Marketing our Hobby

[bzubee]

I can point you to the IMPBA tri-fold hand out we have used. On the Huntsville boaters site there is a PDF, may give you some ideas.

http://home.hiwaay.n...RC/2/index.html

The tri-fold PDF:

http://home.hiwaay.n...Fold%20John.pdf

Paul

Paul,

That is basically what I'm looking for. It would be nice if it showed our insurance coverage. Looks like a nice start for obtaining/contacting new sites. Does IMPBA produce this? Do you think it gets used much at race sites or hobby stores? Has IMPBA ever contacted manufactures about putting one in with each boat related packaged shipped?

Do you know who produced/designed this?

Robert Holland

It was done by Chuck Gardner or Piper Chuck on I'Waters while I was the IMPBA President Chuck did do a great job. Very imformative on an entry level but still generic enough to modify for a local club to use.

 

[BobGutsell]

Sorry guys wasn't trying to stir anything up.

Having a brochure is a good start, but it's a step in a process that utimately ends with the newbie becoming hooked and activiely particpating in the sport.

My point was to underline the need for aplan that gets people along the conitnuum from that first meeting to the point where they're racing or just enjoying their boat with others doing the same.

I was talking to a guy a couple of days ago whose Mountain bike club had actaully bought some Mountain bikes for newbies to use until they got their own bike.

That's more difficult to do with model boats but what are the alternatives? People get hooked when they enjoy running a boat themselves and it runs consistently.

I've found from personal experience that clubs grow when members are visibly and conistently running at the local pond and working with newbies to get them on the water. It's actually being able to see boats running that get's there juices going, maybe an FAQ brochure along with some contact "links" could give them something to takeaway and enthuse over. But actually building relationships with them and getting them on the water is freaking hard work for all involved but it's what's needed if the sport is to really grow.

 

[Hydro Junkie]

.I was talking to a guy a couple of days ago whose Mountain bike club had actaully bought some Mountain bikes for newbies to use until they got their own bike.

That's more difficult to do with model boats but what are the alternatives? People get hooked when they enjoy running a boat themselves and it runs consistently.

I've found from personal experience that clubs grow when members are visibly and conistently running at the local pond and working with newbies to get them on the water. It's actually being able to see boats running that get's there juices going, maybe an FAQ brochure along with some contact "links" could give them something to takeaway and enthuse over. But actually building relationships with them and getting them on the water is freaking hard work for all involved but it's what's needed if the sport is to really grow.

That is what many airplane clubs do as well, have a trainer available for prospective new members to try with an experienced pilot on a buddy box. While I'm not saying that every club needs to have a "spectator boat", it is an option for us to consider. As we all know, nothing gets the heart pumping like having a boat on the water while we stand on the beach watching it obey our commands as it's flying by. For all we know, this could be the way to set the hook for someone "thinking about" getting into the hobby.

 

[Roger Hooks Jr.]

In D-8, we have a hobby expo in February where there are usually boating groups with tables set up. They usually have fliers available, videos playing, boats on display and people to talk to but, like any other activity, many people are driven away by the cost of getting into the activity or by the way it's presented by the people manning the booth. I'm not saying the people representing the organizations don't try hard because they do. A few years back, I was at the expo and heard two people talking about a crash at one of the regattas and how badly a boat was damaged while the video showed boats flipping during a race. It was easy to see the reaction of some that were nearby as they steared clear of that booth by a fairly large distance. As already stated, word of mouth and videos can be powerful tools, but they can also be a way to shoot ourselves in the foot if the information given, whether intensional or not, is of a negative variety

I know what you mean... We all need to be mindful of this. I noticed in myself that when people ask me how much does it cost my pride gets the best of me and I want to tell them how much my Twin 80 rigger cost to show how big bad and manly my toy is. LOL! I realized I was impressing them but not in a way that would attract them. So now I have learned to modify my response and tell them that there are a couple online retailers that have entry level boats capable of speeds in the 30 mph range for as low as $350.00 and it comes with everything you need to get started with it.

 

[David Santistevan]

What a concept, a club RTR electric that you could let spectators or other interested partys try...a few minutes between heats..me likey!

 

[glenng]

Lots of good ideas here Robert, the RC hobby show in Ogden that Tony, Shane and I attended last winter drew a lot of attention and helped grow the club.

