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Marci Alboher, of the New York Times, has an interesting read/interview titled, “Why Leisure Matters in a Busy World”

How do you define Leisure?
Leisure has many different definitions — some involving time, some relating to an activity being done, some relating to state of mind.

My favorite quote from the interview…

“Wouldn’t it be great if we didn’t define ourselves by our work? It should be just as valid to define ourselves by our leisure.”

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I’d like to welcome some new retailers to the Snoloha family. Country Moose Kids, located in Berwick Maine, is the first official retailer of Snoloha Lil’ Ones gear. Thanks Laura, for the support! Then we have Boomer’s Surf Shop in Muskegon, Michigan (located on the Lake Michigan shoreline). Tracy will be carrying Snoloha on Boomer’s website and at the new shop this summer. And the most recent addition to the retail family is the Holiday Inn on West Grand Traverse Bay. Located on the beach, this should be a great resort location for the brand. Emily put together a nice selection for their guests this summer.

If you have a favorite shop in your area that would be a good Snoloha fit…let me know!

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This is from Roy H. Williams’ “Monday Morning Memo”. I thought it was quite powerful and worth sharing. And what I like about this, is that it doesn’t pertain to just business. You can use this for any number of goals in life - that trip to the Mediterranean, or learning more than that one Jimmy Buffett song on the acoustic guitar sitting in the corner, saving enough to buy that ‘66 Mustang, or maybe that ‘68 Camaro, or perhaps the ‘57 Chevy…

How to Get Where You Want to Go

1. See your destination in your mind.
“When you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.”
– White Rabbit

2. Start walking.
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
– Lao Tzu (604 BC - 531 BC)

3. Think ahead as you walk.
“It’s like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” – E.L. Doctorow

4. Don’t quit walking.
“Don’t wait. Where do you expect to get by waiting? Doing is what teaches you. Doing is what leads to inspiration. Doing is what generates ideas. Nothing else, and nothing less.” - Daniel Quinn

5. Make no deadlines.
“Patience is the best remedy for every trouble.”
- Titus Maccius Plautus (254 BC - 184 BC)
“I am extraordinarily patient, provided I get my own way in the end.”
- Margaret Thatcher, April 4, 1989

6. Look back at the progress you made each day.
“God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning – the sixth day.” Genesis 1:31

7. If evening finds you at the same place you were this morning, take a step before you lay down.
The magic isn’t in the size of your actions, but in the relentlessness of them. “It is better to burn the candle at both ends, and in the middle, too, than to put it away in the closet and let the mice eat it.” - Henry Van Dyke

Never let a day pass without making, at the very least, a tiny bit of progress. Do NOT tell yourself you’ll make up for it tomorrow. (That seductive lie is the kiss of death.) Make a phone call. Lick a stamp. Correct a misspelled word. Something. Anything.

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Yep, it’s that time of year again. Schlepping Snoloha gear to the Lansing Center for the MRA show. This is the same show that I attended last year when Snoloha was “fresh out of the box”. At the time I had 1 retailer and big plans. I’m sure others at the show thought I was nuts for launching a new brand. And I’m quite certain they still think that one year later. It’s been a roller-coaster of a year. New accounts, new experiences, lots of learning, a bunch of new fans and customers, as well as plenty of nay-sayers.

But I don’t hear or pay attention to the nay-sayers as much as I did a year ago, and it’s probably due to receiving emails like this one that I got yesterday:

It was a great day when I stumbled onto your web site and I now am proudly wearing my cap and have your sticker displayed on my CRV.
I love it when people ask me what it means. I now know that others share my passion for the extremes of sport and lifestyle.
As a avid sailor / racer Tartan 38, diver and climber / snowboarder, my love of the water and mountains can be displayed with one simple word - SNOLOHA - You ROCK !!!!

Here’s a pic of my temporary home for a couple days…until I head over to the Grand Rapids Boat Show to hang with Capt. Dave and Solstice Sailing. Capt. Dave’s booth will be a bit more of a “Snoloha” feel, since he has the Snoloha Tiki Bar!

…and yes, that would be Jimmy Buffett, Live at Wrigley Field playing on the good ole PowerBook.

