| NEW INSIGHTS FOR EXPERIENCED GOLF COURSE OWNERS/MANAGERS |
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December 4, 2010
From the Desk of James J. Keegan- Author and Managing Principal of Golf ConvergenceWow! Who would have thought? In the first 150 days since the The Business of Golf – What Are You Thinking?" was published, over 300 copies of the books have been sold. To learn more, click here. Enter code Email25 at checkout to receive a 25% discount. I continue to learn valuable lessons that I think will benefit you now. Lesson 1: Fine tuning your marketing message via a follow-up email greatly increases your sales Through vertical response software, we track every email by Google Analytics measures opens, clicks, bounces, unsubscribes, etc. Opens and clicks have averaged 12.71% and 1.96% respectively. By sending to those who "open/clicked" within five days a follow-up email indicating we noted their interest, the open and click rate soared to 64.78% and 2.97%, respectively. Amazing. How you can benefit: Every email campaign should have a follow up cued for release five days thereafter to those who opened/clicked on the initial message. While it takes a little work to filter the initial response, the effort is rewarded in the investment return. Lesson 2: Amazon and eBay have challenges. Those lessons underscore the risks of working with some third-party tee time companies. Two fundamental rules of business are to maximize the yield per transaction and identify your customers. Amazon only generates a 49% yield of the rack rate. More importantly, you are not informed as to who the customer is. Our book distributor only receives a notice: Order 2254859.214 - Amazon.com AzdcLlc. The challenge with E-Bay is that payment is not received for up to 30 days after the sale. In contrast, from your own website, proceeds are deposited within three days. Here is the connection to third party marketing companies. Some of the current vendors only provide the first and last names of the person who made the tee time. Contact information, i.e., (phone number and email address of the "captain" and the remaining group members) are often not provided. How you can benefit: There are two insights. First, in working with third party marketing companies, entering an agreement in which the contact information of the customer is provided is essential. Second, the liquidation of excessive inventory is often advocated via third-party web sites.
Why? I simply want to eliminate the clutter in my life. Lesson 3: Education is something many are willing to pay for and not get. The book, "The Business of Golf - What Are You Thinking" offers templates to download for FREE at www.golfconvergence.com to help you:
We have been tracking the number of individuals who have downloaded the templates for implementation at their facilities. We had wished for a much higher usage. How you can benefit: The following templates are "five minute guides" that will have long-term value to your facility: http://www.golfconvergence.com/library/interactive-content. The Excel 2007 downloadable files include: green fee calculator, deferred capital expenditures, labor hour estimate, and equipment requirement level. Lesson 4: Clemson's PGM Students are very talented and posses industry knowledge worth 10 years of experience. Clemson University's Professional Golf Management Program incorporated the book, the case study I developed, and a test bank of questions into its current Fall, 2010 semester. The professor, Rick Lucas, is amazing. I visited the school on December 1-2, 2010 to participate in the students' presentations of the case study and to present a class lecture. The students' presentations were fabulous. From a very complicated case study, the vast majority were able to discern the salient facts and craft a strategic vision, develop tactical plans and outline procedures for crisp operational execution. How you can benefit: Looking for an intern or to hire a 1st assistant?I would call Rick Lucas at 864 -784 7731 or email rlucas@clemson.edu Also, Rick is contemplating launching in January, 2012, an online curriculum to help you develop a strategic plan using the fabulous tools available at Clemson University. This Executive Education class will include, at your option, a week on campus meeting with industry peers. Lesson 5: When marketing you assume a public persona attracting the deviant elements of society. Since I commenced marketing the books, I have had my Paypal account compromised by Leyn Clemente of Raleigh, NC withdrawing $1,027.74 from my checking account (that was later recaptured), my computer was bombarded with "trojans (principally Think Point)", my MSN account hacked with numerous bogus emails sent to my address book, and pop-up ads greatly increased while escaping detection on Internet Explorer 8.0. As a result, I have developed a completely different approach to the Internet. I now use Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox as my browsers and have developed a complete new naming convention for email: Business: jkeegan@golfconvergence.com Each of these has a distinctive purpose and emails now arrive in my inbox sorted by category. Great time saver! How you can benefit: We all live busy lives. Creating multiple email accounts by topic of interest will allow you to allocate time to each appropriately as needed. What's NextThis is our third update to those who have purchased the book. If you missed the first two "lessons from which you can benefit", email me I will have Diane Wilkinson forward those newsletters to you. As we continue to market the book, other lessons will emerge that I look forward to sharing. I am grateful for your support and well wishes. Enjoy the holiday season. This is a great time of year for family and friends. Very appreciatively, J J KeeganJ. J. Keegan, Managing Principal and Author |