yoga12587

In ireland golf courses abound, both links and parklands varieties, about 410 in total, and this is a good number compared to the population of almost 6 million (4 million people in the Republic of ireland, and 1.8 million in Northern Ireland). Ireland is one of the world's great venues for a dream golfing holiday.

Links golf courses are usually found around the coastline where they've been scratched out of the abundant sand dunes, where the wind often challenges players, especially on the west atlantic coast side of the island. Their designers have also used the proximity of water to make the game on these courses more interesting. One of the most famous links courses is the Ballybunion old Course, whose contures and sea breazes challenge every player.

Parkland golf courses are mainly inland amongst the naturally hilly landscape where woodlands provide tree-lined fairways, which are used to advantage by their designers to test the competence of even the best of the pros. A notable parkland's course is the K Club just outside Dublin, which has been chosen to hold the Ryder Cup in September 2006. The Slieve Russell course in the Irish midlands is also another fine example.

seven of ireland golf courses are included in a list of the best 100 golf courses worldwide (Golf Digest)

They are:

In Northern ireland: royal Portrush Golf Club (Dunluce) and the royal county Down.

In the Irish Republic: the "old" club of Ballybunion (in the 1st ten world ranking), Lahinch, Portmarnock, The European Club and Waterville.

golf high season: June, July, August.

golf mid season: May, September, October.

golf low season: November through to April.

Book tee times well in advance of your vacation. About 20% of ireland golf courses have their own website on which you can make a booking. Visit the author's website to see a list of them.

Take care of how you dress. You may have difficulty at some venues if you do not take notice of the following advice regarding clothing. Wear proper shirts with sleeves and collars, golf shoes and sports socks, trousers or smart, tailored shorts. Clothes NOT TO WEAR include - denims, short shorts, trainer shoes or runners, track suits, sweaters without shirts, clothing with slogans.

Always be at the course well before your tee time. Most courses allow spikes - some encourage their use in wet weather. Many links courses do not allow motorised golf buggies because of the hilly terrain.

Take your handicap certificate with you as many golf courses will insist on visualising it. The handicap limit will usually be 28 for men, and 36 for women.

If you are taking your own golf clubs with you, you'll need to acquire a very strong golf bag to protect them during manhandling by luggage personnel. Some find an easier solution is to hire golfing equipment in ireland, in which case this should be done at the earliest time, when booking tee times.

You'll find a friendly welcome not only from the Irish golfing community, but also from the population in general. ireland has now become a very popular venue for a stimulating golfing vacation.

(Ron Mills is an amateur providing information on his Ireland Golf Vacation website, endeavouring to raise funds for TEAR Fund, a worldwide relief agency.)

Your Unique Selling Proposition, or the USP, is the core of your marketing strategy and should be the starting point for building your multi-million dollar empire. Successful marketing requires that a business must have a competitive advantage, something that sets it apart. Your USP sets you apart from your competition and makes you unique. If you can't differentiate yourself from your competition, one of you is unnecessary!

Rosser Reeves tells us that consumers will typically only remember one strong claim or concept from an advertisement. This is why it is so critical that you promote your uniqueness to stand out from all of the clutter bombarding your prospects every day.

Your Unique Selling Proposition Must Answer These two Questions

1. Why do people buy from you?
2. If they aren't buying from you, why should they?

Your USP Also Must

1. Differentiate you from any and all competition
2. Emphasize a desirable and positive customer benefit
3. Be easily understood
4. Be used repetitively in your marketing efforts and become ingrained in your company's culture. From the CEO to the receptionist to the delivery drive or cashier, all staff must be on board.
5. Create an Immediate Emotional Connection that makes people want to do business with you - IMMEDIATELY!
6. Elicit the response from the prospect, "Whoa!! How do you do that?"

Is a USP a mission Statement?

