Business Idea in the Bleachers
Last night, my daughters had a swim meet.
Swim meets are HOT, long, and mostly unexciting events.
I do enjoy the 45 seconds every hour or so that my daughters are actually competing, but the juice-to-squeeze ratio at a swim meet is wildly out of balance.
When I attend a sporting event for one of my kids, I’m there to watch them play the sport.
I’m not there to sweat in the bleachers and wait to watch them play their sport.
But that’s what swimming is…
95% waiting.
5% doing the thing you’re actually there to do.
I don’t know how they could change the sport to make competitions more exciting, but I have to believe there must be something.
And until I come up with that brilliant idea, I’ll just have to tell you about another, tertiary one I thought of.
Have you ever done any marketing or advertising for someone you worked for? Or maybe for a business of your own?
If you have—or if you’ve read a little bit about it here or there—you’ve probably learned that getting the attention of a group of prospects and serving a message to them is pretty much the most important part.
It’s step #1.
The problem is figuring out who to serve that message to and where to find them.
The next problem is reaching those people affordably.
Sometimes you don’t even know who to target other than “people with a pulse.”
Other times, you know who to target but don’t know how to find them.
And then other times, you know who to target, you know where to find them—but the cost to get your message in front of them is way too high.
It’s an everyday challenge for anyone in marketing or advertising.
…
As I sat at this swim meet last night, it dawned on me that all the people (parents) in the stands are a big group of prospects for someone.
They all have a lot in common:
Mostly parents
Mostly aged 30–50
All have a kid or kids aged 7–13
All have a decent level of income (swimming is not a cheap sport)
All are stuck in a small area for 2–4 hours
So…
What kind of person or company has something to sell that a parent aged 30–50, with a kid or kids aged 7–13, and a few spare bucks to play with, might actually be interested in?
Hmmm… I don’t know…
But I do have a good one based on my experience last night.
There were a LOT of crooked-tooth smiles in the joint.
These kids are fresh off losing their final baby teeth, and their adult teeth are coming in HOT, with absolutely no regard for commonly accepted rules of tooth cosmetics.
So who has something to sell that might interest this captive audience?
What about an… ORTHODONTIST?
These kids are prime age for ortho work.
What if an orthodontist paid the meet host $500 to post simple signs around the pool area that just say:
“BORED?”
With a QR code underneath.
It doesn’t even need to say it’s an ad for an orthodontist.
These people are bored.
The sign is literally calling that out.
It’d be no different than a sign that said “Kurt?” to me.
You have nothing else to do.
You’re going to scan it.
So now, if you’re the ortho, where does that QR code go?
Do we want to say:
“Hey, I’m Dr. Dweeb Face and I want you to pay me to fix your kid’s unwieldy chompers. Call me right now!”
Probably not.
We ease into it.
Maybe something like:
“Hey, these swim meets sure can be long, can’t they?
I know because I’ve sat through them. They’re hot. They’re long. And they can be boring. I feel your pain.
Since you’re between heats, I figured I’d let you know that ages 7–13 are the prime time to see an orthodontist about the future of your child’s teeth.
Most people wait too long before coming in to see us for the first time.
Since you’re already waiting around, I thought I’d share the benefits of getting started early.”
Then list the benefits:
Blah
Blah
Blah
Blah
And then…
“Because I feel your swim-meet pain, I created a one-time $250 off your introductory appointment.
Just submit your email and you’ll receive three things:
• A free guide titled ‘How Your Swimmer’s Teeth Can Actually Affect Their Swim Times’
• A coupon code for $250 off your first appointment
• And—just to say thanks—a coupon for a free hot dog at the concession stand
Enjoy the rest of the meet.
Peace.
Dr. Chomper Straightener.”
…
“But Kurt, a lot of swim meets include people who traveled from out of town. Only a few are actually local. Nobody wants to travel for an orthodontist.”
True.
Dang it…
Hmmm…
What if Dr. Chomper Straightener already thought of this?
What if he called orthodontists in neighboring towns and said:
“Hey Dr. Tight Tooth, this is Dr. Chomper Straightener…
I wanted to tell you about this thing I’ve been doing…”
He explains how he pays the pool host $500, collects interested parents, and how some of them aren’t a fit simply because they live out of town.
Then he says:
“Hey Dr. Tight Tooth, there’s a swim meet coming up with a bunch of families from your town.
Based on recent results, this campaign typically generates around 25 leads, and historically that turns into about 2 new patients.”
I don’t know exactly what an ortho lead is worth, but that’s at least worth Dr. Tight Tooth thinking about.
It’d be up to Dr. Tight Tooth and Dr. Chomper Straightener to work out the arrangement—but I imagine two astute teeth wranglers could figure something out.
And the meet host?
They get a free $500 donation every time there’s a meet.
Sounds like a classic win-win to me.
…
Maybe.
Or maybe the idea totally sucks.
But it is an idea.
And I hope one of you curious readers beats me to execution and absolutely crushes it.
“Well, I won’t beat you to execution, Kurt. I’m not an orthodontist. And neither are you.”
Gee whiz… your idea engine is sputtering this morning.
How many orthodontists do you think have ever thought of this?
How many swim meets have you attended where you saw a sign like the one I described?
Let me guess…
Zero.
That means you need to be the one to bring it to an orthodontist.
Do I really need to start you down that path too?
Fine…
How about this:
“Hey Dr. Chomper Straightener, I know a large group of parents in your town with kids aged 8–12 who I can get to open a message directly from you this Saturday—and they’ll have plenty of time to read it.
Would you be interested in reaching parents whose kids are likely to need braces now or in the near future?”
I’m not an orthodontist, but I feel like that would at least cause Dr. Chomper Straightener to perk up a bit.
Sure, there are more details to work out—but I can’t do everything for you in one email.
Alright… this turned into a long one.
I’m out.