Following the advice of Teresa the tennis coach at the Sport, Sports and Sporting Activities Centre, I set up a blog to talk about squash and my squash centre and at my next opportunity in the canteen, I quizzed her about the sort of things I should be blogging about in my new squash blog.
“I’m not really sure,” she said. “But probably almost anything would be appropriate as long as it makes interesting reading and is to do with the subject of squash, playing squash, squash coaching, squash courts, squash equipment and anything else squash.”
I admitted to having looked at her tennis centre blog.
“You seem to have included some personal stuff. Is that a good idea?”
“I haven’t a clue,” she admitted. It sort of popped out without me intending it to. Blogs are like that. It’s easy to imagine you are just talking to yourself. Perhaps that’s why they are so popular for people to read. At any moment, the readers could come across something really hot.”
She then looked a bit uncomfortable and i wondered if she was speaking from experience.
“Of course you could also have a chat with young Max,” she added, looking mysterious.
“Who is he?”
“He’s a young intern who is currently temping at the Sport, Sports and Sporting Activities Centre. He helped me devise my recent marketing strategies to attract more customers to my tennis centre… and they are actually working.”
As it turned out, Max was the young man who had previously helped me to stem the burst water-pipe at the squash centre and, when I telephoned him, he came along the same day to see me.
Just as Teresa had promised, Max was very go ahead and full of ideas about how my squash centre could be marketed. We discussed lots of options and had quite a brainstorming session. Amazingly, after so many months, I soon found we were developing a squash marketing plan and squash marketing strategy that really sounded as if it might work.
Max was very easy to talk to had a very positive approach to problem solving – although he also had this strange habit of using the word ‘awesome’ in every sentence and calling me ‘dude’ a lot.
Although he was only an intern and recently out of university with little practical experience, he seemed fanatically determined to turn every problem into an opportunity.
When I moaned about how few people there were available locally to pay for squash coaching lessons, he suggested – with a rather a winning smile and flashing rather gorgeous brown eyes – why didn’t I encourage people to come to the squash centre from further afield?
When I said it would be rather a long way for squash players to drive, he suggested that I solve their problem by finding somewhere for them to stay and include the residential accommodation, hotel accommodation or bed and breakfast in the sports holiday package I provided.
Up to that point, I must admit was still feeling rather negative about the whole business of marketing the squash centre but suddenly it occurred to me that perhaps he was right.
In an instant I saw it was even possible to help myself and at the same time help my friend who had the hotel guesthouse bed and breakfast business where I was staying.
Marketing squash coaching holiday packages at the squash centre to beginner and experienced squash players throughout the UK would also make the squash blog an even more useful marketing tool – I couldn’t wait to get home and tell my hotelier friend.
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