A USP is NOT a mission statement. When you get right down to it, customers and prospects really don't care about your mission statement, how many years you have been in business or that you just built a new building. They care about what your product or service will do for them. They care about what problem will it solve for them or what need will it fill. Take a moment to think about FedEx. Do you care it is their mission to be the number one overnight carrier in the country or do you care that they won't lose your package and that it gets there the next day?

When you have a powerful Unique Selling Proposition, creating a compelling marketing message to use in your advertising, direct mail and other marketing tactics becomes a breeze. If you don't, marketing your product or service becomes very difficult and you will be condemned to forever trying to figure out why customers aren't beating a path to your door.

The Four Steps to Determining Your USP

1. Conduct a focus group meeting with the company executives and the staff (Tip If you are the owner of your own company, ask yourself why you started your company. Your passion in your answer will often often reveal your USP.)
2. Survey your customers, both past and present and ask them why they do business with you and what they think makes you different from your competition. Ask them why they continue to do business with you and if they would recommend you to their friends and associates.
3. Survey your competitors. Determine what you are doing differently and better than they are doing. Use the Web, Yellow Pages, phone calls or personal visits to their businesses.
4. Write it up. Ideally, it will be 90 words or less. Avoid the temptation to try to create a slogan or a catchy phrase. You will eventually be able to do so but remember that this is a process of describing what makes you unique, not creating an ad. After you've defined your uniqueness, creating the slogan or "elevator speech" will be much easier.

   Your USP must tell your audience what you do for them, not just what you do. What is the killer benefit they get from doing business with you? What problem are you solving for them. Look at your USP. How many times do the words "We" or "I" appear? Where can you remove those words and replace them with "YOU"? Remember, you are telling your prospect what you do for them, not what you do.

When creating your Unique Selling Proposition, your first tendency will probably be to say something like We have the best service, quality, price, staff, etc. You must be more specific because your competition is saying the same thing. In addition, consumers are expecting service and quality. If you don't offer good service, then you will lose customers and sales.

What exactly makes your service the best? Why do you have the best quality? Why do you have the best staff? Is it something that your customers and prospects will notice? Is it so noticeable that they will talk to others about it?

If you've shipped a package via FedEx, I venture a guess that you have a feeling of confidence when you see the driver leave with your package that absolutely, positively has to be there overnight. That is one of the most recognized USPs in the United States. Note that they also deliver on the promise, which is critical to sustained growth and profits.

Almost anybody who has visited Walt disney world or other Disney theme parks inevitably notice how sparkling clean the parks are. It is a challenge to even find a light bulb that is burned out! The cleanliness is no accident. It is part of the disney aura, the disney marketing magic and the disney USP.

disney knows that when you go home, you will tell friends and relatives about the cleanliness. Clean = hygienic, clean = safe, clean = safe attractions. They all result in strengthening the message that Disney is a great place to take your family!

Next Step - Integrate the USP

After you've created your powerful Unique Selling Proposition, your next step is to integrate it into your organization. After all, if your customers, prospects and staff don't know why you are so great and unique, it won't do you much good. It is your job to tell them, not their job to find out!

A major mistake companies make with their USP is that they don't t live up to it. It's critical that you do a thorough review of your operations to insure that you can honestly live up to your USP. If you guarantee a level of customer service and it takes you three days to return a phone call or your front line staff ignores a customer when they visit your store, then your USP is nothing more than an empty phrase.

When you speak to clients, tell them what makes you so great and say it with a passion! Constantly remind them about why they chose to do business with you. Reaffirm their great decision to do business with you over your competition. Don't assume that they will remember.

Consumers are being barraged with an ever-increasing number of advertising and media messages. Due to this barrage, the human mind defends itself by ignoring the messages. Use your USP to break through these defenses and become the obvious choice for your product or service in your market. Be bold and above all, BE UNIQUE!

Paul Flood Marketing helps small businesses who are struggling to increase their sales. I implement a powerful "Hidden Marketing Assets" system guaranteed to increase sales and profits by 25% or more in as little as 90 days or less, without spending more money on advertising. If you are ready to literally explode your sales visit http://www.paulfloodmarketing.com