Archive for February, 2010

Black Diamond POA Website

Thursday, February 25th, 2010

Black Diamond POA Website

Check out the contact us page, from the NEW and improved, if you can actually believe that, Black Diamond POA website.

Contact name BLANK

Contact e-mail BLANK

Contact Number BLANK

and you wonder why the POA say people don’t respond to them?

em!!!!

Here’s a tip don’t HIDE from your customers they may actually have something important to tell you!

Posted in Digital Marketing, General Marketing, Golf Management, Golf Marketing, Rant!, UK Golf Marketing | 1 Comment »

I Hate Andrew Wood

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

I love him

I hate him

Ah well just spell my name right when you bad mouth me …

Leave your comments on my blog click here

Dear Reader:

First thanks for your comments and responses to last weeks newsletter BOY was it a mixed result on this one… (see actual comments good, bad and ugly below)

I am sorry some of you were offended by the newsletter (obviously some readers are not a good fit with my results driven style) but the job situation out there is grave and the thousands of good people looking for a job need a wake up call, THIS IS THE REALITY THEY FACE!

You don’t have to like it or agree but its reality anyway!

If you are a golf professional or GM’s looking for job in this market YOU NEED sales & marketing skills

Obviously the whole newsletter was tongue in cheek BUT I assure you that a slightly toned down version of it is an excellent way to cut through the clutter and secure a JOB!

The hundreds of course owners I deal with are far more brutal than I was in negatively assessing the mass of cover letters and resumes they get for every pro or managers job….

Perhaps you have not been at hundreds of clubs like I have with 200-300 resumes for all kinds of jobs from bag boy to club manager looking and sounding exactly like a form letter from biz school 101

IT DOES NOT WORK!

Especially now!

Owners want people that can sell and market their facilities, if you don’t believe
me ask them! I visit over 300 clubs a year and they always want the same thing. A manager, professional or membership person that has sales and marketing talent!

Right or wrong it starts and ends with can that person produce $$$$$

Focus on massively increasing your sales and marketing skills quickly, it’s not hard especially when you have resources likehttp://www.cunninglyclevergolfoperator.com/ at your finger tips for as little as $19.95 a month!

I am a big supporter of the PGA; a vast majority of my friends are PGA members, or club managers. I was NOT downing either of these organizations qualifications, I AM JUST TELLING you THE stark reality is, MOST owners, especially corporate owners, of the bean counter variety don’t CARE all that much about qualifications or experience anymore than they care if my website product is better than what they are using now.

You don’t have to like it
You don’t have to accept it
The TRUTH doesn’t care either way…..

I have helped many professionals and managers get jobs by simply rewriting their cover letter, no they don’t really read like last weeks newsletter but they are very different from everyone else’s, they reflect the owner/boards perspective and they get results!!!

People looking for a job in this market need to be creative, they need to write VERY different cover letters and have very different resumes. They also need to fast forward their understanding of sales, marketing and social networking!!!

Things are changing and changing fast, not only in the golf industry, in every industry…..

This newsletter was an effort to DRIVE that point home. If it helps one person out of work get employed because they read my e-mail it was well worth it!

I know this approach works because I’ve proved it time and time again

Respectfully,
AW

PS. Here are some other responses from PGA professionals and GM’s names edited to protect the guilty!!

I loved it. Anyone from this industry can not claim that they could have “nailed it” any better that that! When I was reading it, I cackled so loud, everyone in Starbucks was wondering what I was reading!

PGA, Section President

Leave your comments on my blog click here

I am a PGA Professional who was put out last December and is currently looking for work. I’ll be fine Prick. Go market your shit somewhere else. I don’t know how you got my email address, but I’d suggest that you lose it, NOW!

James, PGA Professional 28 years

I can’t believe you sent this. I am going through this exact scenario right now with an owner who has lost money at his facility for the past several years. I have met several times with him but he is inexperienced in the golf business and does not want to upset any of the employees who have cost him millions over the past few years.

Go figure. Mike Hunt …………..hilarious

Kenny, PGA

Greetings,

What a great e-mail and thanks for sending it to me. The content is full of truth, information, and wisdom. Again thanks.

David, PGA & GM

Leave your comments on my blog click here

Was a decent presentation, but I was turned off by the need to use vulgarity. Like you have all the hard luck, and you are so smart now, educating yourself, and becoming such a tough guy. Opening a communication with a hard nose approach doesn’t work for everyone.
Pat

Wow! Love it!
Best regards,
Regional Director, Major golf management group

Leave your comments on my blog click here

Great Article Andrew, Well said.

