The Veterans at the convention at Swan Lake, NY really enjoyed our little vehicles. Many had the conventional 4 small wheel electric chairs which worked fine most of the time for them but the Happy Wanderer allowed them to travel away from the paved surface onto the wet or dry grass, through gravel and even on the winding up-down dirt paths. They said it was a treat to have a personal vehicle that allowed this type of freedom. But I scarfed the best treat, being invited to dance with a muscle armed Vet in a manual wheelchair who controlled it better than I did my feet. Believe it or not we jitterbugged. One of my most memorable dances.
Sales improved as the Veteran's Administration began paying for them. Their disabilities and suggestions provided a number of changes that helped improve the product.
It was the mid to late 70's. Advertising was very expensive. We were still novices at some forms of marketing and still doing bike shows. A man from Italy came to the NYC show and said he was going to do one of the biggest bike shows in the world. He was purchasing a booth in the Italian Bike show. Since there were so many bikes in Europe and attendees at this show, maybe we'd like to share booth with him and one other. We had a number of inquires from Europe and had done no advertising there so thought we'd see what possibilities existed without paying full price for expensive booth. Can't remember which one of us was smart enough to only take two kits over, one for bike and one for trike. Probably me, as I am the lazy one of this duo. Four boxes of literature accompanied us. Very heavy luggage. On arrival, we located our pensione and slept comfortably with much anticipation. An early morning brought us to the breakfast table where we sat with a German, a Japanese, a Russian painter who had a leg in a cast having been hit by a small car, and the cook. The meal consisted of a danish, a Brioche and some goat's milk (I hope). We hurried to bus stop and caught the bus to the show lugging 1/2 of our paraphernalia. We found "our" booth, which was a desk sized little square laden with brochures of every kind. One could not stand in our booth as the elephantine pile of literature was sandwiched in between 20 other "booths" all full of multi language brochures.
Our name had been hastily printed with a marker pen among the Menu of voluminous treats.
My grandmother had pounded into my head that the true character of a person is revealed in how well they handle adversity. JP looked disappointed but waited until I was finished reciting every expletive I could think of or make up, then said , "We are in Italy, let's see the country." I was glad he didn't drown!
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Blog # 9
Introduction of an outdoor wheelchair that didn't look like a wheelchair was touch and go. You only needed one good hand to run the entire vehicle. Pilot had to have strength enough to steer it, but with a 16" wheel to turn, it was fairly easy. Although it looked like an adult three wheeler, it had no pedals. Have a little patience with me, I'm learning to insert pictures. Save me thousands of descriptive words and you, a lot of my babbling. Hooray, another new learn. And no, that's not me on the HW. That's Jean, one of the five fabulous secretaries that corrected my errors before JP caught them. By the way, as years passed and products were added, we were approached a few times by well known individuals who for a sum of money offered to pose on our vehicles. It was tempting, but we decided first choice of any photo should be of someone who was truly using the vehicle or in a pinch a family member or employee who so desired to be in photo shoot. Our customers enhance our vehicles better than anyone. They are the true celebrities. And, yes a few celebrities have owned or are using our vehicles. Enough said.
Remember in previous blog how Sears entrance into the gas kits changed our sales. Well, they didn't stay in it too long, maybe 2 years tops. And guess who didn't have mechanics who knew how to fix these customer's engines if they had problems. So we got the residue of Sears' brief affair with gas add on kits. It helped us sell off much of the large parts inventory we had purchased to aid our customers. Those most wear-out-able parts, the drive rollers, were sold in lots of 10 or 20 at a time. I heard their price became very high once they left our stock bin.
Meanwhile, our Happy Wanderer was so unique, the press releases went out again. The pictures were better as were my descriptions. I had gone all around the barn to get in the front door JP had opened with all specifications. I am such a slow learner.
We also started doing more trade shows. A mix of one disabled show, then off to another bike show. Change of venue began to take it's toll. One year we did eleven trade shows. The people responded well to an outdoor wheelchair. It was like a prototype of what we now sell. It just did not resemble a wheelchair. It also could climb significant grades and moved 15 mph.
