Golf Business Podcast

Happy Tuesday! As you know, football season is upon us. High School, College, and NFL games are played on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday that can take golfers away from the course. I have put together a short list of six things (and a bonus one) that you can do to embrace the season instead of competing with it. There are a lot of facilities out there that do not take advantage of this time of year and see a SIGNIFICANT drop in play. DO NOT BE THAT CLUB. There are so many ways to adapt to make the most out of this season. Small changes can create huge rewards for the facility and the top and bottom line. Did I just hear "bonus for you"? Maybe... As always, if you have any questions or comments, email me at jrockhold@pga.com or DM me on Instagram & Twitter @FindtheGreen or on Facebook at Find The Green. All comments will be responded to and may even be used as the subject of a future podcasts. If you would like to be a guest on the show, please feel free to reach out. Have a great week!

Happy Tuesday! Today, we are focusing on how to increase your relevance as a golf instructor and build a following that increases your income! I have talked to hundreds of golf professionals that ask, "Why am I not getting any lessons?" The answer can be varied but I have put together 5 areas that can help make some huge strides for your instruction business. We address education and technology, as well as, utilizing every opportunity that you have to make a connection with a golfer in need. Finding your stride with the type of content you like to produce and, by the way, you need to produce A LOT of content! Don't be afraid to be the expert because the top pros aren't. As always, if you have any questions or comments feel free to leave a voice message on Anchor.com or send me an email to jrockhold@pga.com. Reach me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook @FindtheGreen. Thanks for listening and telling your friends! We are doubling our downloads every month and it is all because of you!

Happy Tuesday! With the PGA Championship keeping you on edge and the Tiger Woods effect regaining momentum, now is the time to take advantage. One way to do that is by growing your email database. The strongest growth campaign for a golf course is the Birthday Email that gives the customer a free round of golf for their birthday, when they present the email at the pro shop. These emails often link to additional golfers because most people will want to play with friends on their birthday and they generally pay full rate. With some additional promotion, you could turn the course into the a larger birthday site for a multi-group event. Adding a merchandise discount to the email can access some of their birthday gift money by giving them a great excuse to spend with you. For the course, the birthday email require the customer to remain on your promotion email list, so you can share other promotions. Any questions, email jrockhold@pga.com or DM me on Twitter or Instagram @FindtheGreen.

Happy Tuesday! Today, we have our first guest on the show, Coty Lessler, a social media marketer from upstate New York. He is a 22 year old MBA candidate and he was able to reach out to some of his friends and get some information that allows us to get a different perspective from the Millennial Golfer, STRAIGHT FROM THEM. We also expand the conversation on to reach people in the 37-22 and the type of content that you need to make a connection. We also talk about the new Facebook Header Video showing all the facility at the top of the page We reveal our NEW Intro and Outro music and voiceover brought to us from DZL from 106.5 The END here in Charlotte. As always, you can reach me by email at jrockhold@pga.com. DM me on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter @FindtheGreen. Reach out to Coty Lessler at virulmarketing@gmail.com for any millennial questions that you might have. We plan to have a few more collaborations where we get a little deeper on the execution of social media strategy.

Happy Tuesday! Today we are going to talk about different ways to increase your dollars per round, your tournament participation and your lesson revenue by just starting a conversation that is aimed at giving the customer more value. That is truly all Cross Selling and UpSelling is; offering the golfer a new opportunity they didn't know about or they didn't previously need. We talk about how you can apply this to increase course revenues through add on sales of range balls. Boost golf shop sales through introducing the deal of the weekend! OR building your lesson income by listening to the golfer after the round and offering a solution to their issues that happened that day on the course. Do not use a pressure sell or a robotic script, this non-personal tactic will push them out the door. It is about building those relationships that increase the LIFETIME VALUE OF THE GOLFER. If you have any questions, DM me on Twitter or Instagram @FindtheGreen or send me an email to jrockhold@pga.com

Happy Tuesday! Today we talk about building a community around the facility that we run. Golf is more than the physical action of the game. Golf tournaments are played for charity and people will go to the event to support the charity and the game is a secondary part of it. It is all about understanding the mindset of your customers and finding ways to connect with them and introduce them to the facilities in a way that will attract them to the facility. Anything from networking, course maintenance, or gardeners looking for soil. As an operator, we tend to look at day to day golf course operations and making sure we squeeze the most out of our tee sheet and clientele to generate the most money for that day. However, we might need to start thinking like a grocery store and start looking at the customers lifetime value, or the LVOC. Please send me a comment to jrockhold@pga.com or DM me on Twitter @jrockgolf. Subscribe and tell a friend, let's build a community of learning right here!

Happy Tuesday! This podcast focuses on the importance of a ranger/players assistant and the impact they can make on your top line revenue. We go into depth on 5 things that happen when a staff member is present on the golf course and can show a true commitment to the customers time and enjoyment of the round. In addition, I discuss the importance of a Golf Pro Loop for the facility and the golf pro personally. Building relationships with your guests is the fastest way to create loyalty and commitment to your facility. By having a staff member interact with them on the course it shows customers that you want to grow that relationship. A small joke or an answered question can be the difference between a one time player and a frequent guest. As always, please send me a comment or question to jason@rockholdandassociates.com or a DM on Twitter @jrockgolf. This is a great weekend for golf with the Open playing so early in the day. It opens up the afternoon to play, so make sure you do!

