April 14, 2025 • 31 mins
Joe Smith Is Back And He’s Still Setting the Bar for Club Communication
Joe’s not just a friend of the show he’s one of the most forward-thinking GMs out there when it comes to content, connection, and culture.
In this episode, Joe Smith of Countryside Golf & Country Club joins us again to share how his weekly club update videos have become more than just informative they’ve become a part of the club’s identity.
What started as a workaround to a $10K drone quote has evolved into a creative engine that entertains, informs, and brings the whole community closer together.
We talk about:
- Why consistency matters more than polish
- How Joe’s Monday videos are helping him manage the rumor mill better than ever
- The behind-the-scenes process (and why it only takes about 3 hours a week)
- “One-bite reviews,” board member spotlights, and other fun formats that get members talking
- How this approach strengthens off-season engagement and boosts staff morale
- And what’s next: a club podcast that blends connection, marketing, and creativity
This episode is part case study, part playbook, and part reminder that a little personality goes a long way.
If you're looking to rethink your club's communication strategy—or just need a spark to try something new—this one’s worth your time.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey everybody, welcome to the Private Club
Radio Show, where we give youthe scoop on all things private
golf and country clubs Frommastering leadership and
management, food and beverageexcellence, member engagement
secrets, board governance andeverything in between, all while
keeping it fun and light.
Whether you're a club veteranjust getting your feet wet or
somewhere in the middle, you arein the right place.
(00:20):
I'm your host, denny Corby.
Welcome to the show In thisepisode.
Back on the show today, I havesomeone who I truly admire and
am happy to call a friend, joeSmith.
Josiah Smith of Countryside Golfand Country Club in Florida.
He's been on the show before.
We talked about leadership andother things, but today we're
(00:43):
talking about content.
If you follow him on LinkedIn,he is constantly putting up
videos and he has done such aphenomenal job at making
creative, consistent andenjoyable content that actually
connects his members in a realway, and that's what we're
talking about today is how hemakes the videos, why he makes
(01:04):
the videos and what that isdoing for his club, for his
membership, for the community,because it's more than just
putting out videos.
There's so much more to it.
We talk about how these videosbecame part of the club's
identity a bit and how thesevideos also help kind of control
the narrative.
The narrative and it beats, youknow, reacting to the rumor
(01:25):
mill which sometimes happens inclubs and when you're putting
out this content and putting outthese things, he's getting the
members involved, getting thestaff involved and the staff get
to relate more with the members.
The members get to learn moreabout the staff because the
staff are on video and they'reshowing their personalities and
it's just so cool and so neat tosee how this is all bringing
(01:46):
everybody so close together.
I am so excited he's on heretalking about content marketing
a bit and excited for you guysto get some takeaways.
And before you get taken away tothe episode, I just want to
give a quick shout out, quickthank you to some of our show
partners, the people who helpmake this show possible.
We have Members First, clubCapital Group, kenneth's Member
(02:08):
Vetting Golf Life Navigators,concert Golf Partners, as well
as myself.
The Denny Corby Experiencethere's excitement, there's
mystery.
Also there's magic, mindreading, comedy, crowd work, so
many laughs, so little time.
One of the most fun memberevent nights you will do,
guaranteed.
If you want to learn more, headon over to DannyCorbycom.
(02:28):
But enough about that let'swelcome back to the show, joe
Smith, because you're reallygood at putting out content
about your club.
Those update videos are reallycool and very well done.
And where did that even comefrom?
Because I think so many clubsdon't even really give good
updates or they're just likeit's going along and like here's
a photo, and you do a reallygood job at getting that message
(02:54):
across and showing what's goingon.
And those weekly update videoseven if it's not because I think
it's all of them like partupdates and just like what's
going on Like it's just kind oflike hey, here's a week in recap
.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Yep, it all depends on what's going on, what's
coming up and what we just camethrough.
No, I started that stuff at aclub years ago that we were
going through bankruptcy and Ihad to rebuild the golf course
(03:28):
and the contractor was like, hey, we can do drone photos for you
.
It's 10 grand.
And I was frugal and I'm likeI'm not spending 10 grand, I'm
gonna go buy a drone.
So I started doing drone.
This was like in 20, it had tobe at least 10 years ago and I
just had.
(03:49):
I had fun figuring out like thevideo stuff and editing it and
pulling it together and sendingit out to the members.
So that's how it started withme.
And so, to answer your question, it's kind of a hybrid here
because we just do things kindof not on the fly our event
(04:11):
flyers, calendars, all of that.
She's also a designer so shecan design all kinds of
(04:32):
marketing material.
And then I started doing thevideo stuff and I edit all those
and that's kind of been mycreative outlet, because I
really enjoy capturing thecontent, adding it all together,
getting it to the finishedproduct.
(04:52):
And then we just enlisted thehelp and enthusiasm of one of
our just most charismatic foodand beverage employee, one of
our servers, who has been doingall of our shorts, so she
(05:13):
captures.
I just I gave her free range.
Her name's Fur, like Fur.
You just go capture thelifestyle and here's the sign-in
to our Instagram and Facebookand YouTube and you just make
shorts all day long and postthem and send them out at your
(05:37):
little heart's content.
So we were doing all this videostuff sporadically over the last
seven years and then, I guess ayear and a half ago, we
committed to you know, when wemoved into the temporary
facilities we started renovation.
I was like that's it, once aweek, like every Monday, we're
(06:01):
doing a club update and everyother Friday we're doing an
update on the constructionproject, and it's a lot of work.
But I'll tell you, man, ourmembers, they started treating
it like a TV show.
They know, every Monday at 7 am, our video, our weekly update,
(06:22):
gets uploaded.
Our video, our weekly update,gets gets uploaded and, like
they look forward to seeingwhich members going to be on
camera.
