Poop! In the Pool! Posted on April 18, 2019April 18, 2019 by Justin at PoolDues Do your lifeguards and board members know what steps to take when there’s poop in the pool? It’s not all that complicated, but someone needs to know what to do. Let’s face it, those of us that are parents know that even the best-laid plans sometimes backfire. Sometimes that perfect diapering fails to contain the mess. You think you’ve put on the world’s best diaper, only to find poop literally up your baby’s back! No parent is bringing their diapered child to the pool hoping they poop in the pool. But it’s gonna happen anyway. At least once this summer. So be prepared. Close the pool to all swimmers. If your filtration system services multiple pools (e.g., the baby pool, the lap pool, and the main pool), you need to close all pools. Remove as much of the poop as possible using a net or bucket, disposing of the poop in the restroom. Wear gloves! Do NOT vacuum up the poop! It will infect the vacuum. CLEAN the tools used for poop removal after using them! Also, DISINFECT the tools used for poop removal by keeping them in the water during the disinfection process. Raise the water’s free chlorine concentration level to 2-3 parts per million (ppm). The level should be much higher (like 20 ppm) if someone has diarrhea in the pool (rather than just a baby pooping a solid stool in the pool). Even if you normally use bromine in your pool, you NEED to use chlorine to shock the pool for disinfection. Note that free chlorine levels are not the same as total chlorine levels. While safe swimming levels for total chlorine are generally between 2-10 ppm, safe swimming levels for free chlorine are closer to 0.1 ppm. Make sure the filtration system is working, that the pH level is 7.5, and that the free chlorine level remains at (or above) 2 ppm to disinfect the pool. It should only take about 30 minutes for the water to be disinfected, but it will take longer for the pool to get back down to safe chlorine levels before swimmers can re-enter the pool. It will take more like 12 hours to disinfect a pool if there was diarrhea rather than a solid stool. After an hour, test the water for fecal coliform or e.coli. Rebalance the levels of chlorine and other chemicals. Only allow people back in the pool when levels are safe for swimming (e.g., 2 ppm total chlorine, 0.1 ppm free chlorine, pH 7.2-7.8). Happy and safe swimming this summer! And don’t forget to educate your members on safe swimming practices to keep everyone safe and healthy at the pool this year.
Liability – Waivers and Signage Posted on March 29, 2019March 26, 2019 by Justin at PoolDues Do your members sign a waiver before each pool season? It goes without saying that your club should have insurance. It also goes without saying that any third-party lifeguarding company you hire should be a reputable company with insurance of its own. Neighborhood pools are not public pools, so they are not required to follow the same rules as public pools. With that said, neighborhood pools are not private residential pools either, so there are more regulations for a neighborhood pool than there are for a residential pool in the backyard of a single-family home. In general, your pool should be covered under your club’s property and liabilities insurance policies. This generally covers incidents related to things like the facility itself, lifeguards, staff, equipment, etc. Make sure your president checks in with your club’s insurance agent each year before the pool season starts to make sure there aren’t any new regulations in your state and to determine whether an umbrella policy or excess liability policy might be a good idea (e.g., an extra policy for the swim team). Listen, we’re not insurance agents here at Pool Dues. Our raison d’être is to help your club run more smoothly, make the online experience better for your members, and take some of the burden off your board members. We can’t tell you what the regulations are for your club since regulations vary from state to state. No matter where your club is located though, pool signage is your friend. It is an absolute must for all type of pools – public, private, and club pools. Whether or not your club requires members and their guests to sign a waiver, you need to have signage somewhere indicating the pool safety rules, shallow water diving warnings, restricted areas, and occupancy numbers. As for waivers, you could add a link to Terms of Use when members either put a new membership in their cart or pay their annual dues. Again, we’re not lawyers here at Pool Dues, so we can’t give you a legal waiver document here on the blog. Your insurance agent is the best person to ask about this. A very simple agreement could, however, look something like this: I, the applicant, by checking below, wish for myself, my spouse (if applicable), and our children (if applicable) to utilize the facilities at [NAME OF POOL], included but not limited to the swimming pool, playground, tennis courts, and grounds. I understand the inherent risk of injury when participating in activities at [NAME OF POOL]. I hereby release, hold harmless, and forever discharge [NAME OF POOL], its board of directors and members for any and all injuries, damages, claims, demands, causes of action judgments and liabilities, in law or in equity, however arising, known or unknown, now or in the future and to the fullest extent permitted by law which may arise out of or as a result of use of the facilities. Again, we are not insurance agents or lawyers, so we can’t tell you whether your members need to sign a waiver or not. We can’t tell you exactly what regulations are required in your area. And we can’t tell you what your legal liability is for any given situation. Your insurance agent and your counsel are the people to ask. What we can tell you is that your board needs to keep up-to-date on this stuff.
