There we were in November, 1998: We were left with no new dancers at all that year. Our recruiting results in the previous several years hadn't been spectacular, either. It was the perfect time to take stock and explore options. Attributing our failure to bad luck, a fluke, or "the times in general" wasn't an option: We were looking for solutions, not excuses. So we began by committing to working both harder and smarter....What-ever it would take to have new dancers in the future, we would find and we would do!
It doesn't matter how or in what order things evolved. What does matter is the entire package we use today. We will describe briefly what it is we do and how we do it. Everything that follows has contributed, in at least some degree, to the results we described last month.
Word-of-Mouth - Many will claim this is the most effective recruiting tool of all. We will agree that it can be useful sometimes, particularly if a club has new or fairly new dancers. Those of us who have danced for a decade or more have exhausted our prospects, and so badgered our friends and acquaintances that they now run across the street when they see us coming. But if newer dancers can communicate to others the joy and excitement they've found in their new hobby, they're working on a whole new audience.
To encourage its members to recruit by word-of-mouth, Do-Pas-O offers an incentive/reward program. When members bring in new dancers, and those new dancers complete the mainstream program and join the Club the following September, the recruiting members have their dues waived for a year. What is the cost to the Club? It's one year's dues in exchange for (hopefully) many years of participation and dues by new blood.
Word(s) of advice: Remember when you had new folks all lined up and committed for the first night, only to have their dog eat the car keys just as they were ready to come? Outwit the dog: Pick them up and bring them with you!
Fliers / Posters - Do-Pas-O relies very heavily on fliers and posters to tell our story. Fliers supplement our word-of-mouth. We pass out fliers at our demonstrations. We mail fliers to anyone we can think of that has danced previously or showed any interest or curiosity, past or present (we keep names and addresses).
The posters (usually eye-catching and multicolored ink and heavy stock) are put up in any public places (stores, restaurants, beauty salons, laundromats, etc.) that permit them. We plaster the area within a half hour drive of our dancing site with these posters, which have attached to them envelopes filled with smaller copies to be taken home.
Sample Flyer
Look at the sample flier/poster we use. Note particularly what we stress and what we omit completely. There is absolutely no reference to lessons or classes, or to anything that suggests commitment of any type. See the emphasis on "Easy" and "Free". We have seen some clubs assign a dollar value for the free night (such as $8 or $10 per couple). We think the public is accustomed to spending $25 or more (particularly if refreshments are included), so we leave it to everyone's imagination to assign their own value.
The telephone number given has to connect the caller with people completely and unabashedly dedicated to and enthralled by Modern Western Square Dance. A call to them presents the activity in all its most positive and enthusiastic dimensions.
We choose the message on our fliers/posters carefully. Remember that the object of the publicity at this stage is purely to entice them to come for that first time. If we can just get them there once, we believe we can hook them! There will be plenty of time to share square dancing's detailed wonderful story with them later on.
Demonstrations - This topic actually merits another, future article entirely on it, alone. As a public relations or recruiting tool, demonstrations can range anywhere from a huge asset to an absolute disaster, the quickest way to convince people it's the last thing they would ever want to get involved in.
An example of a demo at its worst? A group of octogenarians hobbling along, wincing in arthritic pain, in time to the tune-less, monotonous dronings of a "has been" or "never was" caller. You can just imagine the stampede of onlookers, rushing to sign on to find their niche in that exciting activity!
Do-Pas-O's goal is to offer four to six demos a year, the nearer our free open house dates, the better. We focus on recruiting opportunities: We look for and apply to be the entertainment at large company picnics, at festivals or carnivals, at community evenings in the park, etc. We don't have to be paid...It's the opportunity to be in front of the people that matters. We want a large audience of active folks that we can get involved and participating!
We bring at least two squares of our most outgoing, enthusiastic, fun-loving dancers, with ages ranging from teens to 80-ish (but still mobile and having a ton of fun). Our dress ranges from the full, traditional garb to summer casual, to appeal to as many tastes as possible.
