Building An Archery Series: Putting It All Together

Over the past several weeks I have invested a lot of time and effort into building an archery series at my local club. I started with a concept, molded it, revised it, and I just recently crossed the point of no return. I have ordered targets and began marketing the Stowe Archers Paper Animal Point Series.

There has been a glimmer of interest in the early phases and I’m really hoping that it carries through and shooter turnout is decent.

Ordering Targets

During the planning stages, I decided that I would purchase two brands of targets – Delta Tru-Life and Nice Targets. My initial estimate, ball-parking my target needs, came in at $105. Unfortunately, I spent considerably more than that.

The primary reason for my estimate being low was that I didn’t factor in any extra targets. When I determined which targets I was putting on the course, I realized that I was going to be ordering one of several targets.

In the event that one of those targets would need to be replaced during the shoot, I would be in a world of trouble if I didn’t have another one in inventory. To avoid this situation, I padded my order so that I didn’t get just one of any particular target.

My grand total was $156.87, which really isn’t all that bad considering the number of targets that I purchased.

$72.05 at Nice Targets ($60.90 + $11.15 Shipping)
$84.82 at Eagle Archery ($76.32 + $8.50 Shipping)

Marketing

When it comes to marketing, I’ve never been the type of guy that is comfortable beating you over the head with advertising. I have this fear of being seen as a sleazy used-car salesman pimping out my event to anyone within earshot. Instead, I rely on word of mouth and hope that people will help me spread the word.

So far the bulk of my marketing efforts have been on Facebook. I posted an Event on the Stowe Archers Facebook Page and shared it on my personal account. A couple of members have done the same and if ‘Likes’ are any indication of interest, we’re off to a decent start.

I also set up a Facebook Ad using a free $10 coupon (I dabble in ads from time to time. I assume this is why Facebook gave me a free coupon). There isn’t much money behind the ad but it seems to be performing okay.

In addition to Facebook, we also placed notices on Archery Talk (In their Regional Shoots section) as well as Archery Events and 3D Shoots (they also do non-3D event listings). Last, an email was sent out to our mailing list as well as surrounding clubs.

I don’t know what to expect at this point but I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the series is a success and the club makes a little money.

Additional Reading

• Building an Archery Series: Modified Animal Round
• Building an Archery Series: Modified Animal Round (Rules Revision 1)
• Building an Archery Series: Estimating Costs
• Building an Archery Series: Putting it all Together