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Constant Contact customer Lisa Timon makes her living from other people's memories. Her online retail company, "Create My Keepsake" (CMK), provides custom scrapbook design services and all the materials customers need to get started. A former CMK customer, Lisa purchased the business from its founder, Rebecca Cross, in December 2007, and now her favorite hobby has become her source of income as well. CMK boasts an active online community composed of scrapbookers from the U.S. and abroad who share their ideas and designs with each other on the company's website.

Challenge: Staying Connected with Busy Customers

As CMK's new owner, Lisa wants to maintain the success Rebecca achieved, while simultaneously building her customer base and expanding with new scrapbooking programs. As with many web-based businesses, the challenge for Lisa is to maintain a strong presence in the competitive, and sometimes impersonal, world of online retail. "In scrapbooking, there are new products coming out all the time," Lisa says. "To stay competitive, I need to keep my customer base informed of new arrivals; otherwise, they might go elsewhere."

Many of Lisa's customers are, like herself, busy working mothers who are short on time. "They are too busy to visit my website every day to look for new products. I need to notify them quickly and easily, so they don't miss out," she says. Like her predecessor, Lisa needs a cost-effective, time-efficient way to stay in front of 2,500 customers at once, while also keeping her customers connected to each other.

Solution: Professional E-Newsletters Drive Website Visits and More

Lisa couldn't be happier that she "inherited" Constant Contact when she purchased Create My Keepsake. I can't imagine sending emails any other way. I would have to send 50 at a time, and that's time I don't have! As a former CMK customer, Lisa was "always impressed with Rebecca's newsletters; they looked so professional and coordinated so well with the website. Whenever I got her emails, I recognized them right away as CMK," she says. "But I had no idea how easy they were to put together!"

When Lisa bought CMK, Rebecca showed her how to create CMK's monthly newsletter, The Chronicle—a process that Lisa learned quickly. Now, Lisa composes and sends professional, customized emails and newsletters in a matter of hours. She uses email marketing to let customers know about sales, promotions, industry news, tips, and, of course, new products.

Lisa loves Constant Contact's easy-to-use templates and customizable features. "It is seamless to create emails that coordinate perfectly with our website," she says.

She also uses Constant Contact to increase sales of Create My Keepsake's kit memberships, which were a fledgling part of the business when Lisa purchased it. Scrapbook products are often sold in "kits," which include all the supplies a customer needs to create a color-coordinated, attractive scrapbook; kit memberships provide customers with advance notice and sale of the kits. Using Constant Contact, Lisa has marketed kit memberships to her customers and stayed in touch with those members through an additional newsletter. "The kit newsletter provides sample pictures and detailed instructions about the new kits, as well as a direct link to purchase them in advance," she says.

Results: Constant Contact Nourishes Heartfelt Endeavor

Lisa's kit membership promotions have given her excellent results. Within just a few months of announcing new kit memberships, she doubled the number of customers who signed up. And at $10 per membership, that's a lot of revenue.

In addition to building revenue, Constant Contact saves Lisa time and money. With a list of 2,500, she "can't imagine sending emails any other way. I would have to send 50 at a time, and that's time I don't have!" she says. She also likes the service's competitive price. She has looked into other forms of online advertising, but found them cost-prohibitive for a small business.

Constant Contact has provided CMK with a cost-effective, efficient way to build an online community of current and new customers—all of whom are passionate about their favorite pastime. "Scrapbooking by nature is a heartfelt endeavor. Customers want to share personal stories and feel connected to each other and to me. Constant Contact helps me do that," she says.