Today, we talk about the benefits of having a Social Media Marketing Calendar and what are some the reasons for doing so. A few reasons that we cover are accountability, staying alert to events that are happening, planning ahead generically, keeping your content relevant and establishing or building credibility. With the internet becoming bigger and bigger, it is a broad world out there of social media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest. Content builders like YouTube, Vimeo, Podcast platforms(Anchor, Spotify, Spreaker), and the Blogisphere that can occur on your website or on aggregators like medium, feedly, etc. It can make your head spin or you could get help. This episode is sponsored by Rockhold & Associates, Inc. If you have any marketing needs, they can work with you on building out a strategy that fits your goals and budget. As always, if you have any questions or comments you can email me at jrockhold@pga.com or send me a tweet @jrockgolf.

Happy Tuesday! Today's podcast is about the difference between Content and Marketing. Now often they cross paths but it is important to understand the difference and budget accordingly. Content is the physical documentation of your facility through photos and video, creative content such as blogs and golf instruction videos and articles. Food and beverage photos, videos, chef blog. Marketing is utilizing these pieces of CONTENT to entice people to come to your facility. Content alone does not make a profitable facility. Trust me there are hours of footage and thousands of photos on my laptop that never made it any further. Using the amazing content to promote your facility can be the difference between a normal year revenue and a great year. If you have any questions, as always, send me an email to jrockhold@pga.com. Contact us also on Twitter @jrockgolf and instagram is @rockholdgolf and @rocksolidaerial. Our websites are rocksolidaerial.com and rockholdandassociates.com

One of the best ways to show off a golf course is through the use of aerial photography and videography. Unfortunately, there is a huge disconnect between the purpose and the result of aerial imaging that tends to lead golf courses astray. These mis-steps result in blemishes on the brand and loss of interest from potential golfers. It is important to not only have a strategy but know what kind of operation that you need to work with to protect your brand and build your customer base. Today we get into the reasons for aerial photography AND a 4 point checklist (actually with sub-points it's about 10) on how to chose the aerial photographer /videographer that will highlight your brand and inspire golfer to visit your facility. If you have any questions email me at jason@rocksolidaerial or DM me on Twitter @jrockgolf. Our aerial portfolio visit rocksolidaerial.com or visit our Instagram page @rocksolidaerial. We would love to help! Subscribe for weekly podcasts to fuel your business!

In today's episode, we discuss the importance of keeping your eyes fresh when looking at your operation. As operators that tend to spend hundreds of hours a month at the facility, it is very easy to build a set of blinders that will block out items or processes that happen on a daily basis. An out of date poster or slow check in process can fade to the background after months of exposure for your employees. Experiencing the facility with a fresh set of eyes a couple times a month can eliminate these problems that can deteriorate an experience for your guests. Please let us know how your checklist came out and what areas your are needing to improve by sending me a quick email to jrockhold@pga.com or a Direct Message on Twitter @jrockgolf. Have a great week!

Today, we talk about the importance of utilizing the mass marketing and television exposure that comes with a Major Golf Tournament to grow participation and increase total golfers. This should be a highly focused weekend on growing the game through family and the US Open coverage. Organizing events that incorporate the majors allows for residual interest and participation. These events can mushroom quickly because they include golf, food, and friendship. (and US Open back 9 on Sunday) Family based programs this week with grow the life time value of a golfer by introducing family to the facility. Expanding the interest in golf within the family unit increases the frequency of visits to your golf course. Embrace it! Please feel free to send me a comment to jrockhold@pga.com or DM me on twitter @jrockgolf. Have a great week!

This episode we touch on the servicescape of the golf facilities. The smells, trees, signs, dust clouds, broken down cars, etc. Everything that a person experiences from the physical or ambient environment constitute the servicescape. We also have a Quick Checklist that you can use to start to address these areas at your course.

In this episode, we talk about the importance of standing out from the crowd on major holidays. Marketing during these high-volume weekends can give you a leadership advantage that pays dividends into the rest of the summer. We break down three different perspectives on the weekend and my outlook on what should be done during these times and why. To participate in the conversation, send me a comment on twitter @jrockgolf or on Instagram @rockholdgolf. As always, I will respond directly to specific questions and possibly highlight some general questions in upcoming podcast. Thanks for listening!

Today we talk about the importance of scheduling your social media and online offerings. A calendar can keep you focused on getting your content out. There are 1000's of things that can get in the way of producing content and a schedule can help you remove those distractions and deliver. If you have any questions please feel free to contact us on Instagram @rockholdgolf or on Twitter @jrockgolf for any personal business questions or suggest a topic for an upcoming podcast. Thanks for listening! Have a great Memorial Day weekend!

This show is about golf game management, for players, not the business. We talk about confident growing backwards in golf and how to play to our strengths. We talk about when to go for it, what that really means, and how to determine when to just lay up. Questions for the show can be directed to twitter @jrockgolf or Instragram @rockholdgolf.

In this episode, we talk about how to maintain your online footprint. Social media outlets like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat can offer great connections with customers. However, if left to itself, negative comments can dominate your presence. Without constant maintenance, these comments can turn away golfers and revenue for your courses. In addition, online reviews are the first place golfers are looking to find out the conditions of the golf course. If there is a negative comment from 5 months ago that has not been addressed, it will wreak havoc on your bottom line. Website content and timeliness are essential to prove to the customer that you are on the ball. Lastly, providing valuable content can gain the trust and attention of anyone looking to check out your facility.