We’re celebrating our one year birthday here in the Twin Cities. It was only one year ago – On May 20^th, 2010 - that Michelle Elliott sat down and wrote her first newsletter as the new Publisher for Macaroni Kid – Coon Rapids, Blaine, Andover.  That newsletter was sent to exactly seven people. Michelle wrote, “I am very proud to say that this is the very first Macaroni Kid newsletter in Minnesota!  I am so happy to bring this great resource to our hometown!”

I talked with Michelle recently, asking her about her first year as a publisher. She has accomplished so much in such a short time, and I really wanted to know how she did it. Just listening to her, though, you get it. She is passionate about Macaroni Kid. I mean, really passionate. She seems to eat, sleep, and breathe it. Even her husband has joked that he is going to get a Macaroni Kid tattoo so he can get more attention! (Trust me – not an issue here – they are definitely a team. I’ve seen the things he does for her in the Macaroni Kid world – he’s a MacDaddy.) So how does this passion translate into numbers?

Today, Michelle still sits down each week and writes a newsletter. It still goes to the same 7 people, but it also goes to, oh, just a few more. There are 15 different Macaroni Kid newsletters published in Minnesota each week, delivered to over 5,000 subscribers and garnering over 80,000 page views a month! Impressive? I certainly think so.

How about some more impressive stats? Michelle was the first publisher in Minnesota, but not for long – she personally has recruited 9 of the 14 other publishers in the Twin Cities. And of those 9? One was an advertiser on her website. Another was a fellow vendor at an Expo that Michelle first turned into an advertiser, then turned into a publisher. Very cool. And if that’s not enough, Michelle is also a Macaroni Kid Mentor. There are over 400 publishers across the country (and international!), and when a new publisher comes on board, they are paired with a mentor. Michelle is currently a mentor to around 30 other Macaroni Kid publishers. She spends just as much time helping these publishers with their newsletters as she spends on her own. (I’m one of them! Thanks Michelle!)

Oh, and did I forget to mention that she has three children and works fulltime?? Silly me – that’s the most impressive part of all, isn’t it? How on earth does she do it? Well, I’ll tell you one thing, she doesn’t sleep (our interview ended at 1:30am). And that’s all I’m telling this week.

I’ll tell you many more things about Michelle and Macaroni Kid over this next month. We’re doing a month-long birthday celebration! We have a fantastic giveaway of Macaroni Kid Gift Packs that we’ll be giving to 15 lucky subscribers – one for each Twin Cities edition.

Enter here!

 You’ll have plenty of opportunities to earn more entries over this next month, so definitely stay tuned! Next week, I’ll be telling you about Michelle’s “A-Ha Moment” ala Oprah, and when she really knew this thing was going to take off.