niche sports

Dena Vick is a Public Relations and Media expert who has a deep background in the fishing and marine world and has worked for many diverse entities in the outdoor space. She has also helped many anglers get and keep fishing sponsorships and find new fishing sponsorship opportunities.

This week we open a conversation with Dena about how PR and Media fit in the fishing business, in terms of brands and companies, and also how a company's national prostaff fits within a public relations or marketing campaign.

As you grow into your career  and learn more about how to get fishing sponsorships you will eventually work with a Public Relations person and it's important to understand what they do and how they work.  A PR person can amplify YOUR brand image as they work with their brand clients and really amplify your fishing sponsorship opportunities so it's essential that you do everything you can to make their job as smooth and easy as possible.

And some of you listening may want to consider a career in Public Relations within the fishing industry. If you're a good communicator who loves the outdoors, this could be a perfect career path for you.

Something else that might help you is my free Guide to Working with the Media.
Download it here.
https://www.fishingbusinessschool.com/guide-to-working-with-the-media

And there's more good stuff at my website
https://www.fishingbusinessschool.com/

Quick conversation about 3 key qualities you need to attract good sponsors and begin solid relationships that can help you career. 

The annual fishing trade show known as ICAST usually has over 600 exhibitors. That's 600 brands trying to outshout each other to get a consumer's attention. 

How does a brand cut through the clutter and stand out? How does an individual cut through the clutter and stand out? 

This week's guest knows how to do that.  

Chris Russell is Marketing Manager at Plano Synergy which is a company with several brands you would recognize including Plano and Frabill.  Plano, of course, is the iconic tackle box maker and Frabill, which is a fishing accessories brand that makes bait management equipment, nets and ice fishing gear.  He's also worked for such powerhouse brands as Shimano and Eagle Claw, so he’s got marketing chops, deep experience and a creative mind. 

Listen closely in this episode for ideas that you can use in your own brand building...there are lots of nuggets here.

And if you haven't started building your brand yet, now's the time!  I have a free workbook that will help you get started.  Download it here.
https://www.fishingbusinessschool.com/brandworkbook

And there's more good stuff at my website
https://www.fishingbusinessschool.com/

As entrepreneurs, we can learn a lot from other small business owners. This week's podcast might get you fired up to pursue your dreams and it will definitely teach you something about sponsor relationships.

David King of Mossback Fish Habitat founded his business to create products that help anglers provide habitat for fish and fry, but his business is more like a family, which is not uncommon in small companies. 

Appealing to a business like his can be different than appealing to large enterprises in some ways, but no less critical to your success.  A small business owner may be more accessible to connect with especially if they are located in your area and you have a personal connection with them.  But their expectations of you will be no lower than others.  
Small business owners have invested their blood, sweat and tears into their companies so they partner with people who they can trust with their brand reputation. There's a lot at stake for them and understanding their mindset can help you appeal to them.  

You can also learn so much from a fellow entrepreneur.  David is emblematic of the entrepreneur's journey of having a passion for something and having the gumption to put your dreams into action.  

You can see David's product here.
https://www.mossbackfishhabitat.com/

More good fishing business can be found on my website
https://www.fishingbusinessschool.com/

David's social channels
https://www.facebook.com/MossBackHabitat
https://www.instagram.com/mossbackhabitat/

My channels
https://www.facebook.com/fishingbusinesspodcast
https://www.instagram.com/fishingbusinesspodcast/
#fishingpodcast #fishingsponsorships #howtogetsponsors

I want to introduce you to Jared Kutil, founder of OutdoorOccupations.com which is a job board for the outdoors industry.  Perfect asset for many of you who would like a job in the outdoors or fishing world.

Jared shares tips with us on how his website works and how to get the most out of it in your job search. He also gives us his best advice on how to be put your best foot forward in the job seeking process and how to make a great first impression. 

Be sure to listen until the very end because Jared throws out some nuggets in the last 5 minutes that you don't want to miss.

