The Drop Shot Store

What you want is a shopping cart program that has weight based shipping calculations. You then sign up for a USPS server account that allows you to access their shipping rates based on total product weight and customer zone. You set your minimum shipping price in the software at $3.85. (That is important because of the weights you will use for individual items). The customers are then allowed to pick which delivery option they would like, be it express, priority, or standard. That way the customer can see what they are going to be paying for shipping, and you know what the actual shipping charges are going to cost you. Once you get your individual product weights dialed, it works like a charm. The hardest part is getting the weights figured so that the customer doesn't pay 20 bucks for 4 bags of worms. Michele should be able to help you with all of this but if not, I have made huge and vast mistakes in this area so I have tons of knowledge on the subject. :oops:

99% of it is your own attitude towards your fishing. I assume that if I'm finding the fishing tough, then so is everyone else. If I blank and another boat wins with 15 lbs., then I didnt fish the right spots or use the correct presentation. So I try and turn it into a learning experience and figure out either what I did wrong or what they did right. Doing this gives me great peace during a tournament. I do my best, try to make the correct adjustments for the conditions presented that day, and catch fish. I always come back to the fact that most often it is the same guys finishing up front, which means it isnt luck, which means all I have to do is my homework and I will end up there with them. Since adopting that attitude I have yet to finish lower than twelfth in a tourney. And I have a ton more fun in the process. I know everyone harps on confidence, but it's true. Have faith that you will catch fish, and the patience to wait for them to come to you, but most of all, enjoy the day in the sun. It's hard to beat a day on the water, even one with no fish. Take care.

Marketing and media exposure is an interesting aspect of our business. An article in a paper is a good thing Mercury, dont sweat it. It's a great feeling of accomplishment to know your work is going to be written about. I just went through that with Bass West magazine. At first I was thrilled that they called me. Then I started to worry. How would my baits stack up against others? Would they treat me fairly? Are my baits as good as I think they are? Stuff like that. What finally made me relax is that I remembered that each bait I pour is the best that I can make. There will always be someone more talented out there that can do more than I, so I quit worrying. As long as my customers are happy then so am I. And dont forget that alot of our competitors have vastly greater resources than we do. Money and equipment. What I found important for me personally was to decide where and what I wanted my business to be. I'm not looking to become a big company. I'm not even looking to become a medium company. I have two main points to my business plan. I want to help guys catch more fish and make enough money to pay my bills. End of story. With regards to marketing, you ever notice that the really good products are never really marketed all that much? They dont need to be. They sell themselves. They are usually made by little guys like us with a passion for what they are doing. The products are made to work, not to sell. So enjoy the exposure Mercury. If it helps you sell more product, great. If it doesn't, so what. You are still doing what you want to do. So what has changed? Product pricing. This is another interesting topic. Chris mentioned raising his prices and getting more business. I did the same thing about six months ago with the same result. More sales. I dont know much about marketing but this is how I figured out to do that. I look at a Kia car that costs 9,000.00 and a Corvette that costs 65,000.00. Which one is a quality car? My brain says the 'vette. If it costs more then it must be better. So I would buy the 'vette. (Actually I would buy a Viper. Hey, it's my dream ). Now there is an upper wall that you reach where the public perceives that it costs too much. (Think Testarossa). Sales will suffer if you exceed that level. Decide on your target customer and what that person would be willing to pay for your product. I target competitive fisherman. For example, if you have 15lbs in the livewell and you know you need 17.5, how much are you willing to pay to get that extra 2.5lbs ? If you get it, you win an extra grand. So how much is a bait worth that will get you that extra weight? Is it worth paying an extra dollar a pack over Walmart worms? My customers seem to think so. I know there have been times during tournaments I would have payed a grand for another 2.5 lbs. Anyway, my mouth runneth over this morning. Sorry for being so long winded. I figured I better quit before you all start thinkin I'm gonna be passin around the offering plate soon. Good job Mercury and congratulations.

