Pontins

Good, the efforts of yesterday have started to pay off. Some initial feedback from various sources so we should have meetings coming up. Golf is meant to be the last industry to go into the 'r' word and the first to come out. I'm sure the golf industry will tell a different story, and in this instance they may well be right. The world's not looking a pretty place. The only people who are happy are Pontins apparently. Bookings up by 20%! Tip for when the Open is next at the Royal Birkdale. There's a Pontins nearby, and it's cheap as chips. Not a bad way to get to see the golf. Check out http://www.pontins-southport.com.

JohnD

Fund Raising

It's been a day on the phone and sending emails. We are cracking on with a funding round so we can accelerate what we are doing. It's all very well to be creating great content, and having fantastic access to all areas of golf. But we do need to make the golfers of the world aware of what we are doing, and that will require just a bit more than me writing a daily blog. But so far so good - we've got 1,300 pages referencing ShowMeTheGolf.TV on google - OK, so we've a fair way to to - no pun intended - but as the saying goes a journey of a thousand likes begins with a single foot step, and I think we've gone at least 100 miles of this particular journey. Certainly feels like it, as I need some new shoe leather.

Right, back to it. Some more people to contact.

JohnD

And there's more

Chelsea are ahead, and I'm supping some wine. So where's the golf? Well, I've been searching out what's going on with the web, and frankly I'm a bit underwhelmed. Trying to build some global relationships, but no one seems to want to talk.

I'm probably being overly concerned - we're new to this whole blogging thing. We're used to creating full blown magazines, rather than being a bit random on t'internet. Advice required.

JohnD

Meeting with The Chairman

I met with the Chairman this evening. We've only just appointed him, but he's already become all chairmany. I started to feel quite intimidated. But he's now off to watch Arsenal v Spurs, so I'll be glued to the radio to see if Spurs can stick it to them. Referenced the 'library' to him, and that didn't go down well. Not that I've suddenly become a Spurs fan. But Harry's as safe a pair of hands as you could wish for. It's that Daniel Levy that I can't stand.

But Chairman's general advise was sound and I will obey. Not that I'm a Darlek, but the fact of the matter is that we need to raise some cash to enable us to keep creating content that we hope will appeal to golfers far and wide.

And I've just heard that Seve's on the mend. So there may be a god!

JohnD

And the big new is...

Led Zep are reforming, and I'm not talking about cutting out the booze and fags. And without Plantie.

Now you may ask what this got to do with golf? And you'd be right. But Tim is off to the football tonight - Leeds v Southend - and will therefore probably not pick up on the fact that I'm referencing my own personal rock gods. When the editors away etc.

Tim doesn't get Zep, and I quite understand that. If you don't get them they must seem horrendous. But to those of us who do, they cannot be beaten. I would have given up my last Srixon Soft Feels to seem them last year, but that wouldn't have got me anywhere. I'd have had to chuck in at least a couple of sets of Honmars, and sold Tim's signed Jack Nicklaus tenner to get in. Sad as I am I went straight to YouTube the following day and watched clips that people had taken on their mobile phones. Ha - I've managed to reference golf and online video under the pre-text of writing about the mighty Zeppelin!

Right, better get back to proper golf work - some 'heavy lifting' on some numbers. That's amost as bad as 'Walled Garden' and 'Platform agnostic.' We do have to deal with some rubbish to get where we want to go.

JohnD

Progress & The NEC

Have to say thanks to Andy at the NEC Golf Show. We've now got a link on their site, and are looking forward to going there on the 21st November. Just in time for Christmas. I think we will stick to creating some new content and try and keep the credit cards under lock and key. They've all been used anyway getting us to this point, so there's nothing to be had there. Hard enough doing a start up without the world generally blowing up. But out of the finanical bedlam great golf entertainment will hopefully arise. That's the plan anyway. Right, time for another cuppa and a roll-up. Can't afford real fags until we get some funding. Maybe it's time to chuck in the habit and invest in a new putter.