Why Your Club Needs Various Membership Levels Posted on March 26, 2019March 18, 2019 by Justin at PoolDues We’ve talked about this on the Pool Dues blog before, but it’s worth talking about again. Your club needs various membership levels, and you need to have a clearly-defined membership policy. We’ve seen some clubs with a dozen different membership options – pool only, pool only for seniors, tennis only, club access for only half the summer, full access for families of 3, full access for families of 6, early morning swim only, tennis on weekdays and pools on weekends. You get the picture – if you have dozens of membership types it gets confusing and it gets a little ridiculous. There are 3 basic membership types your club should have: family, singles, and seniors. Family Membership – Regardless of marital status, if you have children at or under the age of 18, living full or part-time in your home, you should join as a family. Grandparents who will be bringing their grandchildren to the pool regularly should also join as a Family. Senior Membership – If you are over the age of 60 (or 65) and are purchasing a membership for yourself and your spouse, and you are not going to bring your adult children or your grandchildren to the club, you should get a Senior Membership. Single Membership – If you are purchasing a membership only for yourself, this is the membership for you. We also like the idea of couples memberships. Couples Membership – If your spouse or significant other will not be bringing children at or under the age of 18 to the pool, you can join as a Couple. Here’s what we don’t like: pool-only memberships, tennis-only memberships, one-month memberships, swim team-only memberships, or child-only memberships. Your club is a place for neighbors to meet up and have fun together – by allowing partial memberships, you’re not encouraging people to come join in the fun, you’re encouraging people to participate piecemeal. We also aren’t fans of special pricing memberships. See our article about that here. Basically, the gist of the issue is that the pool doesn’t charge based on the frequency of use of the facilities. Does your gym do that? Dear Lifetime Fitness, I only went to the gym once last month, so could you please give me back 75 of the 80 dollars I paid for my membership last month? That’s not how gyms work, and that shouldn’t be how your club works. As for the people who want to join the pool in the middle of the summer, your Pool Dues site solves that problem for you! With automatic recurring billing, members can be billed each year on the date they join. So if a family joins the pool August 10th, they’ll simply be billed August 10th each year. This way they get an entire year at the club regardless of when they join.
How to Advertise Your Club on Facebook Posted on March 18, 2019March 19, 2019 by Justin at PoolDues Facebook is a great way to advertise your club to a targeted audience, and now is the perfect time to do it! Your club probably already has a Facebook page, so why not put it to use to get new members? Your club’s Facebook page should be the public face of your club – the place where non-members can see what’s happening at the club. We’re not talking about a Facebook Group here. If you have a Group set up for your club, that’s where you can post announcements and communicate with your members. (Of course, your Pool Dues website and app is where you’ll post reminders, make announcements, tell people about upcoming events, and have people to interact with the club, but a Facebook Group is a good place for members to communicate with one another.) So what’s the best way to advertise your club on Facebook? Let’s walk through the steps. Choose the option to “Reach People Nearby.” You want to target people living near your club, so choose this option. You can set your radius from the pull-down menu. Think about how many other clubs are in your area and how dense the population is. In this example, a 1-mile radius around the club could potentially reach 32,000 people! Atlanta is densely populated, so upping the radius here doesn’t make sense – there are clubs all over the place, so you’re probably paying to advertise to other clubs’ members if you adjust the radius much larger than 1 mile. But that’s Atlanta – choose the radius that’s best for your area. Choose the age range, gender, and interests of your audience. We suggest an age range between 29-50, give or take. We also suggest advertising to both men and women. What we don’t suggest is adding specific interests. By typing in words like “swimming” or “pool” into the Interests box, you’re narrowing your potential audience, so it’s best left blank. Choose an image for your ad. Facebook makes it easy – you can either upload a photo or simply choose one that’s already been posted on your club’s Facebook page. Also choose whether you want a map in your advertisement. We suggest toggling ON for including a map card that shows your business location. A lot of clubs are tucked away in a neighborhood, and people may not even realize there’s a swim and tennis club in the neighborhood! Choose whether you want Automatic Placements. We suggest toggling this OFF. The default is set to ON, but we suggest you toggle this off. You don’t need to include Instagram because its advertising is not as location-specific as Facebook. Choose your Call to Action. Use the pull-down menu to choose what you want people to do if they want to take action after seeing the ad. We suggest choosing Learn More from this menu and pointing the link to your club’s website. That way, if people are interested in what they see in your ad, they will be directed to your club website where they can learn more about the club. Choose your budget. In this example, just $1.00 will reach between 84 and 470 people a day. That’s a great bargain! Running the ad for 2 weeks will cost $14 and potentially reach thousands of people. Once you’ve made all your choices, click the Promote button and you’re all set! We made a video about this process, so check it out on our YouTube Channel.
