The only way you would EVER know this place existed would be through word of mouth, or by accidental discovery.
You won’t find it on a map (other than google maps which shows the beach, but you can’t see any possible way to get there by road) Even the name of the place we stayed is miraculously missing from a Google search.
It’s one of those places that ‘those in the know’ keep secret… for a good reason!
This was not a luxury trip by any means: we actually tented it the entire time this year.My wonderful wife Kari is NOT a camping girl (much preferring the Hilton, over tenting and tarps), but she had more fun there than she could of at any Hilton (ok, maybe a bit of a stretch there).
My daughters could care less where we stayed – as long as there was sand, water, and our ski boat (which they have affectionately named “Sparkles”).
We ate GREAT the whole time. Remember, no power, no running water… but we still ate: East Indian food, Turkey, Prime Rib, Steaks, Beef Dip, and a whole bunch of other incredible meals that were whipped up over the Coleman or camp fire.
It all started off miserably, waking up the first morning at 5 am with the sound of 40 mile an hour winds and huge waves crashing to the shore 50 feet from where we slept.
As soon as I looked out at the storm, I knew this was not a good start. I could see the waves crashing over the back of the boat, which was tied up on the beach. As I got closer, I could see the water was a foot deep in the boat, and getting deeper every second. The bilge pump was useless as the water that was crashing into the boat was filled with sand and lake debris and it had plugged up the pump.
So… I got my trusty bucket and got busy. 400, maybe 500 bucketfuls and I FINALLY won the battle against Mother Nature. The waves were crashing over my head while I was bailing water (as I was scooping water out, two TIMES as much was crashing over top of my head into the boat!). I knew it HAD to stop eventually, but I was very tempted to just wait it out and see…. but I didn’t.
If I had waited the water would have been deeper and even more work to get out… so I chose the more difficult path and battled it out. From then on, the weather only got better and fun was had by all.
There were some incredible things I saw during my trip that taught me some lessons about marketing done right… and marketing done wrong.
First was the marina we picked up our supplies from. The Mabel Lake RV and Airpark is the closest place to pick up food, ice, cold beverages and ice cream for the kids… and it is a gold mine for the owners.
Thousands of people pass through their gates every summer. Some come to stay in their overnight campground. Some rent their cabins on the lake. Some own property in the resort area, with some incredible ‘cabins’ they spend their summers enjoying. Others fly their private planes in and land on the private airstrip right next to their cabins. Others use the marina for fuel and supplies.
Needless to say, it is a very busy place! Which is what amazes me. With all these people here, and nowhere else you can go without a 60 minute drive, you’d think the owners of the resort would find ways to leverage that and make money with it. Nope.
Their store has very little to sell other than beer, wine, liquor and ice cream (all necessities of summer camping, of course). But they don’t offer any decent foods, they don’t offer kids toys, they don’t offer a million other things they should be offering.
So people pack up the car and drive into town to spend all their money. Money that could have, and should have, stayed right there in the resort. Not only that… their docks are pitiful.
95% of the people who spend their summers their have to dock their boats at another marina down the lake. Considering that many boat slips go for hundreds, even thousands of dollars per month… this is a HUGE mistake and costs them a fortune in lost revenues.
People like me have to find a spot to beach the boat while we run in and pick up supplies… there is zero space on the docks to tie up (I would easily pay money to dock the boat for 30-60 minutes… but it just wasn’t an opportunity).
Last, they have a small place in the basement area you can order burgers and fries. Nothing fancy… but what a LINE UP!
People line up and wait for 30 minutes for burgers and fries… because there is no where else to go. Get this: They only open at noon. And they close at 5.
If they opened at 9am and closed at 8 pm… expanded to bacon and eggs in the morning and a few other items on their menu, they would make a killing. Don’t get me wrong… I would LOVE to own a place like this.
• A HUGE starving crowd.
• A crowd with money to burn (when you take a family vacation, isn’t it fair to say that a lot of money is spent in a short period of time… and you love every minute of it?)
• Few other options for people to spend their money on.
• Hundreds of different ways you could use our type of marketing to get these people back, spending more, more often, bringing more friends each time they come.
The downside to this type of business is the short season. Up here in this area, we have a 3-4 month summer season… after that the water gets colder and people don’t go camping like this.
Which is EVEN MORE REASON they should be doing everything in their power to offer more services, more products, more deals, more of everything to their clients. Some great lessons learned at this marina alone…
1) When you have a unique position (or location) with little to no competitors, make sure you do everything in your power to give your customers every chance possible to spend their money with you over others.
2) When you don’t have the luxury of being that unique in your marketplace, make sure you create unforgettable experiences that keep them buying more and more. They have a food stand for hot food (nothing unique about it), that they could easily expand into a breakfast, lunch, dinner selection. Adding on a few more hours a day with an expanded selection, their revenues from this stand would triple. People get tired of cooking their own food and are always open and willing to spend a few dollars to get someone else to cook!
3) If people are willing to pay big dollars for additional services (like boat slips), FIND A WAY to give it to them. If you don’t someone else will. Every single one of us has an opportunity to add on more products, more services, higher prices, greater bundles… and there are a percentage of your clients that WILL pay it.
4) If you are seasonal like this business… your downtime should be spent communicating with your clients and finding ways to get them to pre-book (and pre-pay) for the next busy season. Keep them excited about you and your business… always be telling them what is new and improved… or they will find someone who does have a new and improved offer for them.
5) Always be on the lookout for additional products and services you can offer that aren’t available. They didn’t offer water ski or wake board lessons – which could be a HUGE revenue stream for them. They could be selling maps for the HOT fishing spots. They could be offering guided fishing tours for mega money (a friend of mine owns a fishing camp in Northern British Columbia and they charge $2500 for 3 days of fishing… and are booked solid through the season).
There are so many opportunities out there for you and I to expand our offerings and build our businesses faster.
Even though the lessons shared here may be basic to you and I, chances are VERY good you aren’t doing everything possible to maximize cash flow and client relationships.
I challenge you to try implementing one idea from here into your business. If summer is slower for you, get busy and be prepared for the busy season with more products, services and bundles for your clients.
If summer is your busy season, NOW is the time to survey your clients and ask THEM what they would like to see from you. Then give it to them.
My last word of advice for you… find some time this summer and escape from email, cell phones, internet and Twitter. It was just incredible to be completely unplugged from the grid for that long.
You couldn’t get cell, email, or internet if you tried… and it was the best part of the trip for me. Not only that… I asked all the kids near the end what their favorite part of the trip was. Their answer? Getting away from texting, internet and gaming! ALL OF THEM SAID THIS.
An important lesson there – even the MOST plugged in generation in history quickly realizes how enjoyable life can be without all the electronic tools. UNPLUG. MORE OFTEN.
Funny thing was… as soon as we got back to Calgary, all the kids were instantly wired back in and back where they were! Unplugging from technology for at least 10 days is guaranteed to give you a completely new outlook on life and on business.
Always love to hear from you… and if you want any specific small business marketing subject covered, please let me know! Thanks again. To your success.