Recently, I was sent over a whole bunch of links to add to a tournament web site. The assumption was that a TourneyCentral site was just like any other webmaster arrangement and that the links would go somewhere and that we would also write up the summary for what all these links were, etc, etc. I sent the email back with a polite That is not the product you signed up for email.
That got me thinking.
For a period of about a year, I did some marketing for a company that developed this equine medical device for race horses. Quite a clever device, but the one BIG thing I learned was a bit about human behavior.
The odds of a horse winning a major race, like the Kentucky Derby, are so minimal that an owner may see the winner’s circle once in a lifetime. Many never do. If you are a trainer, the owner’s accountant, the marketing PR person for the horse, your chances of being in the winner’s circle are even less. Here is the part about human nature that is interesting.
Horse people CRAVE being part of the winner’s circle. It is their dream to be photographed with the wreath, the cup, sometimes the horse. When someone wins, they instantly have A LOT of friends! EVERYONE wants to be in that winner’s circle and so they all crowd in tight, sometimes to the point of obliterating part of the owner’s face. (Yeah, it happens)
Our Advice: Don’t make your web site a crowded winner’s circle. Keep in mind that it is there to help your guest teams and the pay out there will be teams that are more prepared to attend your event. Too often, the urge is to cram every last thing the club, the city, the sponsors, the this guy’s deal, the that guy’s deal is promoting that you lose site of what the web site is all about. If the teams don’t IMMEDIATELY know where to go to apply, to look up scores, to find stuff to do, your web site is missing the mark. Keep the hanger’s-on off your web site and keep your tournament event the only thing on your winner’s circle.