YouTube Mastery Blueprint for Fishing Tackle Retailers

Dad died in 2007 as I began to get back into fishing. Many of the lessons he taught help me to this day. Seven years later I took the fishing floats he used to make, redesigned them for easier production and began to sell them on ebay.

Customers asked,

"How do you rig these things?"

"How do you catch fish with them?"

"What's the best bait?"

"Do you use treble hooks or circle hooks?"

While I enjoyed answering questions, there must have been a easier way to support customers.

I wrort a FAQ (frequently asked questions) blog posts, but the questions kept coming. I even made a FUAQ page for my Web site. FUAQ means frequently unasked questions. No matter what I tried, questions kept coning. Until one day I stumbled on the fact that you could embed video directly into an Ebay listing itself. This was years ago before everyone got scared over privacy laws and such.

The more I researched other Ebay sellers, the more I noticed embedded videos in their listings. Those videos they led to a place called YouTube. Many of these Ebay sellers had channels on YouTube with dozens of videos. Many led back to their Ebay listings, but many led to their own Web sites making direct sales to customers. Some even had links of other places like Amazon where they sold other people's products for a commission.

This was it!

What if I taught people how to use my custom fishing products on YouTube? What if I could build an audience on YouTube, then send them to my Web site instead of Ebay? Could I cut out some of the processing fees?

Yup! That's what I did. I made videos to teach customers how to use the products I made. That led to more sales and profit because I didn't have to pay the Ebay fees. Nor was I limited to the Ebay ecosystem. I could cross pollinate to other platforms, forums without appearing salesy! After all they were watching videos on how to rig a cool fishing float. The questions changed:

"How so I buy these?"

"Where can I get these?"

"I don't see anything like this at Wal-mart!"

Fast forward 10 years. I still make videos and sell custom wooden fishing floats, handline fishing reels, flies, lures and jigs. I frequent YouTube looking for new ideas and products to offer. Many times I'll come across a genius product, but when you look at company's YouTube channel, they post videos as an afterthought.

My goodness! Some of these product are so good, I don't see how they only have 200 subscribers. They should have at least 20,000!

Alas, the truth hit me. Tackle shops are busy places once the fishing season starts. Who has time to plan out a whole YouTube channel? Where will you find the time to record, edit, upload and promote 100 videos per year? That's why I made the YouTube Blueprint for Fishing Tackle Retailers. I want to help mom-and-pop fishing tackle shops, small-scale tackle makers and manufacturers use YouTube to build their brands, bolster their online communities and drive sales.

Why a blueprint? Every business is slightly different. Your walk of life is different than another. A blueprint gives you a framework, a way to approach the task of building. Follow the blueprint, make adjustments for your needs, and you'll grow your business for years to come.

Let's get FISHing!

Damon