The Surprising Truth Concerning the Wellness Newsletter Youre Creating

If you try to launch a wellness newsletter, the enthusiasm you currently have should build and spread. You need this publication to become a beacon, not a burden.

Your wellness newsletter can be the driving force of inspiration - a primary solution to show and tell the power of your program. It could entice and enlighten, helping employees realize the worthiness of participating in this program and encouraging them to embrace healthy choices.

You Are Now a Publisher. Think Like One.

Your publication will not be any of those ideas - actually, the newsletter could get your company into some legal trouble and certainly would weaken your program's overall credibility - unless you think and become a publisher. Your organization card doesn't say "publisher," but the surprising truth is at this point you are.

You absolutely need to be.

A smart publisher can be involved concerning the integrity and visibility of her or his material. That means the content in your wellness newsletter has to be right in addition to being noticed and used. The right philosophy isn't "send and hope." It's "plan and know."

A smart publisher realizes that reliability - particularly when the topic is a person's health - often requires expert review, and people who find themselves experienced in the very best practices of writing, editing and designing communication pieces.

May be the content credible? Does it abide by copyright and "fair use" laws? Do your images match the voice of one's copy? Those and other publishing questions must be answered.

4 What to Care About

As you placed on your publishing hat, focus on these basic questions:

? What does your audience want and need to know?

? What do you need to tell employees (current wellness program participants and/or perspective ones) about your program?

? How should they receive the publication (print, electronic or both)? How often in the event you deliver it?

? What resources must you complete the job? What other ones do you need to make the project run smoothly and impressively?

1. A publisher cares about readers. Treat employees like a high-quality trade magazine views its readership. Find out what topics are likely to resonate with them, and tailor your messaging and content to accommodate those needs, wants, and interests. An excellent first move: Send employees a quick survey. The information you get can fuel your publication plan and assist you to set the newsletter's goals and expectations.

2. A publisher cares about categories. Many health, wellness and benefits experts feel overwhelmed by the sheer level of what they might communicate. Steal a full page from newsstand publications, and categorize your thinking into sections that match your mission and your employees' needs. Think about USA Today. World events are ever-changing, and the supply of human interest stories is endless, yet each issue is segmented and presented in four easy-to-find, color-coded sections: main news (blue), Life (purple), Sports (red), and Money (green). This structure enables readers to create expectations - people "know where you can turn" for information that matters most to them.

? What regular "departments" is it possible to create?

? What special issues might you plan?

? What could your "cover stories" be about?

? Will you segment your content by topic or by theme (inspiration, values, humor, etc.)?

3. A publisher cares about brevity. Stick to an eye-friendly, simple design. Same applies to the copy - short, poignant, and scannable may be the right recipe. Also, make sure your content pays to, timely, and relevant. Advisable is to monitor some newsletters, magazines, newspapers, and Websites you respect (especially publications pertaining to your industry), and apply their good content and design ideas to your publication.

? Plan for short articles. Your employees probably will only scan snippets and brief articles that catch their attention. Should you choose include longer stories (a lot more than 350 words), break them up with graphics, white space, pull quotes, and short paragraphs.

? Entice readers with compelling "blurbs." Lists work.

? Write a punchy Table of Contents to increase the amount of pages and stories your staff reads.

4. A publisher cares about scheduling. You need a structure. Building an editorial calendar and production task list will keep your messages in constant motion - employees will receive relevant, consistent communication at when you need. From our experience, it's best to start by the end and plan backward from your final publishing dates. The main element would be to deliver what's specified on the plan instead of what goes on to be in your thoughts.

Set target dates for the following tasks:

? Choosing story ideas and assigning them

? Completing first drafts

? Editing for length, grammar, and clarity

? Dropping copy into an HTML template with placeholder titles (if it'll be emailed) or into graphic design software for layout (if it will be printed)

? Revising and finalizing content

? Checking links to be sure they're active and correct (if emailed)

? Sending to employees

Publishers Also Turn to Experts for Help

If you have an interior marketing or communications team, you may have ample resources for creating a newsletter's content and design. But many businesses assign the project to clerical staff and receive unprofessional results.

Partners can bring valuable experience, infrastructure, technology and new suggestions to your wellness communication. You call the shots, but an experienced, creative partner could make sure your audience receives top-quality messaging.

Shawn M. Connors, President & Founder, Hope Health

Shawn has more than 30 years of workplace communications experience. He founded Hope Health in 1981 to create and sell among the nation's first Health Risk Assessments. Today, Hope Health is a business-to-business, health-based communications company specializing in producing information distributed at workplaces. It offers a multitude of lifestyle-related information in a variety of formats including newsletters, brochures, booklets, posters, calendars, and electronic media. Shawn can be an accomplished author, speaker and communications expert. [1]