PADI 2013 Dublin Member Forum

This year’s PADI 2013 Dublin Member Forum presentation will be presented by John Carlin and will summarise the news, training and events of 2012 and what will be coming up in 2013. It is a great opportunity to stay up to date with the latest developments in the Diving Industry, ask questions and you will also receive a seminar credit as well for attending.

The event details are as follows:

25/05/13 at 20:00-21:00
Trinity Sports Centre
Hole in the Wall Road
Clongriffin
Dublin 13

To attend and find out more you must click the ‘PADI 2013 Dublin Member Forum‘ link to register a place and you will be sent an electronic ticket. At the event we will check this off on our system and you will then receive a seminar credit for attending. There is no charge for attendance at the Member Forum.

Rescue Workshop

We are also excited to invite you to a Rescue Workshop that we will be conducting and that will cover briefings/debriefings and in-water best practices for surface rescue demonstrations. This is a great chance to make sure your skills are sharp for this diving season. By registering and attending this event you will receive a PADI seminar credit.

The event details are as follows:

26/05/13 at 13:00-16:00
Portroe Dive Centre
Old Quarries
Portroe
Ireland

To attend and find out more you must click the ‘Rescue Workshop‘ link’ to register a place and you will be sent an electronic ticket. Prior to the event I will send you some paperwork to complete and at the event we will check this off on our system. You will then receive a seminar credit for attending. There is no charge for attendance at this Rescue Workshop.

2013 PADI Member Forum in the South East

We are pleased to invite you to join us for the first 2013 PADI Member Forum in the South East at Wraysbury Dive Site. Richard Major has kindly allowed us to use his premises as this is a familiar and well used training site for PADI courses by many of our PADI professionals. To register for a free place simply click this link ‘REGISTER NOW‘ to make sure you don’t miss out on one of the limited spaces.

The Member Forum presentation will be presented by John Carlin, Terry Johnson and Richard Somerset. It will summarise the news, training and events of 2012 and what will be coming up this year. It is a great opportunity to stay up to date with the latest developments in the Diving Industry, ask questions and you will also receive a seminar credit as well for attending.

We will also be conducting a ‘Drop In Clinic’ during the day with Richard Somerset (PADI Training and Quality Management Consultant and Instructor Examiner) so you can pop in for a tea or coffee and get your PADI questions answered.

The event details are as follows:

14/03/13 at 19:30-20:30
Wraysbury Dive Centre
Station Road
Wraysbury
Middlesex
TW19 5ND

Click HERE for the Wraysbury Dive Site location

To register for a free place simply click this link ‘REGISTER NOW‘ to make sure you don’t miss out on one of the limited spaces. There is no charge for attendance at the Member Forum just simply bring your eTicket your receive once you have completed the registration process and turn up.

The Member Forum will be conducted by:
John Carlin, Terry Johnson and Richard Somerset

If you have any burning questions prior to the day you can contact me on 07734714499 or john.carlin@padi.com.

We look forward to seeing you there.

John Carlin, Terry Johnson and Richard Somerset

This year is the year of ‘The Gathering in Ireland’. If you haven’t heard about The Gathering concept before this is a spectacular, year-long celebration in 2013 of all things Irish (http://www.thegatheringireland.com/About).

Now Ireland has some amazing diving and so OceanAddicts are entering into the spirit of the year by hosting a Submerged Gathering here in Kinsale. The Submerged Gathering takes place on the weekend of 20-21/04/13 and any proceeds from the weekend will be presented to the RNLI. The weekend will be a mixture of diving and talking about diving and a chance to catch up with old friends and make some new diving buddies.

On the Saturday morning (registration will be at 9.30am) after a dive brief we will be heading out to the dive site for the ‘Submerged Gathering’. In the afternoon, there are presentations from Paul Rose will be joining them from the UK and their own John Collins, who will present two entertaining and informative talks. Later that evening there will be music in the bar of the Trident Hotel.

On the Sunday we will go diving again. For those interested in Seasearch, Dr Tim Butter, CFT’s scientific officer, will be leading a dive and talking about seasearch and our marine environment.

For non-diving friends and partners there is also a seafood festival, with street markets on Saturday and a Chowder Cook Off on Sunday.

