Commercial

[mr_grey]

I'm not really employed by the club but it covers my travel costs

Kin hell.

What's your marketing or commercial background. Can't be bad on expenses

[boyliegladbach]

Kin hell.

What's your marketing or commercial background. Can't be bad on expenses

Don't need one it's all common sense.
After all we are all experts on here arnt we ?

[Bingo]

Thanks for the reply Ryan.

The shop isn't really accessible unless you want to go out of your way. The key to selling more stock, especially at this time of year, is having some kind of concession within a "club supporting" business in the town centre. My mum was always looking for things to get me for Christmas, there was no way she could have got all the way upto the club shop.

The club also seem to do things with very short notice, we should have been promoting Christmas gifts etc a month ago not 12 days before.

Anyway I wasn't having a go at anyone or indeed your efforts simply making a point about a tweet about hats

[Steeley]

He uses Steeleys account! !!!!!

Really doesnt.

[mr_grey]

Sticking posters up around the club and on social media is not marketing or commercialisation, its an ICT project that can be given to a junior school student.

Halloween Party - make a poster, stick it up in the cross bar and on social media
Christmas Party - make a poster, stick it up in the cross bar and on social media
Meet the Manager - make a poster, stick it up in the cross bar and on social media
End of season events - make a poster, stick it up in the cross bar and on social media

It is becoming very repetitive.

Why hasn't half season season tickets been publicised from beginning of October, perfect Christmas present beginning on the Boxing Day game. Why hasn't the boxing day game been announced as a family day? It's a bank holiday that everyone gets, why don't they sell mince pies and hot chocolates with cream and marshmallows? There is a lot of simple things that would market Barrow AFC as a brand that are not being utilised. We want to make Barrow AFC a club the community wants to be involved in.

[Cillablue]

All good points Mr Grey.

But you need a marketing budget to do anything that isn’t free, such as social media posting. You also need to use your initiative and not get your ideas blocked at every turn.

The team do the best they can with minimal resources and support. The people on the ground can only work with what they are given. Look upwards to find fault and apportion blame. The buck stops at the top. Or it should do. The team work hard. Really hard. So give them some credit.

And no I’m not Emma but I know her and have spoken to her! She’ll bollock me if I put anything out of line!

[Holkerbird]

Kin hell.

What's your marketing or commercial background. Can't be bad on expenses

Fear not as the travel expenses will be minimal. Anyone who knows Ryan will be aware that he is the master of cheap travel. He might hit several countries in transfers to get here but I doubt he pays more than £40 a flight (very rarely) which does break his heart if he is forced to go over a tenner.
One example is £2 from Glasgow to Gran Canaria. He did pay almost £20 to get to Glasgow but that was 1st class with a full English breakfast. Ryanair, which he somehow thinks is his own airline, has very cheap offers during the winter months. BA cabin crew have been very good to him in the past when sleeping in the airport overnight providing him with a blanket and a food parcel.
He does ok and won't be costing us very much.
Mind you with this constant to and froing I'm surprised he hasn't been pulled by Customs and Excise.

[Beardy12]

Hmmm. Whole club seems to be run on a shoe string behind the scenes. Volunteers, apprentices etc. Clearly cutting costs. Good luck to ryan though - does this mean he is the new emma? I heard Phil Collier was possibly going to do the sales manager role.

[Bingo]

A decent commercial manager pays for themselves in the end

[Summerof76]

No one is the new me! I am the one and only me!!!

And Charlie, yes they do. Totally agree.

[BahamasBluebird]

Good honest replies @BahamasBluebird

One thing though, too expensive to stock the hoodies? Dread to think how much player layer are getting out of the club!

Thanks Steeley, I believe the club negotiates a deal with them so it works out well with the playing kit etc, but getting the extra in for fans would have proved to expensive.

Didn’t realise we had Christmas cards Still is it the same picture.?Think they were three quid a pack two for fiver when got mine .glad new web site will give shop more prominence and hopefully easier accessibility.

It is the same picture Ann, it's fair to say a few more were ordered than perhaps should have been when they were first done so they will probably be on sale next Christmas too.

