tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20315100167340129152024-03-14T12:14:17.907-04:00Nautical Sites Media BlogThe blog of Nautical Sites MediaEditorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00849004483204745351noreply@blogger.comBlogger59125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2031510016734012915.post-25770634549649270892013-07-19T14:00:00.001-04:002013-07-19T14:00:14.781-04:00Dogs Ahoy<div class="presser-summary">
I am excited to announce a new online store which I launched in partnership with someone I worked with a long time ago at Outpost.com.<br />
<br />
Cyberian Outpost, which later changed its name to Outpost.com, was one of the pioneering e-commerce sites when we worked there before and during the company's IPO in the late 1990's. Jim Sullivan and I also worked together at PCFlowers.com over a dozen years ago until that company was sold to a large department store chain. It's awesome to be working once again with a true innovator and someone who shares my passion for online marketing, and doing the right thing. A <span class="il">portion</span> of all <span class="il">profits</span> from our new online store, DogsAhoy.com, are going to be donated to causes that promote the humane care of animals. Here's the press release that's been going around the web announcing the new site...</div>
<div class="presser-summary">
<br /></div>
<div class="brand-name">
<b><i>DogsAhoy.com offers a mix of personalized and fun products for dogs and dog lovers</i></b><a href="http://new.pitchengine.com/brands/8511c96e-008c-47a2-b6b1-8fd52663141c"> </a></div>
<div class="brand-name">
</div>
<div class="pitch-text">
DogsAhoy.com,
a new e-commerce venture for dog lovers, has opened for business. The online
retail store offers a unique selection of items that canine-inclined families
are sure to enjoy, including many that can be personalized with the name of their
furry friends, as well as products and prints featuring the work of renowned
artist Stephen Huneck.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.dogsahoy.com/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Dogs Ahoy" border="0" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_0aq8E4_UuI1bV5GUf90f1Q10LJ1hl2T_rdAJ3v4OYwASfP_lBXiy3noQ9MhV1vlKZWGtKWyVtee1wYWy__IEJ14K6mzKOMwXvleoPy9WaMQJni434kUsJ0gOtAujbPWtvvzPp8lX9Lo/s320/Cloey-Dogs-Ahoy.jpg" title="Dogs Ahoy" width="320" /></a></div>
According
to the American Pet Products Association, the pet supply market is expected to
reach $13 billion in sales in 2013, and approximately 46.3 million households
currently include one or more dogs living in the home. With its distinctive
product offerings and exceptional customer service, DogsAhoy plans to become
the first choice of dog families and their friends when it comes to unique products
and gifts. The store's initial product list includes dog-inspired artwork, personalized
fleece throw blankets, doggy life jackets, front-leading harnesses, leashes,
and a large selection of fun and durable toys. Every item is hand-picked with
fun and safety in mind.<br />
<br />
After this
summer's initial launch, the DogsAhoy team is planning on expanding its product
line and adding new items throughout the year, including many that cannot be
found anywhere else. DogsAhoy accepts all major credit cards and currently
ships to dog friendly families throughout the United States. Visit DogsAhoy
online at www.dogsahoy.com <br />
<br />
<b>About DogsAhoy.com</b><br />
DogsAhoy.com
is the premier online source for fun and safe products for dog lovers. To learn
more about DogsAhoy, visit <a href="http://www.dogsahoy.com/">www.DogsAhoy.com</a>
or call 978-751-DOGS (3647).<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Nautical Sites Marine Marketing helps companies in the boating industry make the most of the web</div>Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00849004483204745351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2031510016734012915.post-10660755613611836352013-05-10T12:02:00.002-04:002013-05-10T12:03:29.129-04:00Six Months LaterSorry it's been so long, but I've been a little busy. I am happy to report that our online store, Boat Name Gear, has enjoyed record sales since our last post nearly 6 months ago. Each month, from November 2012 through this April, the store has brought in more revenue than the same month from any previous year since it opened.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXBbKqmz9Xb62LlDadU0Dn_S13WZuR_j6aU5bDrK-CQSyj-00apcdr2NB2pLccFZ4Ho6MvORMZ3vLFH-zaSwkgHtWljLPEpLQ56bqMDkZiWphc2PZwPOy8_vTVFFkkgLfvG_IPCuGPZ8w/s1600/IMG_20130421_114712_909.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXBbKqmz9Xb62LlDadU0Dn_S13WZuR_j6aU5bDrK-CQSyj-00apcdr2NB2pLccFZ4Ho6MvORMZ3vLFH-zaSwkgHtWljLPEpLQ56bqMDkZiWphc2PZwPOy8_vTVFFkkgLfvG_IPCuGPZ8w/s400/IMG_20130421_114712_909.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Boaters check out the BNG booth at the Bay Bridge Boat Show, April 2013.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
With Father's Day approaching and a string of new customers from recent boat shows, word of mouth, and other promotions in the works, I expect this trend to continue as long as we keep pushing.<br />
<br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Nautical Sites Marine Marketing helps companies in the boating industry make the most of the web</div>Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00849004483204745351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2031510016734012915.post-71398292277943675422012-11-30T23:53:00.000-05:002012-11-30T23:53:28.393-05:003rd Annual Holiday Gift Guide for BoatersThis week, for the third year in a row, I published a holiday gift guide on the <i>Daily Boater</i>. Just like the previous two years, the 2012 edition includes a mix of fun, unique and practical gift ideas that any boater or nautically minded loved one would enjoy seeing under the tree on Christmas morning. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.dailyboater.com/2012/11/holiday-gift-guide-for-boaters.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Daily Boater Gift Guide" border="0" height="134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicpp0mxi6x2kM8ZNzBqsoIAOG2gWEsUtWkvihjUqoWGUG-2qPxijZjMxVofkK_fZ7CDTuzDTaL_DMJ4SKYuBkRoH2AXRhvYKpuGoFpEZeJxOBXaoP8rQtA2x3fQE62NDVFmY_iL8E1bcA/s200/holiday-newsletter-header.jpg" title="Daily Boater holiday gift guide of nautical gifts for boaters" width="200" /></a></div>
