‘Extra, Extra Read All About It!’ – You need a business continuity newsletter! It is a great way to promote awareness. In my experience newsletters are fun to read and just as much fun to write. I even publish the Free Ultimate Business Continuity Newsletter.
Your newsletter is a perfect complement to your business resilience blog and portal.
Below are a few tips to help you ‘get the presses rolling’:
Tip – Come up with a catchy name – ‘gamify it’, as discussed in the gamification post. Hold a contest to name your new newsletter. A quick win is that you will begin spreading awareness through the contest. Give out a nice prize to make people happy. It does not have to be expensive. Free lunch or an Amazon Gift Card are perfect. Hey, I would gladly enter your contest!
Tip – Write your own articles and augment with carefully curated FEMA type government info where appropriate.
Tip – Your newsletter should be customized and branded to make it interesting and valuable for your employees – do not only use curated information.
Tip – Consider special ‘Get Prepared’ editions for Hurricane Season, Tornadoes, Earthquakes and Snow Storms. These geographic specific scenarios can be distributed to locations that have a high probability of being impacted by the threats.
Tip – Publicize business resilience and continuity successes (maturity milestones) in your newsletter. It is ok to ‘brag’ a little. You are doing great and important work and people will appreciate reading about it.
Tip – Discuss successful emergency response initiatives by your company and your team.
Tip – Encourage employees to submit articles, tips and questions. You can ask for themed articles for the next edition – their favorite tips, apps…
Tip – Invite Upper Management, Safety and Security to submit ‘guest’ articles. If they do not have their own newsletter it would be especially valuable for them to ‘speak to the people’ through yours. They may even want to publish a regular series of articles in each of your newsletters. Even if they say they do not have the time, they will appreciate that you extended the invitation to partner.
Tip – Remind people they are part of the emergency response and business continuity process. If they are unsure of their role, ask them to speak with their manager or your team. Provide your phone and email information so employees can easily contact you.
Tip – Remind people that their plans are ‘living documents’ and it is important to always keep them up-to-date.
Tip – Include fun contests, surveys and/or quizzes – see the gamification post for more ideas.
Tip – Include articles that readers can apply to their personal recovery strategy beyond the business environment. For example, how to create a plan for their pets or what go-bag items they should consider keeping at home.
Tip – Ask for feedback and suggestions – it is important to be interactive.
Tip – When you write, remember ‘it is all about ‘them’. Write from the heart. Write for the audience.