I am excited to be to attending the event and I will be joining in on the activities taking part on the Saturday (20/04/13) so I would like to invite you to come and join us.

If you would like some more information on the Submerged Gathering Kinsale check out Oceanaddicts Blog (http://oceanaddicts.ie/blog/submerged-gathering-kinsale-april-20th-2st-2013), email Anne (anne@oceanaddicts.ie) or give her a call  (00 353 (0) 877 903 211).

and nearly 20 Billion of those were downloaded in 2012!

According to figures released by Apple on 07/01/13 over 40 billion Apps have been downloaded and nearly 20 billion of those were downloaded in 2012 alone. The Apple App Store has over 500 million active accounts and had a record-breaking December with over two billion downloads during the month. Apple’s incredible developer community has created over 775,000 apps for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users worldwide, and developers have been paid over seven billion dollars by Apple.

My current favourite is the Genius Scan (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/genius-scan-pdf-scanner/id377672876?mt=8) which turns my phone into a pocket scanner and enables me to scan documents on the go and as JPEG or PDF. Which are your favourite Apps and why?

… and how to do it

I was sent the following infographic this morning which highlighted the reasons why businesses should consider creating a LinkedIn account and using it to find new customers.

All businesses are currently looking for new customers who have money to spend and according to these statistics, over a quarter of people with LinkedIn profiles in the UK are earning more than £98,000 annually.

So where do you start. Below is a great link (pardon the pun – just click on the Big Blue Button) to a free eBook written by 5 LinkedIn experts to get you started…

How to make a successful eNewsletter

Three questions to ask before we begin.

1. Do you subscribe to any newsletters?
2. If so do you like to receive them?
3. What do you like about your favourite newsletter?

Some people believe that a newsletter is the strongest marketing and business tool bar none. A newsletter is a way of communicating with a large audience all in one go.

According to a study by Yankelovich in 2007, people are bombarded with over 5000 different marketing messages every day. From billboards, posters, brochures, television/radio adverts, emails to social media and more – it’s non-stop!

The good news is that eNewsletters are a simple and cost effective way to cut through the clutter and are a powerful marketing tool.

We have produced a ‘How to make a successful eNewsletter’ digital toolbox which consists of a recorded webinar which explains the secret hints and tips to generating successful profit-producing newsletters.

To get your hands on the digital toolbox, simply click the ‘The secrets to a successful eNewsletter eSurvey‘ link below or the Big Blue Button below and answer a 60 second eSurvey.

Once you have submitted your answers you will get your hands on the good stuff!

SCUBA diving on the BBC!

Have you ever heard of the BBC program ‘Don’t Tell the Bride‘? This is a television series, with viewing figures of 1 million people per episodes, where the must choose and organise every detail of his wedding with hilarious consequences!

In an episode which goes out on BBC at 21:00 BST (09.10.12), Ian (the groom) has a crazy underwater plan and decides to add SCUBA diving to his wedding day. Make sure you watch to find out whether he manages to get Hayley (the bride) underwater or if he is left high and dry! To find out more about the episode click the ‘Discover SCUBA Diving and Don’t Tell the Bride‘ link.

Mark Murphy and his team at Oyster Diving (www.oysterdiving.com) were responsible for making all of this possible and as you will find out, SCUBA diving is definitely not what Hayley was expecting for her wedding day! To ‘wet’ your appetite Mark has given me some photos which can be viewed by clicking the Big Blue Button below!

If you are in the UK, the funny episode is available to on demand until 23/10/12 by clicking this ‘SCUBA diving and a wedding underwater‘ link or the Big Blue Button below. I was nervous for Ian all the way though and there were a lot ‘they better not be getting married in a swimming pool!’.

Mark gave the lucky couple a pair of PADI Open Water Diver eLearning Gift Passes as a wedding present. The eLearning Gift Pass certificate design is now available for download and can be fully customised with your business name, logo, customer name, type of gift pass etc. If you would like a copy of this please email me on john.carlin@padi.com so I can send it to you.

Not only that but we have also created an email template which will help you promote the PADI Discover SCUBA Diving and Open Water Diver courses specifically to couples who are getting married. To view and download a copy of this template click the ‘SCUBA diving promotion to engaged couples email template‘ link.

Are you a fan of PADI?