Didnt have time to explain before. What happens is this, they run an order through your online store. Along the way they take notes of the pages they pass through. Then they use those pages (or try to) to break into your site. This is attempted on my site almost daily and most often it comes from Asia. Once they figure out the path and how to hack into your database, they can pull all the info out of it, including customer cc numbers. I dont have to explain how that will damage your reputation with your customers. Now using Pay Pal does prevent this because they have to hack Pay Pals db and that is tough to do, although it has been done. With regards to unverified addresses, I ship to them occasionally, but I usually will call them and ask for the CCV # on the back of their card. They can always make this up because unless I'm running the card through my merchant account I dont check 'em. But I think voice contact makes a difference. Anyway, I would be willing to risk pissing off a customer in Asia to avoid all the possible hassles.

Dont do it

Our Sams Club doesnt carry it but a local grocery store does. So what I did was go to the manager and ask for a good price for buying a case and he gave it to me. I think there were 16 little containers in a case and if I remember right I payed like 8-10 bucks. I'm almost out again so I hope I can work the same deal twice. Popcorn salt is much much finer than the other salts I've tried and I have tried all I can find. It should stay in suspension better than larger grain salts in high concentrations such as a senko type bait. For what I do with it it's perfect. Take care

You mean I dont have to use the 24oz. pots to pour 3" baits? I thought that was federal law.

Soooo, whaddya catch yer fish on?.......................

I'm curious. What is it that you guys are doing with the syringe? I can only think of one application where I might use one but it would be awful time consuming.

LOL

I'm glad you took care of that Mercury. Apology accepted. And Chris, I was talking about real meatloaf. I think I should make up a few using the trout molds. Not sure about putting ketchup on it though before each cast. LOL

I've got a question for you Mercury. Why is it that you are representing your products on your web site with pictures of my baits, taken off of my web site. You have not asked my permission to do so. Could you please explain yourself and your actions?

Hi Merc, I dont make them to sell but hell yeah I throw 'em, and like Chris and Woodsac said, its amazing how many short fish will hit a huge trout. My buddy and I had a little contest one evening to see who could catch the smallest largemouth on a 12" trout. LMAO. He won with a 8.5 incher. Damn little guy was seriously hungry. Seriously, most of the lakes in this area are stocked in the winter with 10-12 inch trout. The bass know when this is happening and cruise on over to find stragglers. That is why we have such huge fish in these lakes. They feed on trout and have tremendous growth rates. The biggest fish I have personally seen taken out of Lake Perris is 18 and change. On a 12" swimbait. Largest during a tournament was 14 and change. Friggin guys caught it right next to my partner and I. LOL. Needless to say they won with just two fish. So, yes I use them, no I dont use them during tournaments because I'm not good enough with them to get that reliable of a bite. I am constantly amazed at the size of a largemouths mouth and what they will eat. Hmmm, I wonder if they would bite a meatloaf and would that be considered live bait? Cya Bruce

Hi guys, One thing I want to add, dont forget about the cost of advertising. Even for small companies like us it can add up to thousands per year. And for a company like Yamamoto, geez, it's gotta be in the tens of thousands. My wife is an accountant and several months ago forced me to start using Quickbooks and tracking everything I do. Boy was that an eye opener. The cheapest thing about doing this is the baits themselves. Packaging, shipping supplies, utilities, web site expenses, freebies, all that stuff really add up. It takes alot of worms to pay for that stuff as you guys well know. So the actual profit margin a company sees might be far lower than you might expect. I fussed around with swim baits about six months ago. I determined that for me it wasn't worth it. If you use quality plastic and hardware your unit cost is pretty high. You really need dedicated equipment to use just for those baits and your mold costs are gonna be high because of the number you need to allow you to keep pouring while the first ones cool. To make a long story short, the profit margin wasn't any greater than what I do now so I dropped the project. Although I do make them for myself. Take care.

I second that. That makes so much sense I cant believe we havent been doing it that way already. Outstanding job