New Features in 2019 – Invoicing Pool Members Posted on January 18, 2019January 21, 2019 by Justin at PoolDues [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] Boards are getting back together and you’re probably reminded yet again that being a Board member is a bit like dining at a nice restaurant in Winter and sitting at the table closest to the door. Everyone else has it a little bit better than you do. [/spb_text_block] [spb_blank_spacer height=”30px” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_divider type=”standard” text=”Go to top” top_margin=”0px” bottom_margin=”30px” fullwidth=”no” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_blank_spacer height=”30px” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] But we’re here to help, with new Invoicing features! [/spb_text_block] [spb_blank_spacer height=”30px” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”2/3″ el_position=”first”] Justin here, lead developer and founder of PoolDues.com. So I sat down with my club’s new Treasurer a couple weeks ago, who was just coming off a meeting with our old Treasurer that gave him the rundown on how things were done in the past. Every year the previous treasurer sent out invoices generated from Quickbooks. And as it turned out, he was still manually keeping track of who was an active member. But wait, that’s something PoolDues does automatically for you! Old habits die hard I guess. Except there was one BIG thing PoolDues wasn’t doing that Quickbooks was. We weren’t emailing invoices. PoolDues has always had the option to automatically remind members that payments were due (or past due) but it was a bit too friendly of an email. I was overlooking the gravitas of the Official Club Invoice Letter. Numbers in columned boxes with words like “DUE NOW” do scare people. So I told my new Treasurer, don’t waste a perfectly good football Sunday creating and sending an invoice to every member. The PoolDues database has everything we already need to send people a frightening invoice letter. I just have to format it that way…. [/spb_text_block] [spb_image_banner image=”1924″ image_size=”full” content_pos=”left” content_textalign=”left” animation=”none” animation_delay=”200″ link_target=”_self” width=”1/3″ el_position=”last”][/spb_image_banner] [spb_divider type=”standard” text=”Go to top” top_margin=”0px” bottom_margin=”30px” fullwidth=”no” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] So we’ve got proper Invoicing now! [/spb_text_block] [spb_blank_spacer height=”30px” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”2/3″ el_position=”first”] And it’s smart too.We will never invoice a member that has a Recurring payment plan setup. That’s important because…. It’s completely unnecessary. We don’t want to bother them with a million invoices because they probably signed up for a Recurring payment plan to be left alone People forget stuff. Like whether or not they signed up for automatic payments a year ago. So it’s entirely possible you end up with someone paying twice. Once someone pays for the current year, the invoicing system will leave them alone. So if you start mass invoicing in February, and do it every couple of weeks, eventually less and less people get emailed. By April or so, then you can start paying attention to the people that haven’t paid. We have a neat heat-map type feature that shows who isn’t current (very useful when it’s close to the start of the season). [/spb_text_block] [spb_image_banner image=”1928″ image_size=”full” content_pos=”left” content_textalign=”left” animation=”none” animation_delay=”200″ link_target=”_self” width=”1/3″ el_position=”last”][/spb_image_banner] [spb_divider type=”standard” text=”Go to top” top_margin=”0px” bottom_margin=”30px” fullwidth=”no” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] Which brings us to Custom Invoicing [/spb_text_block] [spb_blank_spacer height=”30px” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”2/3″ el_position=”first”] So what happens with those stubborn end-of-spring members that just wait till the last second to pay. You can keep having the Invoice Bot send them mailings, but if you want to really put the screws to them, you can send them a custom invoice with LATE FEES. Yup, you can go there. But custom invoices can be used for anything really. If you want to invoice a new member with the Membership and Initiation fees, with a nice custom message, you can do so. The payment link will take them directly to the cart, with all those products you invoiced them for. [/spb_text_block] [spb_image_banner image=”1931″ image_size=”full” content_pos=”left” content_textalign=”left” animation=”none” animation_delay=”200″ link_target=”_self” width=”1/3″ el_position=”last”][/spb_image_banner] [spb_divider type=”standard” text=”Go to top” top_margin=”0px” bottom_margin=”30px” fullwidth=”no” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] So that’s two BIG features in 2019 and it’s only a few weeks in. Want to watch some TV?…. [/spb_text_block] [spb_blank_spacer height=”30px” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_video link=”https://vimeo.com/312047301″ remove_related=”yes” autoplay=”no” full_width=”no” width=”1/2″ el_position=”first”] [spb_video link=”https://vimeo.com/312046965″ remove_related=”yes” autoplay=”no” full_width=”no” width=”1/2″ el_position=”last”]