Once again, the gift guide includes products from trusted partners, such as a little cookbook filled with 800 (count 'em!) practical recipes: <a href="http://theboatgalley.com/cruisers-cookbook/" target="_blank"><i>The Boat Galley Cookbook</i></a>. Our favorite 'dream big' MegaYacht Wall Calendar is back for the 3rd year in a row, as well as several other products that I personally put to the test.<br />
<br />
Of course, no self respecting boating gift guide is complete without <a href="http://www.boatnamegear.com/" target="_blank">personalized boating gift suggestions</a>, and since I also own BoatNameGear.com, it was easy to come up with a few ideas. You'll find some neat gift items - mostly related to eating and drinking - in the <a href="http://www.dailyboater.com/2012/11/gift-guide-personalized-boating-gift.html" target="_blank">Personalized Nautical Gifts</a> section of the Gift Guide, and you'll find a mix of personalized and non-personalized boat-wear ideas in the <a href="http://www.dailyboater.com/2012/11/gift-guide-boating-apparel.html" target="_blank">Boating Apparel</a> area.<br />
<br />
Enjoy the <a href="http://www.dailyboater.com/2012/11/holiday-gift-guide-for-boaters.html" target="_blank">2012 Holiday Gift Guide for Boaters</a> at DailyBoater.com.<br />
<br />
If you have a unique product you'd like to include in next year's guide, or perhaps in our Father's Day gift guide, please <a href="http://www.nauticalsites.com/contact.shtml" target="_blank">contact me</a>. <br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Nautical Sites Marine Marketing helps companies in the boating industry make the most of the web</div>Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00849004483204745351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2031510016734012915.post-71898902534663339142012-10-15T11:54:00.003-04:002012-10-15T11:54:59.721-04:00Your Quarterly UpdateQuarterly is way too long to go between blog posts for someone who considers himself a blogger. Now that that's been said and is behind us, here is a little of what I've been up to...<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixcRZ-1EHJmblx5Y0uTGjwjaAamx5HSd9pR-ux6uIIcP-5fD-8DB6n9J1e97cjBP0dSdrudXpsDsS2yv0Mm_bppTZld39u51MkEy1zS8sTSatLz-A38WNpLyF0Ys-H257yF7aZrBwPVTw/s1600/booth-photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Boat Name Gear at Norwalk Boat Show" border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixcRZ-1EHJmblx5Y0uTGjwjaAamx5HSd9pR-ux6uIIcP-5fD-8DB6n9J1e97cjBP0dSdrudXpsDsS2yv0Mm_bppTZld39u51MkEy1zS8sTSatLz-A38WNpLyF0Ys-H257yF7aZrBwPVTw/s400/booth-photo.JPG" title="Boat Name Gear and Andrew Canepari at the Norwalk Boat Show 2012" width="400" /></a></div>
I exhibited at the Norwalk Boat Show for the first time last month, and will most likely do it again. With my BoatNameGear booth on display I was able to gain a bunch of new customers right in my own home state, and reconnect with a few boaters that I've seen at other boat shows over the past couple of years. I was also able to make a couple of corporate connections, and am currently delivering a large order to a boat manufacturer for products they will use at the Fort Lauderdale show in a couple of weeks.<br />
<br />
Technical issues seem to have plagued my multiple hosting vendors over the past 60 days. My old friends at OLM seem to have dropped the ball once again recently when a power outage seemed to leave them clueless. Every issue these guys ever have seems to put them in bind. Luckily only one of my sites, FirstBoat.com, is hosted with them. It won't be for long. I used to work for OLM, so maybe I am jaded having looked under the hood and having seen how messy the engine actually is under there. I always figured you're better with the devil you know than the one you don't, but I think it is finally time for a change. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBd2gNImUF0PRX9rl6xvGGRb1DcKdfqd5_-YOZk-N1SyjvAkRlvZKizXBJfs3UldNNa3S8WqVRRrRjVqIF4y0ORV82-ZSuFMvfEnTJyZDajh_5RMdBtZ7QCd3DUnhY5JU9kUketoO-Bv8/s1600/volusion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="82" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBd2gNImUF0PRX9rl6xvGGRb1DcKdfqd5_-YOZk-N1SyjvAkRlvZKizXBJfs3UldNNa3S8WqVRRrRjVqIF4y0ORV82-ZSuFMvfEnTJyZDajh_5RMdBtZ7QCd3DUnhY5JU9kUketoO-Bv8/s320/volusion.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Another frequent offender is Volusion. This is the e-commerce host that powers BoatNameGear. I switched to Volusion from Yahoo right after Christmas 2011 because I thought they looked more professional than a yahoo store, and they were also recommended in an article about a store that sells millions of dollars worth of UCONN gear each year. I had seen some bad press in forums about Volusion having trouble with slowness and downtime, but I chose to believe the good press about the company's improvements. I may give them some more time, as moving an e-commerce store is a pain in the ass. Hopefully they will get better.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsYE8tZxDZzSPURHU1nexyGDdFDHKqyhj5TMVT4uMokc0ynSse4RIRDWz_JiF_fP9FEm0FfvtumxpPKlCLvqcoGfJZ20zVUThfqgUGeUozFYdUj5dXZ2lDSjyPtSGkQgtkxobELiPYPqk/s1600/godaddy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Danica Patrick" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsYE8tZxDZzSPURHU1nexyGDdFDHKqyhj5TMVT4uMokc0ynSse4RIRDWz_JiF_fP9FEm0FfvtumxpPKlCLvqcoGfJZ20zVUThfqgUGeUozFYdUj5dXZ2lDSjyPtSGkQgtkxobELiPYPqk/s1600/godaddy.jpg" title="Danica from GoDaddy" /></a></div>
<br />Thirdly, GoDaddy had issues in September - this is the first time in 10 years of holding domain names with GoDaddy that i have been noticeably affected by any issues with this company. I don't actually host any websites with them, but I have many domain names that forward to other websites - these domain names were down for about a day while GoDaddy sorted out their issues.<br />
