Is giving away Logo-ed merchindice a viable marketing tool???

[SmshTheTimeClok]

Whats up everyone, Just wandering if giving away merchandise such as hats and tee shirts is a good marketing tool. Our target demographic get their product info in very traditional ways, i.e. trade shows, sales reps and good ole word of mouth.


We are going to try to hit a local convention in June (if they allow vender's) and we're kicking around some ideas on how to create some buzz for our website. Our budget is tight and we're pretty new to the marketing game so any little tidbits would be much appreciated!

 

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[DeletedUser2]

logo swag is about an useful for a small biz as a condom full of holes...

 

[SmshTheTimeClok]

Any suggestions?

 

[DeletedUser2]

sure,
lay out your product, your audience, and who you are trying to reach and for what, and I will give you some great cheap suggestions

 

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[yahdmon]

There was a time when this was really popular -- that time was during the DOT COM boom. Everyone was giving away merchandise, free samples and the like and many of those businesses still never got off the ground.

It can work though.

If you know your customer with pinpoint accuracy then you can target your products to them but to just give your merchandise away all willie nillie is a perfect waste of good products and finances.

 

[SmshTheTimeClok]

Its a site where users review fire and ems products. Review Axe Our audences is firefighters and emt's. I think it could be a useful tool for getting real world product info to them. But the challenge is being user generated the whole thing hinges on people actually using it. lol...

Check it it out if you don't mind,any critiques are more than welcome.

 

[SmshTheTimeClok]

Thanks guys, I appreciate the info. I defiantly don't want to be throwing money away for little or no r.o.i.

 

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[theBiz]

Our audences is firefighters and emt's

I am not into social media, i dont think i fully understand how to leverage it but you have absolutely no choice. These guys hang out in groups, go to the same places, enjoy the same things. It was crazy to me how easy it was to segment firemen, they really do alot of similar things and they are a really brand loyal bunch. You need to connect with them socially and engage them. Rather than give stuff away why not set up a demo day at a fire department and call the local news, buy YOURSELF a banner to put on your booth, close off the road or go somewhere to demo your products and you will get on local media. Not sure what your goal is but that is a cheap effective way to get some brand recognition right away.

Also not sure of your budget but i would update site, the pictures need to be optimized (easy, you do not have resized thumbails, just pictures compressed into smaller size so they are loading slow.) Right click on a thumbail and save it, now right click on the full size picture and save it.. see how they are the same size? shouldent be that way

Site is not coming off professional... again simple, go grab a template somewhere quickly.

But all of this is irrelevant because zen******* is about to come in and school everyone... probably something like google "fire safety blog" contact all of them... make a smart offer toward them, sell 10 million in products to their list the week after, get acquired by a bigger company 2 weeks after that, then twirl your mustache and laugh as you stare at your new bank statement...something like that.

 

[saulxaz]

Hello! I have a marketing background. It depends if you already built a brand then you will stay in TOP of mind for the specific people that would pick up your product in the future. Use your marketing budget wise and market your current clients and let them advertise for you so that you can build a loyal client list. Now you can free your time and create new products for your existing client which will be eager to buy and refer. Think about MJs audio book, would ou buy it? Hell yeah@!!! because he already build a loyal customer base with great value. Hope it helps!!!!

 

[Kak]

logo swag is about an useful for a small biz as a condom full of holes...

Ok so I agree and dissagree. T shirts, mugs and shit are dumb.

I personally have personalized LED flashlights with my logo and phone number on them. People fricking keep flashlights, these are nice. It also works out like this...

If about 1/50 customers use the info on the flashlight to tell a neighbor, friend or other company and it converts I make money. So it works for me.

 

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[SmshTheTimeClok]

Biz, I totally agree with you on the social media tip (its imperative that we embrace that avenue).
I also agree with demoing at trade shows and fire stations. I was just wondering what would make us stand out at those venues, we will defiantly have to have a banner. Man as far as swag goes, Kak says he converts 1/50 ouch! I don't believe we will be going that route.