Mentioned in this episode:
Outdoor Occupations
https://outdooroccupations.com/

Jared's favorite recent podcast about Gary Loomis, who founded Loomis Rods.
https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/ep-41-gary-loomis-on-edge-fly-rods/id951475911?i=1000375844063&l=fr

Fishing Business School
https://www.fishingbusinessschool.com/

Jared's Social Media
https://www.instagram.com/jaredkutil/
https://www.instagram.com/outdooroccupations/
https://www.facebook.com/JKFishing
https://www.facebook.com/OutdoorOccupations

Angie's Social Media
https://www.instagram.com/fishingbusinesspodcast/
https://www.instagram.com/fishnchik/
https://www.facebook.com/fishingbusinesspodcast
https://www.facebook.com/angie.l.thompson/

Download my free guide to get started on developing your personal brand here
https://www.fishingbusinessschool.com/brandworkbook

Spend just a little bit of time every morning getting your mindset and your focus set for the day and you will find you are much more productive.   Level up on your productivity and you can level up on achieving your dreams.

Here's a quick tip on how to put everything down on paper.

See more at https://www.fishingbusinessschool.com/

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/fishingbusinesspodcast/
Also:  https://www.instagram.com/fishnchik/
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/fishingbusinesspodcast
Itunes:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fishing-business-podcast/id1507041192

In 2019, 17% of the U.S. population, ages 6 and up, went fishing at least once. That’s 50.1 milllion people.  And that number represents the highest participation rate since 2007.

I give credit for a lot of that growth to the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation and it’s Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications, Stephanie Vatalaro.  The RBFF's mission is to increase the growth of boating and fishing and they are very effective at what they do. 

You may recognize them as TakeMeFishing.org or Vamos a Pescar, two of their consumer facing brands. 

This week's conversation with Stephanie covers a lot or ground including how to write for your partners and sponsors. 

You can find more at my website
https://www.fishingbusinessschool.com/

Instagram  https://www.instagram.com/fishingbusinesspodcast/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/angie.l.thompson/

Download my guide to Developing Your Personal Brand at
https://www.fishingbusinessschool.com/brandworkbook

Do you ever find yourself in the situation where someone sees you and asks how you’re doing and you say, “Oh man, I’m so BUSY.”

Let me in on a secret….there’s no advantage to telling people how busy you are.  

AND there’s NO upside to your business to say I’m too busy. 

If you want to be successful as a professional, you have to keep your commitments to yourself.  And to your business.  Our conversation today is about staying true to yourself and how to get more business done in your day.

There's more at my website....
https://www.fishingbusinessschool.com/ 

If you are an aspiring pro angler, chances are you live near a good bass fishing lake.  And if you live near a good bass fishing lake there is a tourism department somewhere on that lake that is trying to attract visitors to the area. That tourism agency is a great potential partner. 

Our guest on the Fishing Business Podcast today is Neil Paul - the Executive Director of Visit Anderson South Carolina. 

Anderson, SC is on Lake Hartwell and Neil does a fabulous job of promoting fishing on Hartwell. He's a key player in putting together the deals that have brought the Bassmaster Classic to Greenville, SC in a unique partnership with Anderson.

Neil’s an avid angler and he has impactful partnerships with pro anglers Brandon Cobb and Brian Lattimer. He has a deep knowledge of fishing tourism and he’s gracious enough to share some of that knowledge with us today.

We're talking fishing tourism today y'all and it's a big deal. 

There's more at my website
https://www.fishingbusinessschool.com

Download my free workbook "How to Develop Your Personal Brand" here
https://www.fishingbusinessschool.com/brandworkbook

#fishingpodcast #bassfishing #BassmasterClassic #bassmasterelites #lakehartwell #howtogetfishingsponsors

Rick Clunn could be the GOAT in fishing.  He is to me.  The Greatest Of All Time.  He's been fishing since the 70's and he is still winning.  He won a Bassmaster Elite Series event in 2019 on the St John's River in Florida. 