<br />
On another technical note, I've been diving into WordPress a lot lately since creating NortheastBoater.com on the platform. If it continues to impress me as much as it has been, I expect to be creating several new sites on WordPress between now and the end of 2013. This blog and several other sites I manage are created on Google's Blogger platform, and that certainly is easy to use and still has some advantages. If anybody is interested in my thoughts on Blogger vs. WordPress, contact me and I'd be happy to share my experience. <br />
<br />
Hopefully my next post will be a positive one about some funding that I am working on, and hopefully it will be sooner than 3 months from now!<br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Nautical Sites Marine Marketing helps companies in the boating industry make the most of the web</div>Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00849004483204745351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2031510016734012915.post-38368669163219169732012-07-26T17:41:00.002-04:002012-07-26T17:41:09.683-04:00Batting 1,000Last week, Nautical Sites Media hit another milestone when I posted the thousandth article on the <i>Daily Boater</i>.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.dailyboater.com/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="DailyBoater.com" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlltcymjHO2W5EcZnzBiDXPsiunqakyfgRYRtlb_7UaGo2O5b9L7n3MHyr70zennAq1JJlX_SYx2PlwzyRaMc6jLwZll6sijUAVF-8BK_LJqCapPYYAmhyphenhyphenmzAmsPPxReLLDLRoPNlCSAE/s1600/daily-boater-news.jpg" title="Daily Boater" /></a></div>
One thousand.<br />
<br />
As I mentioned in <a href="http://nauticalsites.blogspot.com/2012/07/independence-day.html" target="_blank">my last post here</a>, I couldn't do it alone. In fact, number 1,000 turned out to be <a href="http://www.dailyboater.com/2012/07/boat-galley-five-minute-appetizers.html" target="_blank">a guest post by Carolyn Shearlock</a>. But whoa - 1,000 seems like a whole lot of articles about boating for what I still consider to be a young publication. <br />
<br />
I hope people are enjoying the content and keep coming back for more.<br />
<br />
Speaking of the Daily Boater, advertisers have started signing up for a new program called the weekly <b>Marine Product Review</b>. This is a program I started in partnership with Mark Sutton of <a href="http://marineproductreviews.com/" target="_blank">MarineProductReviews.com</a> in which we review a nautical product each Wednesday, and make sure that the product being reviewed gets as much publicity as we can muster across our mutual sites and social media accounts. This is the only paid, advertorial content on the Daily Boater, and to keep the quality high we reserve the right to turn away advertisers whose products we don't want to review.<br />
<br />
More information for potential advertisers can be found <a href="http://www.nauticalsites.com/mpr.shtml" target="_blank">here</a>, and the first few reviews we've done so far can be found <a href="http://www.dailyboater.com/search/label/Marine%20Product%20Review" target="_blank">here</a>.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Nautical Sites Marine Marketing helps companies in the boating industry make the most of the web</div>Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00849004483204745351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2031510016734012915.post-89723658469403330542012-07-04T12:00:00.000-04:002012-07-05T12:48:52.609-04:00Independence DayJust a quick note to say <b>Happy 4th of July</b> to all our fellow Americans.<br />
<br />
It also happens to be the anniversary of <i>the Daily Boater</i>, born on the <a href="http://www.dailyboater.com/2006/07/our-rockets-red-glare.html" target="_blank">Fourth of July in 2006</a>. Wow - hard to believe we've been turning out articles about boating almost every day for six full years. <br />
<br />
I couldn't do it alone, and I probably don't say this enough - Thank You to the many great contributors over the years that made <i>the Daily Boater</i> what it is today, including Vincent Pica of <i><a href="http://atlanticmaritimeacademy.com/" target="_blank">Atlantic Maritime Academy</a></i>, Mark Sutton of <i><a href="http://marineproductreviews.com/" target="_blank">Marine Product Reviews</a></i>, Carolyn Shearlock of <i><a href="http://theboatgalley.com/" target="_blank">The Boat Galley</a></i>, <span class="author">Sean McQuilken, </span>Captain John Jamieson of <i><a href="http://skippertips.com/" target="_blank">SkipperTips.com</a></i> to name a few. Your articles have helped visitors to the site grow by 300% over the past two years. Thanks for all you do!<div class="blogger-post-footer">Nautical Sites Marine Marketing helps companies in the boating industry make the most of the web</div>Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00849004483204745351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2031510016734012915.post-45330617603677680582012-04-18T13:36:00.000-04:002012-04-18T13:46:54.629-04:00Multiple Mentions Of Nautical SitesIt's been a good week when it comes to PR for Nautical Sites.<br />
<br />
Monterey Boats put out a blog post yesterday that mentioned several of my websites, and included links, in an article about boat names: <a href="http://www.montereyboats.com/2012/04/17/the-boat-name-game/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Name Game</a><br />
<br />
And on Monday, BoatUS announced their <i>BoatUS Angler “Catch of the Month”
photo contest</i>, which has four major sponsors - one of which is BoatNameGear.com!<br />
<br />
The latter news has already been mentioned in a few publications across the country - including the <a href="http://www.paramuspost.com/article.php/20120416190940780" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Paramus Post</a>, the <a href="http://bladenjournal.com/view/full_story/18251716/article-Take-your-camera-on-your-next-fishing-trip-and-you-could-win-big" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bladen Journal</a>, and <a href="http://captken.wordpress.com/2012/04/16/boatus-report-27/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Captain Ken Kreisler’s Boat and Yacht Report</a> (THANKS TO ALL FOR INCLUDING THE BOATNAMEGEAR LINK) - and I suspect more will follow. <br />
