Ideas of a Tired Mind

My boss called me today, and asked if we had any customers come into the shop today. My response was, "Not a single one! Not even a phone call!"

Obviously this wasn't good news to him. Even though it is our slow season, we should be getting some customers! He commented that we need to start doing something about that. I laughed and told him that maybe we should start going door to door!

His concern kicked my brain into high gear, and I came up with a few ideas. They may not be good ones, but its a start at least.

I have been thinking a lot about why someone would buy fitness equipment, besides their obvious need for an extra place to hang the clothes out to dry. The biggest reason I can think of for someone to purchase fitness equipment is to better their health. But not everyone thinks about their health all that much, aside from weight loss. And a lot of people get fed up with their weight, start a work our program, only to stop in only a few weeks. The reason? Because they don't really know what they are doing, or where to start. I know thats the case with me. I quit for two reasons mainly. Either because I don't see any results, or working out is too hard. And I think both of those reasons are because I don't really know what I'm doing.

So maybe the question I should be asking myself isn't "What prompts people to buy" as much as "What causes people not to buy". And maybe the biggest reason is because people aren't educated about fitness. How to do it, why its even necessary, what it does for your body, how it can improve quality of life.

That's what really attracts me to the idea of holding free community classes sposored by Columbia Fitness and Club 24. I think as people become more educated about the benefits of fitness, and how to do it, they will become more interested in doing it, and want to purchase fitness products.
I also had the idea of creating a company blog. Somewhere like this forum, to discuss the same sorts of things. Why fitness is important, how to do it. What exercise programs and products are a scam, and what things actually work.

You know, one of our company slogans is "We Make Fitness Fun". But I can't really think of a way that we do that. I think that is one of our biggest opportunities for advertizing/generating sales. To actually make fitness fun!

I got really excited about the blog idea. I also got excited about making a CFS news letter to send out along with our postcard ads we send out every now and then.

Maybe I'll work on getting some rough draft ideas for all of these things to show to my boss, and see what he thinks.

Burned by the Sun

My friend has a car that is the exact same make, model, and color as mine. The only difference is, mine runs, and his has a blown motor. So yesterday, I spent the day swapping parts from his car to mine. A couple of doors, the trunk lid, some interior cosmetic pieces. We even tried to switch out the cluster on the dash because my speedometer doesn't work. That was a failed endeavor, apparantly Pontiac puts some kind of security feature in the cluster that makes it only work for its original car.

Anyways, I spent the whole day out in the sun. Needless to say, I am now sufficiently burned. The back of my neck, and one side of my face have a nice reddish color to them. My arms aren't too bad.

Car's are a pain in the butt. I thought my experience working on fitness equipment would make working on my car a piece of cake. Not so! Car's are a hundred times harder! Ok, maybe not a hundred. But they are deffinately harder. We spent a good 5 hours on that darn thing, and there is still work to be done. We're not even doing anything that involved! I hate to think what working on the motor is like!

We got the doors swapped, which is good, since my drivers side window didn't roll down, and the rear drivers side wing window was broken out. But when we hooked the wiring back up, the door locks didn't work. We still have yet to figure that one out...

One day when I'm rich, I'm going to buy brand new cars, and pay for some one else to maintain them! I now know that being a car mechanic is not my dream job.

It's just me all alone at the shop today again. Every one else is in Lewiston doing a major delivery and set up job. They've been there since yesterday. This is one of our biggest deals yet. Its like a two hundered and fifty thousand dollar sale to a gym that is opening up there. Fitness clubs have been opening up like crazy in these past few years. It seems that people have fitness on the brain.

That's another reason why I think this company really could do well. Fitness clubs have to have their suppliers. And with more and more people focusing on their health these days, there is deffinately room for some good growth in this industry.

I think the biggest challenge for our company is that we are a small business, and have a hard time getting our name out there. Advertizing on the radio or the tv is expensive, as are billboards and ads in the newspaper. We're kind of located in the armpit of Kennewick in a run down little location.
I was thinking a little bit on how to get our name out there better. I'm sure there are so many opportunities out there that cost little or no money, like displaying our product at Numerica CU. I didn't even know that things like that were out there as an option for us. Andy's idea about sponsoring sporting/fitness events is one I also wouldn't have thought about. An idea I had today was getting us more involved in health and fitness education by setting up a free community class about staying in shape, how to exercise, how to eat healthy, etc. Since we are so closely connected with Club 24, we could hold the classes there, or here at our little shop. I think that would be a really good idea.

As for advertizing, there's always flyers on people's cars! Word of mouth is working ok, we just need more mouths spreading the word.

Anyways, lunch is over (a while ago...) so I should go be usefull!

Technological Addiction

We finally have internet at our home. I never really realize how much I miss having it at my immediate disposal until I've been without it for a while. There have been several times during our marriage where we have been without internet for long periods of time, and when we we finally get it back, its a race to the computer. We've actually had to set time limits for ourselves or else one person will dominate the computer for hours!

