How to Build a Newsletter
See an example: http://powertochange.com/blogposts/2011/11/16/nothing-is-certain-dnltr/
1. Create a new post in WordPress
2. Title
Keep your title to 5 words or less. Read how to write great titles. For newsletters, avoid any punctuation in the title.
3. Body
Text
Here is where you add the text of your newsletter. The goal of a newsletter is to give a teaser for the video or article so be brief and catchy. Always add a link to the article within the catchy blurb.
NOTE: Always link up wording from the blurb underneath the feature image along with having the feature image linked. This helps drive as much traffic as possible to the article/video page.
Next steps
Another thing to add are at least 2 next steps that relate to the main feature of the newsletter. Next steps are articles/videos/life lessons/chat/mentoring etc. that will take a person to the next step in their faith journey.
NOTE: Remember to make the next step engaging, as this is our tool to drive people to our sites. Do not only use the title of the article but an engaging tagline.
Interactive links
To add a link to any text, highlight the text you want linked up, select the paper clip icon, and add the url to the hyperlink box. NOTE: All links that lead a reader off the site should open in a new window.
Image
- To find and download an image, log into Thinkstock to find an appropriate image. Once the image has been approved, download it. If the newsletter contains a video, the image will come from the video page.
- Open the image in Photoshop. Crop the image to a width of 519 px by a height of 290 px. If adding text, add two text boxes, one for the name of the person or title of the video, one for the newsletter title. Text is not always necessary, only to introduce a person in a video. For a video, add the play button to it in Photoshop, making sure it is centered.
- For any image with Photoshop, when you save it, click “save for web.”
- Go to WordPress. Under Media, click Add New. Select the edited file from your computer and drag it into the designated area. The photo will upload with a link at the bottom of the media page that will end with .jpg.
- Click on the HTML tab at the top of the body box. Paste the following HTML into the HTML side of the newsletter post: <p style=”text-align: center;”><a href=” ARTICLE LINK GOES HERE”><img style=”border: 10px solid #005588;” title=”NLTR TITLE HERE” src=”POWER TO CHANGE IMAGE TITLE HERE.jpg” alt=”NLTR TITLE HERE” width=”519″ height=”290″ /></a></p>
- Customize the HTML with the article link and title. Paste the .jpg link from the photo into the HTML.
- Return to the visual side of the post. Your cropped image should appear within a blue box.
4. Categories
There are only 2 categories for newsletters – Discover newsletter and/or Experience newsletter. For the most part, we create 2 newsletters – 1 for each audience – but there could be times when the same one gets sent to both.
5. Custom fields
Locate the “Custom Fields” area and choose “faith-adventure-transition” for the Name and enter “0” (zero) for the value. Click the “Add Custom Field” button.
6. Choose “Marketing” as the post’s stat type.
7. Post author
The author of all newsletters will be “Power to Change Ministries.”