Rick is known for his mental toughness and that is a skill that we all need to cultivate, hone and pay careful attention to developing. In today's show, Rick talks about what mental toughness really means and how you can work at getting better at it. 

We also dive deep into passion and how it can drive you forward to your goals.  Even though Rick is mostly talking about these things as they relate to being highly competitive in tournament fishing, these qualities also relate directly back to the business side of fishing as well.  Big time.  

Listen to this episode as if you are listening to the wise shaman of the tribe...because you are.  Stay open at the top and think about how you can take what we discuss here and apply it to all aspects of your life - from competition to business to your personal life. 

This is a good one, y'all. 

Toyota is one of the best brands in the world. Matt Ozawa is one of the best marketers at Toyota and he’s our guest on the podcast this week. Matt is the Engagement Marketing Manager at Toyota Motor North America so he is responsible for Toyota’s involvement in bass fishing, the Stagecoach music festival and the Dew Tour among others. 

There are always lessons to be learned from the best of the best and this podcast is loaded with nuggets from Matt that can be applied to our own marketing, whether we are marketing a product or our own personal brand.

We break down what experiential marketing really means, what brands look for in athlete partners, how brand culture affects their relationships with the personalities and properties with whom they partner.

Listen to this conversation with an open heart to learn from someone who is among the best at what they do. Think about how you can take the concepts we discuss and put them into play in your business. Try to distill this information into concepts you can develop for your own partners.  This is a great opportunity to grow and learn from the best. 

Digital advertising will account for 53% of ALL the advertising dollars spent in 2020. Worldwide, digital advertising will likely hit $336 billion. That’s a lot of zeroes. So it’s no wonder that everybody seems to be trying to figure out how to create more content. After all, content is necessary for digital advertising. If you don’t have digital content, you don’t have a place to run ads.

Jim Sexton might be the foremost expert on digital content in the fishing industry. That's because he runs all of the digital platforms for B.A.S.S. which is the largest media platform in the bass fishing industry. 

Great information here and I've also put together a free resource for you to download that puts everything you will learn today together for you.  You can find the Fishing Business School's Guide to Working with the Media at 

https://www.fishingbusinessschool.com/sexton

Download this free guide and let us know what you think.

Dan Quinn manages the pro staff of Rapala - an iconic fishing lure brand that is known for it's relationship with its pro staff, its customers and its partners.  Dan dives deep on what's important with his pro staff and how anglers can find their way as sponsored pros. 

Three key takeaways from the conversation:
- It’s all about relationships.
Dan says relationships are the foundation of the fishing industry.  And I agree with that, but will take it a step further to say, ALL business is all about relationships.  All SUCCESSFUL businesses are all about relationships.  

Think about it.  What’s your favorite restaurant, your go to spot? It might not be all about the food, in fact I bet it’s your favorite because the servers are nice to you, and the manager comes over to say hello and check on you.  What about your car dealer? The woman who cuts your hair.  You make so many choices as a consumer because of relationships. 

And Dan has a true relationship with his pro staff, and his pro staff has a relationship with their fans and followers.  Take a look at the Rapala pro staff and think about whether you feel an affinity for any of these folks….like you feel like you might know them personally. 

- People don’t want to be told what to buy.
A hard sell usually doesn’t work.  People want to naturally curious about a product or they want to believe someone when they tell them it’s a good product.  It’s the Know, Like and Trust factor again, y’all.  People need to KNOW you, so they can LIKE you, and then they will TRUST you. 

-Start on the first rung of the ladder and don’t think about skipping a rung.
Start small, learn how to fish really well, start some relationships in your area and grow from there. Hone your craft of catching bass…..but also hone the craft of marketing!  

Which is what we’re doing here on the Fishing Business Podcast.

This woman y'all!  She's an amazing marketing professional and an absolute expert in the fishing business.  I think you will love this conversation with Michelle Kilburn, where she talks about how one of the biggest brands in fishing develops their fishing pro staff and manages their marketing message across over 2000 members of their pro staff.