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So I have a problem – I find regular emails to parents a bit boring. Plain white with plain black font, no pictures and nothing snazzy about it. Sure there are times when this is just fine for sending quick scheduling back and forth or discussing competition scheduling. But today I want to share something new with you – it’s an exciting way to make cool emails for Newsletters or event announcements that doesn’t take Photoshop skills! It’s an amazing free website called MailChimp. And as long as your studio has less than 2,000 subscribers and you send out less than 12,000 emails per month this service is absolutely FREE! No kidding, isn’t that awesome?!

For my studio of about 15 students, it’s great. We send out about 3 newsletters per semester so almost once a month. I like to include announcements of recital dates, competition information links, YouTube links for listening assignments, and lots more.  When you first sign up you have to choose a template you like and fill everything in – logos, pictures, email addresses, social media links, and anything else. After that, I just duplicate my “campaign” and update a few pictures and paragraphs before hitting send. Then MailChimp sends out all the emails for you and if you want, they’ll even post it to your studio Facebook page.  So many parents and colleagues have commented on how professional the newsletter looks so I’ve continued using this for over a year now.NewsletterPic2

To get started check out MailChimp.com. And I’m not getting paid to say this, I just wanted to share a neat website and service that’s been useful for my piano studio! Do you have any other services you love to use – if so, please share. I love learning about new stuff 🙂

Author: Whitney

Whitney Hawker, NCTM, teaches group and private piano at Weber State University, Utah. She loves surprising students with the perfect piece or a new exciting game! After graduate school, she missed sharing ideas and resources daily with colleagues so she and her friend, Spring, began blogging together at 4DPianoTeaching.com