Our goal is to get good product info to the fire and ems guys, but at the end of the day we want to monetize too via affiliate marketing, or something else (but that's a whole other thread lol)

Budget wise is whatever we can scrape together from our day jobs, and I've been moonlighting doing small construction jobs i.e. carpentry and electrical work. So anything we throw money at has to be thoroughly thought out.

I'm kind of torn on the optimization of our site though, most of the stuff I've been reading says to throw your shit up and let the peeps tell you what they want then pivot, but on the other hand I don't wanna it to look like a$$ ether...

Thanks everyone for your input.

 

[theBiz]

If about 1/50 customers use the info on the flashlight to tell a neighbor, friend or other company and it converts I make money. So it works for me.

I think Zend is just saying it may work but other things work better, everything works technically. I have learned and especially from people like Zend, never be satisfied, if your getting 25% you could get 30% somewhere else. Again Zend always talks about attacking pre-formed lists and i am SURE there are lists of firemen in which the owner does not know how to monetize them. Finding them is the challenge that is real business and what counts in $$ not playing with logos and making business cards. Just get it done.... find an abundance and get in touch with them cheap.

If you found a list owner and said i will give you X% of the sales, but send out our offering for free. Now first off you will test... if not 1 person out of 5,000 buys you know you have some issues internally, if you sell some your great you know where you stand. So in doing this you have 0 costs to find out if your site/product sells and maybe you can make some money just by doing some revenue sharing. I think this business would be one of the best to find un monetized lists.

I'm kind of torn on the optimization of our site though, most of the stuff I've been reading says to throw your shit up and let the peeps tell you what they want then pivot, but on the other hand I don't wanna it to look like a$$ ether...

As time goes on i realize not to worry about things like this and just move forward but its pretty bad... its an easy fix, if its not easy for you just leave it, everytihng is fine but image optimization is imperative, it loads slow that is always the 1 thing no one accepts from sites, people leave.

 

[DeletedUser2]

Ok so I agree and dissagree. T shirts, mugs and shit are dumb.

I personally have personalized LED flashlights with my logo and phone number on them. People fricking keep flashlights, these are nice. It also works out like this...

If about 1/50 customers use the info on the flashlight to tell a neighbor, friend or other company and it converts I make money. So it works for me.

well swag has its place.
but if your trying to get the word out fast, and cheap. swag just isn't that useful.

its great for longer term branding
its great for rapport building, and reciprocity
its awesome for something the sales people can hand out

but staring a company? trying to get firefighters to come see ya?
not so much.

but that's just my opinion
Z

 

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[Red]

Find something that FF's & EMT's utilize in the average call, improve it & put your name on it. In AZ, over 80% of the FF's calls are medical related. I know they utilize bulky metal "clipboards" to keep their charts/paperwork in & write on. Maybe a heavy-duty plastic one that's more ergonomically friendly (and fireproof?)? I don't know, talk to some FF's & EMTs, ask them what could be better/work better, jump on it.

 

[DeletedUser2]

Its a site where users review fire and ems products. Review Axe Our audences is firefighters and emt's. I think it could be a useful tool for getting real world product info to them. But the challenge is being user generated the whole thing hinges on people actually using it. lol...

Check it it out if you don't mind,any critiques are more than welcome.

OK

So I have a master mind I am part of.
And we have some kick but marketters in there.

I posed your question to them for a quick 5 Min brainstorm, here is the chat of what we came up with.

