For members who play during the Easter break - consider injecting even more fun at your club by either awarding an Easter egg prize to winners at your sessions and/or by placing four small Easter eggs on each table before play commences.

Small expenditure - big return!

Marketing Workshops

The NSWBA has organised the following marketing workshops.

• 9.00 am - noon Monday 1 May at the Griffith Ex-Servicemen's Bridge Club in Jondaryan Avenue, Griffith

To register:  Contact Adrian Thompson at adriant43@bigpond.com

• 1.00 - 4.00 pm on Tuesday 2 May at the Dubbo Bridge Club, Elston Park, Bultje Street, Dubbo.

To register:  Contact Peter Reed at petlee12000@yahoo.com.au .

Teacher Accreditation Program

Teacher Training Program (15 points)

• Canberra Bridge Club, ACT - Saturday 19 August

Continuing Professional Development (10 points)

Topic:  2 Over 1 Game Force (10 points)

• Geelong Bridge Club, Victoria - Sunday 21 May
• Melville Bridge Club, WA - Saturday 24 June
• Orange Bridge Club, NSW - Sunday 2 July
• Redlands Bridge Club, Queensland - Sunday 20 July

Topic:  All about Defence (10 points)

• Canberra Bridge Club, ACT - Sunday 20 August

To register for one or more of these teacher workshops please click here.

This month's issue of Health Times Magazine includes our full page promotion.

Check it out by clicking here (see page 7).

Capitalise on this national promotion by alerting any local hospitals and/or allied health services in your area of the dates of your next round of beginner classes.

Let me know if you have any success by emailing me at marketing@abf.com.au .  

The ABF Masterpoints Centre has advised that as at December 2016 the national masterpoint profile was :

Novice <100 masterpoints - 71.4%

Restricted <300 masterpoints - 15.6%

Intermediate <750 masterpoints - 8%

Open - 5%

What is the profile of your club membership?  Does your education plan cater to the club profile?

Some tips for conducting successful congresses:

• make sure your website has interesting content that showcases the experience that attendees can expect at your event.  This should include good bridge, good director, fun, great hospitality and the opportunity to socialise.  Have a section where people can view photographs from previous congresses at your club.  If you are providing winners with prizes stress this as well!
• make finding information and the registration process (if done on-line) easy and intuitive.  Research from Microsoft3 has found that since the beginning of the mobile revolution the average attention span has dropped from 12 seconds to just 8 seconds.  The average rate of online cart abandonment is almost 70%!
• streamline the check-in process as much as possible.  Make sure competitors have a hassle-free and welcoming experience in their interactions with volunteers from your club. Turn attendees into advocates for your club and your competitions.
• your job doesn't finish when the lights go out.  You should create competitor profiles and update your data base - retarget these people for your next event.
• consider gathering competitor feedback - tools such as SurveyMonkey are free and this can really help your future events shine.  Send it as soon as the competition is over when their experience is fresh in their mind.
• reward returning competitors with a special early bird discount for coming to the next event.
• after the event, flood your communication channels with positive images and information showcasing how much enjoyment people derived from the event. 

Genny Neilson, Marketing Director

Q:  What does your service cost?

A:  It doesn't cost you anything.  It is basically the same system that you might be used to with hotel booking sites.  The dealer pays for the service and not you.

Q:  Do you do second-hand cars as well as new?

A:  Yes, we do.  If you do source a second-hand car from us, we recommend and facilitate independent assessment of its condition before buying.  We organise a reputable provider to do that for you.  If you buy a new car, of course, you are covered by the normal manufacturers' warranties.

Q:  Where did the name Red Plum come from?

A:  The name came about because in the automotive industry the opposite of a lemon car is a plum!  A plum car represents the best example of that make and model and our driver in the business is to ensure our customers only ever purchase the best car in the market.  A red plum is seen as a desirable variety of the fruit.  This was further developed in the design of the logo where you will notice we have a German Short Haired Pointer, which is a loyal hunting dog.

Our aim is to hunt for the very best deal on behalf of the customer and that we will remain with them through the whole car buying journey and still be around to help them when they next need a car.

If you are about to purchase a new or pre-loved vehicle why not contact us at www.redplumautomotive.com.au or on 07 3252 8865.

We'd love to hear from you!

Our Facebook page is full of action and latest news.  Check it out by clicking here.

Help us to increase and improve our 'social media footprint'!

FREE promotional material can be downloaded from the ABF website.  Check out what is available by clicking here!

If I can be of any assistance to you or your club please just contact me by email at marketing@abf.com.au or on telephone 0417 920 816.