The new website should do exactly that, we can even announce shop deals over the tannoy in the main stand now its fixed!

Two suggestions
Get rid of player layer
Stock some decent leisurewear, most adults don’t wear replicas but would wear a smart polo shirt etc

Cheers HenneysKnee, noted.

Thanks for the reply Ryan.

The shop isn't really accessible unless you want to go out of your way. The key to selling more stock, especially at this time of year, is having some kind of concession within a "club supporting" business in the town centre. My mum was always looking for things to get me for Christmas, there was no way she could have got all the way upto the club shop.

The club also seem to do things with very short notice, we should have been promoting Christmas gifts etc a month ago not 12 days before.

Anyway I wasn't having a go at anyone or indeed your efforts simply making a point about a tweet about hats

No offence taken at all Charlie, just thought I would address some points made after your post. With regards to the hats, we had already sold quite a few on Friday/Saturday morning so didn't have many left when that tweet came in!

A fantastic idea about the concession inside another business in town. It is something we looked at but linking in with your second point, by the time we did it was a bit late.

Whilst I agree some things could be advertised earlier, in the past by the time everything gets sorted (player/manager availability etc) we can only be days away from the event. We now have a manager onboard who is fully committed to being involved with fans and in the community, so I'm confident we will have some great events which will be advertised earlier.

What's your marketing or commercial background. Can't be bad on expenses

Let me be clear, I am not the new commercial manager. The search for a new CM with a qualified background is ongoing. I'd also rather what I do does the talking, but as you asked I am happy to give you some info.

When I moved to the Bahamas I soon got to working in a family friends souvenir shop and by the time I left aged 16 I was helping to run the place, making stock buying trips to the USA, working out how much to sell things for, negotiating deals to get the best price on local goods etc.

Then after moving to Qatar I got into football coaching and upon finishing college at 19, the owner of the school asked if I would be interested in setting up a football/sports academy there which I did alongside a former teacher. I did everything from establishing the academies brand and vision, working to set up the website and social media channels, creating booking forms and systems, creating a marketing campaign both in the school and local area and establishing connections with other local schools and businesses. I was also responsible for sourcing things like playing kits, equipment and advertising materials.

After that I moved to Spain and then Portugal where I am starting up a Tourism related business with my Dad. A long and painful process so far but something which will hopefully lead to good things.

I don't and won't proclaim to be some commercial genius or marketing god etc, but I can assure you that I have nothing but what is best for the club at heart, and I like to think I contribute at least something to the cause. There are alot of people who post on here who are happy to sit back and be critical, but when I saw the potential of the clubs social media if it was run properly, I offered to help and I think it is going quite well.

As for "can't be bad on expenses", trust me, it can be

Sticking posters up around the club and on social media is not marketing or commercialisation, its an ICT project that can be given to a junior school student.

Halloween Party - make a poster, stick it up in the cross bar and on social media
Christmas Party - make a poster, stick it up in the cross bar and on social media
Meet the Manager - make a poster, stick it up in the cross bar and on social media
End of season events - make a poster, stick it up in the cross bar and on social media

It is becoming very repetitive.

Why hasn't half season season tickets been publicised from beginning of October, perfect Christmas present beginning on the Boxing Day game. Why hasn't the boxing day game been announced as a family day? It's a bank holiday that everyone gets, why don't they sell mince pies and hot chocolates with cream and marshmallows? There is a lot of simple things that would market Barrow AFC as a brand that are not being utilised. We want to make Barrow AFC a club the community wants to be involved in.

As for all the events you mention there, I don't see how advertising those events in those ways is a bad thing. A break down of those events:

Halloween Party - Around 70 people attended this event, the majority kids and as far as I know they all had a great time. Most of the attendees were people I haven't seen in and around the club before, and lots of them commented on how nice the Crossbar was and said they would keep it in mind for future parties they might hold, and reccomend it to friends as well.

Christmas Party - The family Christmas party hasn't happened yet, but I will be sure to update you of how it goes.

Meet the manager - First of all I think it's great that we have these events quite regularly. Obviously it helps that the manager stays overnight on a Friday, but I would be surprised if many clubs gave fans the chance to quiz the management team on such a regular basis. Could they be organised in more time? Perhaps. But that is something to work on as I mentioned to Charlie Above.