The local police didn't know what to do with one when a customer came breezing down the side of the road. We had contacted every state and sent specs to determine where a Happy Wanderer could be used. Fifty states, thirty different replies. Some ignored the request. Medicare was also in a quandary as to what to do with an Outdoor wheelchair. They finally approved it as apparently a few of our customers had some clout. Our most ardent supporters at first were Veteran's organizations. The NY Paralyzed Veterans invited us to bring the vehicles down to their conventions in the Catskills. Whooee, it was the closest thing to a vacation we'd had since the business started. While we left the vehicles in the hands of pre- instructed test driver Vets, workaholic JP and I took our first journey in a paddle boat on the lake. After 20 minutes of sunshine, paddle direction battle, and relaxation, JP dove into the water, swam to back of boat then surfaced with, "You gotta see this!" I gracefully belly flopped
in and doggy paddled to the back. We submerged to see the exciting sight. He was pointing up
to the boat's stern. What was I missing? Being a smoker at that time, I surfaced quickly, he followed with a big smile and sputtered, " We can easily motorize this". He survived my drowning attempt.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Blog #8
Just got back from water ski trip with family. What a wet blast. All in family water ski, some fun to watch create a 20' rooster tail at side of their single ski. This two ski great granma hardly creates a wake. I cross boat wake ASAP and get into smoother water. My youngest calls me Styro. She says I pop up like styrofoam out of the water then I ski aimlessly wherever waves or wind takes me. Lake Powell in Utah is great skiing, however in the narrow winding canyons, all boats' wake bounces from the high rock walls to opposite wall and back. With other boats traveling "my" canyon, skiing is exhausting. You 're watching for quick turns around narrow bends, waves from front, cross waves from other boats, 45 degree waves bouncing off walls and the river's flotsome and jetsome. Of course I had to go every chance I got. JP's not a big man but his feet are so big, they just fit in the last lock slot. I tell him he doesn't need water skiis. We'll just toe him barefoot behind the boat. Fishing was good but one fool on board knotted line with almost every cast. She didn't catch any fish.
Houseboat was 59 feet. Slept 13 people and two 100 lb chocolate labs comfortably. Cost, for Houseboat 6 days. $3900.00 plus gas. We took family's Master Craft ski boat. Wonderful place to go whether you ski or not.
Vacations are over for 2009, so you won't have to skip down to business info for rest of year.
By '76 many people had said we did the pedaling for them but they couldn't sit on small 3 cornered seat, could we make something more comfortable. They kept sending in their ideas and pictures of how they converted their tricycle into a motorized scooter. At first we said no, but their persistence paid off. We designed the first All Outdoor Electric Wheelchair. We used their suggestions and our electrical expertise. It was called the "Happy Wanderer" As with any new product, it took a lot of time and money to get it's existence out to the public.
Our attachable kits were known to very few at the time. Bike dealers were familiar with them but they didn't want to invest in stocking too many. It was mostly the elderly that purchased our kits as their legs tired more easily with age and they wanted to keep cycling. Now we were introducing a different product to the market. "Happy Wanderer" was no longer one that fit the bike market. It fell more into the "disabled" or "physically challenged" (I don't know the politically correct description for some of us.).
The gas shortage was subsiding, and a customer told us he could buy the same gas kit from Sears for less than we sold it for. Yowzer! He was right. We discovered our distributor was now selling the kits, we had introduced to USA to Sears in large volume at much cheaper price but hey, we could have bought ours from Sears cheaper than we paid the distributor. We called him and he laughed and said, "This will make even more sales for you as more kits get out there." We had purchased many spare parts for the Tas Gas Engine, and spent a considerable amount and much effort introducing it to public and dealers. We realized Sears purchasing capabilities were out of our league, and Mr. Tanaka had depended on his distributor to sell units and understood all are in business to grow and make money. The dealers quit buying gas kits from us as they couldn't compete with Sears pricing. Our business had grown with the Gas products and we now had rented a large garage for building our kits, storage of parts and stock and had employed more people. Yes, we made more, but had to spend more. One quick example, our insurance increased due to handling Gas engines. They went faster than electrics and gas is combustible. The dealers had wanted assurance we were well covered. We did some rethinking at this juncture in our journey. There were other negatives in the scenario now. We no longer had the contact with customers that we enjoyed before. We were now busy managing and paper working and dealing with personnel. Bah Humbug. For 5 years, no vacations. Also training new people means temporary loss of quality control. Which is costly to correct. More Trade Shows which were a break from the regular, but these do-it- your-selvers lugged all the paraphernalia to and from show in a VW Van if within 600 miles of our place. Sears had taken over our sales . Our decision was to only handle what we made unless there were ample suppliers to choose from. We were knee deep in "Happy Wanderer" promotion at this time.