Glenn

 

[Beau Parsons]

What are the possibilities of getting the local news in ones area to do a show on how the community and familys come together to have a day of exciting r/c model boating? I dont know if this is feasable, but it could be good because most people watch some sort of television on a daily basis? I think if the idea of broadening the spectrum of getting the word out about model boating through something most people see or do in everyday life would help in getting attention drawn to our great hobby. I think we need to use technology as a source of informing potential new members about the hobby we all enjoy so very much.

Beau

 

[jaxracer]

A brochure is a good idea guys but that in itself is not going to attract the amount of racers and boaters that would make us see a truely significant increase. Use it as a tool because it will certainly help, but not as the main plan.

The number of people in and out of the hobby shops is a really small percentage of the overall population. I'm 21 and I guarantee you out of all of my friends in high school and at college, all of maybe 10 have been in a hobby shop or even know what a real r/c boat runs like. Their reaction when I tell them what I do is a near laugh because when I say r/c, they think of the cheap $30 boats that you pick up at Wal-Mart. What we need to do is target people outside of the hobby shops, the people who have never been exposed to any form of this hobby, whether r/c car, plane, boat, etc. That's where we'll really see an improvement in our attendance and what will really make this hobby grow. We've got to market it as cool, fun, competitive and open to innovation because from an outsider looking in, somebody is going to be like, "You pay how much for a TOY boat?!?!"

The solution I believe, is that we need to get updated as a hobby and change the tide to the new age of marketing. Social media ex. Facebook, Twitter. That's where we'll see the largest improvement and where we'll attract the most newcomers and best of all it's FREE.

I'm currently working for a marketing/advertising firm in Jacksonville in their Public Relations department and that is one of our main focuses for clients is social media. Overall, statistics have shown us that those outlets have shown the greatest increase in product/ client awareness to consumers because people are spending more and more time on the internet and on Facebook than they are watching television and actually going out to stores to buy something. One of our clients is Colt firearms, and we just recently created a Facebook page for them and within the first month we had over 40,000 likes on our page and comments ranging from "It's about time that Colt got on Facebook," to "Wow, I had no idea this gun company existed. Apparently it's been around forever but I had no clue."

For us, it would be simple, easy and cheap. Start a Facebook page, make a cool logo to put on it. Add some stylized videos of races and boats matched with some sweet music put together by someone with some experience using video editing software. Post pictures of people and boats and races. Add on a links section to Intlwaters, Namba, Impba and sites where they can find products to get into the hobby. Continuously update it with info about races and have a group of moderators that routinely check it similar to Intlwaters except a streamlined version. This could really grow into something big and you could have manufacturers and distributors donate products/boats/engines etc for drawings and chances to win that excusively Facebook users who "Like" or "Follow" the page can enter. That way people have a reason to come back to the page and check it and that way outsiders have a reason to "become a fan" of the page because prizes always entice people.

To get the ball rolling it just takes someone with the time to set the page up the right way so it looks good and professional. Then imagine if everyone fom Intlwaters liked the page, then they sent invites to all of their friends on Facebook to "Like" the page, at least a quarter of those people will think that the hobby is cool and their interest will be peaked so that they send invites to their friends who also think is cool, who send invites to their friends. The exposure could be exponential. It would just involve some initial leg work to get the ball rolling and to get some manufacturers involved and boom, we could have more racers than when this hobby was at it's peak.

In case I didn't mention it before, all this could be done for FREE!!

Check out these Facebook pages to get ideas and see what I mean:

Colt: http://www.facebook.com/ColtFirearms

Battlefield 3: http://www.facebook.com/battlefield.ea

-Mitch Atwell Jr.

 

[jaxracer]

I think somebody should pin this topic to the top of the forum because it's something that we as a boating community could all be involved in.

-Mitch

 

[Roger Hooks Jr.]

What are the possibilities of getting the local news in ones area to do a show on how the community and familys come together to have a day of exciting r/c model boating? I dont know if this is feasable, but it could be good because most people watch some sort of television on a daily basis? I think if the idea of broadening the spectrum of getting the word out about model boating through something most people see or do in everyday life would help in getting attention drawn to our great hobby. I think we need to use technology as a source of informing potential new members about the hobby we all enjoy so very much.

