New Shooters

[machete]

You guys are doing the right things. Having a table at the big gun show is "marketing" to your core. Everyone that goes to the 1500 is probably already interested in firearms and probably already owns guns. In other words, they're already "shooters". Just stress "ease of entry" with existing guns and the FRIENDLY/HELPFUL ENVIRONMENT.

youre presuming a whole lot... that ive already addressed some of...

if were trying to get new sport shooters the ordinary way,,,we need to grow new shooters from the range to the sport,,,that takes time,,,and only a few make it... still,,,this way will work...

what you should also consider for the shooting sports is to market directly to the people who are hardcore competitors in other sports or activities like cave exploring or skydiving and would consider a new sport...

SASS has a lot of shooters who dont care much about guns beyond the old west stuff,,,and skeet has lots of shooters who dont own any other gun...

if its really a sporting event,,,market to athletes,,,and treat it as a sport first and shooting second,,,make it easy for them to find the info and gear...this means looking outside the gun world for new competitors,,,and it will mean shooting alongside guys who dont share your faith,,,clothes,,,diet,,,physical condition,,,trucks,,,or politics...

if you start adveritising in Mens Health,,,the wife will get to see it,,,and youll start to attract a new crowd...

be open to new sources,,,in the shooting sports,,,i often see people trying to attract clones more than they are new shooters,,,they want the sport to continue in the same way it has been,,,and they fail in trying to serve two masters... if the primary goal is new sport shooters,,,go after that goal with gusto... if the primary goal is to get a certain type of new shooter,,,well,,,your horizoons are narrower...

whatever you do,,,dont try to buffalo existing gun owners into the shooting sports,,,,as if theyre obligated to do so,,,this will only be mildly effective and will tick people off...

 

[slow1911s]

whatever you do,,,dont try to buffalo existing gun owners into the shooting sports,,,,as if theyre obligated to do so,,,this will only be mildly effective and will tick people off...

Expand on this, please.

 

[machete]

Expand on this, please.

just that,,,and it will make some maybe a lot of people withdraw from shooting altogether...

just being clear,,,advertising aint buffaloing

 

[Mike Elzinga]

most shooters are very happy just shooting,,,some would have fun in a race to knock five pop cans off a fence post against their buddy,,,far less will show up to a match... you can move some of the range shooters and pop can shooters to competition,,,but if it isnt in their nature,,,it wont stick...

If we can get shooters to try one match, I am confident it will stick. I totally agree that some people would have fun racing pop cans against their friends, but the attraction, for non "competitive" people can be seen easily. Your average match will have cool courses set up with poppers, turning targets, texas stars, clamshells, and all kinds of cool stuff people down have on their own. It is common for a USPSA club to have $10,000 worth of props, and yet for $15 you can go and use it all for a day and meet a bunch of cool people. I am certain that no one would prefer racing pop cans to shooting a field course with a bunch of cool targets if they have the opportunity to do both.

 

[machete]

If we can get shooters to try one match, I am confident it will stick.

right!!!!

how many guys have pulled this same line of thinking on girls???

I totally agree that some people would have fun racing pop cans against their friends, but the attraction, for non "competitive" people can be seen easily. Your average match will have cool courses set up with poppers, turning targets, texas stars, clamshells, and all kinds of cool stuff people down have on their own.

and if you set it up at a range and walked away,,,a lot of people would show up and use it...

It is common for a USPSA club to have $10,000 worth of props, and yet for $15 you can go and use it all for a day and meet a bunch of cool people.

you stick a stopwatch on that cool course and you take the fun out of it for a lot of people

I am certain that no one would prefer racing pop cans to shooting a field course with a bunch of cool targets if they have the opportunity to do both.

and every guy is sure that no girl would want to go out with some other dude after having spent some time with him...

we all think everyone else will act like us instead of how the other person really is...

 

[crispy]

just being clear,,,advertising aint buffaloing

Being clear?

How am I supposed to read your sentences? Is each "," a two second pause like it was in the modem dialing syntax?

I'm really tired of the six second pauses I have to take in each one of your sentences...

