Taking a cue from this article, I’ve decided to start telling the story of my fledgling business by sending out a monthly email. (Editor’s note: I’m not trying to raise $635K anytime soon)

If you want to get these emails as they come out, please email me at erik -at- ekmitchell.com and I’ll add you to the list.

Here’s the text of yesterday’s email:

Hello Friends and Family!
Welcome to my first newsletter! I’m going to be sending an email out
about once a month. You’re on this list because I thought you might
want to be.

If you’d rather not get these emails, just hit reply and tell me to
take you off the list, and I’ll take care of it right away!

Ok, are you still with me? Great!

In this issue, I’ll tell you about my company, I’ll give you an update
on what I’m doing at Best Buy, I’ll tell you about the mobile
development I’m working on, and finally about a great community event
that I was able to be a part of.

So, about my company: EK Mitchell, LLC is a web and mobile software
development company, which I founded in 2002. In the early days, I
worked as a freelance web developer. At the end of 2003, I got a great
job and put the company on the back burner, doing a little freelance
work here and there in the years that followed.

But I always wanted to give it another go, and in 2010, I made the
leap to become an independent contractor, signing up to work full time
for Best Buy Co. Inc. (more about that later). This time around I’m
laying the groundwork for a web and mobile software company that
leverages my experience, my technical ability, and my commitment to
customer service.

In the next year I hope to build EK Mitchell, LLC into a seaworthy
vessel, and set forth on the adventure of entrepreneurship. I hope to
bring other talented people in to join me, and I hope you’ll follow
along as I tell the story.

- What’s going on at Best Buy?
I was brought into Best Buy to work on its “Local Store Pages” site,
which you can visit at http://stores.bestbuy.com/5/ (that’s the Edina
store, where I got my 3rd computer!). In cooperation with the Local
Store Page business team, I helped resolve technical issues and add
important features through the end of FY11, which ended February.

This site runs on WordPress, which is a great piece of software for
powering all kinds of websites. WordPress powers millions of websites
on the Internet. Best Buy’s implementation of WordPress is such a big
deal that it’s featured on WordPress.org:
http://wordpress.org/showcase/best-buy/.

Since March 1 I’ve been working on a new project at Best Buy, which
I’ll tell you more about in the months ahead!

- And the Mobile Development thing I mentioned?
In March I was able to take a 2 day course in iPhone application
development, taught by Dan Grigsby of Drivetrain
(http://drivetrainagency.com/). It was a great intro into the world of
mobile development and I’m excited to be entering this new space as a
developer.

And I already have a project to work on! In collaboration with Nate
Mueller (http://www.nate-mueller.com/), I’m developing an iPhone app!
Look for more on that in future newsletters.

- How about Community Involvement?
Last weekend I participated in the Nerdery Overnight Web Challenge
(http://tc2011.overnightwebsitechallenge.com/), where 18 teams of web
pros came together to crank out 18 websites for 18 deserving
non-profits in 24 hours. My team built a brand new website for
Someplace Safe, a women’s crisis center in western Minnesota. The site
looks awesome, and I’ll have a link in next month’s newsletter for
everyone to see.

- In Conclusion
If you’ve made it this far, thank you. Next month I’ll have more to
talk about with Best Buy, including a project I did that solved a
nasty problem and brought a huge return on investment. I’ll update you
on mobile development, and also point you to the new website from the
Overnight Web Challenge.

Until then, have a great April!

These are planned for the first Friday of every month. If you want to follow along, let me know!