Beau

Go to the website of your local news TVstation and look for the community anchor. These days most News broadcast give out their website at the end of their broadcast. Usually there is someone in the line up that covers local community activities. This is true for your local newspaper as well. Every year the Grand Prix Classic contacts the two local papers for the race and get newspaper coverage. We have also received news coverage from contacting the local news TV broadcast. If anyone is interested I can send you the press release I use to send to these news outlets. You can use the same document to send to any news outlet including any local magazines such as Outdoor of Family living in your town or city all the way up to the Speed Channel, the Outdoor Channel, Spike TV or any other relative Media outlet where you think there might be an audience that would be interested. I think it's anyone that would have an interest in motorsports of any kind.

 

[Roger Hooks Jr.]

A brochure is a good idea guys but that in itself is not going to attract the amount of racers and boaters that would make us see a truely significant increase. Use it as a tool because it will certainly help, but not as the main plan.

The number of people in and out of the hobby shops is a really small percentage of the overall population. I'm 21 and I guarantee you out of all of my friends in high school and at college, all of maybe 10 have been in a hobby shop or even know what a real r/c boat runs like. Their reaction when I tell them what I do is a near laugh because when I say r/c, they think of the cheap $30 boats that you pick up at Wal-Mart. What we need to do is target people outside of the hobby shops, the people who have never been exposed to any form of this hobby, whether r/c car, plane, boat, etc. That's where we'll really see an improvement in our attendance and what will really make this hobby grow. We've got to market it as cool, fun, competitive and open to innovation because from an outsider looking in, somebody is going to be like, "You pay how much for a TOY boat?!?!"

The solution I believe, is that we need to get updated as a hobby and change the tide to the new age of marketing. Social media ex. Facebook, Twitter. That's where we'll see the largest improvement and where we'll attract the most newcomers and best of all it's FREE.

I'm currently working for a marketing/advertising firm in Jacksonville in their Public Relations department and that is one of our main focuses for clients is social media. Overall, statistics have shown us that those outlets have shown the greatest increase in product/ client awareness to consumers because people are spending more and more time on the internet and on Facebook than they are watching television and actually going out to stores to buy something. One of our clients is Colt firearms, and we just recently created a Facebook page for them and within the first month we had over 40,000 likes on our page and comments ranging from "It's about time that Colt got on Facebook," to "Wow, I had no idea this gun company existed. Apparently it's been around forever but I had no clue."

For us, it would be simple, easy and cheap. Start a Facebook page, make a cool logo to put on it. Add some stylized videos of races and boats matched with some sweet music put together by someone with some experience using video editing software. Post pictures of people and boats and races. Add on a links section to Intlwaters, Namba, Impba and sites where they can find products to get into the hobby. Continuously update it with info about races and have a group of moderators that routinely check it similar to Intlwaters except a streamlined version. This could really grow into something big and you could have manufacturers and distributors donate products/boats/engines etc for drawings and chances to win that excusively Facebook users who "Like" or "Follow" the page can enter. That way people have a reason to come back to the page and check it and that way outsiders have a reason to "become a fan" of the page because prizes always entice people.

To get the ball rolling it just takes someone with the time to set the page up the right way so it looks good and professional. Then imagine if everyone fom Intlwaters liked the page, then they sent invites to all of their friends on Facebook to "Like" the page, at least a quarter of those people will think that the hobby is cool and their interest will be peaked so that they send invites to their friends who also think is cool, who send invites to their friends. The exposure could be exponential. It would just involve some initial leg work to get the ball rolling and to get some manufacturers involved and boom, we could have more racers than when this hobby was at it's peak.

In case I didn't mention it before, all this could be done for FREE!!

Check out these Facebook pages to get ideas and see what I mean:

Colt: http://www.facebook.com/ColtFirearms

Battlefield 3: http://www.facebook.com/battlefield.ea

-Mitch Atwell Jr.

NAMBA does have a Facebook page. Seems that boaters are the slowest to engage in new technology. At least that is the way it appears from the RC media kits of read in the past. So it may take a greater effort for some of us to put technology to use. I myself am a advocate of social media.

 

[SeanKewley]

All of the ideas being expressed here are great, and will make it easier for others to get involved in our hobby.

Don't forget though...