On 2nd October 2012 the PADI Facebook fan page smashed through the 500,000 barrier and we would like to say thank you to you as a PADI member for making this possible. If you are not fan of the page yet you can ‘like it’ buy clicking on the ‘PADI Facebook Fan page‘ link.

It is a great way to see what is going on in the PADI world and get some new ideas about how to engage with your own customers and inspire them to do more diving.

The aim of the page is to keep diving at the forefront of people’s minds and engage with them so that the pictures and links appear on their timelines to inspire their non-diving friends and family members to try SCUBA diving.

Do you use Facebook for your own diving business? Facebook can be used to engage your existing divers and find new customers by posting comments, making events and tagging photos.

Need help with your Social Media?

If you are unsure about this and/or would like help to set up and/or optimise your social media presence you can contact John Carlin (john.carlin@padi.com), Terry Johnson (terry.johnson@padi.com) or James Rogers (james.rogers@padi.com).

How to make ‘Apple’ style eReceipts!

In one of my previous articles, the ‘The eReceipt revolution is coming – are you ready?‘, I wrote about the biggest revolution for shoppers since the invention of customer loyalty cards and what positive impacts it could have on your business.

In the September 2012 EVE User Group Webinar we  showed how to customise printed receipts and set up/use eReceipts. This can be viewed by clicking the ‘The importance of customising and using both receipts & eReceipts‘ link.

Some questions were raised in this webinar about how to customise the email template that is sent out with the eReceipt so we recorded a special bonus ’How to Guide’ to set up a customised eReceipt email template using EVE‘ which can be viewed by clicking the previous link or the Big Blue Button below.

Not only that BUT we have also made a brand new eReceipt email template which can also be used by non-EVE users. To download this email template click the ‘Email template to be sent with attached eReceipt‘. Christmas has come early! If you have any trouble downloading and/or customising the template please don’t hesitate to contact me on john.carlin@padi.com.

Tec meets Rec in Anglesey

On the 8^th and 9^th September 2012, PADI attended the SITA (Scuba Industry Trade Association) event in Anglesey in North Wales. James Rogers (PADI Director for UK Business) and Simon Chance (PADI Manager, Retail and Resort Association) attended ScubaFest 2012 to help promote UK diving. The event also attracted a variety of divers from around the UK including deep divers and many recreational divers who haven’t yet enjoyed UK diving.

For those of you not familiar with North Wales, this is a wreck divers dream! It boasts over 200 wrecks to dive which is partly due to the sheer volume of shipping in the 19th century that passed through these waters on their to Liverpool who unfortunately didn’t manage to complete their journey. It does however provide adventurous dive sites for well trained and responsible SCUBA divers to explore.

ScubaFest was a celebration of all the things that great about the UK SCUBA diving scene. The activities ranged from wreck diving, try dive swimming pool experiences with PADI conducting the PADI Discover Scuba Diving, Discover Sidemount and Discover Rebreather courses. There were also beach cleanups, a hog roast, live music and even face painting for the kids.

The attendance was impressive with over 250 people taking part so watch out for these events in the future as there is something for everyone to enjoy! To see the pictures taken at the event click on the ‘ScubaFest 2012 photos‘ link or click the Big Blue Button below.

On the first day of ScubaEarth…

The long awaited and much anticipated launch of ScubaEarth is almost here and thank you to everyone for your patience. The team at PADI have been working very hard behind the scenes and we can’t wait to launch it!

Once fully launched, ScubaEarth will offer the familiar features of an online community, including user profiles and social media integration. It will also highlight dive-specific features, including worldwide dive and travel destination overviews, a dive site locator, user generated dive site information, PADI dive shop locator, and real-time water and dive conditions. Users may also maintain an online logbook, access their PADI certification records, build and maintain a personal gear locker, and search dive job opportunities.

Phase 1 of the launch

The first phase of ScubaEarth is for PADI Retailer and Resort Association Members (Dive Centres and Resorts) who must login in to their PADI Pros’ Site using the Dive Centre or Resort login details and then go to ‘My Account’ and select ‘Social Media Settings’ to update their Social Media information.

Phase 2 will be for PADI Professional members to create and a profile and upload their own information and this expected towards the end of October 2012. I will post information as soon as I have it to keep everyone updated!