JohnD

Bit of a buzz

I've just seen the Swing Zone footage that we shot yesterday of Tim, our main man, and Richard Archer of Hard Fi- and I'm totally convinced. It's so the future now. We've all spent years trying to figure out how to swing a club from books and magazines, and frankly none of it has ever made any sense to me at all. I might have well have been looking at an incomprehensible car maintenance manual.

When I say "we", I have to admit I was back in doors getting some work done, and was therefore excused a couple of hours in the driving rain. But watching the results I'm totally there. Just how did we operate before we had access to all this fancy technology? Can't wait to have mine done.

In all honesty I've played crap golf for twenty years without a whisper of real complaint, but now I feel the gates of heaven have truly been opened. I know that sounds like I'm blowing smoke up our own arses, but stay with me. It's only when you've seen your own swing on video that you have any clue about what's really going on.

I used to think that I had something approaching a proper swing until I got 'captured' on the showreel for this caper. A bit of a revelation. My swing had nothing to do with golf at all. I might as well have been tossing a caber. It was humiliating. No wonder all those strange looks when I tipped up for golf events as a card carrying member of a new and grovy golf magazine. Be the brand - my arse.

But now, with my new found shoulder turn, I'm ready to face the world. And I want to capture what I've now got on video so that I can improve even more. I'm so fed up with apologising for myself. I'm going to get done in the next couple of weeks, and then I'll stick it up on our UGC piece - that's User Generated Content for the uninitiated. Check out www.swingzone.com.

I'm ready, willing and almost able.

JohnD

Video Coaching

There's not such thing as a day off in SMGTV land as there's still so much to do to get us ready to move out of beta. We don't want to be one of those sites that are in permanent beta, and are therefore never fully ready and prepared to make a stand.

We'll always be developing new features and services, but we do want to get to a point where we can announce ourselves with full confidence to what will hopefully be a waiting world. Tim's being out filming new content in filthy weather so I'm feeling a little guilty that I've been spared the wind and the rain.

We're also working on introducing a new video coaching service, which will allow you to upload a video of your swing and then get a proper lesson sent back to you. You'll then be able to take the lesson down to the driving range and watch it on your mobile as you practice. Now that's got to work! I'm going to have to get mine done this week, and then put it up on the site. That could be more than a little embarrassing, but with my new improved shoulder turn I may just about get away with it.

JohnD

Post Revenue

I think we are about to become what is offically known as 'Post Revenue.' In the world of fund raising being 'Pre-revenue' is a licence either to get nowhere slowly or to be at the very least badly molested on the equity front.

But to-day I think we may be crossing that particular rubicon. We won't be cracking open the champagne just yet, but there may be a couple of pints of London Pride or strong continental lager being consumed tonight.

It's another step forward in terms of creating a long term channel that we can grow and enjoy being a part of. Still 29 minutes until Guinness time - not its not them, but their advertising must be working. But time to slip out for some refreshment.

JohnD

Start Up Mode

This must be start up mode. Just thinking of maybe actually going to bed, but then think there's too much still to do. And found a half bottle of wine lurking in the undergrowth, so going for a last burst and couldn't help but come back and put down some late night thoughts. This is getting seriously habit forming. I think part of the late night effort is that I am transitioning from Apple to Microsoft as we have decided that we need to know how the site looks on both. That and the fact that my Mac Book has finally decided to throw in the towel. So now I am having to find my way around Windows XP, which doesn't come easy to a Mac user. Feel I am in alien territory. But there is one big upside to it as it does have iTunes - so while working away I've been rebuilding my music library. It's frightening, I could already be stuck here for 73.3 days without listening to the same thing twice. And I've only just scratched the surface.

I've also been checking out a new entry on the site from our man at the sharp end - Peter Gustaffson. Keep thinking I'm missing a 'a' after the 'f', but my Swedish was always poor.

He's just landed in San Francisco, and is getting ready for his first steps onto the PGA tour. We will all be shouting for you, even though our voices may not carry far.

Right back to some real work. What's next? An email to that nice man at Srixon. Sorry John.