PS. I edited all the names, and deleted non relevant commentary, It might be a bit hard to read, so go slow


[11:02:32 PM] zen*******: @group who is on? i need some quick brains
[11:02:47 PM] Mr H .: wassup
[11:03:01 PM] [ Mr T| Smart]: (highfive)
[11:03:56 PM] zen*******: ok, so if you guys were to give me your quick look, feedback, on this site, what would you say was the fastest way to get the word out to this audience that this site exists?
[11:03:57 PM] zen*******: Review Axe
[11:04:47 PM] zen*******: dont spend more than 5 min on it really
[11:05:12 PM] [ Mr T| Smart]: firefighters niche?
[11:05:15 PM] [ Mr T| Smart]: hmmmm...
[11:05:21 PM] zen*******: yep
[11:05:34 PM] [ Mr T| Smart]: Why would a firefighter buy their own stuff? Or the firehall would be the one shopping at the page?
[11:06:07 PM] zen*******: review site
[11:06:17 PM] zen*******: kinda like Amazon of the firefighters.
[11:06:21 PM] Mr E: wow, usually people use firefighters to sell stuff. (calendars and such) never thought I'd be selling stuff to a firefighter.
[11:06:37 PM] Mr E: who's the decision maker? - fire hall captain? city?
[11:06:48 PM] Mr H .: no - I don't think he's selling products, rob
[11:06:48 PM] [ Mr T| Smart]: I mean regardless... get 3 guys on full time, data entry types to search 'firefighter forum" , "firefighters association", 'firefighters academy" , "firefighter channels" on youtube... ads on those places.

But first, build a list of all the firehalls. Direct mail + phone campaign in my opinion.
[11:06:57 PM] Mr H .: I think he's looking for firefighters to come in and do reviews
[11:07:12 PM] zen*******: yep
[11:07:12 PM] [ Mr T| Smart]: ^---- @Dale ... is this true?
[11:07:16 PM] zen*******: it is
[11:07:17 PM] [ Mr T| Smart]: ah! my bad
[11:07:23 PM] [ Mr T| Smart]: (thanks @Mr H ... I read it wrong)
[11:07:29 PM] zen*******: no prob is said 5 min not 3 seconds...
[11:07:30 PM] zen*******:
[11:07:32 PM] Mr H .: well, it looks like stuff is for sale
[11:07:54 PM] [ Mr T| Smart]: okay... so then why WOULD a firefighter come and just post a review. There's no real forum or community here... so the only reason they'd engage is to post an opinoin about XYZ product?
[11:07:59 PM] Mr E: yeah it does look like stuff is for sale.
[11:08:11 PM] Mr E: would it benefit the firefighter in any way?
[11:08:18 PM] Mr E: their interest is in protecting their community
[11:08:20 PM] Mr H .: and frankly, why review *without* the ability to buy
[11:08:23 PM] [ Mr T| Smart]: so I guess some incentive contest to the firehall
[11:08:38 PM] Mr E: if you created it in such a way that firefighters could review it, and a portion of the proceeds would go to their fundraising
[11:08:44 PM] Mr E: that would be incentive.
[11:08:55 PM] Mr H .: good good -- fundraising, right
[11:09:05 PM] [ Mr T| Smart]: have the firehalls competing against each other... for XYZ prize ... and the most reviews from a firehall ...
[11:09:10 PM] [ Mr T| Smart]: uhmmm yeah... what those 2 just said
[11:09:13 PM] [ Mr T| Smart]: exactly.
[11:09:23 PM] zen*******: that's cool so tie in a fund raising compoent
[11:09:25 PM] Mr H .: is putting bumper stickers on all the firetrucks that say "ReviewAxe.com" completely out of the question?
[11:09:48 PM] Mr E: well otherwise what would make me care as a firefighter?
[11:09:55 PM] Mr E: don't you have to cater to your audience's needs?
[11:09:56 PM] Mr H .: safety, earl
[11:10:12 PM] Mr H .: they want to review products b/c ultimately every second saved might be someone's life
[11:10:18 PM] [ Mr T| Smart]: the firefighters would share it among themselves if you add more viral elements (meme's maybe)? Lace in entertainment that is firefighter specific... images, viral videos, jokes, pictures of firefighters being silly... whatever.
[11:10:42 PM] Mr H .: if they can help some other fire hall know about a great product (or bad one) ... then they're helping save lives elsewhere
[11:10:44 PM] Mr E: good point @Mr H
[11:11:07 PM] [ Mr T| Smart]: Still build (or you likely already have) database of all firehalls in North America (or US or whatever) and reach them directly. But I think you need a "competition" angle for this to play out
[11:11:24 PM] Mr H .: well, you said "why else" ... I always tend to answer rhetorical questions to see where my answer leads
[11:11:28 PM] Mr E: jeopardy for firefighters.
[11:11:39 PM] Mr E: who knows their shit the most.
[11:11:45 PM] Mr E: set a prize, most knowledgeable?
[11:11:57 PM] Mr E: @Mr H - good practice.
[11:12:22 PM] [ Mr T| Smart]: definitely contest and entertainment angle are the only that I'm seeing... otherwise I see no reason why a firefighter would hang out on this page and certainly no reason why they'd want to start reviewing products.
[11:12:38 PM] zen*******: I like that jeopardy, or some sort of review badges, gamify it perhaps
[11:13:10 PM] [ Mr T| Smart]: there should be something auxillary of why they came here (entertainment, comedy ... OR education, resources, best practices tips but we both know THAT won't get shared virally.)... hero stories... have the community submit stories about firefighters, post them and tag them based on city and firehall... those firehall guys then end up here to read the hero stories
[11:13:26 PM] [ Mr T| Smart]: competition between the firehalls via viral games (maybe paper, rock, axe or somthing )
[11:13:36 PM] Mr E: lol where's @shane?
[11:14:00 PM] Mr E: axe beats door, fire beats door, foot beats door, oh shit that's not working...
[11:14:47 PM] Mr E: what would the transition be from hero stories to "name this firefighter do-hickey?"
[11:15:11 PM] Mr H .: gotta go get kids to bed...
nighty night
[11:15:27 PM] Mr E: gnite - mine passed out 2 hours ago.
[11:15:28 PM] zen*******: night Mr H.
[11:16:11 PM] Mr E: is the site monetized by the equipment companies advertising?
[11:16:31 PM] zen*******: ya a bit of advert. he is trying to get traction.
[11:18:32 PM] Mr E: I like Rob's idea - make it a competition. That's what drives guys. Then also add fundraising into the mix. Hit every gathering place for firefighters, and if there isn't one, make a forum to drive natural traffic. Hero stories are good as well for traffic as people would visit.
[11:21:10 PM] [ Mr T| Smart]: also video SEO to piggyback off of firefighter videos ... ie: some short video (could be images or product reviews)... keyword rich... tie in firehall names or any brands/associations they'd be searching.....