 

[bwframe]

...you stick a stopwatch on that cool course and you take the fun out of it for a lot of people...

I believe it's been quite a while since you have been a part of the shooting sports. Your last attempt obviously left a bad taste in your mouth, how many years ago?

You should come join us for a match soon. See what you think about things with a modern day perspective.

 

[slow1911s]

and if you set it up at a range and walked away,,,a lot of people would show up and use it...

Are you saying you'll attract new shooters if USPSA/IDPA or Steel Challenge COFs were permanent installments at ranges, those ranges would see more membership? Are these existing gun owners or new gun owners? Will they use it once and move on? Will they keep coming back to the same thing over and over again. Where does it go from there? What is your goal with doing such a thing? (hint: state your (machete's) purpose clearly, not tangled in some argument of another's idea)

you stick a stopwatch on that cool course and you take the fun out of it for a lot of people

Again, trying to read between the lines here to get to your meaning. How long do you let them play before you tell someone "Hey, when this is for real, we use a timer and keep score."? You said don't "buffalo" these people. Between this and your other comment (quoted above), I'm getting mixed signals here.

I still need to you to expand on this who "buffalo" concept. Who's trying to trick who? For what purpose? I know what buffalo means. You need to explain what you mean.

 

[mongo404]

The only thing that you can do when you talk to people is tell them your point of view. My point of veiw is that Just try it you might like it hell you might love it. What is it going to hurt. Thats all advertising is that persons point of veiw. When Im down at the 1500 thats all I can do is tell them the facts and my point of veiw. If that is soo bad well Maybe I should just pack up and quit with riverman. Maybe we can go fishing or oh yeah golfing yeah thats it.
You know Ive tried to be civil through all of this And you can ask most people I know I normally hold my tounge But man your starting to get me pi**ed off. We are going to do what we can to encourage people to come out and shoot our matches. If that bothers you so bad then quit coming back to this thread. Take your self rightous attitude and stick it. We are trying to move forward not backwards

 

[machete]

Are you saying you'll attract new shooters if USPSA/IDPA or Steel Challenge COFs were permanent installments at ranges, those ranges would see more membership?

shooters would LOVE to play in those things without any pressure...

Are these existing gun owners or new gun owners?

hard to say,,,I suspect both,,,has it been tried???

Will they use it once and move on? Will they keep coming back to the same thing over and over again.

no,,,most will probably come out and enjoy it repeatedly...theyll probably bring their friends...it will be like the movies... youll have to develop protocol to ensure everyone one at a times it...

id probably play with it....every time i came out,,, i might get the bug,,,never know

Where does it go from there? What is your goal with doing such a thing?

introduce them to it,,,warm them up to it,,,get them talking about it,,,get them thinking about it...

Again, trying to read between the lines here to get to your meaning. How long do you let them play before you tell someone "Hey, when this is for real, we use a timer and keep score."?

never say ---for real--- just say you hold timed events there,,,if you say anything at all,,,people get the idea...

You said don't "buffalo" these people. Between this and your other comment (quoted above), I'm getting mixed signals here.

i dont see the mixed signal...

I still need to you to expand on this who "buffalo" concept. Who's trying to trick who? For what purpose? I know what buffalo means. You need to explain what you mean.

buffalo aint tricking,,,its pressuring

unless you know your customer,,,just lay the event out there nice and easy,,,dont press,,,thats all

if you know a guy is a hardcore competitor in another sport,,,thats the guy you get aggressive with...

 

[machete]

We are going to do what we can to encourage people to come out and shoot our matches.

yeah,,,thats the bad attitude thats ticking me off...

you act like youre talking about the SHOOTING SPORTS,,,when youre really only talking about YOUR shooting sport,,,and you dont have a clue about the traditional shooting sports...but you talk anyway...

you need to get behind ALL the shooting sports,,,not just yours...if you want to get any credibility...

 

[Josh Ward]

Why don't you answers BWFrame's question their pardner???

You'd make a damn fine politicain with all your vague talk and double speak.....

You said a while ago you didn't want to come back to this thread.....so don't. Go back to the politics forum where you can argue and be an ass.