<br />
<i>Here's the full release from BoatUS</i>...<br />
<br />
<div class="releaseTime">
<b>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE</b><br />
Press Contact: D. Scott Croft, 703-461-2864, <a href="mailto:SCroft@BoatUS.com">SCroft@BoatUS.com</a></div>
<h1>
Take Your Camera on Your Next Fishing Trip and You Could Win Big</h1>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.boatus.com/angler/photos_2012.asp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjucIObwnumbH526Tk5K0llDQnZLOC1E8a2TABB4zBBgFty0PkYh4XCrxKxuZwT8DVcM6EQ_PYAoiTeskWLT164EAnS05IAufIm1VSiK7M852C_Hm09MFCS1DRGwSw16z1o_HYGRGyEorg/s400/BoatUS-Angler-Contestant-4-2012.jpg" width="288" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">BoatUS: Contestant Callie Shumway of Bellefonte, PA</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
There’s a lot to pack before you head
out for the spring fishing season. Just don’t forget the camera to take
shots of your catch to submit to the BoatUS Angler “Catch of the Month”
photo contest at <u><span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.boatus.com/angler/contest">www.BoatUS.com/angler/contest</a></span></u>, which kicked off this week and runs monthly through October 31.<br />
<br />
Monthly winners, one freshwater and one
saltwater, will receive a one-year BoatUS Angler membership with basic
on-water towing and roadside assistance, a $50 Visa gift card and a
“prize pack” filled with fishing and BoatUS Angler gear. <span style="color: black;">In addition, winning photos will appear in <i><a href="http://www.boatus.com/angler/magazine">BoatUS Angler Magazine</a></i> and <i>Tacklebox</i> monthly fishing e-newsletter. </span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><br />
Monthly winners will be automatically
entered to win the grand prize in November: an upgrade to unlimited
on-water and on-road towing assistance, a high-quality fish replica from
<a href="http://www.fishmountstore.com/" target="_blank">The Fish Mount Store</a>, and a $50 gift certificate from <a href="http://boatus.boatnamegear.com/" target="_blank">BoatNameGear</a>.<br /><br />
BoatUS Angler’s roadside assistance
“club” for boat trailers and tow vehicles and its on-the-water towing
service helps anglers spend more time fishing and less time worrying
about breakdowns. Visit <a href="http://www.boatusangler.com/">www.BoatUSAngler.com</a> for more. Anglers can also check out all of the photos submitted at:</span><br />
<span style="color: black;"> <span style="color: black;">www.BoatUS.com/angler/contest<br /><br />
</span></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><b>About the sponsors:</b></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">
</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span><br />
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</div>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">
</span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://boatus.boatnamegear.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">BoatNameGear</a> offers a unique,
hand-picked selection of high-quality personalized gifts, clothing and
gear. BoatUS members enjoy a 10% discount on all products plus free
shipping on all orders of $99 or more. </span></span></div>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></div>
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</span></span><div class="blogger-post-footer">Nautical Sites Marine Marketing helps companies in the boating industry make the most of the web</div>Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00849004483204745351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2031510016734012915.post-32192329883216751302012-04-12T15:01:00.006-04:002012-04-12T15:03:59.583-04:00Local Boat Shows<a href="http://www.boatnamegear.com/" target="_blank">BoatNameGear</a> occasionally exhibits at boat shows in and around Connecticut where I live. The shows give me a chance to see a few existing customers in person, get feedback on products, get the name out there, and meet all kinds of great people. If time permits, I also get the chance to talk to folks about the other sites in the network - I usually can find a story idea or two for <a href="http://www.dailyboater.com/" target="_blank">Daily Boater</a> or the new <a href="http://www.northeastboater.com/" target="_blank">Northeast Boater</a>. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnfsP7run6fwn6li-49O-KpcPgWlSUzvcQzNTa9UKCWSCGlfyLDIOPG1o4BS5qeqNCKOBm774VUb7CFEr8KQ2n6xBZuAa646F7a2fq1yW_khJgEyuu6CEgmD2y8uo3VWYdJs-rsegtllA/s1600/boat-show-booth-Mystic-2011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnfsP7run6fwn6li-49O-KpcPgWlSUzvcQzNTa9UKCWSCGlfyLDIOPG1o4BS5qeqNCKOBm774VUb7CFEr8KQ2n6xBZuAa646F7a2fq1yW_khJgEyuu6CEgmD2y8uo3VWYdJs-rsegtllA/s1600/boat-show-booth-Mystic-2011.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the back of the booths at SailQuest in Mystic, CT, last year. SailQuest is moving to Milford this year.</td></tr>
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And since Father's Day is one of the website's busiest times of year, I was especially excited to find a couple of events right in my home state right before things get really crazy for the big holiday. The two events are in-water boat shows, and both are on the Connecticut shoreline. <br />
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This will be my first time at the Brewer show, which should be interesting - I'm told the land vendors like me will be "in the shed". I'm looking forward to it! Westbrook and the surrounding towns are great boating communities, so it seems like a good location for a show. <br />