Randy

Having been in and out of the golf business for over 40 years (including two of the top courses in the nation), I can say with absolute certainty that Mike Hunt’s approach and manner in which his letter was written, smacks of insulting arrogance and clearly demonstrates the typical foul mouthed type of guy that people would not want running their organization. And regardless of whether one is a Democrat or a Republican, listening to Rush is like one idiot listening to another idiot. Probably shouldn’t mention that guy’s name when trying to advertise. Perhaps this whole thing was just a joke right? Or maybe just a satirical attempt at trying to show how not to get a job. Regardless, Andrew should probably re-think his whole marketing approach. It gives a whole new meaning to “cunningly clever”. Please, no more emails in the future.

This email was very funny. You talked me in to buying your bible.
Thanks. I look forward to reading it.
Allison GM

Andrew – Now that’s a resume –
Steve, Owner

Are you serious with this? I think its very rude and not a very good marketing tool……but that’s just me. Good luck with this one!
Kim

Thanks Kim I sold over $1,000 worth of books from this e-mail and started a dialogue with over 42 clubs, 50% of which was positive! Which means I’m talking with 21 more clubs than I was before the e-mail went out, all good!
Andrew

Andrew,

Another great article, as usual. I can relate to this. Ironically, the Golf Marketing Bible is one of the next things on my list to read.

Randy PGA FL

Leave your comments on my blog click here

Legendary Marketing lost all its credibility with the letter from Mike Hunt. Sophomoric humor does not belong in a professional environment.
John

Good Stuff.

Mike PGA & GM MI

Andrew you may be a little brash for some but you are the best mind in the entire industry for those who want to grow their business or advance their career! Those that follow your ideas cannot help but rise with the tide of creativity and passion you provide.

Randy, CA

Andrew you are right -you must think like an owner.

Neil UK Owner

Wow, ok. You sold me. I get it. For the right kind of club I think this would work well. My only critique is that the approach seems reactive. To get the good jobs, you have to start networking years in advance, do your homework on who to reach out to and who to focus on in follow up calls. Perhaps you could tailor your services to offer a stratified approach wherein certain candidates could shot-gun-target a market through shock and awe tactics while others you could help prepare for their 2012 job. Best of luck with your service! How is the job market? I work on wall st now so I know all about challenging job environments.

-Adam PGA CT

Andrew,

Thank you for sending me your newsletter for so many years. While in the past, I had found some of your ideas to be credible, I was astonished by this email. Aside from being a poor attempt at humor, I was greatly offended and taken aback at your vulgar tone and overall obscene attitude found within this email.

As a Golf Professional, I as many other PGA Professionals, hold ourselves to a certain level of professionalism, ethics, and integrity and expect those that we deal with at the professional level and within our association and industry to do the same. Unfortunately, based on the representation in your current newsletter, I would like to no longer receive any correspondence in any medium from Legendary Marketing or yourself.

I am saddened that this email was necessary, but I hope that it may help direct the thought processes for the next email.

Sincerely,

D, PGA, FL

That is hilarious. (Last weeks newsletter)

My experience is that MANY managers and Professionals seem way too busy to generate revenue or they don’t really have any idea how.

I’ll bet my guys read your next one. Maybe its just an east coast thing….

N General Manager

REMOVE ME AND NEVER SEND SUCH A BULL SHIT EMAIL AGAIN!
Oh and by the way I will forward this foolish email to all my colleagues!!!

G, Club Manger, MA

It is a very tense world out there. People are digging into their bunkers and just praying they don’t get ambushed. The fact is the industry continues to change and we need to add value to every members stake in membership. The more the member wants to participate the easier sell it is at the dinner table each night. We need to feel good about the money we spend for everything we do now. There is much more pressure on spending decisions. Poor G is wrapped a little tight. He may be very good at what he does. I am not certain he is an agent of change which may not bode well for him and LedgeXXXX CC. He seems a little hostile… Must be a real peckerhead to work for. Pretty funny read anyway- thanks for sharing.

N. General Manager

Brilliant e-mail and while I am sure the vast majority of my colleagues in the golf business may not find it appealing it’s true. So true it hurts!!!

Richard, PGA,

To Whom it May Concern:

Any correspondence that contains the words “self-righteous prick” (5th paragraph) is not going to receive my serious consideration. Please remove my name and any other employees of Sandxxx Golf Links permanently from your list. How arrogant.

