Fun In The Sun Marketing

May 2012,  East River, NYC

After a great weekend of sun and fun on the East Coast, the weatherman has now promised 4 or 5 days of rain and then some more sun...on the weekend! 

Great if you like to do stuff outdoors, but not so great if you’re a bowling proprietor or an FEC Operator.

Since we can’t fight the weather, why not do something different??  Remember "different is good"

•  Invite people to bowl in your parking lot during the day. Maybe even roller skate in your parking lot? 

• Offer them free bowling, outside, on a sunny Saturday or Sunday.  Or do it as a fund raiser (where people would pledge $X per pin for their own charity).  If you run it as a fund raiser send an email to all charities you have in your data base and ask them to send it to their donors and employees.

• All you have to do is get their email to remind them to send their money to their charity. GET THEIR EMAIL!

• Or do it for the publicity and send a press release out to local newspapers, radio stations, Mommy bloggers, Café Moms and (Your town's name Moms.com).  Distribute information on your center’s Facebook page and ask your employees to distribute it to their friends too.  Don’t forget the Twitter bird J.

• You may need a one or two day license to distribute soft drinks, beer and food outside.  If you can’t, then have food menus and bar menus available and direct people inside.  Maybe they’ll decide to bowl in the AC.

• Of course, you will also have your newest league or short season programs available as well as the cool air conditioned comfort of open play programs when the sun goes down.

• If customers can bowl a frozen turkey, outside, in the winter in Wisconsin then they can bowl outside in the summer.

You’re right. It is a pain in the butt to set up. And its hot. And you'll have to open your snack bar. And you'll have to add labor hours. And it might not work anyway.  But then again, what really is the down side?

If you play pool, then you know the importance of position so consider this “the set up shot” The next one is “the money shot.”

Now go have some fun marketing your business!!