Pennsylvania Pool Dramatically Increases Winter-time Revenue with New Website Posted on December 28, 2018January 2, 2019 by Justin at PoolDues One of our newest pools, Neshannock Pool in New Castle, Pennsylvania, has seen an exciting uptick in earnings since switching to a Pool Dues website from their old and outdated website. Within 31 days of launching their Pool Dues website, the pool had over $14,000 in online sales thanks to a winter promo email and the ability for members to pay online. While recurring billing is a great feature for your pool’s members, this particular winter promo was such a good deal that the pool decided to remove the recurring payment option so as to not lock anyone into too good of a discounted deal. Not only did this one-time offer attract new members, but it attracted current members to renew their memberships early and pay online. Neshannock Pool’s secretary wanted to make the move to Pool Dues because he was tired, as the money person at the club, with dealing with check payments from the pool’s 300+ members. “My biggest pain was that most people pay by check, so I have to manually update my own database,” he said. Now that the pool uses a Pool Dues website and has integrated PayPal options, he said that most people are paying online! Imagine how exciting that would be for your pool’s secretary – no more dealing with checks mailed to some P.O. Box that has to be checked periodically. Not only does the mailbox not have to be checked with PayPal integrated into the website, but the secretary doesn’t have to go to the bank and deposit dozens of checks. And he or she doesn’t have to manually (and potentially incorrectly) update the books. What a time saver! Listen, your pool’s board of directors are most likely volunteers. They love the pool community so much they’re willing to give their time, talents, and energy to serving on the board. But no one wants to serve on a board that’s more hassle than it’s worth. Neshannock Pool’s secretary is a volunteer – he loves his pool and wants it to run smoothly; he doesn’t want to spend hours driving around town to the mailbox and the bank, and he doesn’t want to waste his precious time manually updating the pool’s books and database. By switching to a Pool Dues website, he can use his time and energy on the more important parts of being the club’s secretary – attracting new members, making sure current members are happy, and making sure the club has enough money to keep the facilities in good order. Do your volunteer board members a favor and make their lives easier – switch over to a Pool Dues website!
Using Facebook to Get New Members to Your Neighborhood Swim and Tennis Club Posted on June 22, 2018February 20, 2019 by Justin at PoolDues [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] Facebook is your number #1 tool for getting new members to your neighborhood pool. If you are not a fan personally, hear me out. Because Facebook is essentially an automated member recruiter. What Pool Dues does for automating billing and check-in for members, Facebook does for finding new members. Their “discovery” algorithms (what they recommend to users) leans heavily on location and what a user’s friends are into. So, if a potential member has Friends in your Facebook group, they are going to get a recommendation from Facebook. And of course, you can occasionally remind members to add people to the group that aren’t members yet. But that’s getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s take a step back to discuss how to start your club’s presence on Facebook. [/spb_text_block] [spb_row element_name=”Row” wrap_type=”content-width” parallax_image_height=”content-height” parallax_image_movement=”fixed” parallax_image_speed=”0.5″ bg_video_loop=”yes” parallax_video_height=”window-height” parallax_video_overlay=”none” row_overlay_opacity=”0″ row_col_pos=”default” minimize_row=”yes” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_divider type=”standard” text=”Go to top” top_margin=”0px” bottom_margin=”30px” fullwidth=”no” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_blank_spacer height=”30px” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] The Difference between a Page and Group [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”3/4″ el_position=”first”] Chances are someone at your club has already setup a Facebook Page, but if not, consider this an online business card for your club. Within a few minutes you can add a video or image header, icon (like your personal profile icon), and basic info like location, contact info, description like, “We are a members-only swim and tennis club in [city, state].” You will get stumble-on traffic to this publicly visible page, so you want visitors to quickly know you aren’t a community pool, but you also want to show off the best your club has to offer. So make sure you post up some high-quality photos. Find someone with an iPhone and take some decent photos of the pool in full swing. Kids jumping in. Adults with drinks in their hands in the pool. Point is: look cool. An empty pool, or a picture of the front entrance sign is pretty lame. Next up make a Group for the pool. Groups are social, Pages are not. Although it is possible to post a comment to a Page, people generally do not as Pages are heavily moderated., and comments get shelved to a tiny corner of the page. On Facebook people converse in groups. And neighbors in neighborhood groups talk A LOT. You want to encourage people to make the group active. Allow members to post freely. The more active it is, the more people visit the group (or get recommended to it) and get to know your neighborhood pool and the people there. [/spb_text_block] [spb_image_banner image=”1126″ image_size=”full” content_pos=”left” content_textalign=”left” animation=”none” animation_delay=”200″ link_target=”_self” width=”1/4″ el_position=”last”][/spb_image_banner] [/spb_row] [spb_row element_name=”Row” wrap_type=”content-width” parallax_image_height=”content-height” parallax_image_movement=”fixed” parallax_image_speed=”0.5″ bg_video_loop=”yes” parallax_video_height=”window-height” parallax_video_overlay=”none” row_overlay_opacity=”0″ row_col_pos=”default” minimize_row=”no” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_divider type=”standard” text=”Go to top” top_margin=”0px” bottom_margin=”30px” fullwidth=”no” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_blank_spacer height=”30px” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] Group Settings [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] If you created the pool’s Facebook Group, you are the Admin by default. If you are just taking over as Social Director or Membership Director, get the current Admin to give you Admin powers. Then, make the pool’s Page the admin of the Group. Find Edit Group Settings, then look for this option… [/spb_text_block] [spb_blank_spacer height=”30px” width=”1/6″ el_position=”first”] [spb_image_banner image=”1129″ image_size=”full” content_pos=”left” content_textalign=”left” animation=”none” animation_delay=”200″ link_target=”_self” width=”3/4″ el_position=”last”][/spb_image_banner] [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] After you make this connection, you’ll have the option to post in the Group as either yourself or the Page. Facebook makes it easy to toggle back and forth (for reference, see the image below). So you can even respond to your own posts by toggling back and forth. [/spb_text_block] [spb_blank_spacer height=”30px” width=”1/6″ el_position=”first”] [spb_image_banner image=”1131″ image_size=”full” content_pos=”left” content_textalign=”left” animation=”none” animation_delay=”200″ link_target=”_self” width=”2/3″ el_position=”last”][/spb_image_banner] [/spb_row] [spb_row element_name=”Row” wrap_type=”content-width” parallax_image_height=”content-height” parallax_image_movement=”fixed” parallax_image_speed=”0.5″ bg_video_loop=”yes” parallax_video_height=”window-height” parallax_video_overlay=”none” row_overlay_opacity=”0″ row_col_pos=”default” minimize_row=”yes” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_blank_spacer height=”30px” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_divider type=”standard” text=”Go to top” top_margin=”0px” bottom_margin=”30px” fullwidth=”no” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_blank_spacer height=”30px” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] Group Settings for a Neighborhood Pool [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”2/3″ el_position=”first”] The big decision in your Facebook Group’s settings will be the Privacy. You definitely don’t want Secret, so it comes down to Public or Closed. For marketing purposes Closed might seem counter-intuitive, but if your Group’s description reads open and inviting, you should get plenty of new neighbors / potential members to the group. Your group’s title will also help encourage new neighbors to join. For example if you title it “Hillside Pool – Members Only Group”, that’s obviously not going to attract non-members. If you title it, “Hillside Neighbors and Pool”, you’ll get plenty of people asking to join. You can still be choosy about who you allow in the Group. One of the main things I look for in approving new members is mutual friends and location. If the user is new to Facebook and knows no one that I know, and doesn’t live nearby, I won’t approve (which is rare). For extra scrutiny, you can even ask questions to Facebook users that request to join. For example, “Do you live in the Hillside neighborhood?” or “Do you want to be contacted by our membership director?”. These questions will probably deter anyone that’s just looking to advertise their local business. [/spb_text_block] [spb_image_banner image=”1134″ image_size=”full” content_pos=”left” content_textalign=”left” animation=”none” animation_delay=”200″ link_target=”_self” width=”1/3″ el_position=”last”][/spb_image_banner] [spb_divider type=”standard” text=”Go to top” top_margin=”0px” bottom_margin=”30px” fullwidth=”no” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] Let’s rundown a few other useful settings… Automatic Membership Approval – Great setting. If you run another group, for example, the neighborhood Men’s or Women’s group, this will auto-approve anyone in your other groups. Posting Permissions – Do not toggle this on. Doing so would make every post subject to admin approval. Which sucks. The whole point of groups is open discussion. If a member is a trouble-maker down the road, deal with that on a case-by-case basis. Custom Address – Give your group a nicer URL with this option. Location – Obviously you want to enter the club’s home address. Group Type – Club or Neighbors. I’m not sure if there’s a benefit to one over the other. [/spb_text_block] [/spb_row] [spb_row element_name=”Row” wrap_type=”content-width” parallax_image_height=”content-height” parallax_image_movement=”fixed” parallax_image_speed=”0.5″ bg_video_loop=”yes” parallax_video_height=”window-height” parallax_video_overlay=”none” row_overlay_opacity=”0″ row_col_pos=”default” minimize_row=”no” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_divider type=”standard” text=”Go to top” top_margin=”0px” bottom_margin=”30px” fullwidth=”no” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_blank_spacer height=”30px” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] It’s called Social Media for a reason. It’s time to be social (and show non-club members what they are missing) [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”2/3″ el_position=”first”] Once you add people to your group (and you definitely need to add them in yourself), it will begin to fulfill its purpose of reminding prospective members about the club. In the off-season, people will discuss whatever – local news, restaurants, power outages, etc. You don’t have to do much posting then. During the summer month’s you’ll have no shortage of things to post: ice cream socials