Running of the Bowls
Watch this clever, clever club lawn bowls fun day... with a video to match. What is your club doing to promote the sport later this year?
Marketing
your club in 2010
The marketing committee of the USLBA has developed a Club Marketing Handbook based on proven practices of successful clubs across the country. Download your copy from the link at right--->
Start your own club checklist. Don't wait for the president to do everything... if no one has made a marketing to do list yet, then maybe you need to step up and do your part to help save lawn bowls.
Many of these items are small and a few volunteers can quickly implement them and start to raise the visibility of a single club. Best thing to do though is make a check list then set up a conference call with Athol Foden (Marketing Chair) to discuss the action plan.
At the same time, a national press release has been sent out to the media nationwide announcing this program. We are assisted in these efforts by a professional PR firm for the first time, but they will be focusing on big national efforts to help raise awareness of what is often an invisible sport, as our budget for them is very small. Clubs and Divisions need to still do their best at their ownlevels. Do you even have a marketing board position? Committee?
Other major marketing efforts for 2010 will include:
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National Open House Day - May 8th nationwide, except June 19th in Central and NE divisions. We have seen the great success of this effort when clubs in a division all promote together.. now we are taking it nationwide.
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Video Competition: Best new video about lawn bowls - must be in USA and made in 2010 before July 31st. They will all be uploaded and judged. Win a set of new Henselite Tiger 2 custom red, white and blue bowls.
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Professional PR around all national and international competitions, including US Champs, US Open, North American Challenge, and MAP Internationall challenge, along with some coverage of our star Team USA players.
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Central fan page on Facebook where we can share all things American about the sport. If you are on Facebook, become a Fan and contribute at Lawn Bowls in the USA. The magic of our sport does not always come through in words.. lets get as many pictures and videos up or linked to as possible. Post your videos on YouTube and link to them.
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Development of more tools, news and photos on USLBA.org our national website.
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Hosting and promoting the two big British tour groups coming to the USA in 2010.
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More promotion and following of Team USA and our star players.
OPEN HOUSE NATIONWIDE IN 2010
Suggest your club and division set aside Sat May 8th (the day before Mother's Day) to build on what California has so successfully pioneered. They even published a great booklet on Guidelines for conducting an Open House. This has now been endorsed by all Divisions, except that the NE and Central regions will hold it on June 19th (Day before Father's Day) instead.
Proven
club marketing strategies and tactics
- Your
prospective new members are outside the fence, so most
programs should be community outreach focused.
- Most
bowlers join initially for the social and fun aspects,
so make sure they get a warm social welcome too... they
can always learn the finer points of bowls later.
- Most
people are shy around a new sport. So encourage them to
try it with their friends and families.
- Most
bowlers are not good salespeople, so equip them with some
basic marketing tools starting with a handout flyer.
- The
most consistently reported low-cost successful tactic
is to to put a box of flyers on your club gates and make
sure it is always stocked. Encourage people to help themselves.
Make sure the flyer is in a fun, friendly tone and tells
people what they can try, rather than all the things they
can't do. Make sure it has proper phone and web contact
information. A great idea is to put the basics of the
game on the back of this flyer..since most people don't
know the sport. (See download from Game
page).
- Somehow
or other get yourself a simple club website. Even as you
read this someone might be searching the web to find a
club or new sport in your area.
- Put
the website address on your gate box in case you run out
of flyers. Also on all your club booklets and newsletters.
- Schedule
some Open House weekends. Publicize them in local newspapers,
parks and rec. depts, mayoral letters, inserts, etc. Then
have volunteers on hand to let all and sundry try their
hand at bowls for free. Cookies
and lemonade are optional. Newport Harbor LBC has kindly
documented in detail how to run a successful Open House.
Download the PDF
Open House Guide here.
- Make
yourself a big sign or two (like realtor Open House) signs,
and put them out on tournament and open house and other
days. They are amazingly effective, especially if they
only have 3 or 4 words so people can read them as they
drive by at 40 mph.
- Invite
your local city newspaper and photographer to come down
to one of your regular social events.
- Schedule
a series of formal classes to learn lawn bowls. Many people
prefer this more formal setting. Works best if done in
conjunction with city parks and rec. dept or similar organization.
- Remember,
the next generation of bowlers have not yet retired, so
schedule most recruiting events for non-working hours.
You want to catch them before they lock-in on other retirement
activities. This means you should also review your normal
bowling hours... working people are not free 9 to 5 during
the week, nor at 12noon on weekends (as that is when they
are all used to eating lunch).
- Rent
(or take donations) for small groups to use your clubhouse
and green for small parties and office off-site meetings,
then have a few volunteers show them the very basics of
lawn bowls. If you get them competing early, they will
enjoy the fun and hopefully return later. In particular,
show the ladies how they can finally compete against their
male partners in a sport, and still enjoy a sociable time.
Make sure everyone goes home with one of your flyers.
