PGAjay Golf Business Podcast

Before you promote a high performer, ensure the promotion will put them in a position to continue to display the skills that got them the recognition in the first place.

Being openly critical of our own ideas and plans is a great way to show your value within an organization. It shows that not only were you creative enough to come up with a good idea, you were smart enough to know when that idea needed to be adjusted or killed. Be your own best critic, before someone else becomes your worst.

Sometimes a PGA Professionals and humans, we feel trapped like we don’t have any control over our career, life, or golf game. But by taking a few seconds to really look at we think is holding us back, you might be surprised at how much control you do have. Even if the decision you make doesn’t move you forward, at least it’s your decision and that’s the part that matters.

In an episode inspired by a game of catch with my son, we discuss how dropping the ball is all part of the process of learning to catch it. We discuss how this advice applies to your career as a golf professional and as a player. We also, talk specifically about how you can use this advice to help you pass the PAT after a first missed attempt.

Passing your PAT to become a PGA member can be on of the hardest steps in becoming a PGA Member. Even for the most accomplished player, the format of knowing the score you need to shoot messes with your head. Use these three tips to help overcome the challenge.

It’s hard to know if an idea is good or not and if you should keep going forward with it. So, instead of trying to figure out if the idea is good. Find out if you like the work of going after it.

In poker, you can make a good decision with the odds in your favor and still end up losing. The same can happen in your job and in life. The key is not letting those results cause you to make worse decisions next time around. Make the best decision you can based on what you know, and let the cards fall where they may.

We all had a lot planned for their year before fate intervened and threw that all on its ear. But when things change, do you have a purpose that you can fall back on to collect yourself and help you determine your next plan?

References for jobs always seem like that left step in the process of applying for a job and often get overlooked. In this episode I give a tip on how many defenses you should have and how to get the right ones for the right situation.

As golf courses and clubs around the world report record rounds and membership sales, let’s not all forget how we got here. Just because Golf is enjoying a surge in activity lately doesn’t actually translate to growth.

Picking new lines for the golf shop is always tough. And you never really know how it will do, and what your margins will be, until you have had time to sell it all through. This can take weeks or most often months to see the whole picture. In this episode I provide a tip for how to find out how an item will do much faster.

I’m not saying that clubs should, but is there a case to be made for charging a premium for green fees amidst the restrictions created by vivid-19? Is it price gouging? Aren’t you providing a better products under some of these restrictions? I look forward to hearing your reaction to the topics brought up in this episode and to any feedback you have on if you are doing this at your club.

With many golf shops still closed, inventory levels can remain higher than where you want them. Now is the time to look at where you need to be by the end of the year and start offering promotions to help get you there. You may have to give up the margins you were looking for for this year. But, just make sure you don’t sacrifice next year too by trying to hold out for higher prices. Use what communications channels you have to start some one day hot sales by email, social or website to start moving things now, before it’s too late.

There has been a lot of longing for life and golf to “Get back to normal.” But don’t forget to look at the changes you have been forced for make at your facility and ask yourself the question, “What parts of what we are doing are actually working better than before?”

Being more efficient managing your costs can be a good thing. But just make sure the systems you put in place to become more efficient, don’t create friction for your customers. You may end up making more per customer, but just having a lot less customers... and profits.

Sometimes we have an idea of how a plan will come together, other times we just need to start telling a story and let the ending reveal itself. This was a paraphrasing if a quote by Rose Tremain by the way. Hers was better but too long for the title. “ In the planning stages of a book, don’t plan the ending. It has to be earned by all that will go before it.”

There is no grand plan. But I just want to start sharing what I’m up to, without having to worry about where it’s going or what I’m trying to do with it. Let’s just enjoy the process together and I hope that helps more than anything.

With courses closing around the world, many Golf Professionals and Facilities are scrambling to find sources of revenue. With it being the start of the season, many golf shops are loaded with merchandise they can’t sell, and many golf pros are out of work. Over the weeks and months ahead I hope to share my own process of building and online golf shop to help golf shops do the same for themselves. I will also be sharing what I have learned about buying and reselling on eBay and Amazon in the hopes some out of work pros can make a little extra money during these tough times.

Based on a very unofficial pole I ran across socials it appears that the number of golf courses that are closing is on the rise as many cities and states mandate the closure of non-essential business.

With the recent non-essential business closures in many cities (including mind). The situation for Golf Professionals remains a very dynamic one. I’m trying to get a sense form all of you what’s happening so I can get and idea of what I can do to be helpful. So email me at jay@pgajay.com or DM me on socials with an update.

Sometimes you don’t have to know exactly what to do. You just have to focus on keeping your speed and your spirits up so that you avoid stalling out.

It’s not always about making the right decision, but making the decision right.

In this episode we discuss the relationship between accountability and autonomy and how managers and employees are held responsible for results.

This episode elaborates in a quote I put on Instagram (@pgajay) the other day. It was “Stop telling your employees to smile and be kind to customers. Instead, make them want to smile and be kind to customers.”

Giving an end of season gift that members will use on the off season will help ensure they return for another year.

The game of golf as we think of it most of the time, 18 regulation holes over 4-6 hours, doesn’t fit in to many peoples busy lives anymore. What if we started thinking about ways we can shape and adjust the golf experiences to satisfy the core needs of golfers without being stymied to traditional restrictions?

This Idea for a Skins / Horse Race event at your club could be just the ticket for drumming up some excitement around a short event at your club.

Giving free lessons has always been an effective way for new golf professionals (or professionals who are new to an area) to build up a client list. In this episode I talk about using Instagram to do this can be even more effective.