advertising on FB targetting Fans of firefighter pages

forums... schill posting in firefighter rooms "Anyone bought anything off of ReviewAxe.com? "

banner/display ads in the waterig holes (the forums / blogs)

in their journals (I'm sure they have journals)

direct mail push to the firehalls with phone followup

but... I don't know... I'd probably only play with the entertainment and the fundraising+competition angles
[11:21:59 PM] Mr E: I wonder if they have helmet cams during their ops. That'd be a crazy video. (after editing out the bad stuff)
[11:22:02 PM] [ Mr T| Smart]: sorry @Zen ... long day apparently. I've got nothing else of use. 1001 things can be tried (as you know) but I'd personally only be confident about putting time and effort into those last points
[11:22:10 PM] [ Mr T| Smart]: fireproof hero cams!!
[11:22:18 PM] [ Mr T| Smart]: forget vids of a dude surfing GoPro
[11:22:20 PM] Mr E: (and waterproof - duh)
[11:22:25 PM] [ Mr T| Smart]: show me a video of a guy saving a kids life from a burning house
[11:22:33 PM] Mr E: that'd sell the damn camera
[11:22:35 PM] [ Mr T| Smart]: it's already waterproof.
[11:22:36 PM] zen*******: dude your golden. ok everyone stop, thanks for the imput, 5 min is up

 

[petethepeddler]

Its a site where users review fire and ems products. Review Axe Our audences is firefighters and emt's. I think it could be a useful tool for getting real world product info to them. But the challenge is being user generated the whole thing hinges on people actually using it. lol...

