Since we are heading to see Buffett in concert this summer at Comerica Park (home of the Detroit Tigers), as the Trop Rock promo continues, and as licensing opportunities are researched, well…it’s no surprise that my current music play list reflects this type of laid back escapism type of music and I get to thinking (again) about Buffett’s carreer and what he has achieved with his brand.

Sometimes, when I post or write about Buffett needing to write and record a Snoloha song, wear Snoloha on stage, or buy the company, it may seem as though it comes off as wanting Snoloha to hit the big time overnight with the help of a celebrity.

Though I wouldn’t decline the offer from Buffett if he decided to do anything with Snoloha, I’m definitely not relying on that type of exposure.

I’ve learned a few things during this process, and one of them is that media exposure is great.  It results in instant traffic and sales…but, like anything with the media, the attention quickly turns to something else and you are left all alone standing in your underwear.  OK, not sure what the underwear has to so with this story.  But you get the idea, I hope.

I’ve also learned that if you’re waiting for someone else to do it for you…you are still waiting.

Buffett didn’t wait or rely on anyone else.  Buffett’s first album, “Down to Earth,” came out in 1970. However, it wasn’t until 1977 when the album “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes” was released. Track #6 on that album was “Margaritaville”, which was his breakthrough song. Buffett was 31 years old at that time and had been writing, playing and recording albums for 7 years before he finally struck that connection with a large audience and the tropical escapism that would become his trademark. That is 33 years of growing the Margaritaville brand to where he’s at today.

I’ve been at this for 5 years.  I’m still working toward my ‘Margaritaville’ moment.  I’m slowly building my ‘Parrothead’ audience (we still need to come up with our own name for Snoloha fans!).

On one of Buffett’s more recent live CDs he thanks the crowd for ‘getting’ what it is he does.  Not everyone gets it.  Not everyone gets Snoloha.

Perfect.

So as I continue to talk about how great it would be if Buffett or Chesney or Jack Johnson, or any other number of famous people who ‘fit’ Snoloha, would wear Snoloha…know that it’s all in fun, really.  But it would be great, wouldn’t it?

“I’ve been lazy most all my life, writing songs and sleeping late.  Any manual labor I’ve done was purely by mistake” – It’s My Job.

Trop Rock is back, baby…and we are raising some money for a great cause.

These will start shipping end of May. Order yours today with the promo code “wnyshore” and save $5.00. Then take that $5.00 savings and invest in some lotto tickets, or a yummy Subway sub, or buy yourself a gallon of gas.

Now here’s the REALLY cool part. Not only do you get a cool shirt and save a little scratch on it, for every shirt that’s sold we’ll also donate $5 to The Wounded Warrior Project, an organization that provides programs and services to severely injured service members during the time between active duty and transition to civilian life.

These are relaxed fit, unisex sized, 100% pre-shrunk cotton t-shirts. We didn’t over-think this one…just a nice comfortable t-shirt to wear to a Buffett show, on the boat, tossed on the beach, laying in a hammock or just relaxing in the backyard with friends and family.

ATTENTION LADIES! If you’d like a WOMEN’S SPECIFIC CUT, during the checkout process simply type in the comments section WOMEN’S CUT, and that’s what you will get. It’ll be a white, 100% pre-shrunk cotton women’s t.

And for some great Trop Rock info, check out my buddy JimmyPirate over at TropRockWNY.com and the good folks over at the Trop Rock Blog.

YOU WANT THE TRUTH?!

Oh…OK, no problem, you can handle the truth.

Truth is…I’ve been busy.  We are really trying to promote this Trop Rock / Wounded Warrior Project promo.  It’s a great cause, and one of my favorite t-shirt designs and music genres.  Thanks again Jimmy Pirate over at The Shore Radio along with the good folks at Trop Starz & Tiki Barz for including Snoloha.  It’s crazy how much time goes into just getting the website setup for one single promo…then throw on top of that an email campaign and social media and there’s a lot to do.

It’s also retailer fulfillment time.  There are a bunch of shirts sitting in my office / warehouse that need tending to.  I’ve not been hitting the retailer scene as hard as I have in the past.   I’ve really tried scaling back and being a bit more selective with which types of stores carry Snoloha, and I’ve put more time and effort into the website.  If you really want to know my thoughts on this…read this post from Seth Godin.

Now that the Spring Ts are in and all the pre-orders are fulfilled (with GREAT feedback)…I can now turn my attention to a few new ‘ideas’ that have been bouncing around my head for some time.  One really needs some time and attention to detail, and the other…well could just be a crazy idea.  But it came to my while on the beach at Bolongo Bay last November…so I’ve gotta give it a try.

I’m not sure if you’ve noticed…but I’ve been actively social-networking it up and I haven’t done much complaining about it!  I’m not sure if I’ve finally fully accepted it, or if I’ve just become numb to it…or perhaps those are the same thing.

And then there is this…

As you know (or maybe you don’t), Snoloha and Bay Breeze are collaborating on a little project called Unsalted Sailing.  This is an effort to promote and highlight sailing the Great Lakes through a series of events, merchandise and internet presence.

This little project is becoming a big project…but in a good way.

• There are 4 events planned throughout Grand Traverse Bay, Lake Michigan and The Straits.
• A full on PR campaign
• A Great Lakes based Sales Rep to sell merchandise to retailers
• A collaboration with a Great Lakes based Trop Rock musician
• A collaboration with the Great Lakes Potato Chip Co.
• Catalog Design
• E-commerce functionality
• A full on sponsorship campaign
• Boat Show
• Social Media
• Product and Graphic design
• Ambassador program for all 5 Great Lakes

I’m pretty sure this list keeps going, but I’m going to stop now since I’m already feeling a bit overwhelmed.

