Ski club website newsletters should be published with two audiences — and perhaps even two messages — in mind.
1. Tell members what is coming up next in the club and how much fun the last activity was so that they might try a similar activity in the future.
2. Tell prospective members just how much fun being a member of your ski club can be. Most ski clubs do a good job telling their members what’s happened and what is going to happen, but many ski clubs don’t use their website to sell the club to prospective members.
Ski club websites can be a powerful recruiting tool if used correctly.
Forget the password. Probably the major thing clubs do that can actually turn away prospective members is to require a password to find out what’s going on in the ski club or who is the person or persons to whom they can address questions. Why would you insist on a password to find out that the club a trip to Aspen is January 3-11? It’s not a government secret and your long-gone ex-wife doesn’t care.
Prospective members should not have to look up a password or even identify themselves just to find out what the club is all about. Be inviting. Be open, and certainly don’t be secretive. Give up those password requirements to access your online newsletter or website. They are counterproductive.
Identify where your club is located on the first page — the name of the city and the state — and perhaps even the neighborhood. In the case of some large cities, all that information should be readily visible. Look at the first page of your website newsletter and pay attention to what that page tells prospective members and what is does not tell them. Don’t just say “the best ski club in Belton” but identify in what state. I Googled the name my hometown of Belton and found towns with that name in Texas, Missouri, and South Carolina — then I found towns named Columbus in five states! If your club serves a larger geographic area than just one town, then tell people the area that you serve on the first page of your website.
Via By Bob Wilbanks, National Ski Club Newsletter May/June 2015