Check it it out if you don't mind,any critiques are more than welcome.

I've been an EMT for about 10 years. I've gone to the EMS conferences, had companies demo products for us, bought equipment for both personal and Department use.

I checked out your site, without clicking anywhere I see several things:

1. You've done your research and gathered most of the top brands, retailers, publications. - Good job.

2. All of the products on the front page are bits and pieces of miscellaneous gear that no one cares about. Those fittings and nozzles will never get any reviews.

3. The sites coming along, but it looks like a standard ecommerce site. Nothing stands out

4. Other than the name, there isn't much that tells me what the site is about and why I should be here.

You need to grab the viewers attention and have HOT products that will polarize them. Pictures of fire apparatus, ambulances, turn out gear, flashlights, lightbars, gear bags, emblems, stickers, etc.

Here's my suggestion. Put your laptop in your car and take a ride to the 5-10 closest firehouses, and ambulance companies. Talk to the guys and gals there, pull out your laptop and see what they say. In your post you mentioned that YOU think that it could be useful for us. What you need to do is go out in the field and find out what the Firefighters and EMT's think. Your audience will tell you what to do to make them come and use your site.

Take a look through the publications you listed on your site, see what products are being advertised, what kind of pictures are all through the magazine, what articles are they writing, those are all things that they are interested in.

As far as swag... We love it, but it doesn't really matter what our t-shirts or pens, or keychains, or water bottles say on them, we forget who we got it from minutes after picking it up.

If you know of a trade show coming up in your area, go see if you can take a walk around during the vendors reception. See how they're selling themselves, and what they're selling.

Get out there and talk to the guys on the front lines in this industry. Don't keep building your site blind.

 

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[healthstatus]

You might hit up some groups in your area that would donate prizes and you would coordinate the giveaway. Target/Walmart and some others have a specific budget to give away stuff in the community. Also local food places will give gift certificates for that kind of thing. Let them know that the prize winners will be fireman/emt/the whole station and that should really get some good will flowing. You could also try and hit direct selling manufacturers like Bowflex, the ceramic grill people (can't think of their name and too lazy to search it right now), and see if they would donate a system to a winning fire station.

 

[Mike.B]

2. All of the products on the front page are bits and pieces of miscellaneous gear that no one cares about. Those fittings and nozzles will never get any reviews.

Is this strictly from an EMT perspective? The site is for firefighters as well as EMTs.

3. The sites coming along, but it looks like a standard ecommerce site. Nothing stands out

4. Other than the name, there isn't much that tells me what the site is about and why I should be here.

Totally agree with this!

Here's my suggestion. Put your laptop in your car and take a ride to the 5-10 closest firehouses, and ambulance companies. Talk to the guys and gals there, pull out your laptop and see what they say. In your post you mentioned that YOU think that it could be useful for us. What you need to do is go out in the field and find out what the Firefighters and EMT's think. Your audience will tell you what to do to make them come and use your site.

We are definitely looking at doing something like this. We have already approached firefighters and EMTs at our place of employment to get some feedback and we are looking at attending trade shows and conventions.

 

[Mike.B]

OK

So I have a master mind I am part of.
And we have some kick but marketters in there.

I posed your question to them for a quick 5 Min brainstorm, here is the chat of what we came up with.

PS. I edited all the names, and deleted non relevant commentary, It might be a bit hard to read, so go slow

Thank you for this! I love the idea of donating a portion of our proceeds to the firefighters fund!

 

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[Mike.B]

Also not sure of your budget but i would update site, the pictures need to be optimized (easy, you do not have resized thumbails, just pictures compressed into smaller size so they are loading slow.) Right click on a thumbail and save it, now right click on the full size picture and save it.. see how they are the same size? shouldent be that way

Thank you. fixed this; it seems to load much faster now!

Site is not coming off professional... again simple, go grab a template somewhere quickly.

Is the site just aesthetically unappealing? What make it come off as unprofessional? I do realize that the site needs some work, but we are trying to get it in front of our audience before we over analyze every little aesthetic detail.

