November of last year marked the one year anniversary of my company newsletter.

I have been writing and emailing a one-page e-zine to my customers, colleagues, family members and prospects faithfully each month.

I try to think of a main topic that is informative and interesting and then add a side bar of quick tips or links that might be educational.

I have been laying out the newsletter in InDesign, making a PDF and attaching it to my email.

So how is that going for me?

Well - who knows?

My folks comment every month so I know they read it. Sometimes my brother will make a mention. But other than that? NO CLUE.

About 10 months ago I decided to try Constant Contact. I know a lot of people who use it and they seem happy with the program. Me? I couldn't figure out how to upload my articles. I know I'm technology challenged, but it really seemed impossible. And then the phone rang and a deadline loomed and dinner was burning and so I had to get back to the business at hand.

And then one day last month I read a post at Duct Tape Marketing, thank you John, that talked about MailChimp.

Any program with the name "chimp" had to be for the technically inept - ME! So I went on line and took their virtual tour.

If a chimp can do it....well, perhaps there's hope for me.

So yesterday I wrote my newsletter for February and went on line for the free trial. OH - MY - GOSH!

It was so easy.

I uploaded my excel contact file.
Found a template that was similar to what I create in InDesign.
Selected my colors and fonts
Cut and pasted my articles
Added a link here and there and

WA-LA

Newsletter.

Now I'll have statistics and know for a fact how many people read (or don't read, as the case may be) my newsletter.

If you aren't sending a newsletter - you need to start and MailChimp is the place to start!