Boating-Industry Insider » Solutions

A Positive Outlook

Contributing Blogger — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 14:08:46 +0000

This morning I was scouring the newspapers and came across what’s wrong with a lot of business.

Bringing your boat show to where the people are

Contributing Blogger — Wed, 19 May 2010 18:26:27 +0000

If people are not coming to my showroom, how can I take my showroom to the people?

Small dealer, big idea

Contributing Blogger — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 20:25:54 +0000

If you’re a boat dealer and you’ve managed to survive this downturn, now is the time to consider what you must do to thrive.

When something’s got to give, how do you decide?

Mike Davin — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:00:37 +0000

Today's economy has led to all sorts of tough decisions with seemingly no good alternatives.

Solving the small stuff before it gets big

Liz Walz — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 14:26:09 +0000

My husband and I have been married for more than 10 years, and despite the happy life we’ve created for our growing family, we still have problems. Take, for instance, our mail problem. Like most people out there, we get a ton of mail, most of it junk. And yet since I – the bill payer in the family – have yet to get with the times and pay my bills online, we also get important mail, like our mortgage and car payment coupons, as well as mail we enjoy, like the handful of magazines we subscribe to and a certain percentage of the catalogs we receive. Read more >>

Basic Building Blocks – On Steroids

Contributing Blogger — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 21:51:16 +0000

Jeff Scherer, Associate Partner, Callbutton LLC – My 11-year-old son has grown up in a much different environment than I did. Ever since he could talk, he’s had access to a computer screen and mouse of some sort. He’s a gadget freak (OK, so is his dad), and is constantly indulged in PS3, PSP, MP3, DVD, LCD, HD, and all other acronyms electronic. Something surprising has happened to him in the past couple months, however. He has become very interested and (re)attached to his Legos. Aside from Lincoln Logs and maybe those cardboard bricks that they used to have in kindergarten, Legos might be the simplest toys ever made. I wondered what the sales and marketing discussions were in the Lego camps when the video game and Internet assaults started focusing on our kids a few years ago. I decided to take a look. Read more >>

Vision accomplished

Matt Gruhn — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:27:14 +0000

Three years ago, our team here at Boating Industry had an identity crisis. We had assembled a collection of editors, sales people, a publisher and a production team that sought to revitalize a brand that had, for the most part, lost its way. Read more >>

Shifting from selling the fun to selling the deal

Contributing Blogger — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:47:12 +0000

Over the last year and a half or so, we have seen more and more dealers shifting their focus from selling “the fun” to selling “the deal” because of huge inventories of aged units in these tough economic conditions.

How to be a smart company

Liz Walz — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 14:55:44 +0000

The Boating Industry editorial team just finished evaluating this year’s Top 100 Dealer applications, and we were invigorated to learn that several have acquired competitors or land for future expansion, and all have continued to invest in improving their current operation.

Boomers go bust

Matt Gruhn — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 14:35:23 +0000

It’s no secret that consumers are spending less these days and that savings rates are rising. Hidden behind this obvious fact is the lesser-known reality that our industry’s top customers, the 79 million baby boomers who have been buying, trading in and upgrading their boats for years and years, may be saving themselves right out of the boat market. Read more >>