What we're talking about, ifthey got, you know, captured on
video at event last week, or Imean it's really, it's really
been a really neat thing.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
And you get some good views Like I, cause like I've
been watching them too.
And and you get some good viewslike I because like I've been
watching them too, and like youget because you've all like a
lot of clubs have have youtubechannels but a lot of them have
no one watches anything and youget like thousands of views.
Maybe I think some get like acouple thousand like you get at
least like about like 500 to athousand views, which is, yeah,
pretty good engagement for aclub.
(07:03):
I mean because it's not likeyou're trying to go viral, it's
just about putting it out forthe members and stuff.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
So I mean those are good numbers, yeah, yeah.
And the only reason I share it,like on LinkedIn, is just
simply as a best practice, justso other clubs can see that I
think there's a market here.
You know Ben Lorenzo, ben, hedoes an incredible job with the
(07:30):
marketing and the video stufftoo, and he and I have kind of
bounced some ideas.
He was doing more short formstuff and I talked to him like
last summer and I was like Iwant to get more into the shorts
.
So I think you have to haveboth pieces.
And I think the other thing thatI've found is it needs to be
(07:51):
consistent.
You know if you can get intothe routine of you know hitting
it.
You know again, we do it everyweek, but even if it's twice a
month and your members can counton getting something from the
club.
At the same time, you knowfairly regular basis.
That's where you build themomentum.
(08:12):
And you know, with us we'rehighly seasonal and I hear a lot
from our members who go backhome in the summertime and
they're like, oh, it feels likewe never left, it feels like
we're still part of the club.
So that's cool, it's beenreally cool.
It's been really cool.
It's a lot of effort, but I'lltell you, man, of all the things
(08:34):
I've put a lot of effort intothis one.
This initiative is I can'tquantify what it's what it's
paying us back other than we are, and I think any other general
manager or club manager wouldappreciate this.
I feel for the first time in my20 year career that I have some
(08:54):
control of the rumor mill.
Because of how, how often andhow well we're communicating and
you know people are moreinclined to watch or listen than
they are to read, more inclinedto watch or listen than they
(09:14):
are to read.
So trying to address stuff in aweekly club memo or something
you know written format which Istill do occasionally, but when
it comes across from me or oneof my team members on video it's
I mean, I have members.
You know someone will hear arumor about whatever the project
or completion date, and they'relike no, here's the video,
here's the YouTube.
(09:35):
Watch this.
These are the facts.
So that in itself has just beenincredible for us.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
I didn't even think about that.
That's awesome and as well.
If something happens, if you'regone, people have those shoes
to fill, and if the membersstill don't get that.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
there's going to be an outrage.
Yeah, you know it's funny.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
I've thought about that.
It's job security Just doing it.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
I've thought about that, though, because you know
it's no, no, you know peoplemove on.
You know, and and I, at somepoint I need to get it to a
point where it can be sustained.
Or or, you know, for example,last week, being at conference,
I filmed.
So we film every friday formonday, while I was gone on
(10:26):
friday, so I filmed the videothat went out today, like last
Tuesday.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
And the members knew.
Friday was filming, it wascloudy.
It wasn't cloudy on Friday.
This guy's a sham right now.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
So you've got to think about stuff like that, and
I think that's a good lessontoo.
Is just anything impactful likethat?
It needs to be sustainable,because you are actually
building it into the culture andexpectation of your club.
We use our YouTube page tomarket the club.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
Well, whether you do it or or do it for that reason
or not, I mean people are goingto look, like people are going
to see, and when you see thatthere's consistent content, I
mean that's so.
So how long does it really so,realistically, from how long
does each video take?
(11:20):
And I know you actually do yourvideos and you enjoy editing
them and doing them.
Uh, so, like you know that thatnumber might be, you know,
different, for you know theediting part, but like, how long
, realistically, does a videotake you to, you know, maybe,
and this is from, and if you canbreak it down, from like idea,
even though it's not idea,because you know kind of what
you're gonna talk, but from likeidea to you know you know
(11:42):
scheduling it to, to go out, howlong does it take in like?
Speaker 2 (11:46):
each part.
So we have a at our weeklystaff meeting.
I have the department heads.
I ask that they bring ideas tothe staff meeting for to
highlight their area, and Mary,our communications director,
keeps all of those on a video.
Marketing schedule, rightCalendar.
(12:08):
Marketing schedule rightCalendar.
Some weeks there's nothing fromgolf or there's nothing from
you know golf maintenance or youknow.
So that kind of is is sporadic.
The filming, the coordinationfilming probably takes an hour
in total by the time we, youknow, depending on what we're
(12:28):
filming and you know how manypeople and if there's menu items
that we're going to talk aboutor whatnot, it's really the
editing that is most timeconsuming.
Oh yeah, it really depends onhow much.
I mean, I can bang out a videoin an hour and a half, like
(12:48):
today's video, think I.
I edited it during conference.
I think I spent about an hourand a half on it.
Not too bad.
There's other videos that aremore extensive that you know
have taken, you know, a couplehours to edit, three, four hours
to edit sometimes, but that'sfeeding a creek creative thing
(13:10):
for me.
So I really I personally enjoydoing that, but I think on
average, like start to finish,it's probably three hours worth
of your time.
That's not bad.
I mean there's a learning curvewith you know, because I use
Final Cut, yep, which is a Macprogram, and there's a a
(13:31):
learning curve, but you can'tscrew it up you know, yeah, well
, I mean you can, but you, canyou?
Speaker 1 (13:38):
just don't want to send it.
Yeah, uh, and you do some funstuff in it, like you know.
Uh, the the one bite reviewswhere you have is it is it is
that your is that the chef forfood and beverage, and then then
you have a member also and youjust try the food and you and
you review it, kind of like the.
You know one bite everyoneknows the pizza pizza review,
(13:59):
dave Port.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
That's exactly where it came from.
We so we've been.
