My cousin called me the other day, out of the blue, and asked if I would sign his edition of Western Outdoor News(WON). Anyone who is in the fishing or hunting scene on the West Coast knows of this very informative weekly paper. I had no idea that it was running, but WON ran a full-page article on me and Sierra Nets. It was written by a fine writer, Jim Matthews who used to write the fishing page for the Thursday O.C. Register if you recall. He also runs a website called the Outdoor News Service This article makes me proud and I wanted to share with my woodworking friends. I think the fly fishing world has been pretty good to me. I am blessed and humbled to be able to do what I love, creating custom fishing nets, for a living. I just received my first order, stemming from the article, today.
For those that don't know, I was laid off again just before Christmas. I am really hoping it was a blessing in disguise, because working in a large manufacturing environment in this economy has been very stressful. The good news is that since mid November, I have had pretty steady sales, and have about a two month backlog of nets to create. The wifey told me, "10 nets a month…" and I get to work for my self! Right now, I am focusing on getting ready for the show and completing the nets I have in hand.
I will be an exhibitor at the Pleasanton, Ca. Fly Fishing Show up in the Bay area Feb. 24-26, 2012. It's my first ever show and I'm I am nervous but excited-Please send your good thoughts my way. I do hope to be hanging out in the Pasadena Fly Fishing Show booth for the Fly Fishing Club of Orange County. If you happen to be at either place, please stop by and say hello.
Here's a picture of the full page article in WON:
Happy New Year! Here's to success, health, and happiness for all!
"Who let the dogs out?" boop, boop, boop, ba boop.
It won't be long now, you've set the marketing of your product on the fast track now. Way to go!
A quality product like you are making just needs the light of day for the interested folks to know about it.
I'm so excited for you!
"Who let the dogs out?" boop, boop, boop, ba boop.
You might also be thinking about a "how-to" book, or a video for the future. To that end, you should be capturing good quality photos now as you make the nets, so that you'll have something for the "gallery" section of your website or book.
At some point you'll have a following of folks that want to create their own net, and you can sell them the plans and instructions. I wouldn't sell out this to a magazine though, you'll get about $800 for a one time article, and that's it. This is the type of book that I think Schiffer would be interested in. If not them, others will be.
MMH, I'm so enjoying it in the moment, evenn if it doesn't last,, but I have a feeling it's gonna! Thank you for the contructive criticismm that you gave mme to help me with my packaging. you'd be proud of it now!
Mark, ur 2 funny!
You have abeen a great mentor in working the www, so thank you for that. In regards to the book, I already have an outline started, and am taking THOUSANDS of photos of my journey. That won't be an issue.
All the best in 2012,
Greg
Congratulations on the article! The more you can get out there in that fashion, as well as shows, etc. the faster that 10-nets/month will happen. I'm sure you'll surpass that number soon enough. Hopefully you'll be in the 12-15 net/month and be able to surprise your wife.
I'd say good luck at the show, but I don't think you need luck with the quality of work that you produce.
Keep it up, and here's to having a continuous backlog on the books!
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could
be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
LumberJocks Woodworking Forum
A forum community dedicated to professional woodworkers and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about shop safety, wood, carpentry, lumber, finishing, tools, machinery, woodworking related topics, styles, scales, reviews, accessories, classifieds, and more!