Even if you don't get many takers initially, you will
make some money that you can then use on a marketing campaign.
- Have
a special members dinner after an afternoon of bowls,
where people can only sign up and stay for the dinner
if they brought a new friend or contact to try lawn bowling.
Didn't a friend invite you down once to play lawn bowls?
Isn't that how you got into the sport?
- Institute
a regular social calendar (if you don't already have one)
with at least one social party/dinner or similar event
every quarter. Call to invite all members, as well as
recent prospective members.
- Check your signage. Work with the city to put up street signs pointing to lawn bowls green.
- Check your hours. Are you accidentally discouraging working people. Make sure you bowl at least once a week regularly after work hours. E.g. 5pm wed nights, or Sat or Sun at 1:30pm. Schedule regular draw games for morning or afternoon, but not over lunch hour... so people don't have to waste whole day for bowling.
- Consider having a Bowls and Breakfast promo day. Good for hot climates anytime. Good for everyone in summer. For speciall attention, make it Champagne breakfast, and don't forget to invite your local radio and TV news shows.
- Put out a press release whenever you have some news, tournaments, events, etc. There are many free services for this nowadays, all with hints on how to write it.
- List your events in the free Weekend Events, Weekend Sports, Things to Do Around Town in your local papers and their websites. Put an ad on Craigslist or wherever too. All these are free.. you just have to sit down and do it.. because they all expire quickly.
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Divisional
Marketing Outreach
Get your region
together and do some marketing programs. Don't wait for nationals...
support is not the same, nor emphasis, in all parts of the country.
You know the sport best. You know the local clubs and contacts!
The SW booth
at a recent AARP Expo. See the website listed here on the edge of
the indoor green: www.trylawnbowling.com
The SW is also
having its own Lawn Bowls Day in May with coordinated promotions
across the region. See SWLawnBowls.com.
Ads
and Posters
The USLBA Membership
Committee has worked with the Lake Hodges Club and their advertising
agency to develop a set of new posters suitable for use anywhere
and for any reason. Some of these were shown in the Spring 2004
issue of Bowls magazine. The headings are: "If you think pitchers
throw good curve balls, you haven't tried lawn bowling," "Mind if
we throw you a curve," "Lawn bowling. It just looks expensive,"
"Lawn bowling. It's not just for seniors anymore." The posters can
be had by contacting the Membership Committee. Be sure to include
the message you wish to display on your posters. Suggestions would
be the date of your open house, the name of the person to contact
for lessons, the days your club is open for bowling and your location
or street address.
Ads for your
local newspaper can be prepared by contacting Larry Hirsch at www.hdesign.com
Larry will include your message in the ad and forward it to your
newspaper in the proper form for printing. This service costs very
little and saves all sorts of time and aggravation.
Similarly, when
working with kids, posters have been designed with titles like "If
you think pitchers throw good curve balls, you haven't tried lawn
bowling," "Mind if we throw you a curve," "Lawn bowling. It just
looks expensive," "Lawn bowling. It's not just for seniors anymore."
Additonal
marketing hints and ideas? Please send them via the Contacts
page.
California Lawn Bowls Day a big success
The SW and PIMD Divisions joined forces this year to make a statewide effort all on one single day of recruiting. It is estimated that as many as 300+ (in SW) and 100+ (in PIMD) new members will result from this one single effort.
PIMD were a bit late on getting going, but it still worked wonders for most of their clubs. Now is the time for all regions to start thinking how they will push together next year (or even late this year if that is when your season starts).
Recruiting is fast becoming the major imperative for most regions to stem the dramatic fall off in memberships we have been seeing these past few years. Let's keep lawn bowls alive and competitive... and not just for the same old handful of tournament players.
Is
your club growing?
If not, it is probably shrinking as people age out of the programs.
Don't wait for
some committee or region to do something drastic when the emergency
alarms sound. There are many simple low cost things you can do at
your local level to grow your club and help promote the sport nationwide.
Listed below are some items from clubs who have successfully grown
their membership in the last few years, but the most important item
is
ATTITUDE
Yes, we have
found that when a few key members change their attitude towards
welcoming newcomers, then the whole club's attitude changes. And
instead of scaring off beginners that none of us "experts"
want to play against, we find away to embrace and include them in
the social games. After all, we all used to be beginners once. So
don't bother with these marketing tactics unless this matter is
addressed first, or you will get new members who don't stick around.
If you feed them they will come! A recent Aussie themed bowls/eve had the lawn full at Palo Alto
and over 80 people enjoyed the dinner and music. A great chance to meet spouses and friends and new members.
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 VIDEO COMPETION NOW UNDER WAY
Great bowling prize for the best new video on lawn bowls shot in the USA in 2010. Close date is July 31st so get those cameras humming. See full Video Competion Rules and Entry.
Click
here
or Open House sign above to see how to run a great proven Open
House. As listed on the SW website.
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