There is barely a golfer in the world that wouldn't trade in their day job to get paid to be on the course all day long. However, most do not realize that obtaining a golf career is actually not as difficult as they might originally believe it to be. You don't have to be a professional on the PGA circuit to enjoy all of the freedoms and fun of a career in your favorite sport.
There is a wide array of opportunities right from the beginning golfer all the way up to the professionals. Ideally, most would want to have a career simply playing golf. Although this is entirely possibly, it is advisable to discover if the idea is plausible before going ahead full steam. Perhaps you could start by playing in a few tournaments with cash prizes. If things go well and you end up with some money in your pocket, perhaps a career as a professional golfer isn't all that impossible. However, most golfers don't quite have the stuff to be able to compete for money. Thankfully, there are a lot of other golf careers that will keep you involved in the game even when you're not even on the course.
One thing to consider is to become a golf pro. If your friends are always remarking that you have the perfect swing or how your drives always reach a far distance and are always straight away, then a golf career as a golf professional may be the perfect choice for you. This is also a very flexible job because you decide how many hours you work per week. You could either do a few lessons a week just for supplementary income at the start and once your client base gets big enough, you could start doing it full time. The best advertising is word of mouth, so if your clients are happy with your service they will undoubtedly inform their friends and family as well.
There is also a wide variety of careers that involve the retail aspect of golf. You could start your own golf specialty store, which would keep you surrounded in golf gear every day and talking about golf to your hearts content. There is a booming industry presently with imprinted golf balls, which is a business that you can run directly from your own home. Many people are searching for golf balls with team logos, pictures of family or slogans emblazoned on them. The technology is a bit expensive at the beginning but all you would need to sell your items is a website. There is such a wide variety of golf careers that if you decide you want to work with golf full time, you shouldn't have a problem finding a suitable career.
A golf career doing maintenance on your favorite course will keep you on the grounds all day. Most people that work directly for the golf course either get to play for free, or at a discounted rate. If you have a love for golf, there is sure to be a golf career out there that fits perfectly with your talents. Whether as a golf pro, a retailer, a groundskeeper or even a professional golfer, the options are basically unlimited. So don't be intimidated by those who say you could never have a full time career in golf. Prove them wrong by landing the job of your dreams.
About The Author
Andy West is a freelance writer and communications specialist for SDGA. San Diego Golf Academy is a premier golf school with five locations across the United States. For more information on starting your golf career, please visit http://www.sdgagolf.com.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Internet Marketing and the Golfer Mentality
As a qualified PGA golf professional who taught golf for 15 years before injury and moved into Internet Marketing as a career, I was amazed to see the striking similarities between the approaches of people to two significantly different activities. I now focus on teaching IM and apply very similar principles to my Internet Marketing clients as I used to my golf students.
The hunger of people for quick fix solutions has always been something that has intrigued me. I look at society and see successful people and admire the work that has gone into them achieving their goals, no matter what field they are in. The top Doctor's and Lawyers of any age have spent years learning their trade. Sportsmen such as Tiger Woods work at incredibly high level on their sport to stay at the top. Celebrities such as Gordon Ramsay, achieve their status through incredible application and work ethics.
It is clear that a high percentage of society look at these people and want similar lifestyles but without an idea of the work involved to see the finished product that we see in our operating theatres, sports arenas, courtrooms and tv screens. The two fields I work in are no different.
Both golf and Internet Marketing allow for the quick fix mindset to take over and ruin our hopes of improvement. both industries are susceptible to sensationalist headlines, designed to draw in consumers.
In Golf, magazines will boast headlines such as "Break 80 in 7 days" or "Hit it 40 yards longer with Tigers method" Equipment manufacturers will boast that their ball, clubs even golf shoes will have you hitting the ball longer and straighter than ever before.