One simple thing that each of us can do is to commit to bringing a new person to the pond each year. Last summer I brought a neighborhood boy who was curious about boats to a district race. He enjoyed it so much that he joined IMPBA (Jr. membership) and attended the last 3 races of the season. He joined IMPBA so he could help me out in the pits even though he didn’t have a boat of his own. Another club member actually let him race one of his personal B-monos in the last race of the year. He is now in the process of saving up his grass mowing money to buy a boat to race for next year.

Take the initiative and bring someone new to the pond with you. Let them experience the fun first hand. Nothing grows membership like this. If you set a goal of one new person each year the hobby will spread.

 

[Roger Hooks Jr.]

All of the ideas being expressed here are great, and will make it easier for others to get involved in our hobby.

Don't forget though...

One simple thing that each of us can do is to commit to bringing a new person to the pond each year. Last summer I brought a neighborhood boy who was curious about boats to a district race. He enjoyed it so much that he joined IMPBA (Jr. membership) and attended the last 3 races of the season. He joined IMPBA so he could help me out in the pits even though he didn’t have a boat of his own. Another club member actually let him race one of his personal B-monos in the last race of the year. He is now in the process of saving up his grass mowing money to buy a boat to race for next year.

Take the initiative and bring someone new to the pond with you. Let them experience the fun first hand. Nothing grows membership like this. If you set a goal of one new person each year the hobby will spread.

This is a good, easy, attainable goal that everyone should be able to achieve. Each of us Invite one person a season. That is simple enough.

I didn't invite anyone this year but a old boater came back and started racing again. He had old outdated equipment and wasn't really in the market to buy new equipment. So since I had a few two or Eagle SG 67s laying around I gave him mine. Now he's back in the money again.

Also had a disabled gentlemen hear about the race that came by. He was concerned about his ability to race but I immediately shared with him the successes of Doug Dewitte.

 

[David Santistevan]

One of the other activities that we have had to generate a lot of interest in the hobby has been mall shows or booths at the local boat shows. Most malls will schedule you a time to show off your boats, videos and talk to interested people at no charge. You just have to organize it and then man it. We have generated a lot of membership through these activities.

D

 

[Chris Hunt]

Can the newb ask the stupid question here? In a hobby so small and specialized why do we have two national organizations? In Alberta we're part of NAMBA District 16. Then I realized that District 16 is the whole country! We do have a lot of country up here...After a wee bit of digging I discover a number of r/c boating enthusiasts in Ontario who all seem to be members of IMPBA. Now as a maple leaf loving Canadian I do get the fact that Canada has organizations in many disciplines and industries that are either Canada-only, part of a larger US-based group, or part of a larger world-wide group. But since we're talking about a very small hobby that has a bit of a high step to entry why are we confusing things by having two organizations? Is it an ego thing, $$$, focus? I just find it silly that a boat I can run in one group has to be modified or re-done to race in another. It also makes it difficult for the Alberta and Ontario groups to compete with each other.

Chris Hunt

Calgary AB.....with parents living in Dallas, TX

 

[Rokieboater]

Can the newb ask the stupid question here? In a hobby so small and specialized why do we have two national organizations? In Alberta we're part of NAMBA District 16. Then I realized that District 16 is the whole country! We do have a lot of country up here...After a wee bit of digging I discover a number of r/c boating enthusiasts in Ontario who all seem to be members of IMPBA. Now as a maple leaf loving Canadian I do get the fact that Canada has organizations in many disciplines and industries that are either Canada-only, part of a larger US-based group, or part of a larger world-wide group. But since we're talking about a very small hobby that has a bit of a high step to entry why are we confusing things by having two organizations? Is it an ego thing, $$$, focus? I just find it silly that a boat I can run in one group has to be modified or re-done to race in another. It also makes it difficult for the Alberta and Ontario groups to compete with each other.

Chris Hunt

Calgary AB.....with parents living in Dallas, TX

I could spend hours talking about the who's and why's but in my opinion having two organizations is a good thing. Again we could spend hours debating this. However racing from one organization to another is a lot easier than you might think. If you race in NAMBA it is easier to take your boats and race in IMPBA then vice versa. Most types of boats have a place to run in each others organization. The toughest classes for IMPBA to cross over to NAMBA will be .21 tunnel ( stock class only), sport 21 and sport 40. Just about every other boat can cross over and fit somewhere to race. We in NAMBA are trying to get the sport 21 and sport 40 classes to align with IMPBA as I type this. This will make it even easier.