So if you are a PADI Retailer or Resort Member you need to click the ‘My Account for…‘ link or the Big Blue Button below and then sign in using your Dive Centre or Resort login details for the PADI Pros’ Site.

Click the ‘Social Media Settings’ next to ‘Contact Information’ and then begin to add in your Social Media information . This includes (if you have it for your business):

• Facebook URL
• Twitter URL
• Google+ URL
• LinkedIn URL
• Blog RSS Feed URL

Twenty retailers in the London’s West End are about to trial the use of eReceipts in what is being hailed as the biggest revolution for shoppers since the invention of customer loyalty cards. eReceipts are coming… are YOU ready to use them as part of your business strategy?

Paper versus electronic receipts…

As consumers we have been trained that if you want to make a return you must produce a receipt. But have you ever had a problem with something you have bought and had to search for high and low for the receipt? I have and sometimes when you find the receipt you are not even sure if it is the right one especially if it is ripped or the ink has faded.

There are 11.5 billion paper receipts currently printed in the UK every year at an average cost of 1/2 penny each. Not only could eReceipts save the retailer money but they can also save the environment. According to recent studies, an estimated 9.6 million trees are cut down to satisfy the current need for paper receipts in the US.

eReceipts aren’t new. If you have been to an Apple store recently and purchased something then chances are they offered you the option of an eReceipt. Apple started piloting the use of eReceipts in October 2005 and it might be worth listening to them as on 20/08/2012 they became the world’s most valuable company ever worth $624 billion!

Benefits for your customers

The benefits for shoppers will be:

• Faster transaction processes (no waiting for printer rolls to be changed)
• No drawers full of fading paper receipts
• The potential to get products warranties and user guides emailed at the same time

Benefits for retailers

The benefits for retailers will be:

• Reduced printing costs
• Reduced impact on the environment
• Opportunity to add customers to newsletter email lists

But who will ask for/choose an eReceipt?

People are very protective about their mail boxes. However the ability to unsubscribe from mailing lists and the fact you don’t have to keep a drawer stuffed with receipts seems to be winning people over. Many people believe as more and more companies start to offer eReceipts people will be less freaked out about it and eReceipts will become the norm.

Andrew Carroll, manager of the Paperless Receipt company, believes that younger consumers who are comfortable with making payments using electronic devices such as mobile phones will be the early adopters of eReceipts.

Plus there are already apps available for smart phones for people to scan paper receipts to store them electronically and these can also be used to keep track of business expenses. The app I use to do this is called Expensify and you can see how it works by clicking this link – The Expensify App.

Would YOU ask for an eReceipt?

I would like to find out how popular eReceipts would be in the diving industry so please take part in my poll by clicking the Big Blue Button below:

How to set up eReceipts for your business?

If you are running your business using a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system such as EVE then eReceipts are easy to set up and start using straight away. To find out how join us for our next EVE User Group Webinar please click the Big Blue Button below:

The real question?

So if you are a retailer instead of saying would you like your receipt in your bag maybe you should be asking:

Would you like your receipt printed or emailed?

Are you curious to find out how cool UK diving can be? We have a fun packed, social weekend of diving by the sea and we want YOU to come with us.

When and where?

If you are desperate to go diving AND you want value for money then we have the perfect answer! We would like to invite you to come SCUBA diving with us at the Anglesey ScubaFest Weekend on Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th September 2012.

This is your chance to come and explore the beautiful coastal waters of Anglesey, NorthWales. You will have access to unlimited shore diving, be able to take part in a Project AWARE marine conservation event, dive with some new shiny diving equipment and even try the mysterious art of sidemounting or ‘rebreathering’!

That’s not all…

There will be an underwater photography competition, a hog roast and a live band! There will be manufacturers there to talk to about equipment and PADI staff will be there to answer questions about your diving skills and training.

Important information

Want to know more and how to book a space? Click the ‘ScubaFest 2012‘ link or the big blue button below to find out more and how to book on!

We love forward to seeing you there and maybe even diving with you!

Do you have a favourite local dive site?

I love SCUBA diving and some of the best dives I have EVER done have been right here on my doorstep in British waters. One of my favourite dive sites is Lundy Island in the Bristol Channel. This is one of the few marine national parks in Britain and is full of Seals, Catsharks, Soft Corals, Lobsters and Ship Wrecks. Just writing about it now makes me want to plan another trip there!