Splitting your members into different buying profiles can help you determine what is actually driving your golf shop profits and losses.

Sometimes the members you think are most valuable are actually the ones that are costing you the most.

In an recent poll I did among my followers on social media, I found out that 85% to 95% of Golf Professionals, don’t get paid for member referrals. In this episode find out how to change that trend.

November 19, 2019 Marks my first day as just PGAjay.

An original article posted on PGAjay.com. How young and old golf professionals can use their skill-sets to tackle social media together.

In this podcast, I talk about where I will be storing and organizing all fo the new educational content on social media for golf pros. Working to update my website PGAjay.com will be the perfect place to store it all where I can have a little more control. It's a work in progress still but you can go check it out at www.pgajay.com and while you are there be sure to subscribe for updates by email. And, let me know what you think when you visit so I can make it better for everyone. 

Ok.... So not all Golf Professionals "Hate" Social Media. And there are some examples out there of clubs and pros that have used these platforms to increase very traditional metrics like, selling more outings, increasing rounds and many other things that are important.   But it takes understanding what the Golf Professional faces every day and the capabilities of the platforms to start to understand where we should focus our efforts.  I hope to create some videos base around specific interests of different Golf Professional roles and types of clubs, and share very specific but easy to adopt practices on some of these platforms. 

In this episode. Golf Professionals and Instructors can lean how to make a little tweak to their golf content videos that will separate them from the crowd of other golf coaches and help them connect more with the people that matter the most.

There are a lot of great benefits to having an exclusive golf shop with one brand across all lines. There is also a huge perceived risk in making the all or nothing’s switch. Here’s and idea on how to test out being exclusive without over committing.

Creating a video with your Merchandise sales reps is a great way to build excitement around your golf shop, and to even pre-sell some merch. Thanks for the show idea Jake! He’s @jbutta on Instagram go check him out.

Never leave it to somebody else to make the right decision.

A great way to find out if you can or can’t do without something is to take it away and see what happens. From golf shop merchandise to extended teaching hours, sometimes cutting things out has less of an impact than you think it will. But sometimes the taking away will actually prove how impactful that thing is.

Make sure to make space for yourself to be exceptional in your career. Even if you current job responsibilities don’t include being exceptional. Make it a part of your job and your life.

I heard a great idea on how to handle credit book so members can’t clean you out at a discount at the end of the year sale.

Published 9-21-19. Recently started posting some VLOG videos. I did it because I needed to confront a little bit of fear about being judged and putting out content for people to see. But it was also a way for me to start thinking creatively again and see the world in a fresh way. I also think being able to produce an edit videos as a golf professional is a great skill to have an a great resource for any golf course to have as well.

How to use basic technology like email and text to offer your members a customized pre-order apparel offering.

Great little life and professional insight I picked up from someone recently.

Creating something new and different often requires pulling from all types of areas of expertise. In this episode I discuss how even creating something new requires us to educate ourselves and continue to educate ourselves through the process.

How to get members to customers to tune in, and keep tuning into your golf shop merchandising podcast or social media content.

In this episode I take some inspiration from one of the great sports films of all time, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. Reminding us that you’re always first if nobody else is in the race.

How creating a Junior Golf Equipment Preorder for the next year can not only grow the game but improve your membership and customer retention.

An idea for a Special order Christmas sale at your club Holiday Party.

Just because you didn’t get the answer that you were expecting or the result that you wanted it doesn’t mean that sharing the failure or the attempt it. In this episode I talk about how sharing what you’re learning right and wrong with your head golf professional can actually help move you along your career.

The difference between impressing people and being truly impressive.

Creating content and sharing your ideas is frigging hard! So don’t set yourself up for failure by pilling more expectation on yourself. Just be good enough with starting and making crappy content and you will be further along then if you never started.

Building up knowledge in any industry is very important. But it’s also important to always question and learn what parts of that knowledge may not be true anymore.

The number one question that I get asked for people is, can they be on my podcast. My answer is no. Not just because I have anxiety about interviewing people (That’s true) but it’s because the whole point of this podcast is inspire people to create their own content. I see too many talented Assistant Golf Professionals wait to be chosen thinking that they just get picked it will be their next big break rather than creating their own opportunities to shine. My hope is that this podcast, and all my content, inspires more people to choose themselves. So no you can’t be on my podcast, but I will be happy to be on yours.

Making the transition from being a lead as an assistant off for Fessional to being a leader as a head golf professional is a difficult transition. In this episode I talk about some ways to look at how you can re-write the rulebook and make that transition easier for yourself and the people you’ll be responsible for.

Many Golf Professionals get in the trap of trying to impress their bosses by wanting to learn and take on jobs of people above them. But it’s ok the work you do to help those around and under you preform better that truly gets you noticed.

There’s a common theme when people get burned out in the service industry. And that’s that they get tired of giving to other people and not taking care of themselves. And we all need time off to take care of ourselves. But is the taking care of other people in the work where those gifts are returned to us making the work more enjoyable.

In this episode I share a little of my hospitality and food service background to help a golf pro, who is aspiring to be General Manager one day,

In this episode I talk about how you can make yourself more irreplaceable and more valuable as a golf professional By doing the things nobody else thinks are important.

Nothing is more stressful than someone saying the handicaps are wrong 5 minutes before a tournament starts. Here are some tips to help avoid the stress of incorrect handicaps .

Words can be created out of thin air as a ways of convincing people what you are capable of. But your actions are the true expression of your intent.