We change our menu once a monthbecause we're in temporary
facilities.
That'll stop when we get backinto the club.
But you know, I told the F&Bteam like small, efficient menu,
we've got like 10 or 12 items,but let's just switch it up
monthly.
So we started doing thatsegment with staff.
(14:23):
First, you know, like I pulledmy golf pro or I pulled one of
the servers, like let's reviewthis new menu item.
And then we started havingmembers ask can I come on?
And I was like all about thatand I'll tell you, man, when you
walk through some of the bigevents now, like I will have
members stop me and do like alive, one-byte review, like on
(14:44):
the menu that night.
It'll be like this was a 7.8.
So you know, that alone ispretty cool.
And what I'm starting to see nowis our members.
Look, members and employees areyour biggest marketing outlet,
like they're the ones who, whospread the word of mouth.
(15:05):
So my, my, every employee thatworks here is on our club emails
.
So they get every email thatthe members get and they are
encouraged to forward them.
And our members do the samething.
So our members will forward thevideos to their friends up
North or their friends, you know, at another club locally, and
(15:27):
they'll be like, hey, look atwhat countryside is doing, look
at what my club's doing.
Another club locally andthey'll be like, hey, look at
what countryside is doing, lookat what my club's doing.
Um, so everything on ourYouTube page is public and you
know, a lot of times when wehave questions from you know
realtors or or you knowprospective members, they'll ask
you know what it's like livinghere?
Speaker 1 (15:46):
And I just I'm like, go to the YouTube page, you can
see what our lifestyle lifestyleis like I mean even the one
video I just saw, I don't knowwhich, which one, how long ago
it was.
Uh, because now that I've beenwatching them, now it's like I
see a video, I'm like, oh, a newone.
Then it's like, oh, four weeksago, I don't want to watch this,
but but I was, I was uh, someof them came up and it was like
your new logo and I forget whoit was talking about it, but it
(16:08):
was, yeah, he was talking.
And then you had a picture of,like you know, the printed out,
which, which made me crack me up.
Like the four, it's like thefour different ones, and it's
like you were just talking aboutthe progression and why you
chose it and like all thedifferent things about it.
And, just like you said it, itit stops the rumor mill or at
least gives people cause you'reright, a lot gives people
because you're right, a lot ofpeople don't, you know, always
(16:29):
want to read or whatever.
But it gives them that like, oh, the thought press behind it
though, the why.
It's like, why do they do that?
And then, when you hear theexplanation, you're like that
makes sense, like so, at least.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Yeah it puts.
It's helped put some bookendson the rumor mill.
You're never going to controlit, but I'm honest, in the 20
some years that I've been doingthis is the first time where I'm
like I got, I feel, pretty goodhandle on on that aspect, and
particularly in communities likeours where you know there's a
(16:59):
real estate component.
You know our members live here.
Yeah, that rumor mill is likecrazy sometimes, yeah, yeah.
So, yeah, it's, it's beenawesome and we're.
You know we have fun with themtoo.
You know we try and drop somehumor into them and we try and
keep them light.
And you know I've done somevideo communications, like
(17:23):
approaching storms, likehurricanes, or I was doing video
communications during COVID.
Yeah, you know, just like me inmy office with a camera just
explaining here's what we'redoing, here's the new mandate,
here's, you know, just honestly,it sounds cheesy but like
treating it like a TV show.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
And it's, I mean, it's been fun, Well and and, but
the thing is you have a facefor radio, so that really.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, thank you.
Can you, can you only post theaudio version of this, this
interview?
Speaker 1 (18:06):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
Okay, I don't, I don't, I want to.
I want to maintain my face forradio.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
I was going to blur you out the whole time.
That's funny.
So do you have any people whodon't like the videos?
Speaker 2 (18:23):
or have you ever had?
Speaker 1 (18:24):
people just be like meh, we don't need this of
course, of course you will.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
You know anything?
Look, there's always thatmember bell curve right, there's
80 in the center, there'sthere's 10 here and 10 there,
and we got to focus on the 80.
You know, sometimes I know thatI am not for everyone.
I know that certain initiativesor you know some members are
like this is, this is cheesy,like this is.
(18:51):
Well, you know what it's, it'sworking and we're having fun and
majority of the community lovesit, so we're going to keep
doing it, and that's just howyou got to approach those things
yeah, yeah I.
I got, I got stopped a lot atconference just asking about
(19:12):
same thing.
You're asking me like how do,how do you do it?
You know, one club manager waswas actually she was a she's a
membership and and marketingmanager.
She was asking about you knowour videos and and how we get
buy-in from staff and otheremployees to be part of it.
(19:33):
And I said, look, in myexperiences, like I've been the
champion of it, so the buy-in isthere.
Right, I've been the face, I'mthe general manager, so it's
easy for me to go ask people tobe a part of it if I'm also a
part of it.
But I said to her I'm'm likeyou just just start and trust me
(19:56):
.
You, the people who are excitedabout it will will be obvious
and just partner with them andjust you know, just got to do it
, you just got to do it, it'll,it'll unfold.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
I was talking to somebody at conference.
They're like how, because theywant to do like a podcast for
their club, which I think is afantastic idea for clubs to do
it, because I think there's somany, I think there's so much.
Maybe it's part you there wasdefinitely a few conversations,
but I think it was you, I wastalking about it as well uh was,
I think there's so muchopportunity from an internal
club communication standpoint,but, but also from a, a
(20:34):
marketing and getting potentialmember standpoint.
Uh, oh yeah, yeah, it was.
Uh, it was right outside of theone restaurant.
It was, um, because I thinkthere's you could do episodes,
you know, just talking to themembers and doing that sort of
stuff you can, and then havinglike, the oldest member in the
club talk to the youngest memberand it's like what are those
conversations Like?
I don't know.
