I look up to TOMS shoes - the company itself is the inspiration for Clean Water Lures. How can I do the same thing with fishing lures? Anglers do not seem to be "touched" or moved by the fact we are giving a pack of baits for every pack we sell to a young angler. If young anglers do not need help - than who does in the industry?

your's is certainly a noble cause, but just because you give away baits to kids, doesn't mean I feel an obligation to make you successful. In regards to TOMS, I think they're a fraud and a hype machine designed to tug on the heart strings of women, young feminine males, and g*y men who will fall for anything emotional. If TOMS was really concerned with African kids having shoes, they would just send shoes without you having to purchase a pair. Just my opinion. I'm not a fan of TOMS and don't feel obligated to make you successful. Good luck to you, I wish you no Ill-will by posting this, just responding to your post.

Frank doesn't speak for all Texans or people on this forum for that matter... I think what you're trying to do is a very good idea. I think your post shows more of the frustrations of your struggle to build your company than you intended. The American Dream isn't a get rich quick scheme. It's a grind. A struggle. A dedicated effort to continue moving forward, pursuing your vision.... You need to make sure you keep your vision in sight and constantly strive to reach those goals.

Be introspective; are you giving this 100% effort day in and out? Is there more you can do to promote your business? Is your target audience the proper audience to achieve your goals?

From what I know you're only a couple months into this venture, don't expect your success story to come anytime soon!

You need to make sure you keep your vision in sight and constantly strive to reach those goals. Keep doing that and everything will fall into place.

Nope, I do not, I speak for me. That's all. And I applaud Mr. PondMan for trying to help young anglers.

I want to buy good baits. I don't care about anybody else getting free ones.

You're doing good trying to really search out how to make the company a success. I think that you can do it but it is going to be difficult at first until you figure everything out because of the issue with collecting used lures. Forget about the high school/college giveaways for now. Concentrate on the business. Without the business succeeding, you won't be giving them any donations. Maybe you give the consumer the option, Send me a pound of used lures and I will pay $ or they can choose to have a bag donated in lieu of cash.

I'm not even sure how I order a bag, how many come in a bag or how much a bag costs. Do you have a website? I saw your facebook page but I don't want to read thru it to find this information. How are your bags priced compared to new plastics? If they aren't cheaper then I wouldn't bother buying as it is much easier to pick up a bag in a store.

Your idea of cleaning up the environment and re purposing the lures is noble. Everyone wants to be part of it but most will only participate if it is financially advantageous. You should really be hitting all the major lakes and trying to get permission to put up a collection bin. Hit all the tournaments, even the workingman tourneys on smaller lakes. Go to Fork or some other heavily used lake on the weekend and set up a table to advertise, collect and sell.

I'd be sending requests out to the pros or show up at tourneys and try to talk to them and try to get one to buy in to the "Clean up the Lakes" concept and offer a share of the company for them to agree to use them or help you in some other way.

Girls were obsessed with TOMS for a while, and not because of the fact that they were giving shoes to kids that needed them.

They bought them because their friends had them, thats what drove them.

The PR was just an add on, i doubt 25% of the gorls that bought those shoes cared about what they were doing, just the fact that all the other girls had moved from Uggs to toms so they needed to too.

Good deal you are doing and keep at it, but trying to hope for the same attraction based on what fickle girls do is asinine.

That is unless someone wins a major tourney with your baits, then they will fly off the shelves LOL

Cause marketing is an effective strategy but it's not a pilar on which you can start/build a business in my opinion. Secondly if you're using this forum as your only tool or your guage to evaluate interest then you're in trouble. The TFF is a valuable resource but it's simply one small piece of the puzzle.

As mentioned above, your products are the driver not the charity. Anglers aren't big on smoke and mirrors. Keep it simple, build a good product and/or provide a good service and you'll have a foundation to start.

