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I Didn’t Get Here Alone.

21 May 2013 / 0 Comments / in Bidness, Blog, Daydreamin'/by

Being a ‘solopreneur’ is sometimes the greatest feeling (I love the ability to make decisions on the fly and do things the way I envision doing them)…but sometimes it can feel like your working in a silo.  I’ve been very candid about my thoughts on networking and being a horrible business owner.  So for me, it’s a different connection that’s important to make, and thankfully I get a dose when needed.

Just the other night, we were out rigging the ‘Snoloha’ in the marina parking lot and a gentlemen stopped by to offer a hand, introduce himself and let me know he follows this blog and believes in what Snoloha stands for.

Just this week an email came in from a guy who has had enough of the  9-5 rat race and is taking the entrepreneurial leap and had some questions for me and my experience getting a brand off the ground.

This morning I read this very interesting article from CNN – Use your money to buy happier time.

“Focusing on how money can improve our time, rather than on how money can swell our coffers, offers the possibility of much more happiness.”

And as I’m typing this, I’m listening to Kenny Chesney sing “I Didn’t Get Here Alone” and the lyrics are fitting.  I’m a LONG, LONG way from getting this brand to where it needs to be, and sure, it would be nice to have ‘Chesney money’ to afford my own place in the Virgin Islands, but hey…success is what you define it as, and I’m not stuck in a cubicle, miserable, working for some prick and counting the days until the weekend hits.

“Yeah, I hit walls and I wanted to quit
I picked myself up but the truth is, yeah, the truth is

I didn’t get here alone
That road’s just too rough and long
I might be the one the spotlight’s on
But, I didn’t get here alone
Yeah, I know I didn’t get here alone

The crew, the band, yeah, and all you fans
That stood in line rain or shine
I want to thank everybody out there for the ride

‘Cause I didn’t get here alone
Ain’t traveled one mile on my own
You’re why I sing my song
You’re why I sing my song”

As I’ve said many times, I don’t have what it take to write a song and I can barely strum through Margaritaville on my ‘traded a pair of skis for an acoustic guitar’, but I do have this brand and all of you out there who are crazy enough to appreciate what it stands for.

I didn’t get here alone.

Thanks.

Office Time

15 May 2013 / 0 Comments / in Bidness, Blog, Daydreamin'/by

This Unsalted Sailing Magazine is requiring quite a bit of ‘office time’.  I’m still not sure if this is a brilliant idea that we’ve come up with, or if it will be a giant time suck with little results.  But hey!  We won’t know until we try, right?

As a result of what’s been a very busy spring, I’ve really struggled with new blog topics.  Call it writer’s block, I guess.  It happens.  What I like to do when it does happen is re-visit blog posts from the same time frame a couple years back…this one is from May of 2007 (Snoloha was just a fragile newborn at that time) and seemed appropriate given the amount of screen time and office time needed right now:

“Human beings were not meant to sit in little cubicles staring at computer screens all day, filling out useless forms and listening to eight different bosses drone on about about mission statements.” Peter Gibbons, Office Space

The joys of owning a business: A regular paycheck? nope. A set schedule? not quite. Guaranteed customers willing to buy your product? that would be too easy.

How about working wherever you feel like it for the day? !’m currently working on the Fall / Winter product line and catalog. It requires a lot of office time, which I don’t particularly care for. Office time can drive me crazy, and as Buffettt says, if “we weren’t all crazy we would go insane”. So as I stared out the window today I realized I don’t have to stay in this office and work all day. After all, there is no over-bearing, micro-managing boss to get in the way.

So I packed up my messenger bag, hopped on the bike, and peddled down to Clinch Marina, where I set up my “temporary office space” on an empty and inviting picnic table, and spent a few hours working on the catalog and product line.

This is what I call “office atmoshpere”. Not a bad way to spend the workday.

Clinch Marina

Tonight I Just Need My Guitar

07 May 2013 / 0 Comments / in Blog, Daydreamin'/by

Doesn’t everyone have dreams of strumming a guitar and playing to a legion of fans across the globe?  Or hitting the game winning shot in game 7?  Or the bases loaded walk off home run?

We all grow up with those dreams, don’t we?  And eventually reality sets it and you realize that you just don’t quite have what it takes.  Then what?  I guess most of the time we settle.  We settle for some shitty cubicle job that we never ever truly enjoy and waste a few years away before jumping to a new job and maybe a few more…and before you know it, it’s all in the rearview.  And you’re pissed.  At yourself.  Not for failing to make it to the NBA or as a rockstar (hell, you never even learned to play the guitar so what do you expect?!).  You’re pissed because you never took that leap of faith and gave that business idea a try, went back to school, completely switched industries…any kind of change from what you spent your career doing…and hating.

I think about this stuff.  ALOT.  Too much.

I do feel feel very fortunate that my ‘career life’ is made up of Snoloha, Unsalted Sailing, Bay Breeze and a couple other things that I’m involved in.  Have I bitten off more than I can chew?  Somedays it feels that way…that’s when I have to practice what I preach and find a dose of escapism myself.

