I frequently get the question of what to write about when communicating with customers. Here’s my response to one such email:

As far as content for your email, I think this is something a lot of people over think. I find that usually the best stuff to write about is the stuff being talked about around the watercooler. You’ll know what that is for your business more than I can know.

For the gym, it’s the trends we saw from 2009 and the trends we expect to see in 2010. It’s the tips to follow if you want to start a New Year’s fitness resolution that you can stick with (clip on Youtube). It’s the members’ success stories – however big or small.

For you, it may be writing about that watercooler talk, or any current news that highlights being prepared for the unexpected (by the way, have you seen this video of the dog sensing the California earthquake).

Weekly may be a lot to start off with. Monthly may be a better beginning goal.

And No. 1, keep in mind what your goal is for your email strategy. For the gym, it’s to keep us positioned as the experts in our members’ minds.

And once you start, you’ll be able to see what is working via whatever bulk email service provider you choose. (I must say, I’m pretty keen on MailChimp right now, regardless of the name).

If you have any additional questions, I’m here to help.

Best,
Brian Russell

P.S. I just checked out your Web site, which has a very solid appearance. One thing you may want to look at is setting up a free Google Analytics account (http://www.google.com/analytics/), so you can track how folks get to your Web site, use your Web site, etc. Once you’re tracking it, then you can better know what works, what doesn’t, and where to improve.