Marketing Tips & Tricks
Increasing Class/Workshop Attendance
TIP – Submitted by Kathie Walsh, Hilton Head Island Bridge Club, South Carolina:
I send out weekly emails with a description of the week's workshops and quizzes so players can decide if the clinic works for them.
TIP – Submitted by Kathie Walsh, Hilton Head Island Bridge Club, South Carolina
I added something new this year to my weekly emails; in order to encourage students to read the emails, I started a Fractured Bridge Phrase contest. The idea for the fractured phrases came from John Rayner at the Summer ABTA convention; he used the phrases at his club bridge parties, but we do not have such parties--so I decided to include one phrase with each weekly email. I give a free workshop to the winner. Read more...
The winner must be the first one to give me the correct answer and must be at the workshop. I had seven correct answers for week #1 and 23 correct answers for week #2.(You notice that the game caught their imagination immediately; from seven to 23 is huge!) The students love this little game; I do not announce the winner until the workshop day. Then in the following week's email, I list all of the players who guessed correctly. Students love seeing their names in print.
Here is the introduction to my game that I included in the email for my first Fall clinics:
At a bridge conference this summer, several teachers and I played around with "Fractured Bridge Phrases" * (now you know what Bridge Teachers do with spare time!)--I will be including one each week for you to guess. The first player who emails me with the correct answer wins a prize at the class. For example--A Sawed Off Seven-Iron: answer--short club.
Here is your first fractured phrase: "Don't Go, Hombre."
* idea from John Rayner of Canada
Here is the email announcing the winners and the second's week's phrase:
Congratulations to Barbara Louis, who won my first Fractured Bridge Phrase prize (a free workshop, etc.). M. Proudman, M. Zabinski, C. Williams, S. Oberg, J.Harding, and G. Salyer also had correct answers--but were either not at the workshop or submitted their answers after Barbara. The phrase was "Don't go, hombre" and the answer was Stayman. (It seemed appropriate for a workshop on Stayman!) In order to win you must be the first person to give me the correct answer and you must be at the workshop. Next week's fractured phrase is "Two hamburgers at a McDonald's window." Send me your guess.
TIP - Submitted by Charles Lawson, Huntsville, Texas:
To develop new students for beginning bridge classes, partner with a local college's Continuing Education department or a local Community College. They will take care of advertising, student sign-up, collection of course fees, and finding a suitable playing space (if needed). Read more...
You will have to negotiate with the college how much to charge for the classes and how much you will be paid from the class fees. Just remember that the college will have to retain enough to pay for the advertising costs and the support personnel.
TIP – Submitted by Kathie Walsh, Hilton Head Island Bridge Club, South Carolina:
About four years ago, when I was placing an ad for our club's beginner classes, I asked the paper if I could do a monthly column about bridge. The editor of the paper agreed and I have submitted a bridge column each month that I teach. Read more...
The column deals with overall ideas that will be covered in my classes the month that the column appears. For example, if I am teaching overcalls - the column addresses what an overcall is, points needed to overcall, and points needed to respond to an overcall. Since there are about eight topics that I teach regarding overcalls, there is plenty of fodder for the column. At the end of the column, I remind the readers that these bids and responses will be addressed in more detail at the workshops at our club on Tuesdays at 10 a.m.
I probably get more calls about my workshops from the column than from the ads but we continue to put in the ads so the situation is a win/win for the paper and for our club.
