I gave a talk to the massed parish, town and city clerks of Herefordshire. They asked me to talk about practical ideas for making newsletters, press releases and websites better

1. Newsletters, press releases and
websites
27/06/2013

2. Ben Proctor
Head of
web, communications and
engagement
Herefordshire Council
http://pinterest.com/amyreve/newsletter-layout-ideas/

3. Newsletters
http://pinterest.com/amyreve/newsletter-layout-ideas/

4. Newsletter top tips
1. Catch the eye
http://pinterest.com/amyreve/newsletter-layout-ideas/

5. Newsletter top tips
2. Use a grid
MS Publisher is
widely used and OK
Scribus is free and
excellent

6. Newsletter top tips
3. Use photos
There are 250,000,000
free photos
in Flickr Creative Commons
Including this great photo
from Bishops Frome
by Les Haines (CC-BY-A)
http://flic.kr/p/egqnVi

7. Newsletter top tips
4. Use few fonts
Pick a font
or two
and stick to them
Lotsoffontsrisksconfusion
and looking careless
Using the same font for every
newsletter looks consistent
And even professional
http://flic.kr/p/7gEkW8

8. Newsletter top tips
5. Edit
50 words is brief
150 words is sufficient
250 words is long
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Curabitur tortor. Pellentesque nibh. Aenean quam. In scelerisque sem at dolor. Maecena
mattis. Sed convallis tristique sem. Proin ut ligula vel nunc egestas porttitor. Morbi lectus
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ipsum. Nulla metus metus, ullamcorper vel, tincidunt sed, euismod in, nibh. Quisque volu
condimentum velit. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per
inceptos himenaeos.
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ipsum ante quis turpis. Nulla facilisi. Ut fringilla. Suspendisse potenti. Nunc feugiat mi a t
consequat imperdiet. Vestibulum sapien. Proin quam. Etiam ultrices. Suspendisse in just
magna luctus suscipit. Sed lectus.
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mattis sem, at interdum magna augue eget diam. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucib
luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae; Morbi lacinia molestie dui. Praesent blandit dolor
non quam. In vel mi sit amet augue congue elementum. Morbi in ipsum sit amet pede fac
laoreet. Donec lacus nunc, viverra nec, blandit vel, egestas et, augue. Vestibulum tincidu
malesuada tellus. Ut ultrices ultrices enim. Curabitur sit amet mauris. Morbi in dui quis es
pulvinar ullamcorper. Nulla facilisi.
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mi. Quisque nisl felis, venenatis tristique, dignissim in, ultrices sit amet, augue. Proin sod
libero eget ante. Nulla quam. Aenean laoreet. Vestibulum nisi lectus, commodo ac, facilis
ultricies eu, pede. Ut orci risus, accumsan porttitor, cursus quis, aliquet eget, justo.
Sed pretium blandit orci. Ut eu diam at pede suscipit sodales. Aenean lectus elit, fermen
non, convallis id, sagittis at, neque. Nullam mauris orci, aliquet et, iaculis et, viverra vitae
ligula. Nulla ut felis in purus aliquam imperdiet. Maecenas aliquet mollis lectus. Vivamus
consectetuer risus et tortor. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Integ
odio. Praesent libero. Sed cursus ante dapibus diam. Sed nisi. Nulla quis sem at nibh
elementum imperdiet.
Duis sagittis ipsum. Praesent mauris. Fusce nec tellus sed augue semper porta. Mauris
massa. Vestibulum lacinia arcu eget nulla. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent
conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. Curabitur sodales ligula in libero. Sed dignissim
lacinia nunc. Curabitur tortor. Pellentesque nibh. Aenean quam. In scelerisque sem at do
Maecenas mattis. Sed convallis tristique sem.
Proin ut ligula vel nunc egestas porttitor. Morbi lectus risus, iaculis vel, suscipit quis, luctu
non, massa. Fusce ac turpis quis ligula lacinia aliquet. Mauris ipsum. Nulla metus metus,
ullamcorper vel, tincidunt sed, euismod in, nibh. Quisque volutpat condimentum velit. Cla
aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. Nam
ante. Sed lacinia, urna non tincidunt mattis, tortor neque adipiscing diam, a cursus ipsum
quis turpis. Nulla facilisi. Ut fringilla. Suspendisse potenti.
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magna. Quisque cursus, metus vitae pharetra auctor, sem massa mattis sem, at interdum
magna augue eget diam. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices
posuere cubilia Curae; Morbi lacinia molestie dui. Praesent blandit dolor. Sed non quam.
mi sit amet augue congue elementum. Morbi in ipsum sit amet pede facilisis laoreet. Don
lacus nunc, viverra nec, blandit vel, egestas et, augue.

9. Press releases
http://pinterest.com/amyreve/newsletter-layout-ideas/

10. I KEEP six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew)
Their names are
What and Why and When
& How and Where and Who
Though we usually say
Who, What, When, Where, Why & (How)
Press release top tips
1. Honest serving men

11. Not all subjects
are the same
Press release top tips
2. Who
http://flic.kr/p/6FiXXp

12. News is
something that happened
in the past
and was noteable
Press release top tips
3. What

13. Press release top tips
4. Where
Here
Not anywhere else

14. Press release top tips
5. Write backwards
AN elderly woman sustained a head injury following a collision near
Ross-on-Wye this afternoon.
Youngster Alex Parker enjoyed a first-team debut to remember as he
bagged 5-35 to lead Bromyard to victory over Hagley.
A man who snatched hundreds of pounds from a Ledbury couple after
arranging to sell them his BMW has pleaded guilty to theft.

15. Websites
http://pinterest.com/amyreve/newsletter-layout-ideas/

16. .
Online top tips
1. Mailchimp
www.mailchimp.com

17. .
Online top tips
2. Wordpress
wordpress.com
Free and easy to use
talkaboutlocal.org.uk
Provides help on setting
up news sites

18. .
Online top tips
3. Social media
twitter.com
facebook.com
Herefordshire
Parish
Councils

19. .
Online top tips
4. Eventbrite
http://eventbrite.co.uk
Free (if your event is free)
and easy to use

20. Free mapping for everyone
Online top tips
5. OpenStreetMap