Houseboat was 59 feet. Slept 13 people and two 100 lb chocolate labs comfortably. Cost, for Houseboat 6 days. $3900.00 plus gas. We took family's Master Craft ski boat. Wonderful place to go whether you ski or not.
Vacations are over for 2009, so you won't have to skip down to business info for rest of year.
By '76 many people had said we did the pedaling for them but they couldn't sit on small 3 cornered seat, could we make something more comfortable. They kept sending in their ideas and pictures of how they converted their tricycle into a motorized scooter. At first we said no, but their persistence paid off. We designed the first All Outdoor Electric Wheelchair. We used their suggestions and our electrical expertise. It was called the "Happy Wanderer" As with any new product, it took a lot of time and money to get it's existence out to the public.
Our attachable kits were known to very few at the time. Bike dealers were familiar with them but they didn't want to invest in stocking too many. It was mostly the elderly that purchased our kits as their legs tired more easily with age and they wanted to keep cycling. Now we were introducing a different product to the market. "Happy Wanderer" was no longer one that fit the bike market. It fell more into the "disabled" or "physically challenged" (I don't know the politically correct description for some of us.).
The gas shortage was subsiding, and a customer told us he could buy the same gas kit from Sears for less than we sold it for. Yowzer! He was right. We discovered our distributor was now selling the kits, we had introduced to USA to Sears in large volume at much cheaper price but hey, we could have bought ours from Sears cheaper than we paid the distributor. We called him and he laughed and said, "This will make even more sales for you as more kits get out there." We had purchased many spare parts for the Tas Gas Engine, and spent a considerable amount and much effort introducing it to public and dealers. We realized Sears purchasing capabilities were out of our league, and Mr. Tanaka had depended on his distributor to sell units and understood all are in business to grow and make money. The dealers quit buying gas kits from us as they couldn't compete with Sears pricing. Our business had grown with the Gas products and we now had rented a large garage for building our kits, storage of parts and stock and had employed more people. Yes, we made more, but had to spend more. One quick example, our insurance increased due to handling Gas engines. They went faster than electrics and gas is combustible. The dealers had wanted assurance we were well covered. We did some rethinking at this juncture in our journey. There were other negatives in the scenario now. We no longer had the contact with customers that we enjoyed before. We were now busy managing and paper working and dealing with personnel. Bah Humbug. For 5 years, no vacations. Also training new people means temporary loss of quality control. Which is costly to correct. More Trade Shows which were a break from the regular, but these do-it- your-selvers lugged all the paraphernalia to and from show in a VW Van if within 600 miles of our place. Sears had taken over our sales . Our decision was to only handle what we made unless there were ample suppliers to choose from. We were knee deep in "Happy Wanderer" promotion at this time.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Blog #7
Time for another phone. And, another "Discussion". "What d'ya mean an 800 # where we pay for all calls?" It did free up "his" phone for ordering parts, talking with suppliers, and all non sales business aspects. The # in our advertisements changed to our new 8OO number.
The gas shortage continued and sales from dealers increased. Now, some wanted gas also. We were not about to try and invent a better than established gas engine.
A distributor called us about that time and offered a gas engine that we could sell without too much change in our ad costs. We ordered two and saw what was needed to incorporate into our Marketing. A Japanese company made the little gas engine that mounted on the front wheel. It performed very well and when dealing direct with manufacturer regarding any problem, they were helpful and efficient. So we started carrying the TAS bicycle engines. Fewer, at that time in the US, had heard of their gas engines than had heard of our electrics. We truly began to pioneer market their product.
It was a good product, and the dealers could give choice of an Electric or Gas attachable Kit to their customer. Business picked up. The CEO of Tanaka came to the NYC Trade Show where we displayed his and our product together. He was a delightful gentleman and stayed at the booth a lot of the day meeting people and watching JP and I deal with Bike Dealers and interested attendees.