 

[DeletedUser2]

But all of this is irrelevant because zen******* is about to come in and school everyone... probably something like google "fire safety blog" contact all of them... make a smart offer toward them, sell 10 million in products to their list the week after, get acquired by a bigger company 2 weeks after that, then twirl your mustache and laugh as you stare at your new bank statement...something like that.

I think im going to grow a twirlable mustache just for this.

muahahaha

 

[petethepeddler]

Quote Originally Posted by petethepeddler View Post
2. All of the products on the front page are bits and pieces of miscellaneous gear that no one cares about. Those fittings and nozzles will never get any reviews.
Is this strictly from an EMT perspective? The site is for firefighters as well as EMTs.

This is not just from own perspective as an EMT. We work together with all of the area fire departments, I know from talking with them/ hanging out with them, what it is that they are into. The bits and pieces that go into an assembly are not something that they will talk about and leave a review. Major components, vehicles, personal gear, etc are things that they will talk about,

POK-BiPOK Wildland Gated Wye 1-1/2\" FNST x (2) 1-1/2\" MNST-POK16015

This not so much, I'm not saying that you shouldn't have it on the site and that there isn't 1 or 2 people who may leave a review on it sometime in the next 20 years, what I'm saying is that you shouldn't have it on the homepage of the site. Its not something that will draw these guys in right away. Turn out gear, specialty picks/ axes, lightbars (this is a big one, most guys in most departments are very big into decking out they're personal vehicles), etc. put those types of products on the homepage.

 

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[PatrickP]

well swag has its place.
but if your trying to get the word out fast, and cheap. swag just isn't that useful.

its great for longer term branding
its great for rapport building, and reciprocity
its awesome for something the sales people can hand out

but staring a company? trying to get firefighters to come see ya?
not so much.

but that's just my opinion
Z

HOW HOW HOW Did you so eloquently say in a few lines what I would have fumbled around with for 6 or 7 paragraphs and STILL not have conveyed the proper message??

Yes I am jealous

For me this post by Zen says it all. Exactly what my personal experience has been.

 

[SmshTheTimeClok]

Thanks for your input Pete, we were kinda wandering about that kind of product. I know its not very sexy and probably wont be looked at much, but if someone has these type of items fail in the field they can tell others about it potentially saving lives.

As far as being on the home page they were the most recent items loaded.

But I agree, the fire guys probably don't sit around and talk about valves lol..

 

[SmshTheTimeClok]

Zend thanks for taking the time and bringing us to your mastermind!!! There is a ton of sage advice in that post... You rock:icon_super:.We love the fund raiser ideas among others, we have a bunch of things to kick around now. (Good luck with the mustache lol).

Bizz not sure how to go about procuring the un-monetized list though, please elaborate I'm intrigued..

 

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[Mike.B]

This is not just from own perspective as an EMT. We work together with all of the area fire departments, I know from talking with them/ hanging out with them, what it is that they are into. The bits and pieces that go into an assembly are not something that they will talk about and leave a review. Major components, vehicles, personal gear, etc are things that they will talk about,

POK-BiPOK Wildland Gated Wye 1-1/2\" FNST x (2) 1-1/2\" MNST-POK16015

This not so much, I'm not saying that you shouldn't have it on the site and that there isn't 1 or 2 people who may leave a review on it sometime in the next 20 years, what I'm saying is that you shouldn't have it on the homepage of the site. Its not something that will draw these guys in right away. Turn out gear, specialty picks/ axes, lightbars (this is a big one, most guys in most departments are very big into decking out they're personal vehicles), etc. put those types of products on the homepage.

I definitely understand what you are saying. The home page is going to have 12-16 each of the most recent reviews, highest rated and recently added products. Of course, this is subject to change. The reason that only the recently added products are showing is because we have no reviews yet. Obviously, as time goes on we'll be able to see trends in which products receive reviews and which do not.

I really appreciate you taking the time to share your point of view!