for kids, beers by the pool, shark nights, swim meets, birthdays, poker nights, outings with other club members, tennis round robins, clubhouse parties, adult nights, tween nights, etc. Plus any news worth emailing to club members is worth posting on your Facebook group as well. What you’ll find is that members are going to do plenty of this social media work for you. You can nudge them to help out too. If you see someone taking a photo or video at the pool, ask them to post it to the group. [/spb_text_block] [spb_column col_sm=”4″ padding_horizontal=”0″ width=”1/3″ el_position=”last”] [spb_image_banner image=”1137″ image_size=”full” content_pos=”left” content_textalign=”left” animation=”none” animation_delay=”200″ link_target=”_self” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”][/spb_image_banner] [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] Example post: Crowd-pleasing time-lapse video (no one is visible long enough to be scrutinized in their suit) [/spb_text_block] [/spb_column] [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] Not only are you reminding current club members that all this fun stuff is going on, but you’re also advertising ALL the cool stuff going on to people in the Group that aren’t paid club members. And that’s what this boils down to. The lookie-loos that gravitated to your online group ARE your target market! You can hang door flyers, you can send stuff in the mail about the pool, you can put up road signs to advertise, but none of that converts the anti-social people. Those people are a hard sell. The pool will be an easy sell to neighbors that are naturally social. But a road sign doesn’t show them what they are missing. As the old adage goes, “show don’t tell”. That’s what Facebook does. It shows people – Hey, look. This is EXACTLY what’s going on down here. Why aren’t you here? [/spb_text_block] [/spb_row]
Add a Member Check In Kiosk to your Neighborhood Pool or Club Posted on June 7, 2018February 20, 2019 by Justin at PoolDues [spb_image image=”938″ image_size=”full” frame=”noframe” caption_pos=”hover” remove_rounded=”yes” fullwidth=”no” overflow_mode=”none” link_target=”_self” lightbox=”no” intro_animation=”none” animation_delay=”200″ width=”1/3″ el_position=”first”][/spb_image] [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”2/3″ el_position=”last”] New in iOS version 1.3 of the Pool Dues Member Check In App! You can now enter a special login (provided by us), to enable “Kiosk Mode”. This allows your neighborhood pool / tennis club to place an iPad at your front gate or desk to allow members to quickly browse their name and check-in using their personal PIN code. [/spb_text_block] [spb_divider type=”standard” text=”Go to top” top_margin=”0px” bottom_margin=”30px” fullwidth=”no” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] About Kiosk Mode [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] When I first thought about creating a Member Check In app for my pool, the kiosk version was the first thing that came to mind. Replace the tattered old paper guestbook with a fancy iPad to better encourage people to sign in. And of course, tie it all into the billing backend, which our pool sorely needed (i.e., no paper checks). As I began building the backend, adding features, and tinkering with the app, I started to realize I was more interested in the possibilities of the Member Check In app for individual users. Primarily for the social aspects. I loved the idea of being somewhere other than the pool and seeing who was there. And from that, other ideas started coming to me about the news section, sponsor section, and ways to better lead people to pay guests fees or shop. But Kiosk-mode was always on the drawing board, and part of the fun of working with our Free-Trial Pools is hearing what they want, and a couple of them really expressed interest in getting this live. Cut to today’s launch! [/spb_text_block] [spb_divider type=”standard” text=”Go to top” top_margin=”0px” bottom_margin=”30px” fullwidth=”no” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] Spin the wheel of members! [/spb_text_block] [spb_blank_spacer height=”30px” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_image_banner image=”946″ image_size=”full” content_pos=”left” content_textalign=”left” animation=”none” animation_delay=”200″ link_target=”_self” width=”1/3″ el_position=”first”][/spb_image_banner] [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”2/3″ el_position=”last”] Kiosk mode is really pretty simple, as it’s main function is to check members in as quick as possible. Obviously, you don’t want people lingering at the front desk any longer than needed. So, unlike the personal version, where pool members can check in with a quick status update, in Kiosk mode they simply enter their PIN. I even thought about removing the PIN option, but then some bored kid could come up to the device and just check in every member for fun and prompt emails to them to pay for guests. Speaking of which, members can still note that they are bringing guests, and they can still toggle on a privacy option. This hides their status at the pool from other users of the Member Check In app (at my pool we joke it’s the Hide-From-Your-Spouse toggle). If a member toggles on that they’ve brought a guest, that is noted within the picker directory of the app. There are three notable icons… – Member is checked in today – Member brought guests (paid) – Member brought guests and paid via PayPal – Member was checked in, but has checked out (or gone private) [/spb_text_block] [spb_blank_spacer height=”30px” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_divider type=”standard” text=”Go to top” top_margin=”0px” bottom_margin=”30px” fullwidth=”no” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_blank_spacer