Constant Contact Launches ConnectUp!, an Online Community for Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs; New Online Resource Helps Thousands of Small Businesses and Organizations Connect, Share, and Network.

WALTHAM, Mass. -- Constant Contact(R) (www.constantcontact.com), the leading email marketing service for small businesses, associations, and nonprofits, today announced the launch of ConnectUp!(SM), a new user community for small businesses, entrepreneurs, and organizational leaders. ConnectUp! is an online meeting place for members to connect with like-minded peers to get ideas, share insights, ask questions, and foster best practices for all aspects of email marketing, growing their businesses, and achieving success.

Available at http://community.constantcontact.com/, ConnectUp! brings together thousands of small business owners and entrepreneurs to help each other solve real business problems, share and gain insights on email marketing and other topics of interest, and read and post to the discussion boards. To date, more than 2,500 Constant Contact customers have joined ConnectUp!.

"We have passionate and enthusiastic customers that love to learn and share tips not only about email marketing, but also about the full range of challenges that small business owners face. ConnectUp! is the perfect vehicle for helping them to do just that from anywhere at anytime," said Gail Goodman, CEO, Constant Contact. "There are many online resources with "how to" articles and white papers from industry experts. Our goal in launching ConnectUp! is to foster an interactive community where members can give and take advice from the people they trust most - entrepreneurs just like them who are doing everything they can to make their own business a success."

Interactivity Helps Entrepreneurs Connect and Solve Business Problems

Today's entrepreneurs face many challenges in making their businesses successful. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, more than 50 percent of small businesses fail in the first year and 95 percent fail within the first five years. For many, the right business and marketing solutions are critical for their long-term success. With ConnectUp!, entrepreneurs, business owners, and organizational leaders can network online and exchange ideas and solutions by interest, region, and even business niche. Among the features of ConnectUp!:

Discussion Boards

ConnectUp!'s discussions boards offer topics ranging from email marketing tips to small business challenges. The following forums are currently active:

--How do I - a general forum for asking questions and exchanging ideas

--Meet my peers - a forum to connect with others with similar interests and business concerns

--Email marketing best practices - a forum for sharing ideas and tips for improving the success of email marketing campaigns, in addition to discussions about email compliance and regulatory issues

--Member created forums - users can create, form and/or join special interest groups by regions, business type, etc.

Member Profiles

ConnectUp!'s "Spotlight Member" area prominently features member profiles on the homepage, providing users with a quick snapshot of the people that are part of the ConnectUp! community.

Small Business Resources

ConnectUp!'s Resources page provides entrepreneurs with everything they need to know about growing their businesses with email marketing, including:

--Learning Center - offers a series of live and recorded webinars on the fundamentals of email marketing

--Email Marketing Hints & Tips(R) - provides an archive of email marketing tips from the monthly email newsletter authored by Constant Contact CEO, Gail Goodman. Topics focus on practical tips and strategies for starting and implementing successful email marketing campaigns

--Recommended Reading - includes synopses of recommended handbooks and guides on email marketing and business issues relevant to entrepreneurs

Members also benefit from the ConnectUp! "Refer a Friend" program, which rewards member small businesses and organization leaders for bringing new customers to Constant Contact.

More information about the ConnectUp! Refer a Friend program can be found at http://community.constantcontact.com/refer/details.aspx

About Constant Contact

With more than 70,000 customers, Constant Contact(R) is the leading email marketing service for small businesses, associations, and nonprofits. Constant Contact is a web-based email marketing solution that enables small organizations to easily create and send professional email newsletters, promotions, announcements and more with no technical expertise required. Designed and priced for SMBs, Constant Contact is affordable, easy-to-use and includes a free 60-day trial at: www.constantcontact.com. The service is marketed through over 1,500 Business Partners and more than 100 marquee channel partners including American Express OPEN, AOL, Corel, FTD, IBM, Interland, Network Solutions, Register.com, Website Pros and Yahoo Search Marketing. Constant Contact is a founding member of the Email Sender and Provider Coalition (ESPC), a group formed to fight spam while protecting the delivery of legitimate email. Constant Contact is funded by Greylock Partners, Morgan Stanley Venture Partners, Commonwealth Capital Ventures, Longworth Venture Partners, and Hudson Ventures. For more information, please call 781-472-8100.

Roving, Roving Software, Constant Contact, the Constant Contact Logo, Do-It-Yourself Email Marketing, The smart way to reach your customers, Email Marketing Made Easy, Email Marketing 101, Email Marketing Diva, Email Marketing Hints & Tips, and SafeUnsubscribe are trademarks or service marks or registered trademarks or service marks of Roving Software Incorporated d/b/a Constant Contact. All other company and product names may be trademarks or service marks of their respective owners.