End of Season Events - The EOSD last year was run by the Trust in conjuction with the club and bar the food and Matt's video not working, I thought it was a success which was quite well attended.

It is absolutely clear that a proper plan and commercial/marketing structure is needed, and I am sure the new commercial manager will be tasked with exactly that. It is also worth remembering that Andrew Casson has a very good business background and he is working tirelessly towards improving the business side of the club too, work which isn't always in the public eye.

You will see why there is no half season ticket from Boxing day in the next day or two, but there will be a ticket offer for the second half of the season which is a bit different.

Regarding your point about making Barrow AFC a community club, I couldn't agree more. I go to away grounds and see all of their younger generations of fans there and wish it was like that at Barrow and that is something to aim towards. But it won't happen overnight, it needs to be built up, and that process has started to happen. Maybe you missed it, but there have been ticket giveaways with the Bluebirds Trust which local schools really appreciated, and an open training session was held with autographs signed a month or two back.

Ady Pennock spoke to the Mail about this exact subject in todays paper, you can read that here: http://www.nwemail.co.uk/sport/barrow-a ... 68ae9b7-ds

Kin hell.

Perhaps that wasn't very clear. It's a set amount and I quite often spend more to get to games than that amount. I don't feel that I need to justify what I do, but I will say that I like to think I contribute more than I get back. Everyone is entitled to their opinion though.

Hmmm. Whole club seems to be run on a shoe string behind the scenes. Volunteers, apprentices etc. Clearly cutting costs. Good luck to ryan though - does this mean he is the new emma? I heard Phil Collier was possibly going to do the sales manager role.

I don't think that is the case Beardy. I think any football club or business has to look at how it spends money and make sure it is getting good value for what it is spending. The aim of the game is obviously to spend as little as possible to make as much as possible, but that is definitely easier said than done, and I said above I am definitely not the new Emma!


At the end of the day my key message would be that there are people at the club who have it's best interests at heart, and are trying hard to make the club a success off the pitch. Things are moving in the right direction and whilst Barrow won't become a commercial giant like Manchester United, good things will happen.

It relies on the support of everyone from supporters to players, and constructive criticism is a great thing. As I said on my last post, my email is r.sutherland@barrowafc.com . Feel free to send me any ideas, comments etc and I promise to take them seriously and look into them. I even had a full presentation from someone which was fantastic, and those ideas are being looked into.


Ryan

[BahamasBluebird]

Edit: Double Post

[BahamasBluebird]

Edit: Triple Post

[Bingo]

Thanks for the response Ryan and it's nice to see lots of work is being done behind the scenes, I am sure everyone appreciates your hard work and dedication to the cause.

I do hope more can be done to improve the match day experience going forward with covered areas around the ground where fans can have a drink and chat and get something to eat, if you don't want to walk up to the cross bar and miss some of the game you can be exposed to the elements for a couple of hours. I'd like to see the club take control of catering and improve the offering although I do appreciate this costs money to set up.

On the point about kids it was great when we got a boost to the crowd with all the kids coming to the game, unfortunately there was a little bit of trouble in the town centre which was blown out of proportion by the Evening Mail and on social media. I did read many parents saying they were put off letting kids come to the game because of this (no trouble at the game), would it be possible to have a family area or a room opened at the cross bar for kids to be dropped off / picked up after the game maybe selling pop and crisps and supervised by volunteer parents or something - just to put parents minds at rest that kids can go to the game and be safe.

[Summerof76]

The implication is that I was not qualified.

I have to stand up for myself here. I was and am more than qualified to do that job. I worked tirelessly but was dismissed because I didn’t hit my financial target after 6 months. No performance management. No PIP. Nothing. Just asked to leave one morning because I didn’t hit a target and in my opinion because I am not a yes woman. I challenged and spoke my mind. And found obstacles at every turning point.

That is the truth. I wish the new CM, who ever it may be, the very best of luck because you can’t grow flowers without seeds and I hope they are a better man than I.

Thanks to all those who supported me.