Newsletter Production
Fitting It All In
Finding Time to Do Your Newsletter
For most people,
producing a newsletter is not your main job description. Many people find
it a fun and creative way to spend some of their workday. For others, it
is often far down the list of those things to do each month. In fact, for
some people, it can be quite a chore. Either way, it is often a challenge
to find the time to put out a great looking and interesting newsletter.
And there is something
that makes it different from some of those other monthly tasks—this one
has a deadline! If you are finding that this deadline is looming and you
are wondering how to get it all done in time, consider some of these ideas
to make it easier each month.
Set a Realistic
Deadline
You know when your newsletter has to go out—generally at the
beginning of each month. Take a hard and critical look at how long it
takes you to produce your newsletter. Of course, you have to tackle such
tasks as writing content, laying out your newsletter, and printing. But
don’t forget the other, sometimes time consuming tasks like
proofreading, ad creation, verifying information, and delivery time. Use a
checklist like the following to plan out how much time you’ll need:
Task
Time Needed
Content gathering/writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
________________
Solicitation of advertising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
________________
Ad creation/revision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
________________
Layout/design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
________________
Proofreading/verifying content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
________________
Approval by others . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
________________
Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
________________
Delivery/mail time needed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
________________
Total
Hours Needed
Once you have your total,
decide how many hours each day you can devote to working on your
newsletter. You can then figure how many days you will need. The following
examples illustrate this:
Total time needed in
hours: 20 hours
Total time available each day for newsletter work: 4 hours
Total days needed: 20 divided by 4 = 5 days needed
Total time needed in
hours: 12 hours
Total time available each day for newsletter work: 1.5 hours
Total days needed: 12 divided by 1.5 = 8 days needed
Since this is not the
only task you will be handling in the last couple of weeks of each month,
be sure to factor in extra time for interruptions, delays, and emergencies
that will require your attention elsewhere. You might even want to add in
a few hours to your total at the end, to ensure that you will really have
the time you need to complete your newsletter on time.
Everyone’s total will
be different. For example, if you write much of the content yourself, this
will increase the time you need. If you use mostly articles written by NewsletterFillers.com,
you will cut your production time. Printing or copying your newsletter
yourself versus using a commercial printing service will affect the time
you need.
Once you have figured out
how much time you will need each month to prepare and distribute your
newsletter, again add a buffer. For example, if you have figured out that
you will need approximately 10 hours to complete your newsletter, and you
will have about one and a half hours each day to work on it, you will need
about 7 days to get your newsletter done. Then add three to five days as a
buffer, depending on your situation and how flexible your time is. That
way, if any situation arises that prevents you from getting to your
newsletter, you will still be able to complete it in time.
Mark Your Calendar
Once you have a number of days figured out, you have a way to
successfully schedule your newsletter production. Take out your planning
calendar and mark each month with your newsletter production schedule. For
example, if you have figured that you need 13 days to get your newsletter
done, for a month with 30 days, you will mark the 18th as the
day you will want to start your newsletter work.
Go through each month to
the end of the year, and mark your calendar prominently. This can be a
great motivational tool and a handy reminder to give yourself enough time
to get your newsletter done.
Give Yourself a Break
What if you find that you never have enough time to fit it all in? It
may be time to evaluate all of your responsibilities and see where your
newsletter production fits in. If you never get your newsletter out on
time, consider switching to a bi-monthly or quarterly newsletter. You may
find that just taking some of the monthly pressure off helps.
You may also need more
help. Is it possible to spread some of the work out? Using the services of
a newsletter production company may be the key to freeing you up to do all
of your other important tasks. This way, you will not spend those hours
doing the actual design and layout work, and can instead focus on the
other parts of newsletter production that are not so time consuming, like
editing, writing, and distribution.
Using a filler article
service, like that provided by NewsletterFillers.com,
can cut your production time dramatically. It is incredibly time consuming
to research, write, and edit articles. By using this service, you will be
able to spend your valuable time on other tasks.
If you are mailing your
newsletter to a large number of readers, consider outsourcing some or all
of the mailing work. Mail preparation companies and many printers can
fold, sort, label, stamp, and mail your newsletter for a fee.
Finally, look around you!
You may find all the help you need in your work environment or home. By
dividing up the task among several people, you can all do the jobs you
like best and get it done in a fraction of the time. For example, you
could have one person gather content, another do the layout, design, and
printing, and yet another person could handle all the distribution or
mailing to your readers. If you produce your newsletter from your home,
often you can enlist the help of a family member. Children especially love
to fold, sort, and stamp piles of newsletters! Or you may be able to find
someone who is willing to work on an as-needed basis, whenever you find
you really need the help of another person.
Share Your Ideas!
Do you have any ideas to make your newsletter production easier? Please
share them with us and we will include them in a future edition of
Newslettering, our monthly e-newsletter! Just email us at info@NewsletterFillers.com
with your great tips and ideas!