JohnD

TechCrunch Posting

Our Chief Technical Officer Michael has referenced us in a Techcrunch feature on Google Adwords. I've just spent 10 minutes reading the whole dialogue and blimey I felt a bit 0.0 rather than 2.0. It's like walking into a completely new world of assumed knowledge. I thought I was paying attention and keeping up with things in general - importance of the interbank lending rate, impact of lowered growth rate of China, CFD's etc etc. But somehow that's simply not enough. I've got to get my brain around Google trickery over affiliate landing pages, or something like that. Think I'm going to stick my head in a bucket of red wine and then re-emerge, refreshed and ready to get all 2.0 again.

The annoying thing was Michael stuck a bloody great image from our wonderful new site up on Techcrunch, but it didn't shift them out of tech mode for a moment. Not a blink of interest in golf. I think they need to get out more - a few hours on a golf course would help them out of their general bunkers and silos.

keg

A little golf tip that actually works

My business partner Mr Southwell has transformed my golf game with one simple piece of advice. It's an oldie but goodie, and has totally sorted me out. 'Get your back to the target'. That's it. Simple as. Now it might be an obvious truth to many of you, but it has so worked for me. It doesn't involve thinking about 'lateral plains' or any other mumbo jumbo which I can't get my body or brain around. So I've been down the driving range over the weekend just thinking about that one thing - and I'm hitting straight and long. Little bit of a slice remaining, but I now like to think of it as a power fade. Now feeling confident that I'll be able to keep the SMGTV end up when we next get asked to play.

Better stop thinking of my swing now and crack on with some actual work. Some debugging to be done, and need to get my paws on some goodies for the website. Watch out Bunker Mentality, I need some shirts.

Keg

Global Financial Meltdown

It's not exactly great to have a global financial meltdown going on when you're trying to get a new project off the ground. But at least people are going to need to get out and clear their heads for a few hours and escape from the general doom and gloom. Apparently golf is the last industry going into a recession and the first one to recover when coming out of one. That say's a lot about golfers. Buggered if we're not going to play, but maybe I could wait a bit for that new wedge. How else do golfers cut back in hard times? No sausage sandwiches? Lake balls?

Our solution to the current melt down is a tee time booking facility which will provide our members with super value tee time bookings. OK, so we're not promising The Belfry or Turnberry for a tenner. But there will be some great value offers coming soon with a goodly range of courses on offer. For example, I think we'll be able to get you onto Tilgate Forest in West Sussex for a fiver if you're prepared to get up with the lark - I'd be up for that as it's a good challenge. It's work in progress, but we should have it up and running before too long. Our response to global financial armaggedon.

Keg

Teenage Golf Sex: Foreplay Shocker!

Its link-bait time at ShowMeTheGolf.tv!

We're gradually rolling out features as we increase our user numbers and to help that process we have started our marketing campaign in earnest. With that in mind we're asking all readers of this blog to consider where they can spread the news, and more importantly post links to our site.

If you tweet, blog, facebook or digg please use your powers of web2.0 social media dissemination to consider posting about us.

The post that brings the most traffic will win something golf related. Tim is meeting with our sponsors this week so there should be some good gear up for grabs, Ive heard mention of some fancy putters. Its all dutch to me.

Munich

Munich next week for the annual golf conference. Just booked onto Swiss Air – don't think they are about to go bust, but who knows. Now I come to think about it, I think they had a bit of a run in a couple of years.

We did try and go by train – carbon footprint, blah, blah, blah. We actually quite liked the thought of avoiding Heathrow or Stansted, and watching the world go by from a train window. Have to say it's a booking minefield - Eurostar to Brussels, then to Cologne and finally onto Munich. But can you book a single ticket? Of course not. So it's Sunday morning, London Heathrow, terminal bloody Three.

And then two full days of telling the world about showmethegolf.tv and how we plan to take over the world. Well, we'll probably start with the UK, but we love a bit of global golf.

The Munich Golf Show is at the same time as the Munich Beer festival, so our mission is fraught with danger. Lots of pissed Aussies and Kiwis, and Bavarians in leather gear. I'm sure we'll get the odd stein down us. I'm not known as Keg for nothing.