Create a Family Newsletter

Yesterday I mentioned that family newsletters are a great way to keep your family up-to-date on your Secret Ingredients cookbook project. Have you ever considered making a family newsletter? It's a wonderful way to stay in touch with your family around the world...

How do you organize a family newsletter?

• Create a Mailing List. Although it is perfectly fine to make a handwritten address list for your family newsletter, we recommend using spreadsheet software so that you can do a simple mail merge later.
  
  Need to find addresses? Send an email to your family members and ask them to send you their addresses along with their children's contact information. Be sure to call your family members who are not electronically connected!
  


• Choose a Format. Although email newsletters are very convenient, they may be difficult to pull off. Unless you are very computer-savvy, creating a newsletter with beautiful graphics and photographs is pretty difficult. Also, email can be difficult for older generations. If you would like to send an email newsletter, you can always create a plain text email and send photographs as attachments.
  
  We recommend sending your family newsletter the old-fashioned way- snail mail. Not only will it be a great keepsake, but your family members will be more appreciative and excited to receive it!
  
  You can easily design your family newsletter in a word processing program. Microsoft Word users- Click here to download family newsletter templates. How cool is that!
  If you are creating a handmade newsletter, simply take it to your local copy shop or office supply store to make color copies.
  


• Find Out about Upcoming Events. Before you create your newsletter, it's a good idea to contact your family members for an update. Ask them if there are any important dates, recent achievements, memories, stories, or recipes that they would like to contribute. Don't forget to ask your children to get involved. Perhaps they could draw a picture, write a funny poem, or share a story!
  


• Include Family History. Mix up old stories with the new! Include photographs of older family members when they were younger. Your children will get a kick out of seeing their aunts and uncles in their high school fashions! Also, include funny stories about grandparents and the favorite family recipes.

What a great way to stay connected! It is also the perfect way to let your family know about your Secret Ingredients cookbook project.

Did you know that Secret Ingredients is having a contest and that 10 lucky winners will win a free custom cookbook? If you haven't submitted your entry, click here to check out the contest.