diff --git a/alert.go b/alert.go
index 85b85ce..3ea08e3 100644
--- a/alert.go
+++ b/alert.go
@@ -112,3 +112,16 @@ func (alert Alert) Send(notice AlertNotice) (outputStr string, err error) {
 
 	return outputStr, err
 }
+
+// NewLogAlert creates an alert that does basic logging using echo
+func NewLogAlert() *Alert {
+	return &Alert{
+		Name: "log",
+		Command: CommandOrShell{
+			Command: []string{
+				"echo",
+				"{{.MonitorName}} check has failed {{.FailureCount}} times",
+			},
+		},
+	}
+}
diff --git a/config.go b/config.go
index fd237a4..f441925 100644
--- a/config.go
+++ b/config.go
@@ -117,6 +117,11 @@ func LoadConfig(filePath string) (config Config, err error) {
 		log.Printf("DEBUG: Config values:\n%v\n", config)
 	}
 
+	if _, ok := config.Alerts["log"]; !ok {
+		log.Printf("Adding log alert")
+		config.Alerts["log"] = NewLogAlert()
+	}
+
 	if !config.IsValid() {
 		err = errors.New("Invalid configuration")
 		return