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Seth Godin, my favorite marketing author and blogger (I hate that word), has a wonderful post today that is a must read for anyone thinking about making a change and taking a chance for the New Year.
Here’s a snippet:

“The thing is, we still live in a world that’s filled with opportunity. In fact, we have more than an opportunity — we have an obligation. An obligation to spend our time doing great things. To find ideas that matter and to share them. To push ourselves and the people around us to demonstrate gratitude, insight, and inspiration. To take risks and to make the world better by being amazing.

You get to make a choice. You can remake that choice every day, in fact. It’s never too late to choose optimism, to choose action, to choose excellence. The best thing is that it only takes a moment — just one second — to decide.”

Visit Seth’s blog to read the entire post.

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I have been invited to participate in an interview for a business / entrepreneur book that is to be published in January. I was working on the interview this morning, and of course the question comes up regarding what your business is. Right now, it’s a clothing line. But it is so much more than that. The bigger picture and what Snoloha actually represents is far beyond clothing.

So what is it?

It is:

Sipping on an early morning cup of coffee.

Being fortunate enough to catch the sunrise.

Relaxing in the lodge after a day on the slopes.

Enjoying a backyard barbeque.

Spending a day at the beach.

Sailing an afternoon away.

Staring at the flames of a campfire in the woods.

Snowshoeing with the dogs.

Sipping on a cold one with friends.

Watching the sunset as it steals another day away.

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So this is a little off topic from Snoloha, but I couldn’t resist sharing.

Being both a Seinfeld freak and a marketing geek, when I saw this, of course I got excited - “Seinfeld on Marketing”.

You know you want to check it as well…so go ahead.

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“We have no patent on anything we do and anything we do can be copied by anyone else. But you can’t copy the heart and the soul and the conscience of the company.”

-Howard Schultz, Chairman of Starbucks

I really enjoyed reading this quote. I get so irritated when I see one company ripping off another just to try and make a buck by copying their success.

You see it all the time with my now second favorite brand (Snoloha is first, of course), Life is good. The 2 brothers who started this great company have worked extremely hard and have been through the ups and downs of starting a business and finding their way in the market. And now that they have reached a significant level of success, there seem to be quite a few rip-offs out there trying to hitch their wagon to the Life is good star. Laziness.

But as Mr. Schultz says, “you can’t copy the heart and the soul and the conscience of the company”. And that is what separates Life is good from the copycats. They are running a marathon to do good in the world over the course of many years, and not a short sprint to make a quick buck.

Someday, there may be Snoloha copycats out there. But they will not be able to even come close to copying the heart, and the soul, and the conscience of the company.

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“Target Market”. Who is it? How big is it? Where is it?

Marketing classes and books will tell you how important it is to know the answers to these questions. The problem is, how do you ever really know for sure? It’s all a guessing game. How many companies really know their customers? How many companies call them consumers instead of customers? How many companies are more concerned with the bottom line, than they are with establishing relationships with people?

What’s the point of this rant?

I have been asked to answer these questions numerous times. And I have never enjoyed “guessing” and “assuming” who would be Snoloha’s target market.

It’s inherent. It’s a joy for life. It’s wanting to relax. It’s needing to escape. It’s looking for adventure. It’s something words can’t necessarily describe.

How do you put an age, gender, household income, geographic location, or psychographic profile on that?

We had a new Snoloha customer recently purchase a t-shirt from one of our retailers. He wasn’t buying it to wear, rather to display behind his tiki bar! How cool is that? Is he Snoloha’s target market? Sure. He identified with the brand and the lifestyle. In all of Snoloha’s business plan iterations, did any of them consider Snoloha t-shirts used as bar displays? Nope.

When it comes to target market, sure you can assume. But ultimately, in my opinion, it’s most important to be passionate, build relationships, and be honest to yourself, your brand, and your customers.

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From Guy Kawasaki over at How to Change the World:

“If you believe in something, go for it. This is the only way to really find out. Mathematically, the naysayers are right 95% of the time, but believing you’re in the 5% is what makes entrepreneurs entrepreneurs.”

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