Episode 9 – Andy Banks – Father Son Golf

Phil is joined by the father in Instagram account Father_Son_Golf Andy Banks! They talk about Andy’s son Riley, how he got into the game and the pros and cons of running a successful Instagram account. Andy also gives his top tips for boosting your own Instagram account, and his plans for the account going forward.

Topics Discussed:

• How Andy and Phil Kelly met during their time working together in the RAF.
• The birth of Father_Son_Golf, and how it started as a diary to document Riley’s progress and his golf journey.
• Andy’s history as a fringe golf player for the RAF, and how he threw his own content onto the Instagram account in the hopes of getting some tips and advice from people online.
• How the quality of the content was really poor in the beginning, but it’s always been about Andy and Riley having fun playing golf.
• Andy’s decision in 2019, when the page started getting companies getting in touch with them, to take the page more seriously.
• The success of the lockdown during 2020 provided to the page, and Andy’s decision to engage in social media training in order to capitalise on that.
• How Andy keeps a bit of difference between Riley and the account, even if they don’t get that much negative feedback.
• The benefits and merchandise the page has provided for Riley, and how Andy wants to make sure that Riley doesn’t take it for granted.
• Pro-Noctis’ Instagram account and how it had been hacked and locked down, and their decision to start again.
• The importance of maintaining a good balance between ‘real-life’ and running a successful social media account.
• The putting green that Andy built in his garden over lockdown.
• The addictive qualities of social media, and Andy’s experience with this with their page.
• How Andy makes sure not to film every single round of golf, and to rather record a lot of content on one round in order to maintain a good real-life social media balance.
• The platform this account has created for both Riley and Andy’s future career’s.
• The negative comments Andy has received on the account and the effects they have on him.
• Why Andy got in touch with Phil for help, so he could make sure that he was creating an environment that was healthy for Riley, and Phil’s three principles for ensuring this healthy environment is being met.
• The importance of learning from mistakes but also consolidating what we did well in the past in order to maintain a healthy mindset.
• Andy’s top four tips for growing an Instagram account; stay consistent, use good content creation apps, focus on quality over quantity when posting content and use all the tools that Instagram gives you.
• Andy’s opinion on hashtags and how he uses them.
• Andy’s experience with collaborations, how they have benefited their account and how it’s important to be aware of what a collaborator is getting from you and vice versa, and making sure you get it all in writing.
• Andy’s future plans for the Instagram account and his own professional career.
• How Andy hopes the Instagram account can help Riley in whatever he decides to do as well.
• The Father_Son_Golf website and Andy’s plans for it.
• How Andy and his family got to meet Lee Westwood and the story behind it.

References:

Father_Son_Golf’s Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/father_son_golf/?hl=en

Father_Son_Golf’s Website – https://fathersongolf.co.uk/

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