Great Newsletters With Balancing Content
Balance As A Concept: Balance in any written work is not always a simple thing to explain but, if you think in terms of scales, one weight must always be balanced by another. The same applies to newsletters and newsletter articles, except that the balance must necessarily be in terms of the content itself or its format (the layout and the look of the newsletter or article). In this article we are concentrating more on content than layout but the universal ‘rules of balance’ will still apply. Despite the confusion that can come up in the minds of some writers, it really isn’t too hard a concept to grasp. A certain amount of circumspection is necessary though, as it can be only too easy sometimes to change the whole tenor of an article, or indeed a newsletter, without intending to.
Layout Balance: A page comprising a heavy amount of text is best balanced by the introduction of graphics and illustrations but even simple white space can be a huge improvement. A crowded page, especially one that is entirely presented in a tiny typeface with few or no breaks, is not good at any time. It is too suggestive of a legal document rather than an informative article. The introduction of space however, and other effects that ‘break up’ the piece into easily digested segments, can make a quite remarkable difference. These other effects include headings and sub-headings, usually in a different typeface than the main body, color in the form of headings, captions etc, pullquotes, perhaps with a shaded or colored background, and so on.
Content Balance: In terms of the newsletter content, sober matter needs to be equilibrated by an opposing amount of light matter; ‘one-off’ items can be balanced by serialized material, instructional or ‘how-to’ articles by question and answer features etc. It is much more of a ‘balancing act’ though, than is the case with the visual aspects, because there is no way of measuring whether or not you have got the ‘mix’ right. It’s the reader’s perception that matters and the publisher needs to employ a little empathy, coupled with her own instinct and experience.
A Lighter Vein: The most popular way to introduce a lighter vein into a newsletter or similar publication is to use wittiness. This can be done by the inclusion of jokes, cartoons, funny stories, nonsense verses such as limericks-even simple clipart caricatures incorporated into article headings. Obviously, gratuitous humor is nowhere near as effective as topic-focused humor. A cartoon that gives an amusing slant to the main topic on the page, even if the association is somewhat tenuous, tends to be far more ‘balancing’ than one that does not seem to have any obvious link to the subject matter at all. Sometimes it might even unbalance things. Another word of caution too, especially if you write your own material; make sure that anything you include because of its humor value cannot be mistaken as simply facetious comment. If your sense of humor tends towards the quirky and you’re unsure whether everyone will ‘get the joke’, err on the side of prudence and leave it out.
Pastime Fillers: One great way of supplying balanced content is by means of puzzles and quizzes. These can be particularly useful when employed as regular features, such as a monthly crossword or quiz. Readers, at least many of them, tend to look forward to each new edition just for the regular features. That way, they not only assist with balance, but they enhance readership loyalty at the same time. Obviously, like all other forms of editorial content, they work best when they are related in one way or another to the main focus of the newsletter. Conversely, they tend to lose their effectiveness the more irrelevant they seem to be.
Helpful Advice: A good way of balancing your content efficaciously is by means of ‘Hints’ or ‘Tips’. These can invariably be strongly related to the newsletter’s main focus, for obvious reasons, though there can be exceptions. For example, if the readership is made up entirely of the fairer sex, a ‘Beauty Tips’ column might go down well even if, in relation to the newsletter’s main aim, it is somewhat off-topic. There are many possible variations. For example: Diet Tips, Keeping Fit, Maintaining Your Car, Cooking Tips etc. Recipes, in the right newsletter, can be very successful too, as can ‘What The Stars Say’ etc.
Mike Alexander is a ‘content’ expert, having created and edited a print publication with nation-wide distribution. He has several online interests, among which is ClipCopy Content Solutions, where you will find a number of articles covering topics similar to above.