I think there's likeinteresting stuff to do, but
(20:56):
then also from like because Ilove business and sales and I
think there's when you couldhave a more public facing one.
So if you do one or two, itdoesn't matter, but if you have
one that anybody can listen toand you invite outside people
onto the show now you can pickyour guests and your guests
(21:16):
could be potential members.
So if you're strategic about itand it's like, hey, you know,
maybe it's more of like abusinessy podcast where it's
business related or like ahigher level sort of thing, and
you invite people from thecommunity who aren't members but
may run a business or whatever,onto the show and maybe you
record it in the club and youinvite them in for hey come, hey
come in and record and you knowwe, we give you a class, you
know whatever you come, we eat,and then we, you know whatever
(21:40):
it is, but it's like, get themin the door I don't know.
I think there's so muchopportunity there and it's, and
it's a it's video or podcastingor whatnot.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
It is a way to keep them engaged with the club all
the time and it's easy for themto stay engaged.
In other words, you know whenyou're away from the club or
you're out running errands, orhell, you're on an airplane
flying down to Florida, whatever.
How many times do you like?
Oh, I'm going to download thispodcast, listen to it on the
(22:21):
plane.
Or I'm out in the car I've gotan audio book on, or I'm out on
a walk I'm going to listen to,you know, music.
Well, if there's content fromthe club that you could consume
during those times when you'renot here at the club, I I think,
as a member, you'd be in if, ifit's good stuff, you'd be
inclined to do that.
So it's just another way tokeep them engaged with the club
(22:46):
in the community when theynormally wouldn't be.
Right, like you're not gonna.
You're not gonna go on a roadtrip and read the club
newsletter behind the wheel ofthe car.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
Some do.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
They probably are Some do probably, yeah,
especially down here in Florida,but we don't encourage that.
But it's stuff that's easy toconsume when you're not here or
away from the club and it justkeeps.
It keeps countryside orwhatever club it is in the
(23:19):
forefront.
And, yeah, I think the podcastthat's next on our list, man
we're, when we get back in theclubhouse we're going to start
it.
I think it's a neat idea.
I did it.
I did a series of videos.
I have nine board members and Iwent to the board and I said
this was last year.
I was like I want to do a shortinterview with every one of you
(23:43):
and I want to call it meet theboard member Monday.
So every Monday for nine weekswe sent out a series and it was
each board member on camera withme and it was just a short
interview, you know yeah howlong you've been in countryside?
what was your career?
What are you excited about inthe future?
Speaker 1 (24:03):
the, the unboard meeting exactly?
Speaker 2 (24:06):
I don't know but it was great.
I mean, the, the community waslike wow, that was a really good
idea.
And I'm like why did I never dothat?
Why have I never done that ordone?
Speaker 1 (24:14):
that, or most people like their clubs, they'll,
they'll, just, you know, oh,this is the board and they're
like is a quick little bio ofeach one.
And it's like, even thoughyou're all members of a club,
you don't always get to knoweach person deeply.
Or you hear the rumor millstuff, or you're here, you hear
the stuff about them, so why notgive them a platform to be
heard and get their literalvoice out and you can learn and
(24:35):
engage and you know, I think,and then that helps build
community, because it's like oh,I didn't know, he likes
volleyball.
And then next time we see himlike, oh, sir, you know, set me
up Like I don't know.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
One of my board members I asked.
One of the questions I askedthem was what's a hobby of yours
?
One of them tells me that hebuilds these giant wooden ships
like these.
Things are like three, fourfeet.
They take like a year and ahalf to build like detailed
wooden ships.
And I'm like, as he's tellingme this, I'm like getting pulled
(25:11):
in.
I'm like what?
And he's explaining this andthe magnitude of these ships,
these model ships.
So I dropped some pit.
I'm like send me pictures.
I dropped them into the videoand next thing I know I've got
members coming to me being likeI had no idea he did that.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
That was, that's awesome, so that's what I'm sure
there's some connections thatcame from that right, so yeah, I
mean it's that's what a club isabout, like that's why people
join clubs usually, for that'sthe reason, stuff like that.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
It's the intangible, it's yes, it's the relationships
, and we, as club employees orclub leadership, we're here to
be the conduit for a lot of thatand I think sometimes we forget
that, like, look, at the end ofthe day, we're the conduit to
(26:08):
create social interaction,whatever that looks like at your
club.
That's my soapbox.
Well, I'm when we move backinto the club, I'm I'm gonna
start a podcast for the club, doit.
And uh, I'm just trying tothink through like the setup and
I think maybe I was telling youmy conference room at the club
is right at the front, yeah, andthere's two big windows that
(26:29):
look into it and I'm like this,I see this big table and, like
you know, I remember walking bybeing like, oh look, they're
recording a new episode like Imean, who's not to say because
your your club's privately ownedright?
Speaker 1 (26:45):
yeah, who's to say that's not another revenue
source and you can producemembers podcasts for them or
their businesses?
I mean, could be uh the roomfor a podcast and then you, you
help them, you schedule it.
You know, hey, you know, youknow we can record three or four
to start, so we have a, youknow, a month leeway or however
(27:08):
long they want to do it, andthen it's hey, and then from
there it there it's.
You know, every two, you know,whatever it is, you help them, I
don't know, I don't thinkthat's a who knows, you know,
but I think that's alsosomething to that could be
explored, or another revenuegenerator, or and we are getting
so many younger members.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
I mean, I don't know, man, there's something there.
I know there is.
I mean, even like, if we getlike some of our vendors on,
like, this is who we buy all ofour meat from right.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
This guy is local.
We buy micro greens from himhere.
We're going to have ourTitleist rep on, I don't know.
I think it would be neat togive members kind of a
back-of-house view to theoperations.
But still, I mean I would thinkthe members would have an
interest in the inner workingsof the operation.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
Yeah, behind the scenes.