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I'm also looking forward to SailQuest, which will be my third time exhibiting at the show, which is every year it was held. I'm also hopeful the show will draw a bigger crowd than it has in previous years due to its new location, free admission, and the fact that the promoters have now had two years of experience. It will also be a bit of a homecoming for me as I grew up in Milford and spent many a summer boating in and out of Milford Harbor.<br />
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If you're in the area, please stop by:<br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Brewer Spring In-Water Boat Show</span><br />
LOCATION: Brewers Pilots Point Marina, Westbrook, CT<br />
DATE: April 28 - 29, 2012 <br />
MORE INFO: <a href="http://breweryacht.com/BoatShow.aspx" target="_blank">Brewer Spring In-Water Boat Show</a><br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">SailQuest Boat Show</span><br />
LOCATION: Lisman Landing Marina, Milford, CT<br />
DATE: May 18 - 20, 2012 <br />
MORE INFO: <a href="http://bit.ly/waN7d2" target="_blank">SailQuest Boat Show / WindCheck</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Nautical Sites Marine Marketing helps companies in the boating industry make the most of the web</div>Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00849004483204745351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2031510016734012915.post-47036862925726039182012-02-24T23:06:00.002-05:002012-02-24T23:06:34.968-05:00Soft Launch, BETA, In-Progress...My latest <i>nautical site</i>, <a href="http://northeastboater.com/">NortheastBoater.com</a>, is live on the inter-webs. You can <a href="http://www.google.com/#q=northeast+boater" target="_blank">google it</a>. You can see the site and click around, subscribe to the news feed, etc. You can get to it by the aforementioned long URL, or the abbreviated <a href="http://neboater.com/">NEBoater.com</a>, which has nothing to do with Nebraska and everything to do with getting a shorter domain name.<br />
<br />
And, after I heard a friend actually say "N E Boater" out loud a couple of times, I also bought the domain "<b>Any</b> Boater .com", which could make a good name for an entirely different type of website in the future, but for now, just helps people find my new site if I give out the abbreviated version of the name and they get confused.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNNCSmoy60rBAeUZY5kfg5Wxr2zt1PIUirPe23rMyjYDh7_N2Tc1ivL9E9twemOX076RGAKQNJfQSjfWVJZ6fUphWTcbOa9m157i74ZlrSwziFkZZeSCN2EPH5d7Ifg9LKHxUyCWX3LEM/s1600/norwalk-lighthouse-boating.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNNCSmoy60rBAeUZY5kfg5Wxr2zt1PIUirPe23rMyjYDh7_N2Tc1ivL9E9twemOX076RGAKQNJfQSjfWVJZ6fUphWTcbOa9m157i74ZlrSwziFkZZeSCN2EPH5d7Ifg9LKHxUyCWX3LEM/s400/norwalk-lighthouse-boating.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Northeast Boater was intended to be just like the <i>Daily Boater</i>... sharing news, tips and commentary with boaters, but with a laser-like <b>local </b>focus. However, I have expanded the plans for the site to include online charts of the coastal states, safety resources for each state, and an online events calendar - components that were never needed on Daily Boater because they already existed on FirstBoat.com. So, in essence, NortheastBoater is essentially a 'regional' version of both the Daily Boater and First Boat combined. <br />
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NortheastBoater is <i>currently </i>focused on the waters of New England and New York. I had originally planned to also include other states, such as NJ and Penn, but will expand to cover a larger area of the Northeastern United States as resources allow. For now, seven states is proving to be keeping me busy.<br />
<br />
So, in summary, NortheastBoater is live, but not nearly complete - there are entire state pages without content yet. After I fill in most of the gaps over the next couple of weeks, look for an announcement that the site is live (you'll see it here, first!)<br />
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In the meantime, please 'like' the new site's facebook page and follow it/me on twitter:<br />
<a href="http://facebook.com/NEBoater">http://facebook.com/NEBoater</a><br />
<a href="http://twitter.com/NEBoater">http://twitter.com/NEBoater</a><br />
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Thanks, and stay tuned!<br />
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Nautical Sites Marine Marketing helps companies in the boating industry make the most of the web</div>Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00849004483204745351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2031510016734012915.post-67934985107780509622012-02-03T11:54:00.001-05:002012-02-03T11:54:09.003-05:00Tools I UseSome of this web stuff gets confusing sometimes. When people ask me what tools I use to do one thing or another with my websites or social media, I am always happy to help. But on the tools that I "set and forget", I am often living proof of why that phrase exists.<br />
<br />
This post is about those tools so that the next time someone asks, I can refer to or share this link...<br />
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For this and many of my other blogs, I usually use <a href="http://www.blogger.com/" target="_blank">Blogger</a>, which is free and is owned by Google. In fact, many of the tools I use to run my business are both <i>free </i>and <i>owned by Google</i>. These include my ad-serving software, analytics tools, email and calendar. While I am comfortable and happy with Blogger, I am also testing out WordPress for a new site that is launching soon, and so far it is great... <a href="http://wordpress.com/" target="_blank">WP</a> is also free, but not currently owned by Google.<br />
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For some of the trickier stuff that I sometimes forget about (when they are working smoothly)...<br />