Here we were in the greatest City on earth, in our little booth, competing with large glitzy booths, beautiful models in designer brevities and the Dealers were coming to Palmer's booth placing orders with a simple Mom and Pop duo in their K Mart duds. It was a lot of work but some of the most exciting experiences of the PI adventure. I thought we worked harder and longer than any other business people. Not so. Everyone I met, whether CEO of large Corporation or small corner Bike shop worked as hard as we did. They were all enthusiastic about their product, place and customers. Viva Entrepreneurs.
A lot of interesting things happened at the Trade shows we attended. This one surprised even me. The last day of the show, there weren't as many people stopping at our booth. Most were tired and winding down. Two casually dressed men stepped into our booth and JP, still full of energy and enthusiasm, started answering their questions and explaining our products. I went to booth a couple spaces down and spoke with one of the tricycle manufacturers, got their OEM prices and chatted a while. He asked what was going on at our booth. "Nothing much ," I shrugged. He said "Well, you sure are drawing a big crowd". I turned and couldn't even see our booth for all the people.
I hurried through the booth behind ours to see what was up. There was JP still talking to the same two men. I watched the crowd watching the stranger that did most of the talking . Everyone was smiling. He talked and laughed with JP for about 15 minutes, then shook his hand, took literature given them and left. JP said, 'We generated a lot of interest in our product when those two were here". Mind you, JP is a true engineer, his curiosity is in the mechanical, electrical and scientific aspect. He had been chatting with someone who talked the same language he did. It was the Movie Star, Anthony Quinn, who was generating the large audience. JP doesn't know movie stars, he only knows Mr. Tony Quinn.
The gas shortage continued and sales from dealers increased. Now, some wanted gas also. We were not about to try and invent a better than established gas engine.
A distributor called us about that time and offered a gas engine that we could sell without too much change in our ad costs. We ordered two and saw what was needed to incorporate into our Marketing. A Japanese company made the little gas engine that mounted on the front wheel. It performed very well and when dealing direct with manufacturer regarding any problem, they were helpful and efficient. So we started carrying the TAS bicycle engines. Fewer, at that time in the US, had heard of their gas engines than had heard of our electrics. We truly began to pioneer market their product.
It was a good product, and the dealers could give choice of an Electric or Gas attachable Kit to their customer. Business picked up. The CEO of Tanaka came to the NYC Trade Show where we displayed his and our product together. He was a delightful gentleman and stayed at the booth a lot of the day meeting people and watching JP and I deal with Bike Dealers and interested attendees.
Here we were in the greatest City on earth, in our little booth, competing with large glitzy booths, beautiful models in designer brevities and the Dealers were coming to Palmer's booth placing orders with a simple Mom and Pop duo in their K Mart duds. It was a lot of work but some of the most exciting experiences of the PI adventure. I thought we worked harder and longer than any other business people. Not so. Everyone I met, whether CEO of large Corporation or small corner Bike shop worked as hard as we did. They were all enthusiastic about their product, place and customers. Viva Entrepreneurs.
A lot of interesting things happened at the Trade shows we attended. This one surprised even me. The last day of the show, there weren't as many people stopping at our booth. Most were tired and winding down. Two casually dressed men stepped into our booth and JP, still full of energy and enthusiasm, started answering their questions and explaining our products. I went to booth a couple spaces down and spoke with one of the tricycle manufacturers, got their OEM prices and chatted a while. He asked what was going on at our booth. "Nothing much ," I shrugged. He said "Well, you sure are drawing a big crowd". I turned and couldn't even see our booth for all the people.
I hurried through the booth behind ours to see what was up. There was JP still talking to the same two men. I watched the crowd watching the stranger that did most of the talking . Everyone was smiling. He talked and laughed with JP for about 15 minutes, then shook his hand, took literature given them and left. JP said, 'We generated a lot of interest in our product when those two were here". Mind you, JP is a true engineer, his curiosity is in the mechanical, electrical and scientific aspect. He had been chatting with someone who talked the same language he did. It was the Movie Star, Anthony Quinn, who was generating the large audience. JP doesn't know movie stars, he only knows Mr. Tony Quinn.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Blog #6
I just read of the Brazilian plane loss over the Atlantic. 228 loved ones taking life's final bow. I wonder if those left grieving realize how many of us share their sorrow.
