Boy, I don’t know what’s been worse this season: the economy or the weather. Swimming is now both a temperature-contingent activity and a cost-contingent one, too.
I’ve dolled out advice for parents seeking to stretch those recreational summer dollars, but this entry is for all you swim instructors with a side or home-based swim business. All of these ideas do not cost a lot of money or have liability issues. Here’s 10 ways to drum up more summer swim business.
#1: Call up your past clientele. I’ve never called up a client/family that hasn’t been happy to hear from me. If they don’t want lessons, I bet they know at least one person who does.
#2: Volunteer at school-related events. Now more than ever communities are trying to raise money for schools, and events naturally follow. Have a sign on your ride at a Bike-a-thon. Pass out swim caps (very inexpensive when ordered in bulk) with your swim business on them at an art fair.
#3: Donate your services at an auction. I went to the Marin Builder’s Association crab feed a couple months back and ran into a swim family of mine. The big to-do of the night was an auction and tickets were about $5 each. During the auction, I was thinking how cool it would have been to donate free swim lessons. I know one family that would have bid on them!
#4: Hello! Social networking on Facebook and the like. Post your business on a social-based network. Start a Tweet account for daily pool updates. Do an email blast. Create an account for your local mother’s club website. I just read a study how 83% of people first go to the interest to check out a business.
#5: Strategically-placed fliers. One parent recommended a good way to get my swim clientele would be to give a bunch of fliers to the elementary schools. Some schools do a “Friday Flier” kind of thing and all kids go home with a bunch of fliers.
#6: Become an expert source. If you join a website like HARO (Helping a Journalist Out), you receive a daily email with a list of articles writers need sources for. I’ve been offering myself as an expert to any summer-related queries in a quick and easy email to the writer. If a writer does contact you, they interview you and print your info, like a website or where you work.
#7: Piggy-back on bigger names or businesses. I won’t suggest starting your own blog unless you plan to grow it (and become my competitor). If you work for a community center, club or private business, and they have a website, ask the IT or web administrator to include a swim lesson page and bio on you. It’s a win-win for both.
#8: Stick your business card on houses that have pools. Hey, I get tree-service guys doing this all the time because we have a huge redwood in the back. How can you tell a house has a pool? I take walks in neighborhoods and on trails that have big hills so I can spy down on my town.
#9: Follow that pool-man. And stick business cards in the mail box. It might not hurt to going into your local pool store and ask if you can leave business cards.
#10: Get business cards. If you don’t have them, they are free at VistaPrint.com (okay — you’ll pay under $6 for shipping. I’ve used this service many times and it takes about 10 minutes to design a professional card). Have all your info and title. Always have them on you. That means keep them in a plastic bag on the side of the pool when you are in the water. Heck — laminate them.
I’ve recently started a blog, the information you provide on this site has helped me tremendously. Thank you for all of your time & work.