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When I write a blog post on the <i>Daily Boater</i>, it instantly shows up (title, link and summary) on the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/DailyBoater" target="_blank"><i>Daily Boater</i> <b>Facebook </b>page</a>. This happens thanks to a free app called networkedblogs. (You can get it by viewing one of these posts on Facebook and clicking on the networkedblogs link below the post: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/DailyBoater/posts/308912592489987">http://www.facebook.com/DailyBoater/posts/308912592489987</a>).<br />
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The 2nd thing that happens automatically. That same blog post I mentioned above is also sent to Daily Boater <b>Twitter </b>followers as soon as I post it on my blog. I don't have to log into Twitter as frequently as I used to. This is thanks to <a href="http://twitterfeed.com/" target="_blank">TwitterFeed.com</a>. Free. Non-Google. I haven't looked into it, but this tool could probably replace what I use networkedblogs for, as it looks like it allows me to post to both Twitter and Facebook. I only use it for twitter. On the other hand, Facebook pages have a setting that now makes this service obsolete (on my <a href="http://www.facebook.com/FirstBoat" target="_blank">FirstBoat Facebook page</a>, every post I write directly on Facebook from that page gets automatically tweeted from <a href="http://www.twitter.com/firstboat" target="_blank">@FirstBoat</a> / to do this, go to your Facebook business page, edit your page, and click on resources.)<br />
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This one is big...<br />
The 3rd automatic thing that happens when I write a blog post on the <i>Daily Boater</i> is it gets sent out via <b>RSS</b>. When initially setting this up, I found RSS, which I believe stands for Real Simple Syndication, not so simple. However, with yet another free tool from Google called <a href="http://www.feedburner.com/" target="_blank">Feedburner</a>, my blog posts on <i>Daily Boater</i> are automatically syndicated. This allows the blog post to:<br />
<blockquote>
1. show up on the home page of <a href="http://firstboat.com/">FirstBoat.com</a><br />
2. Get delivered to my RSS subscribers' emails<br />
3. Show up in peoples RSS readers or iGoogle or myYahoo home pages if they "subscribe" to my feed.<br />
4. a bunch of other stuff that I can't think of right now. Which brings me back to my original point in this blog post. I have relied on a lot of great automation tools as I ramp up this growing network of web properties, and when they work well, you don't have to even remember what they all are!</blockquote>
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Okay, now it's back to work using these and other tools... contact me if you have any questions implementing these things or about other solutions I use to run my business. <br />
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Nautical Sites Marine Marketing helps companies in the boating industry make the most of the web</div>Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00849004483204745351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2031510016734012915.post-63610330492777228072012-01-31T12:18:00.001-05:002012-01-31T12:18:20.988-05:00Captain's Quarterly...Has this turned into a quarterly post? I've got to get here more often!<br />
<br />
It's been busy, but I had to tell you about some numbers. They look good on all fronts, but there is one shining star that I want to highlight.<br />
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<a href="http://www.dailyboater.com/" target="_blank">The<i> Daily Boater</i></a>.<br />
<br />
Yes, traffic was up in 2011 over 2010 - I've been writing more, adding more guest bloggers, and getting the word out to more readers. But what really caught my attention is the growth the site has experienced, especially this month.<br />
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<b>January 2012 traffic is up on the Daily Boater by 134% over January of 2011, and unique visitors have increased for the same period by a whopping 167%. </b><br />
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Admittedly, the gross traffic numbers are not huge, but they have been increasing each year since I started the Daily Boater with my first post on the <a href="http://www.dailyboater.com/2006/07/our-rockets-red-glare.html" target="_blank">4th of July, 2006</a>. In fact, 2011 as a whole saw a 119% increase in unique visitors over 2010, and unique visitors increased by 140% for the year. 2010 numbers were higher than 2009, and so on.<br />
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Keep in mind that these numbers do not include the thousands of people that read Daily Boater articles in newsletters that come to their email, or on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/DailyBoater" target="_blank">FaceBook</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/DailyBoater" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, Google+ and LinkedIn. Or the people that read the Daily Boater articles that are syndicated on FirstBoat.com, TakeMeFishing.org or so many other sites that grab our RSS feed and republish with (and sometimes without) our permission.<br />
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Bottom line, if you have products or services to promote to the boating community, you need to be advertising on the <i>Daily Boater</i>. <a href="http://www.nauticalsites.com/contact.shtml" target="_blank">Contact me</a> if you want to get involved. <br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Nautical Sites Marine Marketing helps companies in the boating industry make the most of the web</div>Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00849004483204745351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2031510016734012915.post-85879769208060339872011-11-30T13:28:00.001-05:002011-11-30T13:48:37.089-05:00Holiday Gift Guide 2011<i><b>It's that time of year again! </b></i><br />
