[Bulletbobber]

www.bulletbobber.com was set up by a relative. I created the graphics and designed the product and the BulletBobber is my patented fishing float.

What I need is money to make and run an infomercial! Anyone want to trade $500,000 for 33% ownership of my company? I know it's crazy but it works and I have them made in China so the economics work out!

There are 250 million fishing bobbers sold each year in the US and I have the only one with directional control. Fishing floats are cheap though and the best info I can find is 250M bobbers = $200M at retail. I have some prototypes for new designs that would broaden market among the 40M fishermen that spend money on tackle. It is all about having money to make money. I don't have it - YET!

Wish someone would make me a famous young entrepreneur but at 54 it would be pretty hard to do but with $500,000 to work with I would feel rejuvenated!

Until then it's back to the old day job!

Paul Lieb
BulletBobber Enterprises
3586 Wadsworth Rd.
Norton, OH 44203 USA

[rogercbryan]

Do you have a marketing plan for how you would spend the money? This may be a bit out of my price range.. but I'd be willing to do a smaller campaign if you were interested..

[Bulletbobber]

Hiring a marketing company that makes and runs infomercials is the easiest but not the most economical. You need to pay so much up-front and they don’t give you a contract to review until after they have your money. I have asked many of them for a typical contract and they refuse to provide one.

On the other hand I can get the infomercial made very cheap by comparison. I was invited to do a TV show segment on a Channel called Sports Time Ohio to show off what it could do. The show is called “Outdoors Ohio with D’Arcy Egan” and I was surprised at how good it came out with a good editor. I have a DVD copy of the show but can not run it on TV due to the rights being owned by the TV station. D’Arcy has said he could hook me up with the folks that could make any length commercial at a reasonable price. The air time is the expensive part and there are other things that need to be in place before you start running the commercial i.e. phone bank to take orders and a reasonable amount of stock. I have them made in China so there is a 4 to 5 week lag time and I only have about 2,000 of each.

This is what I would offer to fishermen for around $25.00
Hope you can see the picture.


I am a designer by heart and occupation but can wear many hats although some give me a head ache! Working the day job really limits what I can do but I am eligible for early retirement. That is one of the advantages of being an old fart but a YE. I have said before, "I am 54 but only 4 years old in YE years."

To do the minimum test trail would be about $100,000.
This would cover a 1 and 2 minute commercial and a reasonable amount of air time. It would show the highlights of what it can do and provide the website to buyers.

If you are interested in what else I have in development send me an email.
An infomercial with a "Wait, Wait There's More" can make a much bigger splash.

Make my dream come true!

[2gould]

Bullet:
Have you tried other marketing techniques? Maybe you don't need to jump into an expensive TV campaign just yet. Have you contacted the big retail stores to sell your product in? Have you attempted to market your product via the internet? Have you posted your product and information on fishing websites, boards and forums? Have you tried to build relationships with local fishing shops?
Tell us more about what you are doing, have done and plan to do other than just the infomercial. In my opinion there are a lot of ways you could be getting the word out about your product and making some sales. Remember, you don't need to swing for the fences right out of the box.
I look forward to hearing more about your venture.
Cheers

[rogercbryan]

Originally Posted by Bulletbobber

To do the minimum test trail would be about $100,000.
This would cover a 1 and 2 minute commercial and a reasonable amount of air time. It would show the highlights of what it can do and provide the website to buyers.

It sounds like you have an ‘idea’ as to how to market your product but no ‘plan’.

What’s the difference?

An idea as you have shown uses generalizations about costs and effectiveness. You stated that a test trial would cost $100,000. This is a nice round number but where did you come up with this number?

I have experience in doing six figure marketing campaigns. You can call an advertising rep and have them draft up a plan for you with out paying them a penny. This plan should include a demographic breakdown, a viewer count, a time slot spread, a frequency spread, and a detailed cost analysis. A good advertising rep will charge you about 15% once you decide to exercise your campaign. You will also have to pay production costs for commercials.

Once you have this marketing plan developed you will find it a lot easier to solicit for investors. Do a Google search for ‘Ohio marketing agencies’ and start from there… I like your product so I would recommend putting a little time into building your ‘plan’ as I think you may be on to something…

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[Bulletbobber]

I'll try to bring you up to speed.

I am really lacking when it comes to complicated business dealings.
Any arrangement anyone wants will definitely be considered.

Asking for money and spending it are 2 different things in my mind. I would expect anyone that would put up that kind of money wants to know what it is being spent on. I or we would get quotes for video production and for air time and everything else. If agreeable you write the check to them not me. I’m thinking this would give the investor some ownership, responsibility and ability to control.

Why not try other routes? - Been their done that!
There are 2 major US distributors in the fishing tackle industry; Maurice Sporting Goods and Henry's/Big Rock. Maurice has Wal-Mart and many other chains and Big Rock has about 6,000 independent tackle shops. Both of these companies like my product but will not deal with me because they also make fishing floats or have contracts with suppliers that do not have patents. Simply put, a guy with a patent like mine is threatening to their bottom line. I have even offered them the product at my costs and they say they are not interested.

Here is another example of problems. A local bait supplier has a line of fishing bobbers and told a store if they kept selling my bobbers they would not have any bait!

I know it sounds crazy asking for money to make and run an infomercial but it is the only way I see to take a market share.

I have considered other means of advertising but a with a low dollar item that needs lots of explaining like mine TV is the only way to go.
One full color page ad in a popular magazine is over $30,000.
This ad is pretty cool but won’t get folks to order like an infomercial would.
Seeing it in action is what it takes.


Roger - Nobody will take it serious because it is fishing thingy! You are right I need a plan and then another and another..... It really drives me crazy!

Here is one plan!
I will provide the product up to anyone to do with as they see best with a 20% mark-up from my manufacturer. I will give sole rights to distribute as long they meet quotas that go up each year.

[rogercbryan]

Call and advertising company.. have them draft a plan.. submit that to investors.. That's the best advice I can give you...

[Cole Taylor]

Seems to me that you should go the licensing route. There are dozens of manufacturers who already have marketing and distribution in place.

[journeyoftheanimals]

I just wanted to post a quick note. Your site looks wonderful and very clean. I love the fact that not only do you have an idea but also the product as well. I wish you all the luck. Never stop chasing the dream, you are so close.