The Look And The Substance: Balance seems such a insubstantial term that, in all honesty, it can sometimes be a bit difficult to explain. However, it is really not tremendously different to measuring weights on a set of scales. In order to develop balance when measuring commodities, one needs to equalise the object being weighed on the one side with a counterwieght on the other. There are only two crucial considerations to take into account when looking to achieve the same outcome in a newsletter. On the one hand there’s the visual perspective (in other words the way the publication looks) and on the other there’s the ‘content’ perspective, and for each a different set of rules apply.
Layout Balance: A page containing a great amount of text is best balanced by the introduction of graphics and illustrations but even simple white space can be a huge improvement. A crowded page, especially one that is entirely presented in a tiny typeface with few or no breaks, is not good at any time. It is too suggestive of a legal document rather than an informative article. The introduction of space however, and other effects that ‘break up’ the piece into easily digested segments, can make a quite remarkable difference. These other effects include headings and sub-headings, usually in a different typeface than the main body, color in the form of headings, captions etc, pullquotes, perhaps with a shaded or colored background, and so on.
Content Balance: In terms of the newsletter content, serious matter needs to be balanced by an opposing amount of light matter; ‘one-off’ items can be balanced by serialized material, instructional or ‘how-to’ articles by question and answer features etc. It is much more of a ‘balancing act’ though, than is the case with the visual aspects, because there is no way of measuring whether or not you have got the ‘mix’ right. It’s the reader’s perception that matters and the publisher needs to employ a little empathy, coupled with her own instinct and experience.
A Lighter Vein: The most popular way to introduce a lighter vein into a newsletter or similar publication is to use comedy. This can be done by the inclusion of jokes, cartoons, funny stories, nonsense verses such as limericks-even simple clipart caricatures incorporated into article headings. Obviously, gratuitous humor is nowhere near as effective as topic-focused humor. A cartoon that gives an amusing slant to the main topic on the page, even if the association is somewhat tenuous, tends to be far more ‘balancing’ than one that does not seem to have any obvious link to the subject matter at all. Sometimes it might even unbalance things. Another word of caution too, especially if you write your own material; make sure that anything you include because of its humor value cannot be mistaken as simply facetious comment. If your sense of humor tends towards the quirky and you’re unsure whether everyone will ‘get the joke’, err on the side of prudence and leave it out.
Quizzes And Puzzles: These can prove very welcome as a way of balancing content and you do not have to be a author yourself to know that crosswords are one of the most popular pastimes ever devised. As with most other fillers, topic-focused material tends to be more effective than non-topic specific copy but it does not need to be anywhere near as relevant to the subject as is the case with humor or advice-type features. Don’t underestimate the potential that these types of items offer your newsletters. Many people scan every publication that falls into their hands for their crossword ‘fix’.
Tips And Advice: Regular ‘Advice’ and ‘Tips’ columns can be an outstanding way of balancing content in many situations. The more strongly related they are to the main focus of the newsletter, the more likely they are to generate interest in the readers for that particular item. However, it might even be possible sometimes to include items that are only vaguely related to the main topic of the newsletter, or even not related at all. The sort of items we are talking about here are things like beauty tips, keeping fit, dieting advice, car maintenance, caring for baby and so on. Recipes are always popular in the right context too, as can be astrological predictions, provided the newsletter readership is generally appropriate for their inclusion. A little imagination and creativity is all that is called for to come up with something that’s suitable for your newsletter.
Mike Alexander is a ‘content’ expert, having created and edited a print publication with nation-wide distribution. He has several online interests, among which is ClipCopy Content Solutions, where you will find a number of articles covering topics similar to above. Grab a totally unique version of this article from the Uber Article Directory
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