Nancy

I bet you’ll miss me!
AW

Dear Andrew,
Amazing! This letter sounds way too familiar to me.
I take my hat off to you. I always enjoy getting your articles and today, it just struck a cord to respond. Thank you

Jeff, CA

So there you have it the, good, the bad and the ugly…

Leave your comments on my blog click here

Enjoy,

Andrew Wood

PS. Let’s not miss the point here develop an attitude of Kizan, continued never ending improvement preferably in the SKILLS OWNERS are LOOKING FOR, in most cases sales and market skills!

Get the info you need herehttp://www.cunninglyclevergolfoperator.com/ and here

http://golfmarketingbible.com/

For more Cunningly Clever Strategies to Increase Your Business and Become a Marketing Legend in Your Spare Time Take the Following Action:

Read My Legendary Marketing Blog
Read Bob’s Golf Management Blog
Subscribe to my weekly e-mails
Join The Marketing Vault
Read or Listen to Cunningly Clever Marketing
Read or Listen to The Golf Marketing Bible
Invest in a consulting visit with Andrew Wood or Bob Devitz

Call your digital marketing team leader at 800-827-1663 or call me, Andrew Wood, at 352 266 2099, 7 days a week!

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

More Outrageous Winter Marketing

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

Click image to enlarge

Here is another out of the box Andrew Wood classic, from the famed Garland Inquirer, magazine, spoof. Proving yet again that you can have fun, attract lots of readership and still sell the product!

For more great examples read Cunningly Clever Marketing.

Posted in Ad Assassin, Classics, Copywriting, Print Ads, Resort marketing | No Comments »

How To Really Impress an Prospective Employer

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010
From The Desk of Mike Hunt
PGA Professional & General manager

Let’s get one thing straight IF and I Mean IF, I Decide to Take Your General Manager’s Job I Insist on at Least 30% of My Salary Being Performance Based!

Dear Golf Course Owner:

I saw your ad in the newspaper and on several industry websites. I bet you have already got a few hundred resumes so I’ll get to the point quickly….

I am a PGA professional and general manager with over 30 years in the business. I am great at teaching, run a fine event and understand a club budget inside and out. I am a team player, very professional and service orientated although I know that you couldn’t actually give a @#$% about any of these qualities.
Nor will you read or care about my references, professional qualifications or anything else I put on my resume.
I am equally sure you couldn’t care less why I lost my last job, but, for the record a Korean group bought out my owner and it was two bows and a “Kom som neda” for me!
I realize you don’t care about this stuff not because you are some self-righteous prick but because like everyone else in this industry you are worried, struggling to survive. Looking for answers to questions you have never had to ask before.
That’s why I think you will be VERY interested in what I’ve been doing in the six months since I lost my job.
At 54, I was far from washed up, but I was far from up to date either so I’ve made use of my time in the following ways.

  1. I bought and studied the Golf Marketing Bibleinside and out. I now have a complete understanding on how to effectively market a golf course! (Boy have I wasted some money in the past, but no more!)
  2. I read several books on sales, something I had never thought to do and am now confident I can increase the closing ratio at any club by 30% or more on memberships, outing, banquets etc. Loved the Tom Hopkins book on mastering sales, bought the audio as well and play it in my car now instead of listing to Rush! (And No that doesn’t mean I’m a communist)
  3. I joinedhttp://www.cunninglyclevergolfoperator.com/, which at $19.95 a month might have been my best career move ever!

    There are thousands of great club moneymaking ideas including several specific ideas I want to go over. These including my favorite How to generate 50,000-$250,000 for your clubs instantly, without a rich uncle a loan or a gun. I mean we could do some pretty neat things to spruce the place up for that kind of money eh?

  4. From the site and AW’s blog I have really taken to social networking and have a simple plan to instantly boost our search engine rankings using daily Tweets and blog content. It seemed a bit goofy at first but now I’m a social bee and it’s fun.  I can’t wait to get started our club has such a great story to tell, I’m sorry did I say our again, how silly of me!
  5. Reading Bob Devitz management blog also got me thinking about performance based position agreements. This is something we should implement at once that could easily give us a 20-% increase in productivity.
  6. I have been watching the local newspapers and scouring the web and I’ve got a hot list of 57 tournaments and outings I’d like to follow up on ASAP. I bought the outing Dominations Program form http://www.cunninglyclevergolfoperator.com/ so I’m ready to go with letter and scripts to fill up the place with events starting Monday!