height=”30px” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”1/2″ el_position=”first”] Guest Fees If a member toggles on that they’ve brought a guest, obviously you don’t want the kiosk itself to send them to a payment page. Again, you don’t want people lingering at the front gate. Plus, as a shared device, you don’t want people accidentally saving payment info on it. Since the Kiosk already has member emails on file, we simply prompt the member to send themselves an email reminder which contains a link to pay via PayPal from your portal. This way they can go sit down, unpack, and pay when ready. [/spb_text_block] [spb_image_banner image=”952″ image_size=”full” content_pos=”left” content_textalign=”left” animation=”none” animation_delay=”200″ link_target=”_self” width=”1/2″ el_position=”last”][/spb_image_banner] [spb_blank_spacer height=”30px” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_divider type=”standard” text=”Go to top” top_margin=”0px” bottom_margin=”30px” fullwidth=”no” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_blank_spacer height=”30px” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_image_banner image=”956″ image_size=”full” content_pos=”left” content_textalign=”left” animation=”none” animation_delay=”200″ link_target=”_self” width=”1/2″ el_position=”first”][/spb_image_banner] [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”1/2″ el_position=”last”] Keeping members honest The picker directory of members gives everyone a kind of “bird’s eye view” of who’s currently at the club or was at the club. Including who brought guests. So, when a member checks in with guests, their name in the picker changes to ” + “. But if the member pays guest fees through your Pool Dues billing portal, their name changes to include ” + (paid)”. Plus, the bottom of the Kiosk screen will show more details. Here are two examples…. “Member checked in at 3:47 and brought guests” “Member checked in at 3:47. Paid $6 via PayPal for guests” [/spb_text_block] [spb_blank_spacer height=”30px” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_divider type=”standard” text=”Go to top” top_margin=”0px” bottom_margin=”30px” fullwidth=”no” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_blank_spacer height=”30px” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] A little effort goes a long way… [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] Most pools already rely on members self-policing themselves when it comes to guest fees. If someone wants to be dishonest and bring 5 guests without paying, there’s usually very little to stop them. And sometimes people want to be honest, but they don’t have paper money for the “honor system” cash box. Lifeguards aren’t there to enforce guest fees or even check guest bracelets (they are paid to save lives and check chemical levels, not police member honesty). And other members aren’t going to confront each other about paying for their guests. The Member Check In app in kiosk mode (or in individual user mode) simply adds a little transparency to the honor system. What will drive members to pay for their guests is two-fold… 1. Since the app shows members have paid via PayPal (and how much), this allows people to show off that they’ve actually paid. “See those 5 extra crazy boys in the pool, I did actually pay for them.” 2. Your pool looks high-tech as ****! Members don’t know that everything is still essentially run on the honor system. So if it appears your pool is trying to get money for guest fees, people are going to pay those guest fees. Especially if it’s easy (and cashless). One final thought: The opposite applies to point 2. If you don’t make ANY effort to collect guest fees, no one is ever going to pay them. [/spb_text_block]
Partnering with Other Neighborhood Pools to Make $7500 or More in Extra Guest Fees Posted on June 4, 2018February 20, 2019 by Justin at PoolDues [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] Recently, my pool’s main pump broke so we were out of commission for a few days. Using my “secret network of fellow Social Directors,” I quickly got in touch with two other nearby pools to ask that our members be allowed to swim there in our time of need. One put it to a quick Board vote via email and the other just cleared it with their President who said, “sure, why not”. So, within a few hours, we had two equally great back-up pools. This showed some awesome neighborhood camaraderie, and as the downtime crept into the weekend, everyone had a blast inter-mingling on Saturday and Sunday. Keep in mind, these are neighborhood pools, so parents all knew each other from school connections, church, synagogue, little league, the local watering holes, you name it. So it wasn’t like strangers were forced to swim with each other for a few days. My city, Dunwoody, considers itself one big neighborhood (their unofficial motto), and that’s exactly what this felt like: one big neighborhood get-together. Which got me thinking that our pools need to intermingle more often. So, how do we best co-mingle pools? The first thing to consider is how to make sure only members are visiting other member-only pools…. [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] Get member’s wearing wristbands (if they don’t already) [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] I think every neighborhood pool needs to issue wristbands for their members. 