Hope you all enjoyed thatepisode and I hope you all do
something with some of theinformation.
I hope you have some takeaways,I hope you start maybe doing
some more video content for yourclubs and I also hope you share
this content.
If you enjoyed the episode,share it with a friend,
colleague, someone you thinkmight enjoy it, and if you are
(28:28):
enjoying it, a like, share,subscribe.
A five-star rating on whateverplatform you are consuming with
a review, means the absoluteworld and cost nothing.
That's this episode.
I'm your host, denny Corby.
Until next time, catch you onthe flip.
Hey everybody, welcome to the Private Club
Radio Show, where we give youthe scoop on all things private
golf and country clubs Frommastering leadership and
management, food and beverageexcellence, member engagement
secrets, board governance andeverything in between, all while
keeping it fun and light.
Whether you're a club veteranjust getting your feet wet or
somewhere in the middle, you arein the right place.
(00:20):
I'm your host, denny Corby.
Welcome to the show In thisepisode.
Back on the show today, I havesomeone who I truly admire and
am happy to call a friend, joeSmith.
Josiah Smith of Countryside Golfand Country Club in Florida.
He's been on the show before.
We talked about leadership andother things, but today we're
(00:43):
talking about content.
If you follow him on LinkedIn,he is constantly putting up
videos and he has done such aphenomenal job at making
creative, consistent andenjoyable content that actually
connects his members in a realway, and that's what we're
talking about today is how hemakes the videos, why he makes
(01:04):
the videos and what that isdoing for his club, for his
membership, for the community,because it's more than just
putting out videos.
There's so much more to it.
We talk about how these videosbecame part of the club's
identity a bit and how thesevideos also help kind of control
the narrative.
The narrative and it beats, youknow, reacting to the rumor
(01:25):
mill which sometimes happens inclubs and when you're putting
out this content and putting outthese things, he's getting the
members involved, getting thestaff involved and the staff get
to relate more with the members.
The members get to learn moreabout the staff because the
staff are on video and they'reshowing their personalities and
it's just so cool and so neat tosee how this is all bringing
(01:46):
everybody so close together.
I am so excited he's on heretalking about content marketing
a bit and excited for you guysto get some takeaways.
And before you get taken away tothe episode, I just want to
give a quick shout out, quickthank you to some of our show
partners, the people who helpmake this show possible.
We have Members First, clubCapital Group, kenneth's Member
(02:08):
Vetting Golf Life Navigators,concert Golf Partners, as well
as myself.
The Denny Corby Experiencethere's excitement, there's
mystery.
Also there's magic, mindreading, comedy, crowd work, so
many laughs, so little time.
One of the most fun memberevent nights you will do,
guaranteed.
If you want to learn more, headon over to DannyCorbycom.
(02:28):
But enough about that let'swelcome back to the show, joe
Smith, because you're reallygood at putting out content
about your club.
Those update videos are reallycool and very well done.
And where did that even comefrom?
Because I think so many clubsdon't even really give good
updates or they're just likeit's going along and like here's
a photo, and you do a reallygood job at getting that message
(02:54):
across and showing what's goingon.
And those weekly update videoseven if it's not because I think
it's all of them like partupdates and just like what's
going on Like it's just kind oflike hey, here's a week in recap
.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Yep, it all depends on what's going on, what's
coming up and what we just camethrough.
No, I started that stuff at aclub years ago that we were
going through bankruptcy and Ihad to rebuild the golf course
(03:28):
and the contractor was like, hey, we can do drone photos for you
.
It's 10 grand.
And I was frugal and I'm likeI'm not spending 10 grand, I'm
gonna go buy a drone.
So I started doing drone.
This was like in 20, it had tobe at least 10 years ago and I
just had.
(03:49):
I had fun figuring out like thevideo stuff and editing it and
pulling it together and sendingit out to the members.
So that's how it started withme.
And so, to answer your question, it's kind of a hybrid here
because we just do things kindof not on the fly our event
(04:11):
flyers, calendars, all of that.
She's also a designer so shecan design all kinds of
(04:32):
marketing material.
And then I started doing thevideo stuff and I edit all those
and that's kind of been mycreative outlet, because I
really enjoy capturing thecontent, adding it all together,
getting it to the finishedproduct.
(04:52):
And then we just enlisted thehelp and enthusiasm of one of
our just most charismatic foodand beverage employee, one of
our servers, who has been doingall of our shorts, so she
(05:13):
captures.
I just I gave her free range.
Her name's Fur, like Fur.
You just go capture thelifestyle and here's the sign-in
to our Instagram and Facebookand YouTube and you just make
shorts all day long and postthem and send them out at your
(05:37):
little heart's content.
So we were doing all this videostuff sporadically over the last
seven years and then, I guess ayear and a half ago, we
committed to you know, when wemoved into the temporary
facilities we started renovation.
I was like that's it, once aweek, like every Monday, we're
(06:01):
doing a club update and everyother Friday we're doing an
update on the constructionproject, and it's a lot of work.
But I'll tell you, man, ourmembers, they started treating
it like a TV show.
They know, every Monday at 7 am, our video, our weekly update,
(06:22):
gets uploaded.
Our video, our weekly update,gets gets uploaded and, like
they look forward to seeingwhich members going to be on
camera.
What we're talking about, ifthey got, you know, captured on
video at event last week, or Imean it's really, it's really
been a really neat thing.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
And you get some good views Like I, cause like I've
been watching them too.
And and you get some good viewslike I because like I've been
watching them too, and like youget because you've all like a
lot of clubs have have youtubechannels but a lot of them have
no one watches anything and youget like thousands of views.
Maybe I think some get like acouple thousand like you get at
least like about like 500 to athousand views, which is, yeah,
pretty good engagement for aclub.
(07:03):
I mean because it's not likeyou're trying to go viral, it's
just about putting it out forthe members and stuff.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
So I mean those are good numbers, yeah, yeah.