In this episode I discuss how a bartender or food and beverage manager can create a podcast around their beverage offerings.

Having a podcast as Golf Instructor is a good idea. Many have them. But not many use the platform to create a course tour podcast, where you can discuss strategy by hole and certain areas to avoid or ways to get out of tough spots. This will also give you exposure for anyone looking for information on your course or club since you “How You Play Your Best at XYZ Golf Course” will come up in search.

One of the things people always miss in marketing and sales is telling people who something is for. In this episode I share how you can change your message to help your customers buy things from you that they will enjoy.

Starting a daily podcast from your golf shop is a great way to get members involved in what is going on at the club. But getting them to listen every day is another thing. In this episode I share one of my best tricks for getting people to tune in.

We spend a lot of our lives working hard so that we can go on vacation and enjoy our lives. But the whole point is actually enjoying our lives so that our vacations don’t feel that much different.

There are many good things that come with not having social media on my phone. Not being as anxious or distracted having to check things all the time or not being distracted about “what should I post next?” or “should I post this?”. But there is one downside I don’t know that o can live with.

There are two ways to make money on social media, make something people want, or entertain them enough to sell them something.

There are two types of golf lessons that a golf professional can give. One where they act like and Emergency Room Doctor and one where they are trying to be a surgeon. Understanding these two approaches and how to communicate them to your student can help make your lessons more productive.

In this episode I talk about some ideas on how you can start a podcast as an Outside Service person or other position that isn’t a figurehead position like Head Professional.

We often get ourselves caught up in doing things with the hope that we will get some result out of it. It’s the basis for the expression “It’s a means to an end”. The means are the things you have to do to achieve some end. But what happens when you the end doesn’t happen? And what would you want to waste any of your life doing something in the hopes that something will happen? Shouldn’t it be good enough to do great work, or to get to know someone without intending to leverage that relationship for something?

With most platforms you choose to create content on, you are always having to choose between what audiences you are trying to reach and what audiences you will miss out on. Podcasting serves a wide audience because it’s Radio, and old people understand the Radio and young people enjoy podcasts so they will listen as well.

In today’s world we have more technology and things that can break sitting on our office desks than our grandparents had in their entire homes growing up. So we don’t need to be so hard on ourselves when we don’t live up to the standards of being able to fix everything. So let it go, buy a new one (or hire someone to fix it) and get on with your life.

Sometimes we loose sight of why we originally started things and end up doing things we don’t need to to accomplish things we don’t want. I started out trying to make a difference by sharing my experiences with other golf professionals staring out or just trying to figure new opportunities for growth. Along the way I started to get distracted by things that weren’t that and I found myself being pulled in too many directions alway from things that mattered. Whatever you want to accomplish personally or professionally we can all benefit from asking ourselves what is the specific thing we want and what is the way I can get that without adding a lot of baggage along the way.

I always thought that the more I progressed in my career the less I would fail. And while experience does allow us to learn from our past mistakes, it’s a mistake to try to avoid failure. Failure is the price of admission with progress and you shouldn’t let trying to be right 100% of the time stop you from being right 25% of the time. A baseball player who bats .250 with 10,000 hits in their career is seen as much more successful than a player who bats 1.000 with one hit.

Being the Head Professional or GM of a Golf Club means handling a lot of responsibility. But you don’t have to wait to be promoted to take more responsibility. In fact, the more you take on yourself the more you show people you are capable of leading from the top.

Meeting members and understanding what they do for a living but in a way that is intended to find out how happy they are. Learning life lessons from people of all ages and demographics is so valuable. Use that information not as networking but as leaning to make your own path.

The gift of being a. Golf pro. Most professions have a single focus you are tying to get someone to do. Sell pants, buy insurance from you buy this house. But golf allows you to see the person and try to understand that they want and then deliver that. Are they looking for friends, a place to take their kids, or something as simple as do they need a water, or are they trying to impress their clients they are bringing out. Golf Pros develop this quick read ability over time and it’s a skill not many other professions give you.

It’s always good to “listen” to your members and what they are saying but you don’t always have to get involved. Sometimes just collecting the information as a data point to add to the list of unsolicited feedback is enough.

It’s often too late to recover when all the things that could go wrong with a club golf event do go wrong. That’s why the practice of trying to figure out all the things that could go wrong help you prepare for them in advance.

Often I find myself wasting more time worrying or getting mad about something that I either can’t control or is really not that big of a deal. What I have learned over the years is that it’s in the worry or the getting upset that you lose much more than what you lost as a result of the thing you are upset about.

Managing relationships with 100’s of members and customers is hard. And there’s actually research and history that tells us why and at what size tribes and communities start to fracture.

There are two types of advice people give when asked. What they would do in your situations and what they think you should do in your situation. They seem like the same thing but they aren’t. And knowing the difference may be the key to succeeding.

I’ve always struggled with people saying you need a 10 year plan or asking the question “where do you want to be in your career in 10 years”. In a recent episode of Masters of Scale, with Reid Hoffman, he gave his perspective on how to look at the next step in your career that I think can help a lot of people.

It may sound shocking for somebody that touts the benefits of social media so much to delete them off of their phone, but that’s what I did. I also share my thoughts on the podcast and how I struggle with walking the line of wanting to bring people value by being myself but not trying to tell people what to do in their own lives.

Recently I started trying to follow “best practices” around publishing my podcast and saw a negative result. It made me think about all the “best practices” out there that may work for some in come cases but not for others. Each situation is unique and while best practices can inspire unique ideas that work, you should always be cautious of following them blindly.

