The Plan is…

Here we are in mid-December. In addition to all the traditional holiday festivities, December is the month when most businesses lock down their plans for the upcoming year. There are plans for marketing programs, budgets, sales projections, staffing targets, new product introductions, et.al.

There are also plans for activities throughout departments and staffing groups as well. One of those of particular interest to us is the company newsletter. Unfortunately many organizations don’t think their newsletters through. In other words, they don’t develop any plans for them. Some organizations don’t even plan for how many newsletters they are to produce in the coming year.

One of the keys to a newsletter’s success is regularity. If your newsletter is going to be monthly, then by golly, it should go out monthly – preferably on a designated day. For example, the JPTearsheet comes out on the 15th of the month. (Today is December 15.) Others opt for the first of the month. While not as precise, there is regularity in publishing on something like the first business day of the month. Not precise, but still regular.

In addition, topics for the newsletters should at least be “roughed out” early on. These schedules don’t have to be set in stone – after all, the unexpected can and does happen. As we write this piece, the JPTearsheet has no less than eight possible lead stories identified for the coming months. There is no priority and none are slotted for any given month, but they in the plan.

Some organizations are fortunate enough to maintain a staple of “evergreen” newsletter articles. These are articles that can be used at any time, any month, any season. They sit on the shelf for those times when there is no lead story available and they can be worked into the schedule at a moment’s notice.

Granted, planning a newsletter may not be as critical as planning for new capital expenditures, but if you want your newsletter to be successful, it’s something that should be worked into your planning just as you would any business activity.

If you would like more information on how to make your newsletter more successful, check out our downloadable e-booklet on newsletters here.

“A newsletter is a promise to keep showing up with something worth opening.” — anonymous