In my last interview, the owner, a rugged faced Texan with a huge cowboy hat, looked me in the eye when I told him I had twenty years experience and asked me “Do you have twenty years experience where you learned and grew every year or did you just experience more or less the same year twenty times, son?”
That’s when it hit me of course….
In the last six months I’ve invested about $750 in books, audio and thehttp://www.cunninglyclevergolfoperator.com/ website. It’s a fraction of what I spent going to college yet far more valuable. I made up for that 20 years of experience I was missing in the only thing that matters to owners like you, in this economy, information on how I can PROFITABLY GROW YOUR BUSINESS!
Knowledge is Power
I’d like to start Monday, but I insist that at least 30% of my pay should be performance based and assume you are not opposed in paying generous bonuses for my exceeding plan significantly?
Yours Sincerely,
Mike Hunt
New GM at Your Club
P.S. It pains me to see the number of good people out of work. It pains me even more to see resumes pile up in the corner of my office and the offices of others like me who are still hiring and see 100’s of letter stressing team work and service. You have got to think out of the box to get a job in this market, You have to think like an OWNER!!
PPS. Don’t wait until you need a job to update your sales and marketing knowledge that’s what owners are paying for these days….
Visit http://www.cunninglyclevergolfoperator.com/ you have questions they have answers!
For more Cunningly Clever Strategies to Increase Your Business and Become a Marketing Legend in Your Spare Time Take the Following Action:
Call your digital marketing team leader at 800-827-1663 or call me, Andrew Wood, at 352 266 2099, 7 days a week!

Andrew Wood is the world’s leading expert on golf, resort and real estate marketing, although his successes reach far beyond those industries. He is the author of over 20 books on sales and marketing including, Cunningly Clever Marketingand The Golf Marketing Bible. Andrew speaks worldwide on sales and marketing topics and is in high demand as acopywriter and marketing consultant, He owns Marketing Commandersoftware, an advertising agency, Legendary Marketing and Legendary Golf & Resort Management. He can be reached directly at (352) 266-2099 or andrew@LegendaryMarketing.com
Syndication Rights
This article may be reproduced or republished provided the main body of text is reproduced as is, without additional permission, with proper credit to the author and provided that the above resource box remains intact with the article. Permission to re-publish is hereby granted until Dec. 31st, 2012. Author retains all copyrights.

Posted in Golf Management, Golf Marketing, Motivation, Rant!, UK Golf Marketing | 8 Comments »

How Much Information is Too Much On Your Website?

Saturday, February 13th, 2010

Do you know what the number one complaint of web surfers is?

Drum roll…. not enough information once they get to a site. There are few things more frustrating that surfing around the web for an hour only to find that the site you thought was perfect says call for more info and it’s 10:23 pm!

It’s very difficult to get people to understand this important concept since very few of the people reading this book at this very moment will be in the market for, say, a 10 acre horse farm in Hernando, Florida. Therefore most of you are not likely be all that interested in reading about the new eight-stall barn, the fencing, the duck pond, and the mature oak trees dripping with Spanish moss. Since you have no immediate need or desire for this product, you will have no particular interest in what follows. Whether the information came in the mail or you stumbled across it on a website, you would not even give it a second glance, let alone read the whole thing.

Who would read a four-page sales pitch on this farm? NO ONE NORMAL! No one who is not really interested in buying a horse farm in Florida – and that my friends is the POINT!

You SHOULD ALWAYS write copy for the small percentage of people who actually want to BUY what YOU have to SELL!

People who buy anything, from sunscreen to a home, car, a flat screen, or cosmetic dental work, want to know what they are getting for their money. They want details, they want reasons to buy, they want proof to back up the emotional response they had to your headline. They want enough information to justify taking the next step!

Heck, you have read page after page in this book because you are INTERESTED in marketing success. I rest my case!

There are hundreds of people who will disagree with the above statement, but NONE of them will have PROOF or actually make their living selling and marketing anything of value!

The More You Tell, the More You Sell!!!

Repeat this to yourself until it’s etched in your brain like that annoying tune from “it’s a small world!”

Posted in Copywriting, Digital Marketing, General Marketing, UK Golf Marketing, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Troon Golf -Poor Geography and Location Lies!

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

Troon, maybe a worldwide company, but apparently their geography is not much good! Spotted in their latest edition of “Club Troon News” was an article on them taking over the management of the Princes Club, in England.

“Located the English costal village of Kent!”blackdiamondnewsletter

Princess is in fact located in the costal village of Sandwich. Kent is not a village; in fact it’s the largest county in England, counties being the UK equivalent of states. It would be like saying Scottsdale is located in the village of Arizona!

For the record boys, here’s there address in case you have trouble finding it!

Princes Dr, Sandwich Bay, Sandwich, Kent CT13, United Kingdom. 01304 611 118

Despite my previous advice, Troon also continue to typeset their newsletter in small, unreadable reverse type!

Hud, first congratulations on becoming CEO. Here’s a quick fact for you, 55% of American’s over 40 can’t read 12 point black and white type without glasses. I assume the majority of Troon’s customers are in fact over 40?

