Cuts, Cuts, Cuts.  It seems wherever you turn these days, you are getting squeezed from one direction or the other.  The April issue of Aquatics International even ran a cover story titled "Cut Backs".  The pressure is on facility operators and owners to evaluate all aspects of their business and decide where some spending can be trimmed.
 
One of the first areas that is usually scrutinized is spending on recruiting and advertising.  This year, there seem to be more applicants for seasonal positions then in years past, and this is making the advertising and marketing budget an easy target. 
 
As hard as this is, it can be a great opportunity for you to really examine how your marketing is set up, and whether or not it is right for you.  The atmosphere has changed.  The old ways of talking "at" your employees/ customers/ recruits is over.  There is a new era, and now is a time to make sure your message aligns with it.

After a recent conference, AdAge (who is the industry publication that covers marketing and media), came out with its "5 New Rules for Marketing" (www.AdAge.com ), and while not all five have direct application, it gives an interesting overview of where media and advertising currently is.
 
Here are a few of them:
 
 
For years we have carefully crafted marketing "messages" as we tell our client/customer/ employee what we KNOW they want to hear.  That game is over.  It is a conversation, and a conversation is two way. 
 
 
Gary Vaynerchuk has said that the days of multiple personalities are over.  You can no longer have a work personality, a web personality (Facebook, etc), and another for your friends - you are who you are, whether it is at home, at work, or online, and your passions will be transparent.  It is important you believe in what you do.
 
We are all salespeople, whether we sell anything or not.  We - and to a lesser (or greater) extent, our company is judged by how we act and what we do EVERY time we interact with someone.  There are no secrets anymore.  We need to live our lives like everything we do is being recorded and will be posted online - and much of it is. 
 
 
I feel strongly that EVERYONE needs to be involved in social media.  That being said, what is important is your product/ business, how it is run, and how you treat people - whether they be customers, recruits, or employees. As CC Chapman said on Managing the Gray, "Social Media will not save a crappy product".  There are many tools out there - Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. and they should be part of the many areas you participate in, but they alone are not what is important. 
 
So what is important?  As I mentioned earlier, the "new rules" say a lot of old stuff.  What is important today is what has made businesses successful since the beginning of time.  Whether you look at Making Friends and Influencing People by Carnegie, or stories of how Bank of America was started, the important thing is the relationships, and today, more then ever there are tools to help you cultivate and grow those relationships.

http//:www.usa.safekids.org/tier2_rfl.cfm?folder_id=3125.

 
National Safe Boating Week - May 16 - 22, 2009

 

http://www.usla.org/publicinfo/bchsftyweek.asp.
 
SAI also has programs and products available to help promote water safety.  All Starfish Swimming Providers have access to the Water Safety Day Curriculum.  The Chatham County Aquatic Center in Savannah, GA has once again partnered with "Make A Splash" and "Safe Kids Savannah" to host its second annual Make A Splash Water Safety Event on May 16, 2009.  Look for a full report in our next newsletter.  Other products available include child watcher badges, a water safety rhymes book, and Danger Ranger materials.  
 
Drowning is still a leading cause of death and SAI Providers must encourage and educate parents in the importance of proper supervision.  Many of you have attended backyard birthday parties where you somehow became the lifeguard on duty.  You've witnessed parents "check out" the minute they entered the pool, because they knew there were lifeguards on duty.  There are many cases where the parent assumes that someone else has taken responsibility for his or her own child and don't realize the inherent danger of the water.  Please enforce the Child Watcher Program for large groups and birthday parties.  Consider instituting the Child Watcher Program during swim lessons and assigning a parent one day during the lesson session where they must take on the responsibility of supervising the children in the swim lesson group and making sure that they stay safe.  Remember, parents very seldom receive information on water safety concepts and therefore, it is extremely important that swimming pools educate the parent on proper behaviors when in, on, or near the water.  
 
The Can Starfish Make A Wish? book is a great resource for parents to use to educate their young children on many water safety concepts such as asking permission to enter the water, wearing a lifejacket, " reach or throw don't go", and the prevalence of germs in the water.  The Danger Ranger materials are also excellent resources for educating children on water safety concepts.  Consider having storybooks or water safety videos available in the facility lobby.  Hold a coloring contest during water safety month using one of the Danger Ranger Coloring Sheets.  Have the story and activity books available for purchase.  
 
For more information on conducting water safety events or water safety materials, contact Jennifer White at Jennifer.white@starfishaquatics.org.  SAI will be offering a discount during the month of May on both Child Watcher Badges and Can Starfish Make A Wish? books. 
 
Child Watcher Badges - 5 badges for $10

 

Can Starfish Make A Wish? Books - $4 each