 

[mongo404]

Man you are so off base in some of your comments. That is what this is all about. If you want to promote your side of it then be my guest. Just dont down play ours (ACTION PISTOL) I would never go into a thread and bash peoples Ideas the way youve been doing here. There is nothing wrong with wanting my side of the shooting sports to grow. I dont want any of the shooting sports to fail!!!!! But I am going to give the most of my support to the one that I compete in. You tell me is there something wrong with that? I dont know about you but when I joined the NRA and send them money every month to promote and defend our 2nd Amendment rights I thought I was getting behind all the sports. You act like the only one out there is high power.

 

[downrange72]

My Wheaties smell like ammonia and are real salty right now. To heck with it, I'm eating them anyway.

I would bet that 20 pages of this post have useful ideas on attracting new shooters. The other 10 pages aren't beneficial to anyone and probably ruined the other 20 pages of decent information.

Fine, most of us here are USPSA, IDPA, SSCA, 3 gun, and multi gun shooters. Perhaps we did focus too much on these sports under the "new shooters" banner or we should have names it "Attracting New Shooters to Action Sports." I can tell you this, I have never went into someone elses thread, not having shot that sport, and tried to tear it apart.

If you want to attract new shooters to your sport, then start a thread. I won't go in and bash your efforts.

I've never shot Highpower. Therefore, I cannot comment on any references made to that sport. However, I have shot Steel and USPSA. I started with a $300 gun and $40 in mag pouches. Our sport is as expensive as you make it. Divisions are set up so similar guns can compete.

Competition is what you make of it. I personally compete against myself and I don't worry too much about what others are doing. The main thing, is I am improving my gun handling skills and having boatloads of fun. I know the others that have shot with me will agree with that statement. I do shoot with some individuals that they think winning is the only thing. That is absolutely 100% fine. The consensus is, at the end of the match, we all had fun. Often, this leads to a large group of us going out to dinner. This group includes the "old" guard, the "next' guard, and the "new" guard." The point is, we all get along, we all had fun and we all eat a lot (endless shrimp, need I say more). Our group doesn't argue, b*tch, moan, whine, and complain about the injustices in our sport. The conversation is always about growing it.

That is where we (USPSA, IDPA, FNS and SSC) are at. Maybe we focused too much of the attention to USPSA, IDPA, and SSC and excluded other sports? Fine, we should have narrowed our scope or named the thread something different. But if you go back and look at those that responded, a large majority of the respondents shoot these sports. So please, quit p*ssing in our wheaties and I won't p*ss in yours.

 

[HICKMAN]

 

[Josh Ward]

Whoa, endless shrimp??? WTF?? Where???

 

[downrange72]

Whoa, endless shrimp??? WTF?? Where???

Red Lobster... after all the expenses of the day, yes, we can still afford it.

 

[Coach]

Endless shrimp but I do Light beer to make up for it.

 

[slow1911s]

buffalo aint tricking,,,its pressuring

Ahem (reconsider your word choice)

[edit]Verb
to buffalo (third-person singular simple present buffaloes, present participle buffaloing, simple past and past participle buffaloed)
(transitive) To hunt buffalo.
(US, slang, transitive) To outwit, confuse, deceive, or intimidate.
(archaic, transitive) To pistol-whip.

Machete - it's time to agree to disagree. You have your own ideas about attractng new shooters. And, that's great. There are a lot of other ideas with a ton of buy-in that have not only a lot of merit, but a lot of promise, too. This isn't an all-or-nothing proposition. There are a lot of a-ways and not single the-way to address this issue.

 

[machete]

I would never go into a thread and bash peoples Ideas the way youve been doing here.

and thats why american corporations are dying...people in america are afraid to speak the truth,,,instead,,,they are pressured to go along with a group,,,thats usually wrong...and acts based on what the group wants,,,instead of what the business need is...

yall are trying to sell without knowing the first thing about sales,,,

yall agreeing with yourselves isnt much of a marketing plan

There are a lot of other ideas with a ton of buy-in that have not only a lot of merit, but a lot of promise, too.

...to you,,,well see,,,

ps,,,your definition contains intimidate,,,