Rescue Desk

Imagine my surprise when I logged onto my computer and found Google had turned out the lights.

Weekend mornings are usually the time I reserve to scour the Web on an inspiration treasure hunt for writing exercises. It’s quiet, my e-mail isn’t dinging with new messages, and the phone stays silent.

My plan was to do some research on the upcoming Small Business Week in April (which I’m sure I’ll gush about later), but I switched gears when my screen went black and saw Google had flipped the switch on its home page.

A few clicks later, I read about Earth Hour … yet another going-green initiative to add to my seemingly never-ending list of things I need to be doing in order to “do my part.”

Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s a fabulous idea and I plan to turn off the lights from 8-9 p.m. tonight. But, between always being mindful about reducing, reusing or recycling everything I lay my hands on, I’m starting to wonder when I can start reducing, reusing or recycling the guilt that comes when I miss something.

Some of it comes naturally … reusing my office paper, tossing soda cans and glass bottles into the bin in the garage, flipping off the lights when I leave a room, and lumping my errands into one trip (although, I admit that’s as much about being freakishly efficient as it is about being environmentally responsible).

But do you know how many times I’ve had to listen to my lecture after forgetting to bring my reuseable bags into the grocery store? Or the shame that comes when, in a rush, I overlook the sticky note on the front door reminding me to reduce the heat from “slightly chilly” to “downright freezing” when I leave the house?  Or when my conscious chastises me when it’s time to clean the bathroom, and I find only half of my cleaning supplies are considered environmentally friendly?

I know nobody is perfect, and I realize every little bit helps. But, every time I run across a new national “whatever”-out to go green, I look forward to the day that I get to sneer at my conscious with an exasperated eye roll and a well-timed “Pipe down. I do that already.”

In an earlier post, I touted the benefits of business blogging. If done with thought and planning, it can be an extremely effective communication tool for both internal and external audiences. Well, I’m as big a fan of newsletters.

Perhaps it’s my background in print media, or my appreciation for having news neatly packaged in one place and sent the same time every week or month.  Sure, I peruse news sites, blogs or online updates about my favorite things … but only when I think of it. It’s certainly not part of my regular schedule, and I’m sure I miss the occasional “big news” if it’s buried under more recently posted information.

Hence, I’m a fan of newsletters. Not the filled-with-junk, showing up in my mail box unsolicited, and irritatingly filling my recycle bin every day. I’m talking about the newsletters I choose to get because I want a brief-but-detailed synopsis on the latest happenings all in one shot.

I love getting my clients’ newsletters so I can keep up with their latest business happenings. I always scanned the weekly e-newsletter at a previous job so I knew what was happening around the organization. When my Outlook “dings” with the latest announcement from the local photography club, I always open it. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have known about one client’s recent sales record, the dollar-donut special at the snack bar, or about the upcoming art show looking for entries.

But, from my experience in both receiving and producing newsletters myself, I think there are some important strategies in communication development.

It needs to be meaningful. Like blogging, content is king. Content needs to be relevant, current and, obviously, well-written. If I get a newsletter that’s filled with advertorials, regurgitated information and is littered with typos, I ain’t readin’ it. Remember the first part of the word, friends … NEWSletter. Fill it with news that’s relevant to ME, the reader, in a way that I, the reader, will appreciate.

Keep readers engaged. Ask for feedback, print multi-series articles, accept outside submissions, create a Website solely for your newsletter, diligently offer solutions to common problems, use  Top 10 lists or polls… there are a lot of ways to keep your readers absorbed.

Don’t send it to people who don’t want it. This is especially true if you have an e-newsletter. Ask people to opt-in for it through your Website, or send a mailing introducing the newsletter and what it offers. While it may be tempting to use that new e-mail list of subscribers to advertise new products, resist. It’ll be the fastest way to get a bunch of “opt-outs” in your inbox.

It is, admittedly, a fine line to walk between what you want to tell your readers and what your readers want to know. It also requires an investment of time and/or money. But, if done well, newsletters can be a hefty tool in your communication plan by establishing your organization as an expert in the field, establishing your credibility and increasing name recognition.