And the only reason I share it,like on LinkedIn, is just
simply as a best practice, justso other clubs can see that I
think there's a market here.
You know Ben Lorenzo, ben, hedoes an incredible job with the
(07:30):
marketing and the video stufftoo, and he and I have kind of
bounced some ideas.
He was doing more short formstuff and I talked to him like
last summer and I was like Iwant to get more into the shorts
.
So I think you have to haveboth pieces.
And I think the other thing thatI've found is it needs to be
(07:51):
consistent.
You know if you can get intothe routine of you know hitting
it.
You know again, we do it everyweek, but even if it's twice a
month and your members can counton getting something from the
club.
At the same time, you knowfairly regular basis.
That's where you build themomentum.
(08:12):
And you know, with us we'rehighly seasonal and I hear a lot
from our members who go backhome in the summertime and
they're like, oh, it feels likewe never left, it feels like
we're still part of the club.
So that's cool, it's beenreally cool.
It's been really cool.
It's a lot of effort, but I'lltell you, man, of all the things
(08:34):
I've put a lot of effort intothis one.
This initiative is I can'tquantify what it's what it's
paying us back other than we are, and I think any other general
manager or club manager wouldappreciate this.
I feel for the first time in my20 year career that I have some
(08:54):
control of the rumor mill.
Because of how, how often andhow well we're communicating and
you know people are moreinclined to watch or listen than
they are to read, more inclinedto watch or listen than they
(09:14):
are to read.
So trying to address stuff in aweekly club memo or something
you know written format which Istill do occasionally, but when
it comes across from me or oneof my team members on video it's
I mean, I have members.
You know someone will hear arumor about whatever the project
or completion date, and they'relike no, here's the video,
here's the YouTube.
(09:35):
Watch this.
These are the facts.
So that in itself has just beenincredible for us.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
I didn't even think about that.
That's awesome and as well.
If something happens, if you'regone, people have those shoes
to fill, and if the membersstill don't get that.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
there's going to be an outrage.
Yeah, you know it's funny.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
I've thought about that.
It's job security Just doing it.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
I've thought about that, though, because you know
it's no, no, you know peoplemove on.
You know, and and I, at somepoint I need to get it to a
point where it can be sustained.
Or or, you know, for example,last week, being at conference,
I filmed.
So we film every friday formonday, while I was gone on
(10:26):
friday, so I filmed the videothat went out today, like last
Tuesday.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
And the members knew.
Friday was filming, it wascloudy.
It wasn't cloudy on Friday.
This guy's a sham right now.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
So you've got to think about stuff like that, and
I think that's a good lessontoo.
Is just anything impactful likethat?
It needs to be sustainable,because you are actually
building it into the culture andexpectation of your club.
We use our YouTube page tomarket the club.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
Well, whether you do it or or do it for that reason
or not, I mean people are goingto look, like people are going
to see, and when you see thatthere's consistent content, I
mean that's so.
So how long does it really so,realistically, from how long
does each video take?
(11:20):
And I know you actually do yourvideos and you enjoy editing
them and doing them.
Uh, so, like you know that thatnumber might be, you know,
different, for you know theediting part, but like, how long
, realistically, does a videotake you to, you know, maybe,
and this is from, and if you canbreak it down, from like idea,
even though it's not idea,because you know kind of what
you're gonna talk, but from likeidea to you know you know
(11:42):
scheduling it to, to go out, howlong does it take in like?
Speaker 2 (11:46):
each part.
So we have a at our weeklystaff meeting.
I have the department heads.
I ask that they bring ideas tothe staff meeting for to
highlight their area, and Mary,our communications director,
keeps all of those on a video.
Marketing schedule, rightCalendar.
(12:08):
Marketing schedule rightCalendar.
Some weeks there's nothing fromgolf or there's nothing from
you know golf maintenance or youknow.
So that kind of is is sporadic.
The filming, the coordinationfilming probably takes an hour
in total by the time we, youknow, depending on what we're
(12:28):
filming and you know how manypeople and if there's menu items
that we're going to talk aboutor whatnot, it's really the
editing that is most timeconsuming.
Oh yeah, it really depends onhow much.
I mean, I can bang out a videoin an hour and a half, like
(12:48):
today's video, think I.
I edited it during conference.
I think I spent about an hourand a half on it.
Not too bad.
There's other videos that aremore extensive that you know
have taken, you know, a couplehours to edit, three, four hours
to edit sometimes, but that'sfeeding a creek creative thing
(13:10):
for me.
So I really I personally enjoydoing that, but I think on
average, like start to finish,it's probably three hours worth
of your time.
That's not bad.
I mean there's a learning curvewith you know, because I use
Final Cut, yep, which is a Macprogram, and there's a a
(13:31):
learning curve, but you can'tscrew it up you know, yeah, well
, I mean you can, but you, canyou?
Speaker 1 (13:38):
just don't want to send it.
Yeah, uh, and you do some funstuff in it, like you know.
Uh, the the one bite reviewswhere you have is it is it is
that your is that the chef forfood and beverage, and then then
you have a member also and youjust try the food and you and
you review it, kind of like the.
You know one bite everyoneknows the pizza pizza review,
(13:59):
dave Port.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
That's exactly where it came from.
We so we've been.
We change our menu once a monthbecause we're in temporary
facilities.
That'll stop when we get backinto the club.
But you know, I told the F&Bteam like small, efficient menu,
we've got like 10 or 12 items,but let's just switch it up
monthly.
So we started doing thatsegment with staff.
(14:23):
First, you know, like I pulledmy golf pro or I pulled one of
the servers, like let's reviewthis new menu item.
And then we started havingmembers ask can I come on?
And I was like all about thatand I'll tell you, man, when you
walk through some of the bigevents now, like I will have
members stop me and do like alive, one-byte review, like on
(14:44):
the menu that night.