What is your favourite dive site and why?

I want to promote diving in the British waters so I need YOUR help please. I want to know what your favourite local dive site is and why. It doesn’t have to be a marine national park or a massive historic wreck. It can be any local dive site. Tell me all about your best dive(s) there and what you saw. Let me know why it stands out in your memory from others and even better show me pictures or videos you have taken there.

You can inspire other divers…

Inspire them to put on their SCUBA gear and go diving. This will help me and others to plan our next dives and you may even get a few ideas of where you want to go diving next!

How do YOU take part?

Simply click the ‘Take Part NOW!‘ link or the BIG BLUE BUTTON below and it will take you to the PADI Islands’ Facebook page where we have posted the ‘Dive Britain, Dive PADI’ logo. Please like the photograph and then write a comment underneath about your favourite local dive site and why you like diving there. If you know how to tag yourself on the ‘Dive Britain, Dive PADI’ photograph even better! If someone has already listed your dive site please still put it down as your favourite and write why as every dive is different in the same place!

Share this with your friends and encourage them to take part as well. The more people the better and we can begin to collate the ‘Best dive sites in Britain’ written and illustrated by YOU and your diving buddies. This is going to be so cool!

If you are not on Facebook then no worries. Simply comment at the bottom of this post and click the share links or send me an email telling me about your favourite dive site and why you like diving there. My email address is john.carlin@padi.com

I will contact everyone that takes part and I will be building a digital book which everyone can download and share with their friends, family and diving buddies. Thank you and I look forward to hearing all your favourite dives and planning my trip calendar!

… to promote your courses and diving business

We have been busy building an email template library for you use which be found by clicking the ‘Email Template Library‘ link. This library contains all sorts of different email templates you can use/adapt to promote your PADI SCUBA diving courses, trips and/or equipment sales.

Now quite a few people have already visited the Email Template Library already but they have been unsure about how to download, adapt, save and then send the emails. So I have recorded a short ‘How to Video’ which walks you through step by step the whole process.

To watch this video click the ‘How to webinar’ for new email templates link or by clicking the big blue button below.

Please ‘Re-Tweet’ on Twitter and ‘Share’ this post on Facebook if you like it and/or you can think of other PADI professionals who would find the Email Template Library useful.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me by email on john.carlin@padi.com

Check out the new email templates for…

…promoting children’s SCUBA diving courses. Kevin Craddock of Flippas-N-Fins asked if I could make him some email templates to promote the PADI Seal Team to the parents of children who had completed the PADI Bubblemaker course.

Click the link below to have a look and/or download them for your own use:

‘New PADI Seal Team promotional email templates‘

What do you think and are there any you would like to me to design to promote other courses?

How to make the Perfect Tweet…

According to the Company Blog:

“Tweeting for business can increase the reach of your messages, and enable real-time engagement with you customers and prospects.”

The only issue is that you only have a few seconds to capture a person’s interest before the next Tweet from someone else’s appears on their Twitter feed. So with this in mind you need to follow some best practices such as the length of your Tweet, use of media and ‘hash tags’.

Click the link ‘Blueprint for the Perfect Tweet‘ to find out how you can make the most of your 140 characters.

Please ‘Re-Tweet’ this on Twitter or ‘Share’ it on Facebook if you find this post useful.

Now is the time to check and test your knowledge…

As a PADI diving professional it is a membership requirement that YOU keep up to date with any standards changes and the ‘Bringing YOUR Training Bulletin to LIFE’ webinar is here to help!

Join us on Thursday 6th September (19:30-20:30 BST) where myself and Richard Somerset will present the 2012Q3 PADI Training Bulletin.

During this live presentation you will get to see the latest standards changes plus you can test your knowledge with a series of fun and interactive poll questions.

How do you take part? Simply click the ‘Bringing YOUR Training Bulletin to LIFE‘ link to sign up or the big blue button below. All you need is a computer/tablet or notebook connected to the internet and a set of speakers or headphones to listen in.

Questions

Overwhelmingly, the most popular section of the last webinar was the Question and Answers section at the end, and with this in mind, we’d like to invite your comments for this next webinar. You can download the lastest PADI Training Bulletin by clicking the ‘2012Q3 PADI Training Bulletin‘ link.