Yup, add to this a 23′ Hunter sailboat sitting in the driveway that needs bottom paint and the daily duties of being a daddy and husband…and yea, it’s a little busy.

Nope…I’m not complaining.  Just rationalizing why it makes sense that I take advantage of a little Living on Snoloha Time myself soon.  Ya know…there’ still no t-shirt with that saying on it.  Maybe I should fix that!

Thanks for listening.  I feel better.

If you read this far…you deserve something.  So…for your next purchase, all you gotta do is in the “Order Notes” box during checkout, type “Rod is SO cool”  or “Rod is SO awesome” or “Rod is SO (insert whatever you want here, keeping my fragile feelings in mind) and you’ll get a sweet Snoloha SnoFlake Palm Tree sticker and a Snoloha koozie free with your order.

So one of my favorite designs has always been Trop Rock.  I love the artwork.  I first released this a few years back, when Snoloha was still just a baby.  It has a much different feel and theme than all the other Snoloha designs…where’s the snow?  It’s a purely tropical design.  It doesn’t truly fit the concept.  I wouldn’t normally release a design like this, except the difference here is the Trop Rock / Jimmy Buffett crowd really dig Snoloha, and the ‘escapism’ mentality.  Snoloha and Trop Rock music are a perfect match.  People enjoy this style of music because it is a mental escape from the realities of everyday life…the same reason they enjoy Snoloha.

So….Trop Rock is back, baby…and we are raising some money for a great cause.

These will start shipping toward the end of May.  Order yours today with the promo code “wnyshore” and save $5.00.  Then take that $5.00 savings and invest in some lotto tickets, or a yummy Subway sub, or buy yourself a gallon of gas.

Now here’s the REALLY cool part. Not only do you get a cool shirt and save a little scratch on it, for every shirt that’s sold we’ll also donate $5 to The Wounded Warrior Project, an organization that provides programs and services to severely injured service members during the time between active duty and transition to civilian life.

These are relaxed fit, unisex sized, 100% pre-shrunk cotton t-shirts.  We didn’t over-think this one…just a nice comfortable t-shirt to wear to a Buffett show, on the boat, tossed on the beach, laying in a hammock or just relaxing in the backyard with friends and family.

ATTENTION LADIES!  If you’d like a WOMEN’S SPECIFIC CUT, during the checkout process simply type in the comments section WOMEN’S CUT, and that’s what you will get.  It’ll be a white, 100% pre-shrunk cotton women’s t.

And for some great Trop Rock info, check out my buddy JimmyPirate over at TropRockWNY.com and the good folks over at the Trop Rock Blog.

Recently, while enjoying a couple ice-cold adult beverages at a local watering hole, I got into an interesting debate with a close friend.  During this heated exchange, it became very obvious to us that ‘boy, times have a changed’.  We’ve been friends for 16 or 17 years…a long time.  So we’ve had many a good night figuring out the world’s problems.  And many a good night being part of the problem.  And now…we are both dads.  He has a 2 year old son, who is buddies with my daughter who will be 2 this summer.

While discussing the state of music today, which we both agree is pretty bad, the conversation turned to role models for our kids in the music industry…and the disagreement.

Taylor Swift.

Yes, Taylor Swift.  I argued she’s a good role model – with a certain innocence and sweetness about her.

His argument, to which the bartender agreed (yes, we had the bartender and a server involved), was that was just her ‘brand’ and that in her personal life she was the exact opposite of this public persona.  Of course he put it in terms that I cannot share on this family-friendly blog.

See…times have a changed.

It bummed me out.  How could Tayor Swift let me down like this?  There’s gotta be some hope for a decent role model in the music world for my daughter.  How could her personal life be so different from her public persona?  It’s not possible (insert Tiger Woods joke here).  Oh…I guess it is possible.

So while mowing the lawn the other day I continued to think about this debate.  And of course I thought about that word ‘brand’ and how it applies to Taylor Swift, to Snoloha and to any company or celebrity.  The two other words that I like to think about when I think of a brand is ‘authentic’ and ‘trust’.  As Snoloha continues to grow, remaining trustworthy and authentic are very crucial elements as they are what have allowed me to connect with folks all over the globe thus far.  If I lose sight of this, I might as well do something else with my time.

I’ve made plenty of mistakes along the way.  I’ve shipped the wrong orders to people, I’ve ran out of stock, I’ve not been able to fill certain orders, I’ve released designs that have flopped, tried promotions that have failed miserably, over bought items I thought would sell…the list goes on.  But through it all…I’ve been very open and honest about it, either through this blog or via personal emails with customers.  And I’m very happy and proud of the fact that each person I’ve dealt with have been more than willing to let me fix things for them.

So Taylor, if you’re reading this, I’m gonna believe that your brand is authentic.  So don’t let me down.

Hmmm…I wonder what the next debate will be about?  Potty training, perhaps.

My wardrobe is pretty pathetic, really.  It consists of t-shirts, hoodies, jeans and track pants.  It is getting a little ridiculous.  And it’s about to get a bit more ridiculous because the newest Snoloha designs are printed and in-stock.  My wife will just shake her head when she sees that I have yet a few more T’s to clutter up the laundry.

For those of you who pre-ordered these…they are on the way!  And if you missed the chance for the pre-order, SnoWorries….they will be on the website this week.

Wanna win a Snoloha SAIL t-shirt, along with a Bay Breeze and Unsalted Sailing t-shirt?  All 3 T’s can be yours.  And it’s simple.  Visit the Unsalted Sailing Facebook page, and “LIKE” this photo that is posted on that page.  After all the LIKES trickle in, the names will be put into a container of some sort and then the winner will be pulled out…old-school baby.