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You know what’s really weird (for me) about peddling a product during the Christmas season? The ‘peddling’. It’s the business / retail norm that the day after Thanksgiving starts the holiday shopping madness. And when you combine that mindset with someone running and growing a small business / brand (that would be me) who despises shopping in crowds and following norms…it’s an interesting dynamic working it’s way through my head. Do what everybody else is doing and capitalize on consumers’ current frantic shopping mindset, versus keeping steady & true to your own values of growing a brand that people connect with and purchase as a reflection of who they are (or want to be).

Sounds idealistic, doesn’t it?! I agree.

My wife and I don’t stress out and go crazy buying Christmas gifts for one another. Instead, we go shopping together and buy toys for our local Toys for Tots donation. I mean really, what do we need to buy one another that we don’t already have?!

If you are considering buying a Snoloha product, GREAT! After all, this is a business and it needs sales to survive. And if Snoloha is that brand that you just GOTTA have (or someone you know HAS TO have, even better). However, if it’s just a Christmas gift that is being purchased because it’s Christmas and you have to find gifts…I’d encourage you instead to use that same money to buy a toy and donate it. It feels good.

Maybe it’s growing older (but not up) that changes how a person feels about the holidays and what’s truly important. Maybe it’s just the way my slightly demented mind works. Maybe it’s the simple fact that I DO NOT want Snoloha to end up following the rules of every other brand in the over-crowded ‘notice me, look at me’ marketplace.

My point here? I don’t know. Maybe I’m just killing time and you’re the victim (thanks Greg at MadGringo.com for that line).

But really…of course buy Snoloha if it makes sense for Christmas. And if it doesn’t, buy a toy. Donate it.

There you have it…a look inside what goes on in my head. This is just a small taste as I don’t want to scare you away with all the gory details.

“Open up my head and let me out.” ~ Dave Matthews Band

Happy Shopping…

From my buddy Jimmy Pirate over at TropCast Radio.

Episode #48: Our Third Annual Holiday Extravaganza

“A few days early to maximize your holiday pleasure. It’s that time again for our annual holiday show, about an hour of Trop Rock Christmas Classics and some new stuff too. The best part about it, my gift to you, is the fact that the show straight music, breaks or interruptions from me….

JimmyPirate”

Click here to listen.

Title / Artist / Album

12 Day of Snowbird Christmas / Brent Burns / Christmas Vacation
Island of Misfit Toys / Cabana Man / Beach Bum Santa
Christmas Wedding Song / Coconut Dave / Garden By The Bay
Hang Ten Santa / Eric Stone
Christmas In The Islands / Gene Mitchell/ Christmas In The Islands
It’s Gonna Be A Merry Christmas / Brent Burns / Christmas Vacation
Ho, Ho, Ho and a Bottle of Rum / Jimmy Buffett / Christmas Island
Let it Snow, Somewhere Else / Laidback Larry / Meet Me On The Boardwalk
Have Yourself A Tropical Christmas / Latitude / Latitude Christmas
Have a Merry Island Christmas / Pirate Dreams
Christmastime On The Beach / Roy Holliday
Mele Kalikimaka / Jimmy Buffett / Christmas Vacation
All I Want For Christmas Is A Big Palm Tree / Gene Mitchell / Christmas In The Islands
Christmas in Key West / Scott Kirby / 4 Good Dogs
A Christmas Wish / Tall Paul

Seth Godin had a great post the other day, “Watch the Money”.

It’s a short, to-the-point post (as most are with Seth) that I’ll re-post below.

What’s this have to do with Snoloha? Well, read for yourself. As I’ve been told “if you didn’t live the lifestyle you are promoting, you’d be a hypocrite”. Better yet, when I was debating whether or not to ‘invest’ (a word that should never be used with boats) in that sailboat, a friend said to me “buying that boat is investing into the Snoloha lifestyle”…SOLD!

“Watch the money

“How much life insurance do you have?”

Zig Ziglar liked to say that with that one question, you could tell if someone was a successful life insurance agent. If they’re not willing to buy it with their own money, how can they honestly persuade someone else to do so?

If you’re in the music business but you never buy tickets or downloads, can you really empathize with the people you’re selling to?

My favorite: if you work for a non-profit and you don’t give money to charity, what exactly are you doing in this job? I’ve met some incredibly generous people in the charitable world, but I can also report that a huge number of people—even on the fundraising side—would happily cross the street and risk a beating in order to avoid giving $100 to a cause that’s not their own. And the shame of it is that this inaction on their part keeps them from experiencing the very emotion that they try so hard to sell.

Money is more than a transfer of value. It’s a statement of belief. An ad agency that won’t buy ads, a consultant who won’t buy consulting, and a waiter who doesn’t tip big—it’s a sign, and not a good one.”