wrote:
No doubt about it, individual marketing yields the best results. But it
is extemely expensive when compared with "broadcast" marketing. (How
valuable is your time?) Of the several friends I've brought to the
sport over the years, NONE remain. They gave it a try. One went so far
as to get his private pilot license. I think he was a member of the SSA
for several years, even after he stopped flying.

It seems like the people who stick for several years or more are those
who come to the gliderport to satisfy some need. If you have an hour a
week to give, supporting them is probably a better bet than a neighbor
or co-worker who shows interest based on your tales of derring-do. (I
can get anyone to come out for a visit, some a ride, a few to take
lessons, but commitment only comes from within.) Nurture those who have
found their own way to soaring. That's our role as SSA members and
proponents of the sport. It's the society's role to make the sport more
visible so more people will come out to inspect what soaring is all
about, to see if it satisfies the need that drew each of us.

Each of us has our role, and each a set of tools. My problem has always
been that we are not very smart about how we apply them.

Speaking of a mailing, a 0.5% response rate (as opposed to
adoption/sale) is typical. And that's only with a reasonably accurate
prospect list (people who have already been exposed to your brand) and
a well designed marketing instrument with a compelling call to action.
Given a good list and the right message, if the society was expecting
more than 50 responses for their 10,000 peices, they were expecting far
too much. Without a good list and a tailored message, it's simply
wasted effort. And that's the crux of the matter. Marketing is a
science. And with all the competition for bandwidth, nothing much sells
itself anymore. If you want to sell, you need to practice intelligent
marketing, and that requires trained, properly motivated people to
create and implement a plan. (PADI sends me at least 5 mail pieces per
year. I still haven't joined, even though I dive actively, albeit
infrequently. Difference is, I am aware they are sending me material,
and this may translate into a response and possibly a sale. It will
probably take another dozen pieces, though.)

Yes, we can individually help to improve the health of the society. But
we'll be more effective, individually, if the society implements a
well-conceived plan for attracting motivated people to the gliderport,
and leverages us where we have the biggest impact -- meeting and
greeting interested people at our home dromes. Frankly, this is
Marketing 101.

Consider this... approximately 75% of the cost of a $100 bottle of
perfume is marketing (and that's for a well known product and respected
brand). That is, it costs $75 to sell a bottle of perfume for $100.
That doesn't include manufacturing, distribution, and non-marketing
overhead, or expected profits. If this shocks you, you don't really
understand the role of marketing in developing value. That's
understandable. Most of us look at the sport from the inside. But if
you really want to sell it, you need to step outside and see what value
the sport projects. And understand what value your target
audience/prospects are searching for. This takes education and
discipline.

Competitive marketing is a tough business, and it's high risk. Good
planning, best practices, and objectivity will lower the risk, but it's
important to limit your efforts to those opportunities that yield big
payoffs, because you're only likely to hit about 20% of the time.

By all means, invite your friends out to the gliderport. Perhaps you'll
have more long-term luck than I've had. But it is unlikely that such an
effort, even practiced by a majority of members would yield much
growth. Of course, I haven't much to go on but my own experience and a
modest real world understanding of what makes people adopt new products
or practices.
Soaring is a real challenge. Especially for soaring pilots.

More luck than you? One of the people you introduced learned to fly,
that's phenomenal! If we all did that, just once in our soaring career,
the sport would be huge (if you consider all the people who are
introduced through other avenues as well). Holding on to those people
is the responsibility of the sport at large.
One thing to consider about inviting friends to the gliderport; our
friends tend to share the same interests and motivations as us, so
expecting some to take to soaring isn't a big stretch. Kids too, they
share your genetics. :-)

Shawn