It'll be like this was a 7.8.
So you know, that alone ispretty cool.
And what I'm starting to see nowis our members.
Look, members and employees areyour biggest marketing outlet,
like they're the ones who, whospread the word of mouth.
(15:05):
So my, my, every employee thatworks here is on our club emails
.
So they get every email thatthe members get and they are
encouraged to forward them.
And our members do the samething.
So our members will forward thevideos to their friends up
North or their friends, you know, at another club locally, and
(15:27):
they'll be like, hey, look atwhat countryside is doing, look
at what my club's doing.
Another club locally andthey'll be like, hey, look at
what countryside is doing, lookat what my club's doing.
Um, so everything on ourYouTube page is public and you
know, a lot of times when wehave questions from you know
realtors or or you knowprospective members, they'll ask
you know what it's like livinghere?
Speaker 1 (15:46):
And I just I'm like, go to the YouTube page, you can
see what our lifestyle lifestyleis like I mean even the one
video I just saw, I don't knowwhich, which one, how long ago
it was.
Uh, because now that I've beenwatching them, now it's like I
see a video, I'm like, oh, a newone.
Then it's like, oh, four weeksago, I don't want to watch this,
but but I was, I was uh, someof them came up and it was like
your new logo and I forget whoit was talking about it, but it
(16:08):
was, yeah, he was talking.
And then you had a picture of,like you know, the printed out,
which, which made me crack me up.
Like the four, it's like thefour different ones, and it's
like you were just talking aboutthe progression and why you
chose it and like all thedifferent things about it.
And, just like you said it, itit stops the rumor mill or at
least gives people cause you'reright, a lot gives people
because you're right, a lot ofpeople don't, you know, always
(16:29):
want to read or whatever.
But it gives them that like, oh, the thought press behind it
though, the why.
It's like, why do they do that?
And then, when you hear theexplanation, you're like that
makes sense, like so, at least.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Yeah it puts.
It's helped put some bookendson the rumor mill.
You're never going to controlit, but I'm honest, in the 20
some years that I've been doingthis is the first time where I'm
like I got, I feel, pretty goodhandle on on that aspect, and
particularly in communities likeours where you know there's a
(16:59):
real estate component.
You know our members live here.
Yeah, that rumor mill is likecrazy sometimes, yeah, yeah.
So, yeah, it's, it's beenawesome and we're.
You know we have fun with themtoo.
You know we try and drop somehumor into them and we try and
keep them light.
And you know I've done somevideo communications, like
(17:23):
approaching storms, likehurricanes, or I was doing video
communications during COVID.
Yeah, you know, just like me inmy office with a camera just
explaining here's what we'redoing, here's the new mandate,
here's, you know, just honestly,it sounds cheesy but like
treating it like a TV show.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
And it's, I mean, it's been fun, Well and and, but
the thing is you have a facefor radio, so that really.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, thank you.
Can you, can you only post theaudio version of this, this
interview?
Speaker 1 (18:06):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
Okay, I don't, I don't, I want to.
I want to maintain my face forradio.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
I was going to blur you out the whole time.
That's funny.
So do you have any people whodon't like the videos?
Speaker 2 (18:23):
or have you ever had?
Speaker 1 (18:24):
people just be like meh, we don't need this of
course, of course you will.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
You know anything?
Look, there's always thatmember bell curve right, there's
80 in the center, there'sthere's 10 here and 10 there,
and we got to focus on the 80.
You know, sometimes I know thatI am not for everyone.
I know that certain initiativesor you know some members are
like this is, this is cheesy,like this is.
(18:51):
Well, you know what it's, it'sworking and we're having fun and
majority of the community lovesit, so we're going to keep
doing it, and that's just howyou got to approach those things
yeah, yeah I.
I got, I got stopped a lot atconference just asking about
(19:12):
same thing.
You're asking me like how do,how do you do it?
You know, one club manager waswas actually she was a she's a
membership and and marketingmanager.
She was asking about you knowour videos and and how we get
buy-in from staff and otheremployees to be part of it.
(19:33):
And I said, look, in myexperiences, like I've been the
champion of it, so the buy-in isthere.
Right, I've been the face, I'mthe general manager, so it's
easy for me to go ask people tobe a part of it if I'm also a
part of it.
But I said to her I'm'm likeyou just just start and trust me
(19:56):
.
You, the people who are excitedabout it will will be obvious
and just partner with them andjust you know, just got to do it
, you just got to do it, it'll,it'll unfold.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
I was talking to somebody at conference.
They're like how, because theywant to do like a podcast for
their club, which I think is afantastic idea for clubs to do
it, because I think there's somany, I think there's so much.
Maybe it's part you there wasdefinitely a few conversations,
but I think it was you, I wastalking about it as well uh was,
I think there's so muchopportunity from an internal
club communication standpoint,but, but also from a, a
(20:34):
marketing and getting potentialmember standpoint.
Uh, oh yeah, yeah, it was.
Uh, it was right outside of theone restaurant.
It was, um, because I thinkthere's you could do episodes,
you know, just talking to themembers and doing that sort of
stuff you can, and then havinglike, the oldest member in the
club talk to the youngest memberand it's like what are those
conversations Like?
I don't know.
I think there's likeinteresting stuff to do, but
(20:56):
then also from like because Ilove business and sales and I
think there's when you couldhave a more public facing one.
So if you do one or two, itdoesn't matter, but if you have
one that anybody can listen toand you invite outside people
onto the show now you can pickyour guests and your guests
(21:16):
could be potential members.
So if you're strategic about itand it's like, hey, you know,
maybe it's more of like abusinessy podcast where it's
business related or like ahigher level sort of thing, and
you invite people from thecommunity who aren't members but
may run a business or whatever,onto the show and maybe you
record it in the club and youinvite them in for hey come, hey
come in and record and you knowwe, we give you a class, you
know whatever you come, we eat,and then we, you know whatever
(21:40):
it is, but it's like, get themin the door I don't know.
