SpringfieldEdge eNewsletter grown to 500+ subscribers

13th issue of the SpringfieldEdge eNewsletter

Index of Issues

• Issue 13 – Oct. 2009
• Issue 12 – Sept. 2009
• Issue 11 – July 2009
• Issue 10 – May 2009
• Issue 9 – Apr. 2009
• Issue 8 – Mar. 2009
• Issue 7 – Jan. 2009
• Issue 6 – Dec. 2008
• Issue 5 – Nov. 2008
• Issue 4 – Oct. 2008
• Issue 3 – Sept. 2008
• Issue 2 – Aug. 2008
• Issue 1 – July 2008

ConstantContact comes through again

I thought it would make a good post to talk a little bit about  my eNewsletter and provide an index of issues that would make them easy to access.  In my two previous positions, I used ConstantContact as a tool to do an email newsletter that would cover–in a quick, brief, engaging way–a few of the big development news stories that were going on.  I also gave myself room for comments.  I started the one for the Greater Springfield Chamber/CIC (Community Improvement Corporation) in January, actually, but someone convinced me to try a different tool, which ended up being very ineffective.  So, the ConstantContact version went live in July.  This is not a plug for ConstantContact, just my comments that it has been a tool that is relatively easy to learn and use.

The impact of social media

In mid-May of this year, I started some hard core use of social media tools – specifically blogging (via WordPress, which you’re reading right now) and Twitter.  My thought was to try it out and blog daily, and to my surprise, what started out as a perceived challenge to find material has blossomed into changing the way I look at my job and the places/experiences I have.  Instead of a monthly newsletter with four stories and comments, I have over 25 stories a month from the blog.  So, with Issue 11 (July 2009), the format changed from comments and four stories to comments and four categories/lists of blog posts.  It put all the posts (or at least the vast majority) in one convenient place to access and made it accessible to people that don’t use social media.

What do you think?  What is your experience?

Please provide feedback on the newsletters and how they can be improved to serve you.  Do you like the change in format or not?  Also, if other people are working with eNewsletters and social media tools together, I would be interested in your thoughts on how to make them work together.

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