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As the publisher of a network of boating sites, I feel it is my duty to suggest a list of gift ideas for boaters. Of course, it is also a chance to highlight products and services from some of the many contributors and partners I work with throughout the year (<a href="http://megayachtnews.com/" target="_blank">MegaYacht News</a>, <a href="http://www.skippertips.com/" target="_blank">SkipperTips</a>, <a href="http://www.victoriaallman.com/" target="_blank">Victoria Allman</a>, etc.). And, in the interest of total transparency, it's an opportunity to promote some of the products I sell on my own sites, especially <a href="http://boatnamegear.com/">BoatNameGear.com</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHlUxfhkEI3iz0nxVSWNasPhcawV-NUxnfnMu51LseoKG71tXcCQDuGkvAoqozej6y_DyAiCr_nnWA2niCtU5eZm2ZnPvKd5pkh6P-KWNnkEy5tJham6xR3fpdcWiQbe_MU6uf1Lu5qZs/s1600/2011-Boating-Gift-Guide.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHlUxfhkEI3iz0nxVSWNasPhcawV-NUxnfnMu51LseoKG71tXcCQDuGkvAoqozej6y_DyAiCr_nnWA2niCtU5eZm2ZnPvKd5pkh6P-KWNnkEy5tJham6xR3fpdcWiQbe_MU6uf1Lu5qZs/s200/2011-Boating-Gift-Guide.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
You may think that the 2nd year of doing something is a little too soon to be calling that thing an "annual", but I am confident the <i>Daily Boater Holiday Gift Guide</i> will be an ongoing tradition. Stay tuned!<br />
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So, without any further b.s., here is the announcement about the <a href="http://www.pitchengine.com/dailyboater/holiday-gift-guide-for-boaters" target="_blank">SECOND ANNUAL Daily Boater Holiday Gift Guide</a> hosted on Pitch Engine (<i><a href="http://www.pitchengine.com/" target="_blank">Pitch Engine</a> is a great service for hosting and sharing professional-looking press releases, BTW</i>); and here is the link to the actual Gift Guide itself on DailyBoater.com: <a href="http://www.dailyboater.com/2011/11/holiday-gift-guide-for-boaters.html">dailyboater.com/2011/11/holiday-gift-guide-for-boaters.html</a> <br />
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If you don't hear from me here again before Christmas, I hope you enjoy the holidays!<br />
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AJC<div class="blogger-post-footer">Nautical Sites Marine Marketing helps companies in the boating industry make the most of the web</div>Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00849004483204745351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2031510016734012915.post-18580093302963712662011-11-04T12:21:00.000-04:002011-11-04T12:22:32.890-04:00Hello NovemberI'm just coming out of 4 full days without power, and my back-up office (Panera Bread on the Berlin Tpke) was shoulder to shoulder with a mix of families and business people getting warm and charging their phones.<br />
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Power has now been restored to both home and office, so back to a higher rate of productivity... and on that front, there is news.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjyg8pHMibcU6DhgfgTic4wTgRwvYIVnflIEWpgv1sVRwHXo4o12tJzIyfjOy8sZ_wam_roX_e12DdIYzVD7m5-sIKedgexIrevVBLCax6-E-ndsJMSo_kb33FcVEaRhcJAtSohPiXljg/s1600/boat-us.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjyg8pHMibcU6DhgfgTic4wTgRwvYIVnflIEWpgv1sVRwHXo4o12tJzIyfjOy8sZ_wam_roX_e12DdIYzVD7m5-sIKedgexIrevVBLCax6-E-ndsJMSo_kb33FcVEaRhcJAtSohPiXljg/s320/boat-us.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<a href="http://www.boatnamegear.com/">BoatNameGear</a><br />
BoatU.S. has once again selected BoatNameGear products as their contest-giveaway for all their members for the month of November and (hopefully) beyond. You can see the BNG logo at the bottom of this page: http://my.boatus.com<br />
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Also in BoatNameGear news, the transition of e-commerce platforms away from Yahoo and over to Volusion is nearly complete. The new back-end will make an easier store for customers to shop in, and should make managing it easier for me. It will also be less expensive, allowing me to pass more savings on to customers.<br />
* <b><i>If you'd like to spend 5 minutes and help me test a couple of things on the new site, please send me an email (andrew@nauticalsites.com). No technical expertise is required.</i></b><br />
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<a href="http://www.dailyboater.com/">Daily Boater</a><br />
In other news, the Nautical Sites network continues to add advertisers. <a href="http://www.dailyboater.com/">Daily Boater (my boating news site)</a> is excited to welcome EdgeWater Power Boats on board. Check their site if you want to help support my business (Just looking at it will help!)<br />
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DailyBoater also is now the proud owner of its own facebook page. Please give it a 'like' when you get a chance - <a href="http://www.facebook.com/DailyBoater">http://www.facebook.com/DailyBoater</a> <br />
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Okay, enough with the requests and updates... there's a lot of work to be done! Thanks to everyone for their encouragement and support! <br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Nautical Sites Marine Marketing helps companies in the boating industry make the most of the web</div>Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00849004483204745351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2031510016734012915.post-74648763597371742962011-10-12T16:31:00.001-04:002011-11-04T12:23:22.344-04:00Industry StuffWent to my first <b>CT Marine Trades Expo</b> yesterday and saw some great presentations. The folks from the <a href="http://www.ctmarinetrades.org/">Connecticut Marine Trades Association</a> did a good job pulling the day together. Some folks from an Internet services company spent a couple of hours convincing the local marine businesses in the room that they should have a website, and that they should use it to increase their sales. I stuck around for a presentation after lunch which included a panel of boat salespeople from around the state sharing some ideas on how to sell boats in these tough economic times. All four of the panelists described ways in which they really went outside the box to get their boats in front of people, including showing their boats in local parades, at malls and airports, and even at non-nautical fairs such as an apple harvest festival!<br />