Good luck

Totally agree. Plus, a more basic question is: does the fishing world need another plastic bait brand? In my view it doesn't. Unless you can build significant differentiation into your product, then you're just creating a me-too offering in different packaging. I'm a fan of entrepreneurs so I wish you luck.

This exactly!

I don't care what you do with your baits.....I only care if they catch fish much better than what I currently use. Your baits are $5 a pack and I haven't seen anyone even claiming they are better than Zoom!

I have no problem paying a premium for premium performance....I go through Yamamoto Senkos like I have an unlimited budget but that is because I feel they are THAT much better than everything else.

Concentrate on making something different or better.....otherwise you will sink in the sea of other options.

I am touched by the fact that you want to get your baits into the hands of young anglers to help them.
I'm touched that you want to keep used plastics out of the environment and recycle them.
I really like the looks of the baits you posted a picture of and I would really like to try them.

However! The price tag stops me in my tracks!
If buying lures from you was the only or best way I could help out the younger anglers or the older ones who need help, I would be all over it and be glad that you where helping others as a result of my buying high priced lures from you.
I try to do as much as I can though in a lot of other ways to help those who need help, and I go out of my way to help the youngsters on a regular basis. They need more than a pack of baits thrown at them.
Baits are useless without the opportunity to use them, and they are next to useless without the knowledge to use them effectively.
I aint trying to rain on your parade with what I say. I have much respect for what you are doing and think it is a very good deal all the way around. Cleaner environment and helping kids is great, and if the lures you produce work well, there would be no limits to how far this could go.
Here's the biggie though.
It has to be based upon a lure that is a good lure at a reasonable price first. That way you can sell them and get them out there where more people are using them and word will spread that they are good and people will understand that you are helping them catch fish as well as keeping the environment cleaner, and are helping kids too.
You can build upon that strategy.
The current strategy is pretty much set up to where if someone wants to help kids, then buy these high priced baits and be proud of yourself for doing so, because a kid is gonna get a pack of baits too.
Just aint gonna work in the long run.
This is just my way of thinking. I'm not very qualified to give business advice in most circumstances but when it envolves fishing lures, and helping kids I think I can help, and I want to help.
I hope I have helped and I wish you luck in this endeavor.

WOW

What motivates anglers to purchase soft plastics? They have caught fish with them or seen someone else catch fish with them. You are going at it all wrong. You are trying to motivate anglers to buy your plastics because you will give away a bag to a young angler. What you need to do is make a video of an angler catching some bass (and big ones at that) on your baits and maybe at the end of the video show some young kids benefiting from your company. This will motivate the anglers to give your products a try and if they work for them they will continue to buy them and will be extremely loyal to your brand. The donation of a bag on your part might make them a little warm and fuzzy on the inside but that's just a bonus to them. Bottom line is you have to make a great product. All soft plastics are not the same. I suggest you come up with a different kind of scent no one else is using or some kind of unique color.

Reality is you need to develop baits that are proven fish catchers to get a foothold. After you do that you can then focus on the charity aspect. Right now you are simply one of many brands. You need a logo that is instantly recognizable and exclusive to your brand.

Long posts and explanations about your products will keep falling on deaf ears. Get some pictures of the fish caught on your baits as well as testimoinials etc.

Quite honestly I think your daily 2-3 posts, surveys etc are doing more to nake people lose interest rathe than peak interest. You need to have a more focused approach but again you gotta have great baits first and foremost. Yours may be but we are not seeing that yet.

It doesn't matter much what you say about your product and how well it works in catching fish. It is what others have to say. One picture posted of a big fish, one good video of a great day of fishing and a few important fisherman winning with them will sell the product 100%.

It takes time, lots of fisherman and lots of pictures of fish.
- Develop a Pro Staff.
- Work with the Video Fisherman.
- Top notch Website and logo.
- Booths at all the big tournaments.
- Work with Parks and Wildlife; get on their side.
- Get them in the hands of the Pros..