Whether designed to connect with customers, deliver industry news, chum for prospects or update employees and business partners, newsletters have been in the communication tool kit for years.  Newsletters used to be solely in print. An issue could take hours to write, lay out and proof, then they were sent off to the printer for a day or three before they were ready to distribute. Depending on the size of distribution, they could be pricey to print, too.

When newsletters are done well, people read them. I remember a print newsletter that used to come from our trash disposal company. Each month it arrived with names of three customers embedded somewhere in the text.  If you found your name and contacted the company, you got a free month of trash service. I read it.

We do a lot of newsletters for customers – about 18 each month, some months more. We don’t do many print newsletters.  In fact we usually discourage them. Email is the vehicle of choice today.  Yes, most of us get a lot email, but if you design and write your newsletter well, people will read them.

We create newsletters with several objectives:

- inviting, attractive design

- concise, sharp content

- rewarding the reader

The design should reflect the client’s brand and personality.  Most email newsletter tools (Emma, Constant Contact, Mailchimp, etc.) are more limited in design capabilities than print, but if you are creative and know a trick or two, they can be eye-catching.

You can provide good quality information and can keep the length of the document manageable by linking to the full articles from the newsletter. Those links can take people to your website or to pertinent industry articles.

People want something for their time, so give it to them.  Offer relevant, fresh information, not a rehash of old news. If you have an offer or special, give it to your loyal readers. People will read your stuff if they feel it is worth their time or saves them money.

Most of the time we see open rates above the industry averages for our clients’ newsletters. I believe this is a reflection of the quality of the design and content.

Email newsletters can be done quickly and cost-effectively, unlike their print ancestors. Done well, they are a great tool for maintaining relationships, informing people and getting attention.

Pivot Communication completed a website for local memory care community AltaVita. Located in Longmont, Colo., AltaVita provides high quality housing for individuals with memory-related illnesses such as Alzheimer’s. AltaVita is committed to kind, comprehensive care, and will eventually expand its MemoryCare Centre into a complete senior living community. Visit www.AltaVitaLiving.com to learn more.

Pivot Communication designed a marketing starter kit for Mercy Medical of Alabama. Mercy Medical operates the LIFE Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE), a Medicare- and Medicaid-funded program that allows frail seniors to stay in their homes and still receive comprehensive care. The marketing kit included a poster, a trifold brochure and an end-user brochure.

Reporters, news editors and others in the media are constantly inundated with pitches from business owners, public relations professionals and everything in between. What can you do to make sure your pitch isn’t quickly shuffled to the “Trash” box? Hint: exclamation points aren’t going to help your cause. Read on for several tips to crafting a pitch that might, if you’re lucky, catch a reporter’s eye.

Identify the key points, and know what you’re talking about.

Follow this simple guideline: if I were a reporter, what would I want to know? Well, you’d want to know what makes this product/event/announcement worthy of valuable newsprint. Also ask yourself why a reporter’s readers would care about this topic. Is it a local take on a national trend? A unique or wacky event or photo opportunity? Explain.

But don’t explain for too long.

Imagine you have about .3 seconds to capture a reporter’s attention. If you were a reporter, would, “I’d like to share with you a truly fascinating story about a unique paint drying event,” capture your attention? Hopefully not. Cut to the chase – there’s no need to explain what you’re going to explain. There’s also no need to use superfluous adjectives and crazy punctuation. Just jump right in, be straightforward, and don’t go on very long. A single short paragraph is usually enough.

Know who you’re talking to.

Would a book editor be interested in the latest tech product? No, but a technology reporter might. This gets back to point No. 1, where we covered the importance of explaining why a reporter’s readers would care.

Provide accurate follow-up information.

Make it very clear to the reporter/editor/etc. who the proper contact person is and make sure that person is available. Nothing kills a potential story faster than an automated “Out of Office” response from the pitch contact, who just so happens to be on vacation.

Follow-up.

Don’t nag, but do send a follow-up email or make a call a few days after you send out your pitch. Ask if they received it and if they’d like any other information. Strive to make their job easier, but don’t be pushy. A reporter isn’t an extension of your sales team. They aren’t interested in promoting your business; they’re interested in their readers. Show you understand that.

