When I was 19 I ran the Sheffield Marathon. So I can officially tell you 26 miles is a bloody long way. That didn’t bother me as much as finding out how hilly Sheffield is. Very, in case you’re wondering. Very, very hilly. Really. Go and have a look. You’ll see.
Before running up and down the hills of Sheffield for 26 miles I had spent 6 years running in cross-country teams. I didn’t win races, but I was pretty good.
I tell you this so you’ll understand that when I was terrified about joining an athletics club it wasn’t because I can’t run.
So why was I terrified?
Well, I was just recovering from 6 months off running with an ankle injury (football is dangerous) and I thought they’d probably all be rude to a newcomer, especially if I was slower than them.
I joined anyway. You might be expecting that I was pleasantly surprised at how friendly they all were. This was not the case. I was spot on. When you join a sports club people are generally rude to beginners who aren’t any good.
I’m sure this isn’t the case in any classes or clubs that you run, but it is the normal. I’ve played a lot of sports, and joined a lot of sports clubs, and nearly all of them are stand off-ish and a bit rude to newcomers until they can prove they’re any good, or somehow break into the clique.
This is not a sob story, by the way. I’m fine (apart from the ankle – that still hurts). But I want you to understand what you’re asking people to do when you ask them to join a sports club. This is why doing a flyer drop rarely gets a high response rate, and why I run sports marketing campaigns using the 2-step process. To learn more about it please book your spot on the FREE online workshop.
If you’d like to learn more about why flyers on their own don’t work then email me (john@makesportfun.com) and I’ll send you a useful report into what barriers stop people from starting activity.