Fishing For Your Business
There are not many things out there that are as fun as catching a fish. Some people enjoy the sport more than others, but everyone will agree that the pull at the end of the line, the disappearing bobber and the first view of that scaly aquatic creature all add to the thrill of fishing. It was the perspective of this excitement, and more specifically, the need to have a freezer full of Alaskan King Salmon, that a few years ago landed me on the banks of Ship Creek in Anchorage, Alaska partaking in a local tradition called "urban combat fishing."
Sounds like some kind of military survival of the fittest exercise!
"Urban combat fishing" gets its name from the fact that 1) it takes place in an urban environment, 2) it's a style of fishing and 3) it involves scores of fishermen and fisherwomen standing side by side along the side of Ship Creek all competing for the same limited number of Alaskan King Salmon. Sure, there are times when the Salmon outnumber the fishermen, but this was not the case during my vacation. In fact, while I was fishing, only one of the hundreds of anglers within sight of me really caught a Salmon. Now, the first thought that comes to mind of course has something to do with the "chosen" angler being very auspicious. That probably contains some accuracy, but I'm a downright believer that the harder a person works, the luckier he or she becomes.
The road less traveled. Please, go on.
After returning from Alaska without any King Salmon and feeling slightly down, I began to think about what possibly could have made that angler the lucky one to catch a fish. My feeling was that this man was simply in the right place at the right time and that someday I would also be in the right place at the right time. But then, I started thinking about what I would have done had I been the one to catch the fish. Did I research where these fish tend to congregate? Did I know the ideal bait to use in order to attract a hungry fish? Would I have even been able to ably reel in a 30-pound fish in front of an audience of strangers? The answer to these questions is, quite simply, no. hence, my lack of preparedness probably saved me from a potentially embarrassing event and it unquestionably played a role in me returning empty-handed.
Ok...so what does this have to do with my business?
Fantastic question. Had I, like the angler, been more prepared, I may not have caught a fish, but I would have at least known how to do so if the opportunity had arisen. This is necessary to metal signs because even though we may not see it, we, as small-scale business proprietors who advertise with individualized metal signs, must be just as, if not more prepared than our competition in order to catch the fish (customer).
You calling me a fish?
Try to remember the number of personalized metal signs you see EACH AND EVERY DAY. You probably see more custom metal signs than you can count, and you MOST CERTAINLY see too many to recall them all. There are, however, more than likely a few made-to-order signs that you can tell me about. And that, my friends, is no coincidence.
Coincidence?
It's no surprise that you are able to remember some personalized metal signs rather than the other two hundred that you see in a day. That's because whoever the business owner is that designed the "chosen" put in additional work to make her business sign stand out so that you, the person passing by, would remember her custom metal sign instead of all the other . And, just like the fisherman who studied where in the Creek the Salmon are most likely to collect, so too should the smart small business owner research where her potential customers are most likely to be. A small business owner has to be smarter and more prepared than the competition when designing a personalized metal sign so that it will stand out in an ocean full of personalized metal signs.