Balancing a life and being a Golf Professional can be tough. So we shouldn’t make it harder on ourselves and our staff by not allowing them to be honest about what they need. Building a culture that allows people to tend to their personal lives while giving their all at their clubs when needed is good for everyone.

Many people think that growing on social means posting non-stop and waiting for people to come to you. And the truth is that you have to go out and meet people and invest in those relationships....like in real life.

I talk about how social can help you network and get you a job a lot. But can it actually become a requirement until for some Head Pros and GM’s when hiring?

If you’ve ever hosted a night golf tournament before, you know how stressful and dangerous it can be. This alternative of doing a night putting event was featured in the PGA Magazine (idea credit coming soon) and offers a fun and safe alternative.

One of the common themes I get any feedback is that people appreciate me creating this content because their head professional or general manager does not believe in social media. Unfortunately, you have to respect that and in a lot of ways they probably don’t do it for good reason. But there are some ways that you can still gain some experience and build your personal brand and reputation online without conflicting with the clubs goals and your clubs policies.

I was recently cruising Twitter and saw the question as to whether it was the golf professionals responsibility to notify a group making a 7:30 AM Tee Time that they would be behind a group of 24. This is my response.

Recently I was featured guest on the Getting Better Now Podcast hosted by Dean Kandle. I truly enjoyed our conversation with Dean and I hope you will check out the episode. But this also meant a lot more to me to be recognized and sought out as an authority on the subject of how golf golf professionals can use social media to build their careers. In this episode I talk more about that and how grateful I am to you, my community of listeners and supporters that kept me pushing over these last 4 years. Thank you.

At points in my golf career I found myself swimming against an unwinnable tide. In this episode I share how recognizing professional and real life “Rip Tides” can save your life and your career.

I was recently listening to an episode of the podcast Work Life by Adam Grant and they were discussing strengths and weaknesses in your job. They made the interesting distinction between work that you’re good at and work the energizes you and that you enjoy. I think a lot of us have heard that you should do what you’re good at but if you don’t enjoy it is that really the goal?

Setting up a referral program for lessons, Regripping or other professional services can be tricky. Making sure you are incentivizing the right people with the right message, and making sure your intent aligns with the facilities overall goals is key.

Starting or taking over the re-gripping business at your facility not only provides a great service to your members but also can add a significant amount of money into your pocket. In this episode I discuss how I started my business at my club and how are you can do the same with a very small or no investment.

I’m not sure how to put into words what watching Tiger win the 2019 Masters in person was like, but I’ll try.

Often in the pursuit of growth as professionals we can overwork an idea and find ourselves not knowing what to do next. It’s times like these that taking a step back and allowing the knowledge you have been acquiring time to process. Taking a break and finding other creative outlets often creates the space needed for all they knowledge to take shape around your every day word and results in the biggest breakthroughs.

Being an “expert” has a weird connotation to me. It’s often self applied and it also conjures up visions old stodgy Golf Professionals or other processionals hell bent on defending their turf of long held (and often successful) beliefs and knowledge. By saying to myself that I never want to be an expert, I’m challenging myself everyday to wake up feeling like I know nothing about what I’m about to confront that day and looking at each day as a fresh challenge, not matter how repetitive or how many times if done it correctly in the past.

I once heard someone say that in order to help their assistant golf professional grow, they told them that they had three years as an assistant to find their next move up. In this episode I talk about why I once thought that this was a good idea and implemented it myself. And how I now realize it was selfish and not in my assistants best interest.

Getting things done in the hectic day of a Golf Professional is tough. And while setting time in your calendars to lock yourself in your office and get work done seems productive, it is often still full of distraction. Carve out a couple hours of your day 3-5 times a week to leave the club and work in a coffee shop or library or anywhere where you are just out of reach of the minor issues you can help but solve right away.

In this episode I share the story of how telling a potential member that the club is not a fit for them actually helped them realize that it was.

In this episode I talked about how to show the positive results of engaging with members on social media to bosses, or potential bosses, that may not understand the platforms themselves.

In this episode I discussed the misconception that bouncing between jobs as a golf professional in the golf business is a bad thing.

I often get asked the question of how do you turn your Instagram into cash. This question came up again during a recent talk I gave at Campbell university to the Professional Golf Management class, and the answer I gave in the moment I think was someone evasive. So I wanted to follow up on the many ways that having a professional Instagram profile can lead to monetary gain. It may not be in the sense that you just buy followers and trick people into advertising with you (I’m sure that has worked for many), but in a real way.

In this episode I talk about how operating individual experiences for different members of the family at your golf club can provide an opportunity for more engagement from the entire family. Many

Very excited (and a little nervous) to have the opportunity to speak to PGM Students at Campbell University this March. Based on some feedback I have already gotten the top will be a lot around networking using social media and the tools that are available to this generation, that were not available to previous generations. But I’d also like to know what pieces of content that I put out that her resonated with you so that I might be able to include some of that or some of those themes in my talk as well. Email is Jay@pgajay.com or dm me on Insta or Snap @PGAjay.

This last weekend I ran a 1/2 Marathon in under 2 hours. I realized that Life a lot like running a marathon. If you start out too fast or get distracted by other people passing you at first you can burn out pretty quickly. If you stay focused on you pace you end up passing a lot of people at the end. After all it is not how you start it’s how you finish.

Most of the time golf clubs compete to be the best golf club. But with today’s on demand choices, don’t you think people want a customized experience. Figuring out a way to be the best golf club for just enough people is a great way to separate you from the completion.