At its core, public relations is about identifying and establishing mutually beneficial connections between two entities. It creates and maintains symbiotic relationships between groups that otherwise wouldn’t exist to their full potential on their own. It’s about telling both sides of the story. Unfortunately, as in any field, there are bad apples in PR who fail to meet their ethical responsibilities. Take former Colorado Springs public relations head Sue Skiffington-Blumberg.

Last month it was revealed that Skiffington-Blumberg followed orders from her superior to basically bad-mouth the city in the local and national press. Skiffington-Blumberg told the Colorado Springs Gazette that her former boss, city manager Penny Culbreth-Graft, gave her direct instructions to disparage her home town. And Skiffington-Blumberg obliged, though she claims not happily. Check out this quote from a recent Gazette editorial:

“Our strategic plan was to paint a picture of the dire straits of our city budget. If we could not do so locally, we would do so in the regional and national press — though I’d have preferred that it not play out with Diane Sawyer,” Skiffington-Blumberg said, referring to one of several media giants who blasted Colorado Springs. “I hated it. I grew up here. My family has been in this community since 1892. But when given a task, it is my obligation to get on board. If you give me a task, don’t expect me not to succeed.”

Just two days after the editorial ran, Skiffington-Blumberg was asked to resign, which she did. Mayor-elect Steve Bach and his team reportedly plan to take a different approach to public relations. It includes touting the city’s multi-million dollar surplus, its ranking as a top-10 college town and other notable features.

The reactions to Skiffington-Blumberg’s statements and subsequent resignation have been mixed. Some have said she was put in an impossible position – follow her boss’s orders or defy her and report her to upper management, both of which probably would have had unfortunately consequences for Skiffington-Blumberg herself. Others have little more to say other than “good riddance.” Skiffington-Blumberg had to know the truth about her orders would have come out eventually. Rather than hide behind the “I was just following orders” mantra, she could have done the right thing and spoken up, or resigned. Had she left her position and alerted the city’s media to the public relations “plan” aimed at slamming the city, she may have been commended for her honesty, which might have led to bigger and better opportunities for her down the road. Unfortunately we’ll never know.

Regularly delivered, quality content is the best way to build an active audience for your blog.

In a time crunch, adding a blog post probably slides its way down the priority list to just above cleaning out the dryer lint trap. Overcome the crunch with a little pre-planning.

• Draft posts in advance and schedule them at regular intervals.
• Recruit guest bloggers to fill in scheduling gaps.
• Find a new angle for content you’ve already written and work it into a post.
• Find an article that would appeal to your audience, link to it, and add a point or two for originality.

If you’re a procrastinator by nature, you might find this recent Ink Rebels post helpful. It will either provide 10 helpful tips to overcome procrastination or offer another excuse to procrastinate composing your next brilliant blog post.

Strategic Performance Solutions has contracted with Pivot Communication to design and launch a social media marketing campaign.  Strategic Performance Solutions is a leadership development and coaching firm in Lewes, Del.

A new face joined the team recently at Pivot Communication. Designer Andrew Krzysiak is a designer who’s equally comfortable working in print or online media. He’s been a huge addition to our office, allowing Pivot to do bigger and better things with web design and social media. Read more »

BI Incorporated is a leader in its industry, providing supervision technology such as GPS tracking and electronic monitoring for individuals involved in the criminal justice system. BI also operates treatment and training programs in local communities. These programs achieve great results on many levels, helping offenders return to community life as productive citizens, improving safety and reducing recidivism. Check out this TV coverage from KWCH 12 in Wichita, Kan., of one of BI’s transition celebrations (when an ex-offender completes the intensive program). Very uplifting video!

Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez teaches students in her Blogger Academy. (Nick Miroff for NPR)

I was listening to NPR on the way to the office this morning and was struck by this story. Yoani Sanchez is a Cuban blogger, virtually unknown in her own country, but influential among Cubans living abroad. Although her blog, Generation Y, is blocked by the Cuban government and she isn’t allowed to have an Internet connection, Sanchez persists. She emails several posts at a time to friends oversees to post on her blog. In turn, they send back comments from her blog.

Sanchez also runs a blogger academy from her home. She teaches others how to use social media tools, which are opening new connections and pathways to information in spite of the government’s efforts to quash access to them.

For me, Sanchez’s story highlighted how privileged we are to enjoy the freedom of speech, easy access to a wealth of information and the growing number of tools available to interact and share information and opinions freely in the digital space.