300 wristbands is only about $100. And yes, it’s a pain to distribute these to members, but that’s why you ask for a volunteer to do this once-a-year thing. If your club sends out newsletters announcing 3 or 4 “wristband handouts,” which could even be at a member’s house from say, 5pm-7pm, you should be able to get them into most members’ hands. With our club, we always have some stragglers that don’t pick theirs up, but when that list gets down to only 15 or so families, we just start dropping them in mailboxes. As much as your Pool Dues-powered Member Check In app can do, it can’t stop gate-crashers as well as a wristband can (nor can a paper sign-in book for that matter). You need something that’s easily identifiable on EVERY member above a certain age that screams “I belong here”. Now if you do an occasional inter-pool event (or if your pool’s pump breaks), the pool receiving strangers will know for sure those are banded-members from your pool. [/spb_text_block] [spb_blank_spacer height=”30px” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] When to organize inter-pool get-togethers? [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] Obviously, that’s going to be something you and your like-minded neighboring pool(s) will need to discuss. Here are some thoughts… Particular events. For example, a pool volleyball tournament, your Adult Night Parties, Teen Night parties, a Mommy’s Morning Out, etc. A particular day of the week. For example, Wednesdays. You don’t want to pack too many neighboring-members in on a busy weekend, but let’s face it, even the busiest of pools usually aren’t that busy during the work week. Or how about this… [/spb_text_block] [spb_blank_spacer height=”30px” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] Create a Sister-Club Network with Revenue Share [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] Find 3 or 4 neighboring pools that have wrist-banded members and similar yearly dues. Propose to them that Monday-Thursday members can use any pool within the “sister club” network. Essentially you’re making it so guest fees are waived for members of your sister clubs. But as we all know, most clubs rarely enforce their own guest fees and barely make any money off cash boxes anyway (though that’s something your Pool Dues portal can solve). Here’s the key part. This isn’t free. This is an add-on fee only available to members of those 3 or 4 clubs (again, a perfect fit for your Pool Dues portal). Our yearly membership is $550. As a father of 4 kids (almost 5 now), I would pay as much as $100 more to visit 3 or 4 other pools in the summer. I know my kids would love to vary which pool we visit. Different pools mean different playgrounds, high dives, maybe even water slides. And as a parent, I’d love the social aspect of meeting other parents in the community. So let’s suppose 4 pools did this. They have 1000 families between them. Now let’s assume 300 families paid $100 more for the Sister Pool Network option. Are you ready for some math… That’s $30,000. Split 4 ways that’s $7,500 per pool. [/spb_text_block] [spb_blank_spacer height=”30px” width=”1/6″ el_position=”first”] [spb_image_banner image=”881″ image_size=”full” content_pos=”left” content_textalign=”left” animation=”none” animation_delay=”200″ link_target=”_self” width=”2/3″ el_position=”last”][/spb_image_banner] [spb_blank_spacer height=”30px” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_divider type=”standard” text=”Go to top” top_margin=”0px” bottom_margin=”30px” fullwidth=”no” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_blank_spacer height=”30px” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] Win-Win for Pools and Members…. [/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] 1. Can you say your pool made $7500 in guest fees last year? Or $5000 or even $2500…. Probably not. And your club definitely did not make that much money from people that already had a home club nearby. Most of your guest fees probably come from out of town guests, birthday parties, adult friends, etc. They do not come from people swimming 1 mile away. 2. It costs nothing to try. It’s just an extra Cart option you can add to your payment portal. 3. If you limited the days to Monday-Thursday that members could hop pools, that still leaves your peak days (Friday-Sunday) exclusive to members. Which also ensures that prospective members are still going to favor their closest pool. 4. This add-on feature also becomes a huge perk to your membership in general. [/spb_text_block]
Can Your Pool Put up Permanent Street Signs Around the Neighborhood? Posted on June 3, 2018February 20, 2019 by Justin at PoolDues [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] Not all swim and tennis clubs are located at the front gate of a neighborhood. My neighborhood is HUGE, and technically it’s comprised of 5 subdivisions. If a family moves into the subdivision farthest from the club, they might not realize their interconnected neighborhood even has a pool. So, can you take it upon yourself to help people find their way to the club by putting up street signs? Well no, but as the saying goes, it’s easier to ask forgiveness than permission. Getting your city to permit affixing pool signs to existing road signs could be a lot more work than just doing it. If you do decide to take the initiative yourself, here’s what I recommend… Don’t go cheap. Get reflective, metal signs. Stick to 1 color (not including black or white). Use a plain font for the sign. Don’t add a phone number or website. That’s way too much advertising. Add directional arrows to the club. That should be the real point of the sign, just get people there. Don’t include any promotional text like “Join the [club name]”. Just “Pool and Tennis Club” is really all you need. Keep the signs within your neighborhood (no main roads). What’s it cost? Expect to pay about $40 per sign. Which really isn’t bad at all. 7 or 8 street signs are less than the cost of one family joining. And as long as the city doesn’t notice or doesn’t care, those signs will last many years. [/spb_text_block]