Now, that we were somewhat recognized as beginners in the bike trade, we hired teenagers to build some kits. Prior to this, I answered the phone, sent out a little, now press printed, brochure and if an order came back, wrote it up and handed it to JP who built what was requested. Both of us packed it, I typed a label, called UPS and put our few packages on the back porch for pick up. We knew everyone we shipped to as we included a little note telling them to call us if they had any problems or suggestions on how to improve the kit. With the advent of sending to dealers, we stopped note sending. It took quite a while to build a dealer base. Meanwhile we were doing some paid advertising. Individual orders were trickling in.
One in particular comes to mind. We offered two motors when we first started. One was the Deluxe and one, the Executive. The little silver Deluxe fit most needs as Florida was our biggest order state. Not many hills there. An order came in from a man who wanted an Executive motor kit. We always questioned purchaser as to their needs. If they had limited mobility or were completely dependent on the motor for all their local travel, the heavier more expensive Executive fit their needs. If they could pedal, had mild hills, or just wanted to motor half the time, the lighter Deluxe fit the bill. This guy, had no physical limitations and didn't need an assist for biking. In fact he had no bike or trike. Jose was going to strap it on his back and fly.
This order taker thought that was the funniest thing I'd heard since the business started. And we had already sold motors for Giant Roller skates for Roller rinks, powered a Turtle on TV. ( think of that,"Palmer Turtle Power") and sold a few to Circus clowns, big guys on baby trikes.
JP, always the inventor, chastised me for laughing at someone's dream. You never know. A year and a half later, Jose ordered another motor. That shut me up.
A real Secretary, High School students Jack II and girlfriend Barb, working on stock and 10,000 envelopes. It doesn't get much better than this.
Now, that we were somewhat recognized as beginners in the bike trade, we hired teenagers to build some kits. Prior to this, I answered the phone, sent out a little, now press printed, brochure and if an order came back, wrote it up and handed it to JP who built what was requested. Both of us packed it, I typed a label, called UPS and put our few packages on the back porch for pick up. We knew everyone we shipped to as we included a little note telling them to call us if they had any problems or suggestions on how to improve the kit. With the advent of sending to dealers, we stopped note sending. It took quite a while to build a dealer base. Meanwhile we were doing some paid advertising. Individual orders were trickling in.
One in particular comes to mind. We offered two motors when we first started. One was the Deluxe and one, the Executive. The little silver Deluxe fit most needs as Florida was our biggest order state. Not many hills there. An order came in from a man who wanted an Executive motor kit. We always questioned purchaser as to their needs. If they had limited mobility or were completely dependent on the motor for all their local travel, the heavier more expensive Executive fit their needs. If they could pedal, had mild hills, or just wanted to motor half the time, the lighter Deluxe fit the bill. This guy, had no physical limitations and didn't need an assist for biking. In fact he had no bike or trike. Jose was going to strap it on his back and fly.
This order taker thought that was the funniest thing I'd heard since the business started. And we had already sold motors for Giant Roller skates for Roller rinks, powered a Turtle on TV. ( think of that,"Palmer Turtle Power") and sold a few to Circus clowns, big guys on baby trikes.
JP, always the inventor, chastised me for laughing at someone's dream. You never know. A year and a half later, Jose ordered another motor. That shut me up.
A real Secretary, High School students Jack II and girlfriend Barb, working on stock and 10,000 envelopes. It doesn't get much better than this.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Blog #5
Purchasing letterheads was another enlightening experience. I went to large local print shop and insisted on giving my important order to President of Company. When I told him what I wanted he graciously directed me outside to a stairwell which led up to a small printshop that rented space from him. " They will do a fine job for you," he assured me. And they did. My 1000 sheets with gold lettering were very impressive.
Mr. Gracious gave me his business card before escorting me to the door. I wrote down my name and number with his LaBlanc Fountain Pen. Me thinks now that he was going to write his memoirs.
Vendors have a way of finding you before the public does. We began to get more mail in our little PO Box and more phone calls wasting our time about how much money they could save us or how much better their nuts, bolts and washers were than what we were buying already. They'd save us a bundle if we purchased $5000. 00 worth. Somehow they found us and started cold calls to our little shop. The funniest were the callers from investment firms who knew how to make us money investing our profits. Everyone had "a story to tell or a gimmick to sell."