In Internet Marketing similar headlines would be "Earn $20,000 a month in just two hours a day at your PC" or "Warning: You're about to discover the affiliate secrets that the gurus have been keeping from you. The methods the real super affiliates use to make $500 per day, finally revealed by the one guy they trusted to keep quiet" as one particular ebook sales page boasted. The writers of the copy know exactly what buttons to press and which mindset they are tapping into.
The "desperation" mindset, "the easy life" mindset and the "all I have to do is buy the product/magazine/ebook and I am set for life" mindset.
As anyone following this route will know it generally ends in disappointment, and then giving up.
How do I know?
When my career in golf was ended with a back injury, I slipped into the desperation mindset, all of a sudden I was panicing where the money would come from. I found the wonderful tool of the internet, and the sensational headlines of instant riches had me reaching for my credit card. $2000 later I had about 50 ebooks, I had read about 10 and had not made a dime.
Every day I had a new Internet Marketing thought that was going to make me rich, then the next ebook arrived and I was away on something new.
Then as I opened a credit card bill, which had 15 internet marketing products on it, the thought dawned on me that I was no different as a newcomer to Internet Marketing and trying to make money online, than the golf students I had taught for years.
Day after day I would stand on the range and listen to golfers tales of woe. They had watched every DVD, read every magazine, listened to the guys on the TV, spent $3000 on the latest equipment, BUT STILL COULD NOT break 100.
I used to spend my first 40 minute session with such customers, not hitting a golf ball, but by clarifying the thought process that led them to believe that a magazine article could instantly improve them, or a new driver would go 50 yards further than the one they used last week. I used to explain that all good golfers had one thing in common, good sound fundamentals, aim, grip , posture etc. A GOOD SET UP, which enabled them to then swing the club correctly, thus executing the intended shot.
I needed to apply the same techniques to my Internet Marketing business. Of course there is no book that will instantly make me rich, I was chasing around like the golfer, who has a new swing thought every day, I had a new IM idea every day.
In golf it is proven that a step by step plan through the set up will lead to a LONG LASTING more consistent technique. I would put my students on a minimum six week course, in which I banned them from reading, books, magazines and watching DVD's. I would give them one element of the SET UP such as AIM and that was there weeks practice. Once they had mastered that element ONLY then would we move onto the next project. What happened? I built a "stable" of successful clients and had a record of players who consistently improved and practiced better.
The process I went through in IM was exactly the same. First I had to visualise my "shot". What was it that I was trying to build, for the LONG TERM. Once that was identified which skills did I need to execute it. There are numerous aspects to the SET UP of a successful Internet Marketing business, from building websites, copy writing, SEO, advertising, product selection, the list is extensive. Each skill needs to be learned, and then applied, learn 5 or 6 skills you have a SET UP. Just like golf you have it for life!
There is a $10,000 dollar a month income to be made, but it will not fall in your lap. To succeed takes work. If you have the golfer mentality in you, try and recognise it, not only will your game improve your life will to.
Next time - Step by Step through the IM set up.
About The Author
Iain Higgins, is an active member of the Professional Golfers Association who still teaches golf today. His golf coaching was limited by injury so he then applied his techniques of golf coaching to IM. Having made $500,000 in two years he turned to training others in Internet Marketing. In 2005 he took 12 students through his Immentor programme and 10 now earn 5 figure monthly incomes.
His passion for coaching and will for his students to succeed is second to none
http://www.immentor.co.uk
The hunger of people for quick fix solutions has always been something that has intrigued me. I look at society and see successful people and admire the work that has gone into them achieving their goals, no matter what field they are in. The top Doctor's and Lawyers of any age have spent years learning their trade. Sportsmen such as Tiger Woods work at incredibly high level on their sport to stay at the top. Celebrities such as Gordon Ramsay, achieve their status through incredible application and work ethics.
It is clear that a high percentage of society look at these people and want similar lifestyles but without an idea of the work involved to see the finished product that we see in our operating theatres, sports arenas, courtrooms and tv screens. The two fields I work in are no different.
