President Bush and forty state governors have declared the month of June great outdoors month and this week is great outdoors week.  A very fitting time to spend the last two days in Washington, DC, attending meetings of the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation (RBFF) and the American Recreation Coalition (ARC).  I serve as the Chairman of both organizations. (Read More…)

There is a big concern going on at this time about sales being down in the boating industry.  There are a variety of factors that are reported to be contributing to this concern. Regardless of floor traffic being up, down or flat there is one single common denominator that remains – without salespeople understanding what constitutes a professional understanding of selling the likelihood of a sale commencing is drastically reduced.  All the kings men and all the kings horses cannot mend a broken sales process. (Read More…)

During these difficult economic times it’s easy to focus on the negatives rather than the positives.  Though total industry sales of products and services was down 5 percent in 2007, we estimate the industry sold $37.5 billion of boating products and services last year.  (Read More…)

Remember two years ago when the car industry brought back incentives to counter high fuel prices and rising interest rates. Dealers throughout the country offered as much as $6,000 in rebates. (Read More…)

With the arrival of Memorial Day, media coverage of boating accelerates dramatically.  We monitor this coverage nationwide and work to create positive coverage of boating and the boating lifestyle nationally as well. (Read More…)

It’s Memorial Day weekend – the traditional start of summer and the boating season. (Read More…)

Why do we make the same mistakes over and over again? Last week was my first blog entry for Soundings Trade Only, and I submitted it without a headline. I left it to someone else to write the headline. That was my mistake. (Read More…)

As I travel to meetings in Florida and the warmer areas of the country, the comment I hear most often is about how many boats people are seeing out on the water.  There seems to be amazement in the industry that boaters are out on the water in force in spite of high gas prices.  As warm weather reaches North, I know I am watching the Chicago lakefront gradually fill with boats. (Read More…)

Nordic Tugs has received an award from the U.S. Department of Commerce in recognition of the company’s successful move into foreign markets. (Read More…)

A CEO in St. Louis was so pumped up about the exorbitant prices at the gas stations; he wanted to do something to help his employees get to and from work. (Read More…)