: Personalize your Newsletter.5. Body of Newsletter:We will discuss how, what kind, and where to get content on another page in this site, but this is the part of the monthly newsletter that will change every month, not part of your newsletter template. The body will contain your monthly news; and depending upon the software you are using, either have pics or links to places where your readers can read more and have pics - like a blog.6. Sig File:This stands for signiture file. This contains your name and contact information and the link to any web tool you have where your readers can go for more information. It should remain consistent on your newsletter template.7. Support Information:This is where you put down how your readers can contribute to your ministry - the pragmatic information they need like where to send a check, who to make it out to, etc. Put this in EVERY month. You can include this before or after your sig file. If you are raising support for a shorter term project that changes or will change, put that in the body part of the newsletter. Keep your personal support information the same and consistent each newsletter. If it is an on-line version, you may want to consider using the tool Paypal so you can recieve funds quicker, and your supporters can use a credit card without you having to open a merchant account.8. Unsubscribe:Always include a line at the bottom of your email to explain how your readers can unsubscribe. This helps prevent spam complaints and is common courtesy with newsletters.Here is a simple template for an Notepad newsletter:'`'`'`'`'`' The Works Team '`'`'`'`'`' '`'`'`'`' October 07 '`'`'`'`' Hi **name**: Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blab blab Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blab blab Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blab blab Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blab blab Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blab blab Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blab blab Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blab blab Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blab blab Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blab blab Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blab blab Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blab blab Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blab blab Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blab blab Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blab blab On Behalf of "The Works Team," Blessings, Curt Johnson curt@johnsonfamilymissions.org 815-918-4304 http://www.missionary fundraiser.com To support Curt, please send your tax deductible check made out to YWAM to ****************, send to ********** ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To be removed from this email list, please reply and put "REMOVE" in the subject line and body of email... Or you can send a letter to 704 Candlewick Dr. NEPoplar Grove, IL 61065 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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