In this episode Rob Pilewski asks me a question that has been my Kryptonite for a long time. What’s the best piece of advice I have ever received and what do I wish I knew when I was 20. I do my best to answer and not go down to many rabbit holes along the way. You can follow Rob at @robpilewski on Instagram. Thanks for the question Rob!

Over my golf and business career I have always heard people speak about rude members and customers as if it was my fault if I didn’t “get them” or “know how to take them”. I don’t agree with that. If someone is a jerk, why do I have to adjust my mindset to accommodate, and worse encourage, that type of behavior. Many companies are seeing the positive benefits of focusing on a positive culture and I think Private Golf Clubs and Golf Professionals could benefit from this as well.

Nothing is worse (this is not actually true, there’s so much worse) than getting stuck in traffic. But what if your career or your professional growth gets stuck in traffic. Learning how to see the affect that other people (cars) on the road are having in your career is a great way to our things in perspective.

People often get hung up in the idea of starting a podcast and all the work that goes into it. But with this format and modern technology it will literally take you minutes to start, and minutes a day to create and distribute a daily podcast about the goings-on at your facility.

If you’re ever struggling with the task feeling like it’s really hard work for you to do, take a step back and think about if it’s actually a good idea. Often times we get so focused on completing a task that we will grind through something that is actually not a good idea in the first place. When something feels super hard to accomplish take a step back and just ask yourself, is this hard because it’s not a good idea?

In this episode I talk about what I wish I had done better at the show this year. How much fun it was to see everybody. And what I think the future landscape of the game looks like.

Most people that you see that are successful have an appearance that they were overnight successes. It’s not their fault it’s just that nobody was paying attention while they were putting in the work to get to where they are. If you want to be successful like someone else, take the pressure off of yourself by asking where they were at your age, and what they were doing. This way you can get a sense of where you are in that path and trajectory versus where they were then.

I’ll be at the show and available to meet up in the PGM area between 11 and 12 Wednesday if you can make it I’d love to see you. I also share some of my tips on scheduling for the show to get the most out of it.

In this episode I talked about how I make a living and how having a job can actually free you up to do things your way and lead to more happiness and enjoyment.

I’ve been asked this question before and don’t think I’ve always had a good answer to what a newly elected PGA member should be focusing on. The first part of that answer is going to Augusta national to watch the Masters. The second part of that answer is a lot less enjoyable but a fast track to more responsibility and success.

A big thank you to all of you for getting the show to 100 episodes. In this episode I recognize long time supporter Nikko Grau @nikkosuave54 for being awarded Assistant Professional of the Year by his PGA Chapter. And it all about how bad your content has to be in order to get to a place where it’s good, and how that ties in with life.

I don’t often get preachy, but the recent overload of people thing other people how to be better people by changing who they are warranted it. Not only do I think we are all entitled to be the best versions of ourselves, but that the only way to get there is to be our full selves. Someone once told me a version of this and it helped me immensely. So I hope it helps you as well.

098 - Ambition can be a powerful thing in your career and in life. It can drive you to achieve great things. But It can be also be the very thing that threatens your success and happiness.

Social media provides an incredible insight into peoples lives. Understanding who your potential Golf Member is before you meet them for a golf course to her or membership tour can be a valuable exercise for you both. Focusing on what’s important to the member or potential member is always the most important thing. And if you’re just starting out in the business what we talk about in this episode can be a great gateway into membership sales and understanding more about the process.

I like to call it the hardest easy golf tournament you will ever play in your career. The PAT in an obstacle that we all face as PGA Golf Professionals and overcoming it can be a challenge. In this episode I give my tips on how to give yourself the best hands at passing.

In this episode I share an article from the PGA Magazine about two Golf Pros killing it for their club in Facebook Live. Ryan Mulvey and Colby Pitts are General Manager and Head Golf Professional respectfully at Bay Point Club in Panama City Beach, Florida. They host a weekly Facebook Live show that is making a serious impact on business.

Setting a plan for when you do certain things in your golf operation is nothing new. But do you communicate this roadmap with your managers and other team leaders in the Club? The chaos of the golf business is one of the hardest environments to stay on track and focused and communicating you plans can help others approach you about ideas at the appropriate time.

In this episode I discuss my experience with golf cart cart covers and how you can avoid a winter in cart cover hell.

In this episode I discussed “job crafting” and how making little changes to what you do every day in your job as a golf professional can lead to being happy and successful in whatever direction that sends you.

In this episode, I share how selling stale items in your golf shop on eBay is not just great for your golf shop but a great opportunity to get more involved in the retail operation.

In this episode I share my thoughts and the thoughts of others on hard work and discipline. Most of the time ambition and hard work and discipline our great ways to achieve goals. But occasionally those very things can be the pitfalls to cause you to delay or lose sight of achieving your goals.

090 -In your golf professional career you will inevitably come across gate keepers. Gatekeepers like to keep things the way they are, and often spend most of their time focusing on how to protect their own status and position at the expense of the personal growth of those who work for them. Luckily my exposure to this in my golf career has been limited but for many it can be more pervasive. In this episode I share my personal experiences with Gate Keepers and how you can still progress forward in your career despite their oppressive nature.

I’ve seen a lot of things miss categorized as innovative business practices over the years in golf business. In this episode and breakdown the difference between innovative ideas and insanity so that you can be better at recognizing ideas that have the potential to be innovative and successful and the ideas that are just flat out insane.