I think there's so muchopportunity there and it's, and
it's a it's video or podcastingor whatnot.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
It is a way to keep them engaged with the club all
the time and it's easy for themto stay engaged.
In other words, you know whenyou're away from the club or
you're out running errands, orhell, you're on an airplane
flying down to Florida, whatever.
How many times do you like?
Oh, I'm going to download thispodcast, listen to it on the
(22:21):
plane.
Or I'm out in the car I've gotan audio book on, or I'm out on
a walk I'm going to listen to,you know, music.
Well, if there's content fromthe club that you could consume
during those times when you'renot here at the club, I I think,
as a member, you'd be in if, ifit's good stuff, you'd be
inclined to do that.
So it's just another way tokeep them engaged with the club
(22:46):
in the community when theynormally wouldn't be.
Right, like you're not gonna.
You're not gonna go on a roadtrip and read the club
newsletter behind the wheel ofthe car.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
Some do.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
They probably are Some do probably, yeah,
especially down here in Florida,but we don't encourage that.
But it's stuff that's easy toconsume when you're not here or
away from the club and it justkeeps.
It keeps countryside orwhatever club it is in the
(23:19):
forefront.
And, yeah, I think the podcastthat's next on our list, man
we're, when we get back in theclubhouse we're going to start
it.
I think it's a neat idea.
I did it.
I did a series of videos.
I have nine board members and Iwent to the board and I said
this was last year.
I was like I want to do a shortinterview with every one of you
(23:43):
and I want to call it meet theboard member Monday.
So every Monday for nine weekswe sent out a series and it was
each board member on camera withme and it was just a short
interview, you know yeah howlong you've been in countryside?
what was your career?
What are you excited about inthe future?
Speaker 1 (24:03):
the, the unboard meeting exactly?
Speaker 2 (24:06):
I don't know but it was great.
I mean, the, the community waslike wow, that was a really good
idea.
And I'm like why did I never dothat?
Why have I never done that ordone?
Speaker 1 (24:14):
that, or most people like their clubs, they'll,
they'll, just, you know, oh,this is the board and they're
like is a quick little bio ofeach one.
And it's like, even thoughyou're all members of a club,
you don't always get to knoweach person deeply.
Or you hear the rumor millstuff, or you're here, you hear
the stuff about them, so why notgive them a platform to be
heard and get their literalvoice out and you can learn and
(24:35):
engage and you know, I think,and then that helps build
community, because it's like oh,I didn't know, he likes
volleyball.
And then next time we see himlike, oh, sir, you know, set me
up Like I don't know.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
One of my board members I asked.
One of the questions I askedthem was what's a hobby of yours
?
One of them tells me that hebuilds these giant wooden ships
like these.
Things are like three, fourfeet.
They take like a year and ahalf to build like detailed
wooden ships.
And I'm like, as he's tellingme this, I'm like getting pulled
(25:11):
in.
I'm like what?
And he's explaining this andthe magnitude of these ships,
these model ships.
So I dropped some pit.
I'm like send me pictures.
I dropped them into the videoand next thing I know I've got
members coming to me being likeI had no idea he did that.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
That was, that's awesome, so that's what I'm sure
there's some connections thatcame from that right, so yeah, I
mean it's that's what a club isabout, like that's why people
join clubs usually, for that'sthe reason, stuff like that.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
It's the intangible, it's yes, it's the relationships
, and we, as club employees orclub leadership, we're here to
be the conduit for a lot of thatand I think sometimes we forget
that, like, look, at the end ofthe day, we're the conduit to
(26:08):
create social interaction,whatever that looks like at your
club.
That's my soapbox.
Well, I'm when we move backinto the club, I'm I'm gonna
start a podcast for the club, doit.
And uh, I'm just trying tothink through like the setup and
I think maybe I was telling youmy conference room at the club
is right at the front, yeah, andthere's two big windows that
(26:29):
look into it and I'm like this,I see this big table and, like
you know, I remember walking bybeing like, oh look, they're
recording a new episode like Imean, who's not to say because
your your club's privately ownedright?
Speaker 1 (26:45):
yeah, who's to say that's not another revenue
source and you can producemembers podcasts for them or
their businesses?
I mean, could be uh the roomfor a podcast and then you, you
help them, you schedule it.
You know, hey, you know, youknow we can record three or four
to start, so we have a, youknow, a month leeway or however
(27:08):
long they want to do it, andthen it's hey, and then from
there it there it's.
You know, every two, you know,whatever it is, you help them, I
don't know, I don't thinkthat's a who knows, you know,
but I think that's alsosomething to that could be
explored, or another revenuegenerator, or and we are getting
so many younger members.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
I mean, I don't know, man, there's something there.
I know there is.
I mean, even like, if we getlike some of our vendors on,
like, this is who we buy all ofour meat from right.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
This guy is local.
We buy micro greens from himhere.
We're going to have ourTitleist rep on, I don't know.
I think it would be neat togive members kind of a
back-of-house view to theoperations.
But still, I mean I would thinkthe members would have an
interest in the inner workingsof the operation.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
Yeah, behind the scenes.
Hope you all enjoyed thatepisode and I hope you all do
something with some of theinformation.
I hope you have some takeaways,I hope you start maybe doing
some more video content for yourclubs and I also hope you share
this content.
If you enjoyed the episode,share it with a friend,
colleague, someone you thinkmight enjoy it, and if you are
(28:28):
enjoying it, a like, share,subscribe.
A five-star rating on whateverplatform you are consuming with
a review, means the absoluteworld and cost nothing.
That's this episode.
I'm your host, denny Corby.
Until next time, catch you onthe flip.
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