New Dive Shop

Question
My wife and I recently purchased an existing dive shop, and were wondering what the best approach to marketing we should take.  We have a fairly tight budget, and are looking for low cost avenues to market.  Any ideas would be of great help.

Answer
HI Rob

Congratulations on your business purchase.  I hope you and your wife will find it to be a rewarding venture.  I've always believed that you should explore the least expensive advertising first.  That, of course doesn't agree with the people selling ads.  Their job is to sell you the most expensive advertising they can so expect the hard sell and don't give in.  Besides, if the dive shop is already established and has a decent reputation, most of your local divers will already know where to find you so heavy advertising coverage isn't necessary. You can save a ton of money by avoiding those huge Yellow Pages ads.

Are you going to change the name of the shop?  If the shop has a good reputation, I would think twice about that. If you change the name, then you'll need to invest in more advertising to let divers know that the new name is the same shop.

Diving is a "niche" sport and will appeal to a relatively small portion of the population.  Those who are interested will find you so you don't need to advertise to the rest of the country.  If you have a business phone, you'll be listed in the Yellow Pages of the phonebook (assuming that you're in the United States) at no additional cost to you.  Advertisers will try to upsell you to more expensive advertising but it's generally not going to be helpful to you.

I'm a big believer in websites so I'd suggest setting one up if you haven't already done so.  It doesn't need to be elaborate but it does need to be easy to navigate.  Maintaining a website doesn't need to be expensive so give it some serious consideration.  If one of your divers is well versed in website design, you might trade his services for discounts on dive equipment.  You can get a lot of bang for your buck in internet websites and it'll cover a much larger area than any phonebook.

Other ideas to get your name out to the local diving public is to host a gathering at your shop every month or so.  Present your upcoming trips, show pictures of past trips or host a dive club. You could also throw a "get acquainted party".  These can be inexpensive affairs with just chips, dip and soft drinks.

Rob, I hope this gives you a few ideas for inexpensive advertising.  Best of luck with your venture!!

Sincerely,

Mike Giles
Mike's Dive Center
mikescuba.com