I’ve been very deliberate in my attempt to surround myself with a work life that I enjoy and want to be a part of.  Yes, it’s stressful…only because I give a damn.  There’s no ‘working for the weekend’, punching out at 5:00 or one week of vacation time.  There can’t be.

But that’s OK.  Because sometimes the lines between work and play are very blurred — sailing, snowboarding, trips to the Caribbean, a cold one on the docks, getting lost in the woods…it’s all brand related.  You really do have to practice what you preach if anyone is going to believe you as a brand owner.

Remember:

“Need is a relative thing these days
It borders on desire
The high tech world is full of bright shiny things
We think that we really require

Sometimes more than others
You see who and what and where You are
I’m a one-man band with no Immediate plans
Tonight I just need my guitar

Don’t need to feel important or famous
No limos or my little Nash car
One lucky man
With my feet in the sand
Tonight I just need my guitar” – Jimmy Buffett, Tonight I Just Need My Guitar

Snoloha Stamp of Approval

02 May 2013 / 0 Comments / in Bidness, Blog/by

A couple weeks ago I received an email from a fellow small business and brand owner.  It was from Matt and his new sandal company from  Minneapolis, Minnesota called Bokos.

I get a decent amount of inquiries and solicitations and most of them are ignorable. This one was different, though.  It had a ‘real’ element to it.  And the name intrigued me.  And I really liked the language used to describe the sandals, “From your gym bag to your camping gear, your front closet to your back porch, we’re confident that wherever your Bokos end up, they will soon become your new favorite sandals.”

I also really like the price.  They are affordable, as sandals should be.

Of course, being the sandal and flip flop fan that I am…I needed to try a pair out.  Matt was very gracious and sent a pair my way…even though there was still snow on the ground at the time!

Well, I dig ‘em.  They are comfortable.

So I’m confident in giving Bokos Sandals the Snoloha stamp of approval.  You should get a pair…and if you use the code SNO you can get 20% off…and the regular price is only $16.00.  I’m no mathematician, but if my calculator is right 20% 0ff of $16 is $12.80.

OR…if you spend $50 or more on Snoloha gear…you can get a pair of Bokos for FREE (just let me know your size and color in the Order Notes box during checkout — Men’s Bokos & Women’s Bokos).

Bokos Sandals

Snoloha Castaways

30 Apr 2013 / 0 Comments / in Blog, Snoloha Gear/by

Eventually, it’s going to be t-shirt weather.  Eventually.

And when t-shirt weather finally arrives, someday, don’t be left out in the warmth without a Snoloha Castaway T for only $10.00.

These shirts really need a new home.  They need someone to care for them.  Someone to wash and dry them.  Maybe even give them a nice fold every once in a while.  And most importantly, someone who will listen to them.

So if you’re looking for a way to cover your torso this summer, pick up a Snoloha Castaway T for $10.

Time on the Water

25 Apr 2013 / 0 Comments / in Blog, Daydreamin'/by

Life is hectic.  That’s why we all need escapism.  That’s why we need Snoloha.

On a chilly Wednesday afternoon as another busy day was ‘trying’ to wind down we managed to escape out of the marina and spend a little time flying sail on the Catalina 309 “Adele Lina” getting her ready for a charter this coming weekend.

It really was work related.  Really, it was.

Leaving land behind, raising (in this case unfurling) sails, and shutting off the diesel has this amazing calming ability that makes the ‘hecticness’ (new word) of the day simply fade away.

It’s been a long winter.  As much as I enjoy escaping to Boyne Mountain on my snowboard, or in the woods with some snowshoes…it’s time for sailing, stand up paddling and relaxing on the beach.

It’s time to get the “Snoloha” in the water and on her mooring ball…my favorite way to escape.  Just sitting there, alone, on the mooring ball.  Time on the water.  Sure, I love bringing the wife and little one along…but even they need a break from me once in a while.

I’ve been listening to this new Kenny Chesney album “Life on a Rock” and the song “Marley” is one of my early favorites…puts me right there aboard the “Snoloha”, alone:

“Sometimes my life takes more than I can give
That’s when I gotta go where no one’s around
But the silence and the sound
Of Three Little Birds for company
I got a sip of something strong
A 2nd hand Old Man and the Sea
Out here with me
Me & Marley.” – Kenny Chesney, Marley

We learned that someone from the Traverse City Convention and Visitors Bureau snapped our photo and posted on their Facebook page (photo below).

Sailing West Bay

Do Not Buy this T-Shirt

23 Apr 2013 / 0 Comments / in Blog, Snoloha Gear/by

Seriously, Don’t Do it!

Wow…Am I now using the same reverse psychology tactics in marketing that I use with my daughter?! Pathetic, I know.

Seriously though, I wouldn’t order this t-shirt…if you have any other t-shirts that you’ll feel bad about never wearing again. These are by far the most comfortable Snoloha t-shirts that have been released. And they are pretty true to size. They don’t fit like a box, nor do they make you look like you’re trying to show off your guns, pretending you’re way younger than you really are.

Living on Snoloha Time…for guys and for gals.

All the Ramblings