Ideas for Newsletter Filler

Newsletters are an important tool for you to communicate with your business associates, customers, community members or neighbors. Filled with vital information about upcoming events, policies and personnel, any newsletter may still have some small blocks of leftover space that is perfect for some light and entertaining text. Whether it’s in an inexpensive monthly newsletter for a senior center or a glossy newsletter for a large corporation, newsletter filler should be quickly absorbed and entertaining, and it should give readers another incentive to pick up and peruse your pages. Create it yourself or subscribe to any one of a number of “newsletter filler” services online to add content to your open spaces.

Particularly helpful for an apartment building, condo newsletter or health-targeted distribution, a “helpful tips” column can fill up a newsletter with pertinent information. For example, place a shaded box in an empty spot in the newsletter and type in tips on how to avoid sunburn, how to keep your heating bill low or how to increase personal safety. Think about your reader population and address the interests and needs that may be specific to the month of the year. Keep the tips short and formatted with bullets to make the filler a quick and easy read.

The Internet is full of websites that feature unusual news stories; your newsletter could reprint (with permission, of course) short and entertaining articles to use as filler. Be sure the articles are not offensive, and paraphrase or write your own text reflecting funny news or unusual human-interest stories. Choose articles that may relate to your readers such as “Blundering Criminal Reports” for a neighborhood-watch newsletter.

Newsletters usually do not include classified ads as the target audience is limited, but some ads could be incorporated in your newsletter for filler. Get a sponsor to help defray your publishing costs and run an ad for that business in your newsletter. Advertise for social clubs that may be looking for new members, or ask for donations of specific items for a special project. If you have a lot of open space, include some clip art graphics with the ads to draw more attention to the requests.

Perfect for a senior center newsletter or fitness club, traditional, regional or healthy recipes in your newsletter will make your readers appreciate your efforts and add your newsletter to their “save” pile. Get your target population in on the act and ask them to contribute favorite recipes. Focus your recipe filler on upcoming holidays or special events; for example, ask people to contribute favorite holiday cookie recipes or their best winter chili recipes to share in the newsletter. Add stock photos to enhance the recipes and take up more space in the newsletter if necessary.

Use up newsletter space with interactive games or trivia to entertain readers. Crossword puzzles, word jumbles or special-event-related trivia give your target readers a reason to look forward to each new publication. Think about your readers and tailor the games to related interests. For example, a health club may want to post geocaching locations for active gym members, while a newsletter centered on seniors may include a crossword puzzle featuring old movies or news events from past decades as clues.