Being a golf business professional can be super tough. And it’s not something that everybody is cut out to do forever. There are a lot of great opportunities out there. But there are even more bad opportunities out there, that ultimately cause professionals to leave the industry altogether. In this episode I talk about why even in the midst of a daunting future being a golf professional will still allow you to succeed and excel in your career.

I recently got to ask Joseph Mayo a question on how we as golf professionals come together in a more cohesive way of teaching. I discussed his answer and what I think it means for the future of teaching and golf in this podcast. Thanks for the time Joe and all you do for your fellow Instructors.

There is a lot of pressure these days for people to be an expert on something the moment they start doing it. That’s unfair, as it takes time (like..... a lifetime) to make mistakes, as a golf professional and a person, and learn from them so you don’t make the same mistakes again.

With all the talk around promoting ourselves and building our personal brand we sometimes lose focus on the actual work. The work in the results that you do you will speak for you when you’re not in the room. Don’t trust anybody to sell you like you sell yourself, so do the work and give people something to talk about that matters.

084 - Years ago my general manager shared a possible idea to create a Co-Head professional role at our facility. As the head golf professional I felt a little bit threatened at first but the more I thought of it I realized how great of an idea this actually could be. We’re all always looking for ways to strike a balance in the life of a Golf Professional, and having a partner to count on is certainly a positive idea.

I got a great call and follow up on episode 82 that I wanted to share with everybody. And episode 82 we talked about creating internship orientation videos, and this call-in could just be the key to really making them work.

One of the biggest challenges of PGA PGM internships is that they can be relatively short. And a good portion of the time is spent getting everybody up to speed on procedures and such. One PGA golf professional has found a way to speed up the orientation process by providing an intern orientation packet prior to interns arrival. This was an article featured in the PGA magazine that I take a step further in sharing how to make it come alive through interactive content. Starting the interaction using existing platforms will give managers a chance to get to know the new staff and give the interns a chance to get comfortable with the facility and procedures prior to arriving on site.

In this episode I talk about how Instagram can be repurposed to be a great communication tool for golf managers and their staff. I have alsways struggled in thebgolf business to keep my staff on the same page. I have tried some communication platforms but nobody ever stayed up to date on them. Since everyone spends hours a day on instagram. Why not speak to your staff where they will hear you.

Recently read a great article in the PGA Magazine on the benefits of giving free breakfast and range balls to kids This on its own is a fantastic idea that I think a lot of courses should implement. The article also got me thinking of how you can apply the same concept to adults at your facility as well.

You guys all know I’m a big fan of the Internet and all of the social media platforms that allow us to connect. But there’s one thing I tend to do on Facebook that always makes me mad and it being a big waste of time. Hopefully by sharing that with you guys you can avoid wasting time as well.

The golf business is tough! But one way to make it tougher on yourself is to not listen to feedback from your members, your employees and others. Listening to others can give you the necessary context to avoid making costly decisions in your career. You just need to make sure that you're listening to the right people.

In this episode of the PGAjay Golf Business Podcast, we talk about alternate fun forms of transportation on the golf course. The new wave of personal transportation options on the golf course is not just for fun, it's also for big business.

I saw special opportunity for an assistant position open up with a friend of mine at the grove hotel in London and wanted to share it with all of you. Details follow - *Senior Assistant PGA Professional Vacancy* Hosts of the 2006 WGC AMEX Championships & 2016 European Tour British Masters, The Grove have an exciting opportunity for a PGA Qualified Senior Assistant to join the team. The successful candidate will work alongside me to manage all aspects of the daily retail operation in addition to delivering tuition programmes and assisting with the supervision of the overall golf guest journey.  A track record of delivering five-star customer service is required and previous experience at a leading 5 star resort is preferred, but not essential. Please apply with a CV and covering letter to: mike.shrieve@thegrove.co.uk Applications close 31st August 2018.

There are lots of ways to run you operation as a golf professional. In this episode we talk about you can develope your style by watching those above and around you in the golf business.

074 - we take a look at a new company offering high-end club fittings in partnership with PGA professionals. We discussed whether this is a threat or an opportunity for PGA professionals and want to consider when looking at club fitting at your facility.

Content is only as good as the content that you can create. Figure out how much you can do on a regular basis and do that. Setting lofty goals around content creation that require a lot of additional work are often the downfall of a continued strategy.

By understanding what we are trying to achieve helps us ask better questions that lead to more usefull advice and not opinions based in theory.

I have been hearing this reminder, not to get distracted by the path others are on, from a lot of people I trust and wanted to pass it on.

It’s always difficult to describe what golf professionals do at their clubs every day. The responsibilities are many but when it comes down to it you’re essentially parenting a large group of adults and children. With that comes the joys and sorrows, frustrations and victories or life. The sooner you and Brace that the more successful and for filled you will be.

It’s not about how quickly you gain your PGA Membership, it’s about achieving it while putting your career first. That way you are likely to stay at it longer and make a larger impact in the game.

Getting stuck behind the counter in the golf shop can make it seem like you are stuck in your job. But getting stuck behind the counter can be just the thing you need to create opportunity. This is part one of what I’m sure will be a multiple part series on things you can to do to further your career when stuck behind the golf shop counter.

In this episode I share the details of how set a record for golf shoe sales by creating a sample sale and how you can too.

Making a decision to move to a new position in the golf busieness may not be a life and death decision. But would it help you make the right decision to think of it that way? I’ve been listening and reading a lot about what astronauts go through to build trust and handle situations under the most intense conditions possible with the most dire consequences. Can envisioning yourself in this elevated intensity help you gain perspective on the potential dangers of your new role and team? We explore that possibility in this weeks episode.

