At the outset, I suggest you
study a few house magazines/newsletters of well-reputed corporates to get an idea of the layout and contents of these in-house magazines. Go through the newsletters of manufacturing companies and explore magazines of other organizations like public sector banks too.
Fireside, the house magazine of Thermax, is one of the award-winning house magazines, and Kshema of Corporation Bank is also worth going through.
When you are planning your newsletter, it is important that you
be clear why you need to have it, what you wish to attain by circulating it, what is the frequency, and how you will manage to generate content. Most house magazines/newsletters contain an editorial, a message from the chairman, some brief about the new business and new initiatives, a mix of human interest articles, some motivational content, rewards, recognition, and obituary. There could be other columns like a learner's corner, employee contributions like poems, articles, humor, etc. Special awards or outstanding achievements of employees, departments, or the company must be suitably highlighted too.
It would be useful to
have a good editorial board in place so that the contents are screened and no bias or favoritism is shown in the selection or rejection of content. More importantly, they should ensure that there is quality content and good production of the house magazine with special emphasis on timely circulation to all. The
cost factor is also a key component that will impact the quality of the magazine. Having representatives from functional departments and branches will ensure a sufficient inflow of content. You can also
consider an e-magazine to save costs and ease the logistics of distribution.
You must be vigilant and ensure that copyrighted material is not published without permission. Also, make sure that
content is not plagiarized and passed off as original material, and also ensure that the publication of email forwards and SMS messages are avoided as far as possible.
You are invited to also visit the following Inspirational and Motivational blogs to get an idea of the variety of content that can be incorporated in the new magazine planned by you.
Actspot's Blog
Academy for Creative Training
Best Wishes