Both golf and Internet Marketing allow for the quick fix mindset to take over and ruin our hopes of improvement. both industries are susceptible to sensationalist headlines, designed to draw in consumers.
In Golf, magazines will boast headlines such as "Break 80 in 7 days" or "Hit it 40 yards longer with Tigers method" Equipment manufacturers will boast that their ball, clubs even golf shoes will have you hitting the ball longer and straighter than ever before.
In Internet Marketing similar headlines would be "Earn $20,000 a month in just two hours a day at your PC" or "Warning: You're about to discover the affiliate secrets that the gurus have been keeping from you. The methods the real super affiliates use to make $500 per day, finally revealed by the one guy they trusted to keep quiet" as one particular ebook sales page boasted. The writers of the copy know exactly what buttons to press and which mindset they are tapping into.
The "desperation" mindset, "the easy life" mindset and the "all I have to do is buy the product/magazine/ebook and I am set for life" mindset.
As anyone following this route will know it generally ends in disappointment, and then giving up.
How do I know?
When my career in golf was ended with a back injury, I slipped into the desperation mindset, all of a sudden I was panicing where the money would come from. I found the wonderful tool of the internet, and the sensational headlines of instant riches had me reaching for my credit card. $2000 later I had about 50 ebooks, I had read about 10 and had not made a dime.
Every day I had a new Internet Marketing thought that was going to make me rich, then the next ebook arrived and I was away on something new.
Then as I opened a credit card bill, which had 15 internet marketing products on it, the thought dawned on me that I was no different as a newcomer to Internet Marketing and trying to make money online, than the golf students I had taught for years.
Day after day I would stand on the range and listen to golfers tales of woe. They had watched every DVD, read every magazine, listened to the guys on the TV, spent $3000 on the latest equipment, BUT STILL COULD NOT break 100.
I used to spend my first 40 minute session with such customers, not hitting a golf ball, but by clarifying the thought process that led them to believe that a magazine article could instantly improve them, or a new driver would go 50 yards further than the one they used last week. I used to explain that all good golfers had one thing in common, good sound fundamentals, aim, grip , posture etc. A GOOD SET UP, which enabled them to then swing the club correctly, thus executing the intended shot.
I needed to apply the same techniques to my Internet Marketing business. Of course there is no book that will instantly make me rich, I was chasing around like the golfer, who has a new swing thought every day, I had a new IM idea every day.
In golf it is proven that a step by step plan through the set up will lead to a LONG LASTING more consistent technique. I would put my students on a minimum six week course, in which I banned them from reading, books, magazines and watching DVD's. I would give them one element of the SET UP such as AIM and that was there weeks practice. Once they had mastered that element ONLY then would we move onto the next project. What happened? I built a "stable" of successful clients and had a record of players who consistently improved and practiced better.
The process I went through in IM was exactly the same. First I had to visualise my "shot". What was it that I was trying to build, for the LONG TERM. Once that was identified which skills did I need to execute it. There are numerous aspects to the SET UP of a successful Internet Marketing business, from building websites, copy writing, SEO, advertising, product selection, the list is extensive. Each skill needs to be learned, and then applied, learn 5 or 6 skills you have a SET UP. Just like golf you have it for life!
There is a $10,000 dollar a month income to be made, but it will not fall in your lap. To succeed takes work. If you have the golfer mentality in you, try and recognise it, not only will your game improve your life will to.
Next time - Step by Step through the IM set up.
About The Author
Iain Higgins, is an active member of the Professional Golfers Association who still teaches golf today. His golf coaching was limited by injury so he then applied his techniques of golf coaching to IM. Having made $500,000 in two years he turned to training others in Internet Marketing. In 2005 he took 12 students through his Immentor programme and 10 now earn 5 figure monthly incomes.
His passion for coaching and will for his students to succeed is second to none
http://www.immentor.co.uk
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)