 

[dbjennings]

I spent several years selling into the market that you are targeting, and I can tell you a few things that you might find useful:
1. These guys are picky about their equipment, but, like Pete said, their are certain things they care about more than others. I'd say that anything they wear ranks near the top of the list. You've got to figure that comfort and (more importantly) safety are huge concerns for the guys on the job. I didn't even sell jackets, for example, but I've listened to 20 minute conversations from multiple firefighters about why they love/hate a certain jacket.
2. This is a very easy market to sell to in one respect: you can talk to your customer very easily. Whenever you start a business, you need to find "pain points" and offer a solution to ease that pain. It's easy to find pain points in the Fire/EMS market, because you can walk right into a fire station and talk to people who fight fires every day. I can't think of many instances where I couldn't easily strike up a conversation in a fire house about virtually any piece of equipment just by walking in the door. You can even improve your odds for the price of a box of donuts, cookies, etc. I love that about the Fire/EMS market - there aren't a lot of gatekeepers to get by to find out the information that you want. Selling to them can be tough because there is often a lot of government bureaucracy, contract, etc, but you aren't actually selling them anything - you just want the guys in the field to use your website.
3. Trade shows in that space are usually easy to get in to, and you can almost always set up a booth cheaply at regional and state Fire Chiefs Conventions, EMS Conferences, etc. I've spent more time at those things than I care to think about, but it's a good, reasonably inexpensive way to get in front of the people that you need to know. Five minutes with Google, and you'll know where and when these events are held. It sounds like you've already started doing this.
Obviously, scaling your business may be much more difficult, but your market research should be a breeze. You should walk into 5-10 fire houses and talk to the people you are targeting. You'll know if your idea is viable very quickly.
If your idea is good (and the people on this forum can't answer that - only your target market can), then you need to figure out a way to market it so it scales. Zen threw out some interesting ideas, and I'm sure you can come up with some others. Good luck.
PS: It sounds like you've moved on from the idea of passing out swag. I'll just throw a "ditto" at everyone who told you it wasn't your best move at this point.

 

[theBiz]

Where do i find a good mastermind group? Bouncing business ideas off of a cat is just not cutting it anymore, they are too pessimistic (no cat but figured it would be a funny visual)

 

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[Mike.B]

1. These guys are picky about their equipment, but, like Pete said, their are certain things they care about more than others. I'd say that anything they wear ranks near the top of the list. You've got to figure that comfort and (more importantly) safety are huge concerns for the guys on the job. I didn't even sell jackets, for example, but I've listened to 20 minute conversations from multiple firefighters about why they love/hate a certain jacket.

This is why we believe this site will be very beneficial. The fact that these guys love to share their insight and opinions on the products they use, should make this a very resourceful tool.

2. This is a very easy market to sell to in one respect: you can talk to your customer very easily. Whenever you start a business, you need to find "pain points" and offer a solution to ease that pain. It's easy to find pain points in the Fire/EMS market, because you can walk right into a fire station and talk to people who fight fires every day. I can't think of many instances where I couldn't easily strike up a conversation in a fire house about virtually any piece of equipment just by walking in the door. You can even improve your odds for the price of a box of donuts, cookies, etc. I love that about the Fire/EMS market - there aren't a lot of gatekeepers to get by to find out the information that you want. Selling to them can be tough because there is often a lot of government bureaucracy, contract, etc, but you aren't actually selling them anything - you just want the guys in the field to use your website.

We did talk about visiting the local fire houses in our area, but we weren't sure how we'd be received. I do like this idea because we don't have to wait for the next trade show or convention. Also, I would think talking with a smaller group at each station house would allow us to get better feedback.

Thank you!

 

[SmshTheTimeClok]

Where do i find a good mastermind group? Bouncing business ideas off of a cat is just not cutting it anymore, they are too pessimistic (no cat but figured it would be a funny visual)

Yo theBiz, if you don't already have a group on this forum i would suggest starting one. I think there are some great minds at work on here and you have the clout to get some pretty heavy hitters to join.