Blogging, not newsletters, is the Wild West right now. We have a WordPress blog attached to our Web site, where anyone can set up an account and write. On the blog, we run articles about our dealership—for instance, about our receptionist who’s been here 19 years. We also comment on what people say on our blog. We wanted to get away from newsletters because everyone is doing them now. Blogging is a next-generation newsletter, in a way, because it’s interactive. A blog is less intrusive, and so far it’s working well.
Noel Graham, Internet Director, North Hollywood (Calif.) Toyota

We send out quarterly newsletters via our CRM system, on paper. Frankly, people around here—many of them dairy farmers—don’t have computers. And people who are computer literate use the Internet at work but not that much at home. They shouldn’t get e-mails from us at work. So far, the reaction to the newsletter is good.
Don Marshall, Don Marshall Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep/Nissan, Somerset, Ky.

We’ve thought about an e-newsletter, but frankly we’re just not sophisticated enough yet to do it in-house. We would produce it in-house and probably make it quarterly, at first. That’s a real goal of mine.
Bill Fox, Fox Motors, Gowanda, N.Y.

When we get our new building completed, we’ll do an e-newsletter. I’ve often thought it would be a great idea, but I’m unsure about whether to do this in-house or have someone do it for us.
Ed Wood, General Manager, Suzuki of Greensboro (N.C.)