JMHO

Robert Holland

Robert Holland

 

[glenng]

Can the newb ask the stupid question here? In a hobby so small and specialized why do we have two national organizations? In Alberta we're part of NAMBA District 16. Then I realized that District 16 is the whole country! We do have a lot of country up here...After a wee bit of digging I discover a number of r/c boating enthusiasts in Ontario who all seem to be members of IMPBA. Now as a maple leaf loving Canadian I do get the fact that Canada has organizations in many disciplines and industries that are either Canada-only, part of a larger US-based group, or part of a larger world-wide group. But since we're talking about a very small hobby that has a bit of a high step to entry why are we confusing things by having two organizations? Is it an ego thing, $$$, focus? I just find it silly that a boat I can run in one group has to be modified or re-done to race in another. It also makes it difficult for the Alberta and Ontario groups to compete with each other.

Chris Hunt

Calgary AB.....with parents living in Dallas, TX

I could spend hours talking about the who's and why's but in my opinion having two organizations is a good thing. Again we could spend hours debating this. However racing from one organization to another is a lot easier than you might think. If you race in NAMBA it is easier to take your boats and race in IMPBA then vice versa. Most types of boats have a place to run in each others organization. The toughest classes for IMPBA to cross over to NAMBA will be .21 tunnel ( stock class only), sport 21 and sport 40. Just about every other boat can cross over and fit somewhere to race. We in NAMBA are trying to get the sport 21 and sport 40 classes to align with IMPBA as I type this. This will make it even easier.

JMHO

Robert Holland

Robert Holland

While you're on the subject Robert perhaps classic t-boat could be alinged also.

 

[ALLAN YUEN]

Can the newb ask the stupid question here? In a hobby so small and specialized why do we have two national organizations? In Alberta we're part of NAMBA District 16. Then I realized that District 16 is the whole country! We do have a lot of country up here...After a wee bit of digging I discover a number of r/c boating enthusiasts in Ontario who all seem to be members of IMPBA. Now as a maple leaf loving Canadian I do get the fact that Canada has organizations in many disciplines and industries that are either Canada-only, part of a larger US-based group, or part of a larger world-wide group. But since we're talking about a very small hobby that has a bit of a high step to entry why are we confusing things by having two organizations? Is it an ego thing, $$$, focus? I just find it silly that a boat I can run in one group has to be modified or re-done to race in another. It also makes it difficult for the Alberta and Ontario groups to compete with each other.

Chris Hunt

Calgary AB.....with parents living in Dallas, TX

Hi Chris Welcome at our D16 Contact Rob D or Kevin T and they will help you any question Look at website : www.namba16.ca cheers Allan

 

[JSCARPINO]

In D-8, we have a hobby expo in February where there are usually boating groups with tables set up. They usually have fliers available, videos playing, boats on display and people to talk to but, like any other activity, many people are driven away by the cost of getting into the activity or by the way it's presented by the people manning the booth. I'm not saying the people representing the organizations don't try hard because they do. A few years back, I was at the expo and heard two people talking about a crash at one of the regattas and how badly a boat was damaged while the video showed boats flipping during a race. It was easy to see the reaction of some that were nearby as they steared clear of that booth by a fairly large distance. As already stated, word of mouth and videos can be powerful tools, but they can also be a way to shoot ourselves in the foot if the information given, whether intensional or not, is of a negative variety

I know what you mean... We all need to be mindful of this. I noticed in myself that when people ask me how much does it cost my pride gets the best of me and I want to tell them how much my Twin 80 rigger cost to show how big bad and manly my toy is. LOL! I realized I was impressing them but not in a way that would attract them. So now I have learned to modify my response and tell them that there are a couple online retailers that have entry level boats capable of speeds in the 30 mph range for as low as $350.00 and it comes with everything you need to get started with it.

LOL Too Funny Roger...."Manly my toy is" I do the exact same thing.....

 

[JSCARPINO]

What a concept, a club RTR electric that you could let spectators or other interested partys try...a few minutes between heats..me likey!

David look at the District 20 Web Site and I spoke of the exact thing your talking about..........Yesterday

http://www.namba20.com/