How to sell more merhandise than ever at your season kickoff golf tournament. Make golf a true family outing by building a Golf Park.

It’s about time to get serious about involving this awesome community in the PGAjay Show. I’ve switched my focus from promoting the show on social and spending my time reaching out to people to let them know about it, to focusing more on those who have been listening. I know I always say I available to help if I can but now it’s time I show you guys I mean it. I also share what I’m doing on some social media platforms to engage with all of you more and how that relates to how you can use them to engage members at your facilities.

Setting goals in your career and life can be hard because you never know what opportunities are going to come up in life. Sometimes having a goal of taking advantage of opportunities that present themselves in you career can be as productive a goal as setting and arbitrary time at which you want to achieve a certain thing.

In this episode we talk about how to identify members who may be at risk of leaving your club or course. We cover using intuition, data and facility staff to find members who may be at risk. Fixing problems is a day in and day out battle for any golf pro but attacking first puts the odds in your favor.

What the future holds for incoming Golf professionals, tipping for golf lessons, some people to listen to and some merchandising strategy talk.

Getting the most out of your summer golf internship or the interns you hire can be hard. I share some thoughts on how to get the most out of the experience by; understanding mindset, impacting people, making a measurable difference and trying everything you can.

The PGA of America announced new career tracks and other changes to the PGA PGM program.

We discuss the effects of a positve member/customer culture on your facility and some things you can do to build it regardless of your possition.

I share my tips and experience with camping out near Augusta for the Masters and why it’s my preferred way to enjoy this special event and other tips on enjoying the event.

Last week I had a great conversation with a young Assistant Golf Professional who was interested to know what he could do to achieve his goal of becoming a Director of Instruction. Our call was shorter than this podcast but I knew there was more too my thoughts and wanted to be sure to share them with all of you. This episode is the best job I have done so far in explaining the opportunities before us as golf professionals to be the true drivers of revenue and membership experience. We aren’t talking about clinics and leagues (ok there’s a little of that) but interacting within our members in a meaningful way to keep them connected to and using some technology and some old school tactics to do it.

053 - How I use Anchor to podcast from my phone and just how easy it is for you to start a podcast for your golf course, squeezing the most out of your internships and jobs for you and not anyone else.

I share an easy membership retention strategy I created to achieve record results, and how dominating membership retention leads to new opportunities to achieve what you want as a golf professional. I also share the personal story of when this whole PGAjay thing started and how one reply to a post on Facebook sealed my destiny.

057 - Why you shouldn\u2019t wait to start creating and building your personal brand, recent success story from someone who started creating on there own and now has a job doing it, what scares me and how having a personal brand gives you all the leverage at your facility and in your position.

Special Airport Edition - PGA Show Meetup and My PGA Show Strategy and How You Can Get the Most out of the Show

055 - Highlights from my daily podcast on the golf business and how golf pros can use social media more effectively to achieve their personal and professional goals. This episode discusses ways golf courses can adapt to changes in customer behavior to increase their activity at their facility as well as introduction more potential golfers to the game.

054 - This short though on how rethinking the way you set goals was pulled from the daily podcast. I thought it was important for Golf Professionals to hear so I made it a stand-alone episode. I hope it helps some of you think of your goal setting differently to allow you to constantly achieve growth while being adaptable to changes in your ambition and the landscape you operate in.

052 - 2018 starts off with pure fire! A great question on how to gain experience as a golf merchandiser inspires the first episode of 2018. Also, how to survive as a retailer in 2018.

052 - A late night conversation about how thankful I am for all of you, how much I feel like we accomplished in 2017 and what\u2019s ahead for 2018.

051 \u2022 Running towards problems to find responsibility an earn respect \u2022 Instagrams New Stories Highlights and why it\u2019s more than just a killer new feature for Golf Pros \u2022 Where I\u2019m spending my time on social and what\u2019s working.

050 - My Thanksgiving Recap \u2022 Why older golf pros are more equipped to crush social media than youngsters \u2022 how to improve your communication skills using social.

049 - Why Thanksgiving week is so important to how you stay in touch with your members this winter on Social \u2022 I try my best to share how thankful I am for all of you.

47- I give out my cell number \u2022 understanding Section 3-5 (adjusting handicaps for tees played) so your members don\u2019t adjust your face \u2022 Jones Cup Envy \u2022 Helping more in messaging.

047- Rediscovering your direction and passion in the golf business through understanding yourself first\u2022 Fundraising to pay for your pga Levels \u2022 Always listening is the best way to get feedback.

046 - I try to refocus on sharing experiences of Golf Pros in the business for others to learn from, evening demo days, ultimate family nine hole setup and how I lost 100 followers in one day.

045 - I ask a big favor from you the podcast listener, I review the career services article in the PGA magazine and I'm not going anywhere.

044 - First, find out what you want to accomplish, then figure out how to leverage social media to accomplish it and why the most "old school" Pros should be the best at using social media.

043 - VLOGing for PGM students and what I recommend to build a worldwide network of job opportunities from your phone and how I add text and graphics to my videos.

042 - Why trying everything you think you don't want to do as a golf professional is the best way to learn what you do want to do and I talk about interactive video creating a custom experiences.

041 - I talk about how impressed I am with the USA President's Cup, why strong teams win and a great book on team building, and eliminating dysfunctional team members.

040 - I'm pumped to go to the President's Cup and how generating revenue at our facility gives you the ultimate latitude to run things your way.

