Ryan Alvino is the PGA head professional at John Prince Learning Center in Lake Worth, Fla.

Ryan Alvino on the importance of promoting your facility through web-based discount sites:
LivingSocial is a web-based company that generates coupons and discounts for a variety of activities in locations across the country. Personally, I’ve used the site to buy all kinds of things. It’s a great option for anyone who may be on the fence about trying something new, such as a restaurant. We decided to use it as a way to build revenue and increase traffic at our facility. As a stand-alone golf center in Lake Worth, Fla., it gets quiet come summertime. This past season, we decided to promote our summer Get Golf Ready group clinics through LivingSocial. We saw it as a way to boost revenues, even if that meant price reductions. Range facilities can offer anything from lessons, as we did, to month-long range passes to get new customers coming back to the facility and making auxiliary spends.

Ryan Alvino on the business impact of promoting your facility through web-based discount sites:
We offered Get Golf Ready for $49 on the site, so essentially we were only making $25 per student. We attracted 245 people at the discounted rate. And the benefit is absolutely worth the discount. This is a gateway to attract an untapped audience of non-golfers and bring them to the game. Our goal is to bring people to the facility so they can see what we offer, and then turn them into repeat customers at our three-hole practice course and range.