Simply send your questions through to Richard Somerset (richard.somerset@padi.com) or me (john.carlin@padi.com) and we’ll answer them online at the next session. We guarantee to answer every single training and standards question that comes up!

How good is YOUR risk management?

In one of my last post’s ‘Learn the secrets to risk management and teaching people to dive safely‘ we talked about the importance of Risk Management to you as a PADI SCUBA Diving Professional.

With this in mind we are happy to announce the details for the Risk Management seminar that we will be conducting at the PADI EMEA office in Bristol on Monday 8th October. This is a half day seminar and will cover:

• The role of Training and Quality Management in PADI
• Incident reporting
• What is risk?
• An interactive live court room drama role play where YOU decide!

To sign up and take part in this Risk Management seminar plus visit the PADI EMEA head office and meet some of the PADI staff working for you please click the ‘Sign Up NOW!‘ link or the big blue button below to download the Risk Management Seminar Form. Please complete this form and then email it back to Richard Somerset (richard.somerset@padi.com) so we can get your name on the list.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to email me at john.carlin@padi.com.

PLACES ARE LIMITED for this event so make you don’t miss out and we look forward to seeing you soon.

Know your customer very, VERY well

So why should your diving business have qualities like Amazon?

Amazon began in 1994 when the creator Jeff Bezo’s shipped his first book from his garage. Amazon began as an online book store but Jeff Bezon’s goal was to ‘have every product in the alphabet’! This goal is shown in the Amazon logo. Take a closer look. The arrow goes from ‘a’ to ‘z’ and is meant to represent the ‘customer’s satisfaction’ by forming a smile. How often have you seen this logo? I have seen it so many times and I had never really thought about it before I began thinking about this article!

Similarity/opportunity number one

One of key’s to Amazon’s success over other online retailers is it tries it’s hardest where possible to ‘customise’ the buyer experience. What do I mean by this? When you buy an item from Amazon you have to register a profile with them by logging in for the first time. After that when you return Amazon recognises it is you and suggests some recommendations that are specific to you.

The beauty of this is that the more you buy, the better Amazon gets at these personal recommendations. They could be related books, electronic items, DIY tools etc. Amazon effectively becomes your very own personal shopper helping you through their massive product range. This is Amazon’s best approach to sales the take home message is ‘know you customer very, VERY well’.

In one my previous article’s (‘Trust, Facebook and making more sales‘) I wrote how ‘building trust’ and learning more about your customers can increase sales. Once customers start to see you as an expert and ask for advice then it becomes much easier to sell things.

Become a personal shopper for your customers!

So how can we bring this back to diving? Just look at the PADI Advanced Open Water Diver (AOW) course as an example. Each of the Adventure Dives they complete for their course is essentially a taster dive for that specialty diver course. With each Adventure Dive they may try a bit of new equipment or dive at a new site. With this in mind you now have some ammunition to begin to think and act like Amazon…

Once your customer has become a certified PADI Advanced Open Water Diver you can start to send specific, anticipated and relevant marketing promotions to them about related specialty diver courses, equipment and trips. Boooooom! You are now working like Amazon simple hey!

Another trick that Amazon uses is the technique of ‘social proofing’ where people tend to follow the crowd. Amazon’s tells you when you are looking at an item that when other people bought this particular item what other things they bought at the same time. So if a student does the Night Adventure Dive as part of their  PADI AOW course then when you are sending marketing messages to promote the PADI Night Diver specialty course tell them what type of torches or trips people bought when they booked onto this course.

Similarity/opportunity number two

Another successful strategy that Amazon uses is to allow almost anyone to sell almost anything through the Amazon website. Amazon has become a hub for selling things on the web.

If we look an successful modern day diving business what are the key components – courses, retail, servicing, trips? What else do you think should be included in this list? Let me ask you a question. Do you own your own Red Sea Liveaboard dive boat?

Many diving businesses are selling or promoting products and services from other companies and making commission from these sales.

Ask for help…

Don’t be shy! Ask the companies you are working with for assistance with marketing and advice on how to target your customer database to make your marketing and promotions more effective. Do they have imagery/video, text, posters, social media and email templates that you could use? Would they be willing to come in and do a presentation evening? Remember it’s in their interest to help you!