Increase your Business by Building Your Brand!

The word "brand" can take on a variety of meanings. The true definition is the feelings and thoughts a customer has about your business. Your services, amenities, and customer's overall experience all encapsulate your brand. Your goal is to be the premier golf club that evokes status and prestige when your members enter your gate! Ask yourself if you're meeting that goal. What is the brand message you are currently sending members and how can you improve? Creating a brand building experience is easy when you pay attention to the details!

Make members feel welcome and proud to show off their membership status with personalized membership cards. Examples include offering different levels of membership from bronze - silver - gold. Use these membership cards throughout your club to track various service usage or for security purposes.

Another successful way to brand your business is by offering the gift of your services. One of the hottest retail items are plastic gift cards. Create your exclusive gift card and offer them in your retail store or club check in areas. Both of these card products create a feeling of exclusivity and prestige that can become affiliated with your business brand.

Increase the perceived value of your retail products by upgrading your club store packaging. Personalize your bags by imprinting your club logo on every package that leaves your business. You'll receive additional advertising as your bag billboard travels from your store. Wrap goods in your custom printed tissue paper which also reinforces the feeling of luxury and your brand.

Provide in-store packaging services with boxes, bags, tissue, and gift card holders to become a one-stop shop for members' gift giving needs. When hosting a special event, offer guests printed goodie bags advertising your business and cause. Printed Gable boxes are also another successful brand builder used for lunches or snacks for those charity golf matches. The details do matter when it comes to brand image. Take some tips from the experts and make each member contact reflect your brand.

Building your brand with personalized products can be a headache - but not anymore. Action Bag is proud to partner with VGM Club to offer retail packaging and membership/gift cards which are ideal for increasing your brand awareness. Action Bag's industry experts and in-house design services guide you through the process. This unbeatable program takes away those extra fees to make having your own personalized look cost effective and easy.

Your exclusive benefits include:

• Free imprint plate
• Free Art Service
• End Column Pricing on Stock Items & Hot Stamp Imprints (the lowest price no matter the quantity!)
• 10% off any custom item

Request your FREE member benefit kit so you can capitalize off these brand building tips and start growing your business today!

Contact your VGM Club dedicated representative:
Joe Miedzianowski
Phone: 866.349.8852
Email: jmiedzianowski@actionbag.com
Web: www.actionbag.com

John Deere Golf Provides Efficiencies Across the Course

Golf courses nationwide are focusing more and more on smart grounds maintenance and getting the most value from both equipment and staffing. Now more than ever it's critical for superintendents and maintenance professionals to have the most technologically-advanced equipment to create best-in-class playing surfaces...and work most efficiently.

Understanding time is money and knowing superintendents need efficient equipment to help get the job done, John Deere Golf introduced its Quick Adjust Cutting Units in 2009. The cutting units - available on all reel mowers - feature the patented Speed Link Height of Cut system that allows the course technician to instantly adjust cutting unit heights in a few seconds from either side of the cutting unit. Available in reel diameters of 5" and 7", the cutting units will save technicians time and labor.

"At John Deere Golf we create products that meet the needs of superintendents all over the world," explained Mike Koppen, group marketing manager, John Deere Golf. "The Quick Adjust Cutting Units save time and labor - helping the course crew be more efficient daily and course management run a better course overall.

The cutting units offer innovation in the form of a patented Speed Link system that connects both sides of the worm gear driven height of cut adjuster located on each side of the roller housings. The worm gears allow technicians to use a cordless drill that enable exponentially faster adjustment than previously possible, and ensure the critical perfect adjustment remains in place.

"We understand that superintendents and their crews are constantly moving from task to task on the course, and a variety of obstacles can reveal themselves at any moment," said Koppen. "That said, technologically advanced and sound equipment like the Quick Adjust Cutting Units function as a reliable solution in an unpredictable environment."

John Deere Golf serves as an industry solutions provider for superintendents by providing a robust offering of equipment and services for support on a daily basis. From hybrid equipment to advancements in agronomics to the Quick Adjust Cutting Units, John Deere Golf offers cutting edge products that professionals can rely on.

To discuss any of these products or for details on the credit rebates available to VGM Club members on select items and equipment, call Chris Kehe at 800-363-5480.

Masland's Carpets Have You Covered

Masland Contract has partnered with VGM Club to develop a portfolio of carpeting options designed to give members the opportunity to create a clubhouse environment appropriate for both your brand and for your customers.

Masland Contract believes that truly exclusive design begins with products that accommodate the structural and performance needs of the end-user, but also are visually and texturally intriguing. With more than a century of experience of continuing to break new ground in the way of design and manufacturing methods, Masland Contract remains a leader in the floorcovering industry.

Masland offers VGM Club members a 25% discount on all running line products, ensuring competitive pricing without sacrificing aesthesis and durability. Masland's product line is designed to suit the needs of your clubhouse, with styles ranging from traditional to new age, large scale to small, all offered in color options that easily coordinate with the existing décor.

For design specific projects, Masland offers custom options for as little as 500 yards. The custom program allows you endless opportunities to design carpet that promotes the club brand and complements the architectural elements of finishes for pro shops, banquet rooms, tennis shops, as well as back of the house. Masland products are engineered to withstand the rigors of heavy foot traffic and repeated cleaning, resulting in retention of their original appearance and minimizing the need for premature placement.

Masland is committed to eco-friendly initiatives on all levels. Their status as an industry leader means going beyond simply meeting preset environmental standards. It means embracing new ideas and technologies concerning sustainable issues, and then following through with them in everything they do, in order to create a better world for future generations.

Before ordering through an interior designer or general contractor, be sure to notify VGM Club to get your discount. For additional details, contact Wells Brenner at 832-617-8297.

Exciting NEW Products to Help You Manage Your Water Features

VGM Club recently partnered with Outdoor Water Solutions, an innovative company focused on improving the quality of water in your ponds and lakes.

If you're looking for a way to improve the health of your pond or lake, get rid of pond algae, bacteria and odor, or just want to have a pond that is clean and clear, Outdoor Water Solutions has the answer for you. Their pond aerators (both electric and wind) provide exceptional bottom diffused pond aeration for pond algae control.

As part of their mission, Outdoor Water Solutions worked with a team of engineers to develop a patent-pending new technology for wind powered aeration. Systems contain their new "BalCam" technology that has revolutionized the industry by significantly increasing the amount of air produced with a single diaphragm utilizing our new balanced camshaft system. This is a low maintenance, low annual cost way to keep your ponds clean.

Benefits of the Systems:

• Designed to aerate ponds from 1/8 of an acre up to 3+ acres
• Can support multiple diffusers
• Wind operated - saving you $30-$50 a month in electricity costs
• Aeration can also save you thousands of dollars a year in chemical costs
• Systems have a 15-20 + year life span
• 5 year compressor warranty
• Can also be combined with an electric aerator with the new Aerator Control Box
• Option to custom powder coating and your logo on the tailfins
• 10% off for all VGM Club members!

Outdoor Water Solutions also carries a full line of all natural pond products including pond dyes, concentrated bacteria, clarifiers and fountains. Why keep spending money on applying chemicals every 3-4 weeks when you can take advantage of wind energy to keep your water features and irrigation ponds clean year around?

For additional information, contact George Moss 866-471-1614 or gmoss@outdoorwatersolutions.com