I’m taking a short break from writing about the business of the IceMule Cooler to spend a few minutes on the fun part of owning a cooler company.

If you’ve been keeping up, you know that we’re making some serious traction in the Kayak Fishing market.  I’m interested in other sports markets as well, of course, including Sailing, Surfing, Hiking, all team sports, tailgating and just sitting around with a cooler on a summer night watching the lightning bugs (I’m highly proficient in this sport).  In fact, I’m writing a guest blog for a friend’s sailing blog later this week – (check out the blog – it’s awesome: http://www.messingaboutinboats.com).

Sorry…got distracted.  Back to Kayak Fishing.  As I talk to more folks involved in this sport, the more impressed I am.  Everyone I’m meeting as I make sponsorship deals – that’s 100% – are nice, helpful, positive people who really believe in our product and are anxious to help me.  It is unreal.  For a guy who spends his days as a marketing exec for a bank and who is always getting bombarded by different agendas, encountering this kind of community is almost like waking up in the middle of a crowd of those blue folks from Avatar.

Here’s the issue though. I am a fisherman (mainly trout on a fly line the last few years, plus a bit of deep sea).  And, when I get a chance, I kayak in and around the St John’s in St Augustine.  But I have never been kayak fishing.  And I’m dying to dive right in.  I’ve read so much about it, talked so much about it, and thought so much about it that I’m now on a mission.

But I need some gear & I need some gear recommendations!  I read a great article about getting started in kayak fishing on kayakfishingmagazine.net and that has helped me think through my choices … but I still need some help.

Let’s start with the boat.  Here is what I can tell you…

• I’m 5′10″ 175 lbs – so I guess I can use most any kayak (true?)
• I’m in reasonably good shape (for a fatass banker)
• I have done lots of kayaking (white water yes, but mainly flat water) but cannot seem to roll so I’m liking the idea of a sit-on-top
• I like the idea of being able to stand for fly fishing but would rather start spin casting – so I’m thinking somewhat stable but not a barge…

Next – the rod and reel

• As I said above – I’m thinking spin or bait casting but have no idea what gear / brands to consider
• I expect to fish both the waters around Charlotte (Catawba) and St Augustine (St Johns)

I know this isn’t much to go on but I’d love to get some opinions and advice!

Thanks & Stay cool,

James

Whew.  What a week.  This whole Blog/Sponsorshippin/running a cooler company by myself thing is tiring!

It has been a heck of a ride this week, though, and all of it good.  Punchline:  I am TOTALLY into the whole sponsorship scene.  Plus, tons of extras that have come my way as a result of reaching out through CoolerNotes and offering to sponsor some of the good people in the Kayak Fishing community.  In fact, the extras are what are so surprising and they really speak to the power of social media / online-based marketing.

Let’s recap:

Sponsorships. As I reported a few days ago, Joe Cambria at KayakFishingMagazine.net (which rocks) suggested that I sponsor a few kayak fishing tournaments to promote the IceMule.  Ok – seems like a lot of work, but…OK.  So, I sat down, grabbed the tourney calendar on KayakFishingMag’s site, jumped to each event organizer’s site, found the contact info and sent each tournament director an email asking if they had any sponsorship opportunities for a young, growing cooler company with an extremely limited marketing budget.  I even suggested that I could sponsor without paying but by providing IceMules as prizes or for raffles.

I contacted 7 groups, some that run individual tournaments, some that run a series of 5 or 10 or more events.  Within 24 hours (in some cases, within a few minutes) 5 of the 7 had contacted me back.  EVERY ONE was excited about our participation.  Of these 5, I have already committed to 4 and all but one will be unpaid sponsorships.  I fully expect to hear from the others soon.

These four are listed below (I’ll include an event calendar on CoolerNotes.com and IceMuleCooler.com soon) – go to their site & check them out.  In some cases, the tournaments support worthy charities so if you’re so inclined drop them a check, I’m sure they would appreciate it.

Kayak Fishing ClassicS Series

Kayak Fishing Trail

Carolina Yakfish Tournament Series

7th Annual Jacksonville Kayak Fishing Classic

And – here is the first extra of the week…my (beautiful) wife Meg and I invited some friends over for dinner this past Saturday night.  One friend, Lisa, mentioned that she didn’t know that the IceMule was my product (she had seen it promoted on Facebook) until she got a note I posted on Facebook about CoolerNotes.com.  So, we got to talking about it and she mentioned that her son was playing in an enormous Lacrosse tournament held in Fort Mill, SC this summer.  She’s one of the event organizers and thought that the IceMule would be a great sponsor.  I agreed.

Go check it out:  Catawba Classic Lacrosse Tournament

What is interesting is how easy this is (that said, several of my weekends just got booked!) and how much exposure I’ll get.  I estimate that – just from participants and guests, the IceMule will be seen – in context – by over 3,000 people.  I’ll pay (all expenses in, including product value) about $2 per.  I’m paying up to that much for certain Adwords right now and somehow I think that seeing an IceMule in action will be a heckofa lot more impressive than clicking a link.  But that’s just the surface – as one of the tournament media kits pointed out, the community of anglers in these areas (NC – GA – FL) is very large but very interconnected.  In GA alone there are almost 1 million fishermen, and they all will know about the kayak tournaments there (or even know someone who competed).  Plus, each tournament has well-trafficked websites where my logo will appear, plus emails, newsletters and, in some cases, magazines.  The reach can be staggering.

So – that is what I did Sunday and Monday.

Product Reviews. Not only will I get great exposure from the sponsorships but – extra #2 – KayakFishingMagazine.net just posted a short review, pic and link to IceMuleCooler.com on their site TODAY.  This is just beyond cool for me.  Check it out! Kayak Fishing Magazine.net IceMule Review

And – one of the tournament directors offered to review it for another magazine (details to follow).

Sales. Another extra - Up 300% so far this week.  Not bad.

So, there you go.  A little social media, a bit of hustle, and awesome people and new partners and you’ve got yourself a perfect week.

Stay Cool gang!

James