Month: March 2006

_Having worked in various online marketing roles for Toronto agencies and internet start-ups, Nigel Da Costa used his experience to help found “Golflogic.ca”:http://www.golflogic.ca. Golflogic.ca is a free online destination and membership club where Canadian golfers find the best deals and promotions in the golf industry and is a place for advertisers to speak with this coveted audience._
*One Degree: What’s the story behind golflogic.ca?*
I’ve been playing golf now for seven years and have destroyed some of the finest courses in Ontario but I quickly noticed prices rising at a rapid pace and lots of new golf courses being built each year. I spoke with a few people in the industry who mentioned the supply was already exceeding demand and courses were struggling to find golfers…and golfers were struggling to find challenging yet affordable places to play.
The only answer to both problems were coupon books. Golfers were able to find deals and golf courses were able create incentives for golfers to visit their courses during slow times. The issue I had with the books is the deals were static. Once the book was printed, no new deals were ever going to be offered and once I used my coupons at a certain course, I couldn’t use them again. Also, many of the deals weren’t relevant. I live in the GTA(Greater Toronto Area) but many of the courses were located more than a three-hour drive from me. Golf courses also found the coupon books restrictive because they often needed golfers on short notice.
There was an obvious gap the web could quickly bridge. On our site we were able to post deals within hours and change and alter them anytime the courses asked. We also started a very popular e-mail newsletter which listed last minute golf deals for our members to take part in. Within a year we had 30 courses working with us (and this number should more than double this year) and our membership is already at 6,000 golfers.
*One Degree: Your business seems to be built around memberships. Can you explain a bit about your business model?*