This was the early seventies and the gas shortage hit our nation. Those I had previously sent press releases to used some of them. I sent more press releases to bike trade publications. At that time we were only selling our attachable kits and a small magazine called Bicycle Journal was the favorite publication of the bicycle dealers. The reason for this was the awesome editor, Bill Quinn,
Bill was an intelligent, honest, down to earth fellow who printed comments, hints, how to fix it suggestions sent in by bike dealers all across the country which most shops appreciated. He also printed negative comments he received about his articles or those of others in his Journal. He commented on everything new and published most press releases related to biking. He threw in a few unusual ones that were an interesting spin on ancillary bike products. At every Trade show, Bill was there, usually with wife or son or both. His camera was always hanging from back of his neck. I never met a man who loved what he did as much as this guy. And the dealers thought of him as a close friend . JP and I often visited bike shops no matter where we were and in many, you saw a picture of owner standing, sitting or eating with Bill. This was a guy who was in many photographs hob nobbing with CEOs of Schwinn, Raleigh, Bell, Huffy, Alco and many celebrities.
Our first bicycle industry press release was in Bicycle Journal. Bill called us and personally thanked us. Very unusual. Thanks to this gentle man, bike dealers started handling our product.
Our business began to grow. We hired someone who could type. This was BC, before computers, and BS, before shredders. She was the fastest typist I have ever seen. She had worked for the CIA previous to moving to this area and all paperwork that was discarded was torn to itsy bitsy shreads. I could wait two weeks to dump the trash. I am always digging through my wastebaskets to find, confirm or check something. NO MORE.
Space became a problem.
Jack had me order 10,000 envelopes. One of many business "discussions" began with , "What in H are we going to do with 10,000 envelopes.?"
Lost that one. They arrived at our back door and filled my tiny kitchen.
Mr. Gracious gave me his business card before escorting me to the door. I wrote down my name and number with his LaBlanc Fountain Pen. Me thinks now that he was going to write his memoirs.
Vendors have a way of finding you before the public does. We began to get more mail in our little PO Box and more phone calls wasting our time about how much money they could save us or how much better their nuts, bolts and washers were than what we were buying already. They'd save us a bundle if we purchased $5000. 00 worth. Somehow they found us and started cold calls to our little shop. The funniest were the callers from investment firms who knew how to make us money investing our profits. Everyone had "a story to tell or a gimmick to sell."
This was the early seventies and the gas shortage hit our nation. Those I had previously sent press releases to used some of them. I sent more press releases to bike trade publications. At that time we were only selling our attachable kits and a small magazine called Bicycle Journal was the favorite publication of the bicycle dealers. The reason for this was the awesome editor, Bill Quinn,
Bill was an intelligent, honest, down to earth fellow who printed comments, hints, how to fix it suggestions sent in by bike dealers all across the country which most shops appreciated. He also printed negative comments he received about his articles or those of others in his Journal. He commented on everything new and published most press releases related to biking. He threw in a few unusual ones that were an interesting spin on ancillary bike products. At every Trade show, Bill was there, usually with wife or son or both. His camera was always hanging from back of his neck. I never met a man who loved what he did as much as this guy. And the dealers thought of him as a close friend . JP and I often visited bike shops no matter where we were and in many, you saw a picture of owner standing, sitting or eating with Bill. This was a guy who was in many photographs hob nobbing with CEOs of Schwinn, Raleigh, Bell, Huffy, Alco and many celebrities.
Our first bicycle industry press release was in Bicycle Journal. Bill called us and personally thanked us. Very unusual. Thanks to this gentle man, bike dealers started handling our product.
Our business began to grow. We hired someone who could type. This was BC, before computers, and BS, before shredders. She was the fastest typist I have ever seen. She had worked for the CIA previous to moving to this area and all paperwork that was discarded was torn to itsy bitsy shreads. I could wait two weeks to dump the trash. I am always digging through my wastebaskets to find, confirm or check something. NO MORE.
Space became a problem.
Jack had me order 10,000 envelopes. One of many business "discussions" began with , "What in H are we going to do with 10,000 envelopes.?"
Lost that one. They arrived at our back door and filled my tiny kitchen.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Blog # 4
If anyone is reading this, sorry for delay. I took super ski vacation to Colorado. 12 days. Completely exhausted me. Well worth it and I'm so old, I ski for only the $35 tax fee. Used to be free but hey, they gotta survive in these tough times. I am an Expert Faller and take brown bag lunch in my ski jacket. My BLT looks like a Pizza by the time I eat it with my purchased lunch, which is a beer. The top of Vail, 11,547 feet, is as close to heaven as this old bird will get.
