Developing a Family Newsletter

For many people, the thought of writing letters, notes, and family events, can get time consuming. Though you may choose to write a letter to family members during the holidays, Christmas cards are a popular way to communicate. But when Christmas is over, then what? Are you going to make phone calls? How else do you stay current with your family? Sure, you could send letters, write e-mails, make phone calls, but how long will the thought of what was written, or said, last?

Why not write a family newsletter? With a family newsletter, you can stay in touch with your family, write family stories, share photos, and even keep up with family historians, whom have been doing the genealogy research. The first thing to consider, is do you want to write these newsletters every week, month, semi-annually, quarterly, or annually. Weekly newsletters would be difficult to do, on a constant basis. Monthly newsletters would do the same, plus, it becomes difficult to keep coming up with new ideas for articles. Through quarterly newsletters, one can keep up with the seasons. Semi-annual newsletters are nice, but the newsletters could end up in the "G" file. Annual newsletters could get tossed out with the trash, when the holidays are over.

My suggestion, is to write quarterly newsletters. With quarterly newsletters, you can write an article, then come back to another article later. You don't have to constantly write everyday, you can write a little, then take a break. When new ideas for articles, come to mind, you can act on those inspirations. Since these would be quarterly newsletters, you can create seasonal articles. Remember, you want these newsletters to cover the four basic issues newspapers should, Inform, Educate, Entertain, and Enlighten.