ArchivesA well chosen gift shows how deeply you understand the recipient. A perfect reflection of their tastes and aspirations casts a big warm glow on the relationship. Thank, tempt, persuade, flatter ... the thoughtful gift can have value way beyond its cost.
Then there’s the chain store voucher. “I know I’ve got to give you something,” it says, “it’s just that I haven’t a clue what you’d like. Spend this on food, or knickers, or a pot plant; it’s all the same to me. I’ve done my duty. I’m a bit pressed for time and, to be honest, I know that you wouldn’t really expect much else from me.”
Think about it. Which sort of gift do you want your newsletter to be? And how can you get to know your audience so intimately that there are gasps of delight every time they take off the wrapper? (OK, so that’s a bit over the top, but you get the drift.)
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( 3 / 352 )Any commitment to communicate should be a big deal, with a fair amount of structured thinking going into it. But one of the good things about newsletters – digital or printed –is also one of the bad things. They are just so easy to start. A masthead, a mailing list, something you want to say, a bit of dross for ballast and away you go. Let’s put “Issue 1” on the top and see who’s giving odds on there being an issue 2.
No wonder newsletters get culled wholesale when the money gets tight. Communications with no reason to live deserve to die.
But what about a newsletter purpose-built to do valid job, glowing with proven success? That could be a very sexy little number indeed, able to beat off the accountants and cost-cutters with its own slick stick.
So how do you get one of those? I'll tell you more.
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( 3 / 341 )Every so often, someone sticks a piece of paper - usually four pages of A4, even in this digital age - under my nose and asks "What do you think of our newsletter?" It happened again yesterday.
It's always a tricky moment, especially if the person asking it is a friend or a volunteer needing a bit of free advice. What's being asked for here? A little light praise or a critical in-depth analysis? I can do either, or both. In fact, I can talk about the rights and wrongs of producing newsletters until the sun sets; it's a very big subject. Trust me. It's one hobby horse that I just love to ride.
And where better to ride it than here? So that's what I'm going to do. Starting soon - some of my favourite top tips and anecdotes about newsletters. Bet you can hardly wait.
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( 3 / 335 )The sun shines. A crocus opens. But there's another reason why it feels like spring. The Vikings are here.
One of the joys of living in this beautiful city is that York has more than its fair share of festivals - and this week it's the Viking Festival.
There's a huge programme of events as usual. But the one which catches my eye is the Best Beard competition - which, according to the ultra-PC copywriter, invites each entrant to parade "his/her facial hair".
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( 3.1 / 292 )I'm Googling "Val Seddon". Not in a narcissistic way, you understand; just checking out search terms for the refreshed site.
Before you dash off and Google it yourself (perhaps you're having a quiet day), it's important to say that not all those Val Seddons out there are me. I do not have a horse. I have not done many of the things which people with my name are clearly out there doing.
But in 1978 I did write a press release about the International Congress of Space Medicine. That release was picked up by Flight International magazine. Now the magazine has put its archive on line.
What can I say? Except that's one heck of a clever thing for a five year old to have written.
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