Back to business.
H e l l o - the money that the "book" said was suppose to be flowing in was not lining our pocket. The fact is, the incoming small change was wearing out the lining. A few comments from our little crew of purchasers justifiably put me to shame. "It's a great and useful product, but you could use a little advice in the presentation department". This was the gentlest of comments. The most devastating was from an editor to whom I sent a little silly, selly story comparing our electric powered bike to a motorcycle. His rejection was brief and to the point. "Your story is too cutesy wootsey for our national publication. The attempt to sell wasn't even hidden.
We thank you for your offer and good luck. Regards, Editor"
Ouch, Ouch, Ouch. It took me a while to get over my hurt and anger and start thinking rationally about what was staring me in the eye. JP was supportive somewhat and added suggestions. Now I'm really getting mad. Maybe I'm a lousy writer and a slow learner but I like to write and I do learn. My first sensible move was taking the Advertising books back to the library. Next, we decided to take the gentleman's advice and pay attention to what we sent out. No more Xerox copies of a fairly good brochure that was type written. It went to the printers. We also decided to start advertising. I goofed on this aspect. Not knowing of typeset, I labored for hours designing my first 2" advertisement. The photo was dark, the printing was the very best I could do and not sufficient. But we sent it out. It didn't generate many sales.
Cost was $2000.00. The magazines advertising department called next month and said "Would you like to run that ad again in next issue?". "No", I said,"It didn't do as well as we were hoping for". "Well", says he, "We could design one for you, typeset it, and give you a proof for your ok before it goes to press". "What do you mean by type set", I asked. We didn't go in again that time but went back to the drawing board. Meanwhile word of mouth sales picked up a bit and we had letterheads printed. I had them printed in gold and they were drop dead gorgeous. I reluctantly sent them out to most inquiries who just wanted a Free Brochure.
If anyone is reading this, sorry for delay. I took super ski vacation to Colorado. 12 days. Completely exhausted me. Well worth it and I'm so old, I ski for only the $35 tax fee. Used to be free but hey, they gotta survive in these tough times. I am an Expert Faller and take brown bag lunch in my ski jacket. My BLT looks like a Pizza by the time I eat it with my purchased lunch, which is a beer. The top of Vail, 11,547 feet, is as close to heaven as this old bird will get.
Back to business.
H e l l o - the money that the "book" said was suppose to be flowing in was not lining our pocket. The fact is, the incoming small change was wearing out the lining. A few comments from our little crew of purchasers justifiably put me to shame. "It's a great and useful product, but you could use a little advice in the presentation department". This was the gentlest of comments. The most devastating was from an editor to whom I sent a little silly, selly story comparing our electric powered bike to a motorcycle. His rejection was brief and to the point. "Your story is too cutesy wootsey for our national publication. The attempt to sell wasn't even hidden.
We thank you for your offer and good luck. Regards, Editor"
Ouch, Ouch, Ouch. It took me a while to get over my hurt and anger and start thinking rationally about what was staring me in the eye. JP was supportive somewhat and added suggestions. Now I'm really getting mad. Maybe I'm a lousy writer and a slow learner but I like to write and I do learn. My first sensible move was taking the Advertising books back to the library. Next, we decided to take the gentleman's advice and pay attention to what we sent out. No more Xerox copies of a fairly good brochure that was type written. It went to the printers. We also decided to start advertising. I goofed on this aspect. Not knowing of typeset, I labored for hours designing my first 2" advertisement. The photo was dark, the printing was the very best I could do and not sufficient. But we sent it out. It didn't generate many sales.
Cost was $2000.00. The magazines advertising department called next month and said "Would you like to run that ad again in next issue?". "No", I said,"It didn't do as well as we were hoping for". "Well", says he, "We could design one for you, typeset it, and give you a proof for your ok before it goes to press". "What do you mean by type set", I asked. We didn't go in again that time but went back to the drawing board. Meanwhile word of mouth sales picked up a bit and we had letterheads printed. I had them printed in gold and they were drop dead gorgeous. I reluctantly sent them out to most inquiries who just wanted a Free Brochure.
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