MARKETING YOURSELF

Marketing is probably the most important aspect of starting any business venture successfully. Although you are merely playing golf; you are expecting to get paid which makes you a real business. Like any business, you will have to market yourself if you want to get any clients.

You marketing efforts will begin where everyone else’s does, which is in the advertising. How else will you be making any new business if no one knows you exist? Advertising takes many different forms. However if you want to be successful, you will want to market directly to the people that you are trying to entice. Flyers are not a good idea for this type of venture as your wealthy clients will not be reading it looking for business professionals.

You should be looking to try instead to market your services in higher end types of things such as:

· Business magazines and journals
· Trade magazines
· Sports section in your local newspapers
· Online designing of your own webpage
· Direct telecommunications requests

If you go through golf magazines, you can often get your idea tested for very little money up front. It is a good way to clear some advertising without breaking your bank right away.

Getting in Touch with out of Town Executives
When it comes to out of town executives, these can be your bread and butter as far as clients go. The reason is because as they are often out of town they simply don’t have the time to entertain their clients as they should be. This is when you can really make a name for yourself because they often get stuck in hotels; reading the local area interest sections and events guides.

If you advertise with these methods, you would be surprised at how much business you can drum up. Think about it, if you were stuck in a hotel room with very little to do, you would read those guides cover to cover.

They likely do this and that means that they will find your name in these guides and think about how many clients they can entertain while they are on the road. This is a very good idea to them, and you will drum up more business for yourself.

Sample Ads that you can use
The ad that you place in the trade magazines, newspapers etc. will be very important to the business you drum up. Here are a few samples of what you can write to get your business up and running:

Are you watching your clients get cozy over golf with the competition?
Now you can entertain your clients on the green without even having to be there. Call me for free info. At (555) 555-5555 to learn the details.

Don’t let your clients cheat on you!
If you’re not around to entertain your clients, your competition will be. Don’t let this happen to you. Keep your clients loyal by letting me entertain your clients on the golf course today! You can get free information by calling (555) 555-5555

Get on the Phone
This may not sound like the most fun or interesting way to try and get new business, but if you have the time and the right personality, calling these companies and giving them your pitch is a good way to go. You would be surprised at how many clients I have picked up this way. If you have a good voice over the phone and know how to pitch your services, it could work for you too!

This is not quite like telemarketing. If you are uncomfortable calling and speaking them directly, you can use your local phone company’s messaging services to go directly to their voicemail. You can prepare by writing your pitch down before you call and reading it to messaging service. This way you need only worry about the call back and not open rejection.

Free Golf Time
Now is a very interesting task. You can begin by having some business cards drawn up. This is a good beginning. If you don’t have the funds to create them, you can try visiting VistaPrint.com, which will give you 250 cards for FREE. The reason for this is that now that you have your ads placed everywhere, you will start to receive calls from potential clients.

When these prospects start calling you for meetings etc, you will want to have something to say to them. You should begin by asking them questions that will let you know if these people would really benefit from your services.

Here are some sample questions that you can ask and how your conversation might go. Just remember that that they will begin by asking you for the information that you offered in your ad. Let’s look at that conversation:

Prospect: I’m calling to get some information about the ad that you placed in the magazine.

You: That’s great, but before I start, is it alright if I ask you a few questions so that I can be certain that we can both benefit from what I am offering you. Is that ok with you?

Prospect: Certainly

You: Great. Now as you know, golf is one of the most popular sports out there for business people like us as a means of relaxation. However, are you aware that this is also how many business people entertain their clients? And that this is also how many clients make decisions about their businesses?

I have learned that there are many reasons why executives may not be able to take advantage of this trend and they are:

1. that they simply do not have the time that is needed during the day to entertain their clients on the green for the amount of time that it takes in order to play a full round of golf.
2. Some executives do not have the necessary skills in the game to feel comfortable demonstrating them to their clients.
3. Many executives have just never played the game before and do not know how.

I am going to start by asking you which of these reasons that I have just given you applies to you.

Now here the answer doesn’t really matter. As long as you pay attention to his or her reply, you can easily follow up their reply with this:

My company and I have learned that many executives know that they should be entertaining their clients by playing golf with them and often they simply can’t for reason like the one that you gave me. What we do is entertain your clients for you so that you can focus your time and effort into making them happy on the business aspect.

I will play a full 18 holes with your client on your behalf as a representative of your company at the best golf clubs in (your city). These are the nicest courses in this city and will be certain to impress your client. We can entertain up to three clients on your behalf and they will be treated like royalty.

We will make sure that your clients will have a great time on the green, and that they will be well respected. Once the game is over, you can feel free to join your client for cocktails or a meal and discuss business at the conclusion. The time that we spend playing golf can be used by you to finalize your presentation to the client.

This is the point where you must ask them how many of their clients that they feel this service could benefit. If the number is high then you can add: “Great! When should I start?”

Of course, they may counter by asking you what you will charge them for this. That is completely up to you. You can refer to the next section on how to get paid. You will tell them your prices and then ask if they have a preferred course that you should entertain on. Try to close the deal now, but don’t be pushy. If they still hesitate, follow up with a short letter later on.

Getting Paid
When it comes to the price that you will charge, that is completely up to you like I said. I personally charge $150 plus expenses per every 18 holes of golf. These expenses include: tees, green fees for all players and anything else that is required. This includes beverages for the clients.

You should ask for the expenses upfront as well as at least half of your fee. You do this to ensure that should they not want to pay, you have not lost any money personally. The rest of the monies owed will be paid after the round of golf is finished.

Try to have a solid estimate ready for them of the total cost, including a few drinks for the client so that you can have a quote ready. Just be sure to let them know that this may be higher or lower depending on the client’s needs and requests.

Some More Tips
You should already know this but you should really think about how you will act with these clients. You must always be polite no matter how badly the clients behave with you. It is your job to ensure that the client has a good time with you because this is how you will get repeat business from your prospect.

You should also be sure to understand and be up on all of the new golf etiquette and rules. Also, you should know how to locate lost balls because this will ensure that the clients will like you!

How you dress is also very important because you will be judged on this. I would not suggest that you wear shorts either. Try to get some background information on the client through the executive that you are working with. This will give you a leg up on what to talk to the client about.

Learning things like what sports they like and casual things like this will provide you with plenty to talk about. For example, if the client likes the Lions for football, try to wear a shirt with their logo on it because this will help to establish an instant rapport with them.

If you don’t know anything about the Lions, I would suggest that you look it up. It will be a great ice breaker. Be sure to act professional, but try to take their cues on how you should act during the game. If they are easy going and joke a lot feel free to do the same.

However, if they are serious and prone to frustration, be polite and take your cues from them. You should never lose your temper in front of them and remember that you are there to make the client happy.

You are now ready to get paid to play some golf. At this point, you can simply enjoy your free round of golf with the knowledge that you have also set yourself up for a great new source of income.

I will bet that you assumed that this is all you need to know about playing free golf! Not quite, now you can learn how to earn money while other people are playing FREE golf!

That’s right you can actually earn money while someone else plays golf for free. Let’s look at this special section next.

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