We're actually paying for our internet as well. For a while we were able to "steal" internet from a few people who were broadcasting their own internet with a little wireless reciever. That lasted for a few months until, as is very common in an apartment complex, those we were "stealing" from decided to move. That was a sad day.

The most exciting thing for me about having the internet is being able to stay connected better. It allows me to be more consistant in my e-mails, in blogging, and in keeping up on current events. I can do all those things at work, but my time is limited while I am there.

Speaking of work, it was pretty good today. I feel like I accomplished a lot. One thing I like about my current position is the neat things I get to learn how to do. Since I'm the only person at the shop, I get to make purchase orders, deal with vendors, deal with customers. The other day I got to be the first to use our new financing program. And because I'm the one who has dealt most with this particular bank, my boss has asked me to work out a deal with them to see what kind of lower payments we can work out for our customers with good credit. I also am working on a project to get some of our product displayed in one of their local branches.

My boss asked me to get us a booth at the fair as well. That was a fun project. It didn't take very long either. I just had to make a few phone calls and fill out a form. And on Friday I need to follow up and make sure our application was recieved.

It amazes me how easy some of this stuff is. And it's nice that my boss trusts me to get this stuff done. Part of it is because I'm the only one at the shop, but he leaves me at the shop because I kind of know what I'm doing. Sure I'm not perfect, but he's a pretty laid back guy, and he's pretty cool about mistakes, and allows for a learning curve. It's been a good educational opportunity for me.

That's one of the reasons I have a hard time wanting to leave here. I learn so much, and each day it seems like I have more and more responsability. I learn more and more about sales, dealing with people, being a manager (even though I'm not one, just acting manager). I have my days where the disorganization gets to me, but I always come back to the thought that one day, when I've learned all I can from this job, I will have had experiences that were far more valuable than the pay I recieved. I feel like in the end it will all have been worth it. I feel like after this job, I can do anything.

I like being the contact person for our vendors. I like being the one to try and generate sales, and to come up with ideas on how to improve things. I've only been at it for a few weeks, but maybe it would be a good idea to really take an active roll in improving the company. To really make things happen. Like Andy said in his reply to my last post. I have been really stressed out lately, and not really part of the solution. I have been more a part of the problem. Maybe I need to just show some more initiative, and really make myself valuable to this company. Because I can see this company really having a lot of potential. Our vendors really seem to like us, so we have the potential to expand a lot. To really become something good. Really good. And my boss can't do it all on his own, he's gonna need help. Maybe I could be that help.

I'll have to kick around some ideas and do some research. I wonder what it is that we could be doing better? Things that don't cost the company a whole lot of money. Little things. Hmmm.
Let's see what I come up with. Ideas are always welcome from anyone who has any!

T. Adam Martin.

In the Beginning

I have a LiveJournal, but Livejournal is kind of highschoolish. At least it seems that way to me. Perhaps that's because I used it mainly through my highschool days. At any rate, it seems a lot less mature of a medium than this particular forum.

I would lable my intentions for this blog of mine, but it seems that everytime I lable something what I want it to be, it either becomes something different entirely, or I just end up pretending it doesn't exist. So to use a phrase that seems to be popular in Hip Hop culture (though often used incorrectly) this blog "is what it is".

Life in the Martin home has been challenging lately. Stress has not been in short supply. I think the biggest stressor for me is my job. I really enjoy it, most of the time. I love to deal with customers. Helping a customer get what they need, and really taking care of them throughout the whole purchase process is really fun for me. I love it when a customer is pleased with the product, and the service they get from us. I enjoy learning about how the fitness equipment that we sell works, and how to fix it.

But the pay isn't that great, and the company organization is a wreck. I feel like more often than not I'm in "reaction mode". I'm sure my blood pressure at work is high, and I'm to young for that. For all the things I'm expected to do, I really should be getting paid more than I am. I don't mind so much, but the fact that my wife and I are expecting makes me focus a lot more on my wage.

The fact that I'm the "acting sales manager" is hard as well. It wouldn't be so bad if I had a defined roll, and a little bit of training. There are lots of things to do, and I don't even know what a lot of them are. The regular sales manager is out for the next three months, and he didn't really leave any notes. But how was he supposed to do even that with the massive amount of company disorganization. Which is one of the reasons he's taking three months off anyways!
I'm keeping my eyes open. There are good opportunities out there, even for someone who hasn't achieved a degree yet. And I plan on doing that as well. Even if I have to go to school full time while working full time. We'll try part time for a while though.

I'm excited for the potential that life has for me though. I have had a very good feeling about the way things are going in general, and I really believe they will improve to beyond even what I can imagine. As crazy as it is, life is amazing.