Our Club Caller is our pride and joy and our biggest asset, perfect for
demos! A rollicking, rocking, yodeling dynamo, with boundless enthusiasm
and energy, Bill Gordon draws crowds to us and around us. Between tips we
go into the audience and hand out fliers, and then each dancer brings a
wide-eyed neophyte back to square up and discover just how easy and
painless it is to do this stuff.
Some advice here: Although nearly everyone resists when first asked to come out of the audience and participate, understand that it's just human nature. Everyone likes to be coaxed and cajoled. Assure them they'll do just fine and they'll have a great time. Most will not only give in, but they'll thank you afterward for getting them involved.
It's absolutely essential that we show our product in its best light. The public must see our more attractive, appealing, joyful and competent partici pants. The opportunities we have to show our hobby off are limited. We try to make the most of the chances we do get. Remember this might be the viewer's first impression of our activity, and we all know how very important first impressions are.
Newspaper Articles - Every year, in the week or two just before our open house(s), we try to get an article about MWSD into the "Entertainment" section of our local Sunday newspaper. Sometimes it has been about Do-Pas-O (especially in the year of our 50th Anniversary); other times it was about square dancing in general. Sometimes it's written by a staff reporter, and sometimes by a dancer. Always it's a marvelous opportunity to let the public in on many of the attractions of this wonderful pastime.
Think about this: There is no ad we could take out in that newspaper, and pay dearly for, that will reach more people than this article will for nothing!.
Other Free Advertising - Ordinarily, to "advertise" in the newspaper or on the radio requires big $$$! But square dancing clubs are nonprofit organizations, and local newspapers and radio stations offer free public service announcements for nonprofits. Here, our local newspapers (morning and evening) have "Happenings" and "Weekend" sections where we list all of our activities every week throughout the year, and local radio stations announce our events on their "Bulletin Board" and "Community Calendar of Events".
Our local AAA magazine lists our events free, as does the local cable network, continuously scrolling upcoming events. This is just a handful of the available avenues to get free advertising or listing of events. You have similar opportunities wherever you are, if you will just take the initiative to find them.
We tried a few other things but discarded them: placemats one year and a $400 newspaper ad another. Both were costly and attracted no one. A club we respect has had some success with lawn signs in high traffic areas. We're considering that, but haven't yet worked out the message we want to use.
Well, that's it! That's what works for us. As we said last month, there are no startling revelations here, nothing unique or particularly brilliant. Anybody could have thought of the things we do. Anybody (and any club) can do them. What is required is dedication, consistency, and lots of hard work! The entire club, starting with the officers, has to be absolutely committed to the program, and everybody has to pitch in and do his/her fair share. Everybody has to distribute fliers and posters. Everybody has to be looking for demo opportunities. Everybody has to be willing to spread the word and sing the praises of MWSD.
When people come to our open houses, we record where or how they learned about us. We've discovered it has been pretty equally spread over the five tools we've listed, with perhaps a small edge to the fliers and posters. We can't emphasize this enough: It is not one thing but the entire body of work that brings the numbers we get to our open houses! There is no quick, easy fix!
The purpose of any advertising is to create awareness and pique interest. The repetition, the saturation and the bombardment we lay upon our area helps to do that. When the public continuously hears or sees "square dancing', it builds a notion of both credibility and staying power in the eyes of the beholder. Repeating it year after year reinforces that. I believe that's why the numbers coming to our open houses increases each year: Some are the fruits of seeds planted in previous years.
So, we'll grant you the times have changed, and people are no longer lined up just waiting to come into our hobby. We now have to go out, find them, and convince them we've got something really good going here. It is a whole lot more difficult than it used to be. But don't try to tell us it can't be done.
Every couple, every individual we can coax to come and check us out is an extremely precious commodity. But getting them there was only the first half of a huge challenge. Keeping them there long enough for each to discover for themselves the real beauty and joy of MWSD is the other. Apparently Do-Pas-O's retention rate is also better than most. Next month, we'll relate how our Club opens its arms to new dancers, and helps them to choose MWSD as their favorite and most fulfilling hobby and pastime.
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*As published in
American Square Dance Magazine April 2005.