039 - Exciting President's Cup news, I reminisce how two years ago I decided I wanted to make videos and now it's part of my job and resources for how you can start as well.

038 - Why now is the best time to network in the golf business, the future of personal branding, what I do for a living and why trying to help Golf Pros is so important to me.

037- How to create your dream golf internship or job, why working hard gives you more control over your career and how to find and get to know key individuals at your dream facilities.

036 - How Professional Golf Management (PGM) students can grow a social media following and personal brand online while maintaining their privacy and I talk about my YouTube days.

035- How to prove that playing golf, teaching and taking good care of members has a positive impact on the bottom line and my social update following a busy couple weeks.

034 - I experience the PGA's new direction in supporting PGA Pros in growing their business and proving their value, how to play in a major and the excitement of your first tournament.

033 - I share my opinion on growth bots on Instagram, apologize for unfollowing people who do, take a call in on the subject and thank the heck out of you for listening to this show.

031 - Every day more golf clubs are looking for golf professionals who understand the digital and social media landscape, the more you know the more valuable you are in the years to come.

031- I talk about being open to change as you listen and react to what's happening around you and your business.

030 - What I messed up in yesterday's episode, how to save the rainy day for Junior Camps, buying closeout merchandise, loyalty buying clubs and why so few pros are on social.

029 - I share the secret to doubling or tripling your Assistant Professional staff with no additional expense, a book that changed how I see golf, inspiration from and old dude & I screw up the intro.

028- What I Love about what I saw during Justin Thomas's Win at the PGA Championship, learning from the best in other fields and surrounding yourself with people who inspire you to be your best.

027 - Tips on how to avoid social media marketing scams online, watching Majors as motivation to make it to the next level of your professional and I look forward to a special meeting this weekend.

026 - Instagram strategies to actually build business and brand, how golf courses should set up their Instagram accounts, and I get ready to place my first ads in Instagram stories.

025 - Losing your touch on Instagram, building a brand online is hard work, the PGA magazine arrives and you become my therapist.

023 - Why Leaders Eat Last, I go a little nuts about an update to the anchor app that turns audio into video, you get a tip from a call in and a glorious day 2 of shorts at the PGA Championship.

023 - We discuss if you should be selling clubs at your facility, moving the game forward in shorts, and one of my favorite people you should go follow on Facebook.

022 - Sell more merchandise by empowering your golf staff, why weekends are your best marketing opportunity, developing a merchandise close out plan and how to send a private message on Instagram.

021 - We talk about how acting like a kid can increase member activity at the club, I get back on the horse, and some tips on how t get noticed on Anchor.fm.

020 - How me staying relevant is meant to help you do the same, $200 fall off a skateboard, using smaller hashtags on Instagram for faster growth and Facebook ad update.

019 - I adjust my social media content creation strategy to be more relevant to to the Golf Pro lifestyle, I forget what I am talking about and why YouTube is getting crowded.

018 - A Golf Pros start on Instagram, shout out to an award winning junior golf coach to follow on Instagram, Golf Genius Tourney Management update and congratulating a champion for more than a win.

016 - Getting 100 listens to the podcast in one day has me inspired and sharing how you can create your own opportunity to do what your passionate about at your facility without risking it all.

015 - I suggest Golf Pros new to social media should start on Instagram and why, building a family of support and encouragement around the hashtag #pgajayfam and the PGA Jr. League fall series.

015 - One of the greatest hacks for adding 3 member events to your calendar in one shot, why running your business means more Golf for you and why I am so thankful for all of this.

014 - A plea to stop debating Technology vs. Tradition in golf instruction, advice from Brian Lackey on how to grow your teaching business and why I stopped using the best ad product in Facebook ad...

013 - Story Time form PGA Magazine, How much GolfTEC loves PGA Pros, "Four Balls, Five Strokes, One Bogey" a comedy brought to you by the rules of golf and can I help you get to Augusta next year?

012 - A free 8 hour Vlogging class tomorrow by the VLOG Boss Herself Amy Schmittauer on Creativelive.com and what I am doing on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Anchor this week.

011 - We get great news from a couple Assistant Pros and one Instagram account we could all learn from.

010 - I visit Sloss Tech Conference in Birmingham AL and get some incredible validation and share with you my thoughts on why I am trying to reach people with this podcast.

009- I talk about why I am at a Tech and Creative Festival. I feature a great article on continuing to learn in the golf business and the fasted way to move up in the golf business.

008 - Prepping Junior Golfers (and parents) for their first "loss", New USGA Tournament Management Program is FIRE, and what my current status is on each social platform and where I am focused.

007 - We take about embracing changes in technology to maximize your benefit and I share the number one thing I would do as a golf Professional on the first day at any new facility.

006 - We go "Old School" with a Digital (Social) Media free episode of the Golf Business Show for PGA Pros. Setting Membership Retention records and setting event participation records the fun way.

005- How my first promotion of the Podcast is going using Facebook Ads and what changes I will be making to make it more effective and I get some good advice from a seasoned Anchor user.

004 - How to find out what platforms your members spend their time. Staring the #PLOG phenomenon with daily Podcasting and my thoughts in my first week of Podcasting and using Anchor.

003 - We take a call in from an Assistant Professional in Tucson, AZ on how to get into he Business side of Merchandising and we put actual numbers to the value of video thanks to one smart Head Pro

102 - Follows me through the day as I discuss sharing content to Facebook Groups, Facebook targeted ads, my first podcast going live, networking on Instagram and buttoning my clothes.

Why Podcasting is important for Golf Professionals to grow their business, personal brand and improve relationships with members and customers