Can you read your own company’s newsletter?

I thought not…. Nextmapquestthumb

Now I know my spelling and grammar sucks, but I do try to be factual.

The same Troon newsletter also says;

“Black Diamond is located 15 minutes from Ocala”

Well, Mapquest say it’s located 42 minutes away, but guys I’m up for the challenge, in this case to try and prove Troon right !!!

Just hope I don’t run into the Black Diamond Speed cops, yea the HOA actually has speed traps in our community!!!

Gentlemen start your engines!

ferrari

Posted in Golf Management, UK Golf Marketing, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Member Owned Private Club GM Feedback on Legendary and Golf Bible

Sunday, February 7th, 2010

Our Membership director started using sales closes from Golf Marketing Bible….closed 4 of first 5 prospects utilizing the sales closes and transacted 7 membership sales in November and December of 2009.  We are in the metro detroit area so closing any membership sales (let alone 7) at that time of the year is a huge bonus.

Our club also utilizes your private club commander website to communicate with our membership and for marketing for banquets, memberships and outings.   When we started with the private club commander in the spring of 2009 we had 23 requests for membership or banquet information from the website contact points in the first 14 days the website was up …that’s more than we had gotten in the last 2 years from the previous website.

We contine to generate prospects for membership and banquets through the private club commander website.

Thanks!

Thanks!

Brian Bach, GM, Eddgewood CC, Member owned private club

Commerce, MI

Posted in Books, General Marketing, Golf Management, Golf Marketing, Sales, Success, UK Golf Marketing | 1 Comment »

PGA Professional Feedback On The Golf Marketing Bible & Cunningly Clever Books

Friday, February 5th, 2010

Hi Andrew,
I joined in for two of your seminars at the PGA show in Orlando this year. I purchase The Golf Marketing Bible last year and Cunningly Clever Marketing this year. I couldn’t wait to start reading it after listening to your wisdom during the seminars. Once I started reading it I couldn’t put it down. I read almost the entire book during my flights back to North Dakota. It is truly jam-packed with all sorts of great marketing ideas. Thanks so much for these great books.

David Solga, CGCS/PGA
Director of Golf, Bully Pulpit GC, Medora ND, www.medora.com

Get your copy here
http://www.cunninglyclevergolfoperator.com/products/department1.cfm

Posted in Books, General Marketing, Golf Management, Golf Marketing, UK Golf Marketing | 1 Comment »

PRINT ADVERTSING THAT ACTUALLY WORKS!

Thursday, February 4th, 2010

Lemmings Fall Off Cliffs – Then They Die!

When I first started in the karate business, all my advertising was done through the local Shopper or Penny Saver publications. Specifically I ran print ads that looked just like every other karate school’s ads. It was either a stern looking black belt staring out from the page with his hands on his hips in a karate uniform or a man flying through the air about to kick someone in the head.

It never, not even for a moment, occurred to me that people would look at that ad of me doing a perfect flying side kick at a students face and ever think of themselves as the kickee not the kicker!

But, that was exactly what was happening!

I ran macho man ads thinking everyone wanted to be a black belt, while the reader is thinking, “Hell if I go there I could lose all my teeth!” Since everyone else in the industry was running almost identical ads, I thought that must be how you do it!

Twenty years later, half the ads you still see for martial arts schools still feature the guy flying through the air or the Asian master scowling at the camera. Similarly, Golf clubs run identical ads in golf guides, hotels in hotel guides, manufactures in trade rags, retailers and car dealers in the Sunday newspapers, and so on.

Just because everyone in your industry does the same thing does not make it right, in fact it’s almost certainly wrong!

Andrew Wood is the world’s leading expert on golf, resort and real estate marketing, although his successes reach far beyond those industries. He is the author of over 20 books on sales and marketing including, Cunningly Clever Marketing and The Golf Marketing Bible. Andrew speaks worldwide on sales and marketing topics and is in high demand as a copywriter and marketing consultant, He owns Marketing Commander software, an advertising agency, Legendary Marketing and Legendary Golf & Resort Management. He can be reached directly at (352) 266-2099 or andrew@LegendaryMarketing.com

Syndication Rights
This article may be reproduced or republished provided the main body of text is reproduced as is, without
additional permission, with proper credit to the author and provided that the above resource box remains
intact with the article. Permission to re-publish is herby granted until Dec. 31st, 2012. Author retains all copyrights.

Posted in General Marketing, Golf Marketing, Print Ads, Resort marketing, UK Golf Marketing, Uncategorized | No Comments »