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The group also stated that they have significantly reduced or completely done away with print advertising; instead they are getting involved in community initiatives, and marketing on the web - placing <a href="http://www.nauticalsites.com/advertise.shtml">ads on boating websites</a> such as those in my nautical sites network. Would this be a good place for a <b><i>shameless plug</i></b>? You bet! <a href="http://www.nauticalsites.com/contact.shtml">Contact me directly</a> if you'd like to advertise on my boating websites. You'll get a tremendous value for your money, and you'll reach the recreational boaters that are most likely to be interested in products and services like yours.<br />
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Readership of the <a href="http://www.dailyboater.com/">Daily Boater</a> has continued to grow, and I've been trying to give more back to our readers. As such I have engaged a new guest author to write a weekly column for the site. Whether you are a novice sailor or have years of experience, you'll enjoy the insights of <b>John Jamieson</b>. Captain John teaches sailing skippers the no-nonsense cruising skills
they need for safer sailing worldwide, and now he shares that experience on DailyBoater.com. Of course, if you want all-Captain-John all the time, sign up for his FREE sailing tips
newsletter at <a href="http://skippertips.com/" target="_blank">http://skippertips.com</a>. You can also become a paying member for instant access to 425+ articles, video tutorials, newsletters, and free eBooks. The articles that Captain John has contributed to the Daily Boater are available for free at the following link: <a href="http://www.dailyboater.com/search/label/Captain%20John">http://www.dailyboater.com/search/label/Captain%20John</a><br />
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On a national note, I have been continuing to try to collaborate with the <b>NMMA</b>, and just this week they placed a link to BoatNameGear.com on their <b>Grow Boating</b> resources site - the website for the organization charged with the task of increasing participation in boating. Here's the link - scroll down to the bottom to see the t-shirt picture and link to BoatNameGear: <a href="http://www.growboating.org/toolkit/promotionalmaterials.aspx">http://www.growboating.org/toolkit/promotionalmaterials.aspx</a><br />
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I also exhibited for the first time at the <b>Newport Boat Show</b> last month with a booth for BoatNameGear. The weather was beautiful, which helped the crowds come out in pre-recession numbers. I am pleased to report that we put a lot of personalized gear into the hands of folks from the northeast, and met a lot of nice people from not only Rhode Island, but also CT, NY, Mass, New Hampshire and New Jersey. People came from everywhere for this show. I was able to snap a few photos from the Newport show which you can <a href="http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150293663426825.333421.276441546824&type=3">check out here</a>.<br />
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I opted not to do the local Norwalk Boat Show the following weekend, and that turned out to be a blessing as the show was practically rained out. Next up: probably Hartford and Boston in 2012.<br />
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Hopefully I'll have some updates before then!<br />
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Nautical Sites Marine Marketing helps companies in the boating industry make the most of the web</div>Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00849004483204745351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2031510016734012915.post-63605621535729205842011-08-30T12:18:00.000-04:002011-08-30T12:18:40.486-04:00One Crazy SummerI haven't posted anything in a while because it truly has been one crazy summer. <br />
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Just this morning the Daily Boater was featured in a British boating newsletter, with a nice write-up about our boating news site: <a href="http://tinyurl.com/1stBoatwow">Boats On TV Newsletter</a>. <br />
<br />
But what really kept me busy this summer was all the exposure that Boat Name Gear has received. The timing couldn't be better, as Boat Name Gear will be exhibiting at the Newport (RI) International Boat Show next month for the first time (if you are going to the show, please let me know via the Boat Name Gear facebook event page: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=235880156440536">http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=235880156440536</a>). <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xS49vRxumgU/TiBwEV6XkbI/AAAAAAAAB14/OlGrZNZcK6E/s288/2011-07-15_12-47-44_682.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xS49vRxumgU/TiBwEV6XkbI/AAAAAAAAB14/OlGrZNZcK6E/s288/2011-07-15_12-47-44_682.jpg" /></a></div>What exposure? The best kind - inexpensive and widespread. One of our endeavors has even helped encourage people to boat! Over the past few months, Boat Name Gear has been one of a handful of top-brand sponsors of a contest being administered by the NMMA. We are in good company with likes of Sperry Top-Siders and BoatU.S. - all offering prizes to encourage people to invite their friends out boating (<a href="http://apps.facebook.com/welcometothewater/">Welcome to the Water Contest</a>). We gave away dozens of t-shirts with the "Welcome to the Water" logo across the back, and each of the winner's boat name embroidered on the front-left chest. Also, Boat Name Gear has been in the Sun Sentinal, the Baltimore Sun, and in <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/07/16/2317458/new-site-goes-fishing-for-business.html">an editorial article in the Miami Herald</a>.<br />
<br />
On top of this, we've been adding a bunch of new products - including <a href="http://www.boatnamegear.com/premium-boat-name-polo.html">environmentally-friendly premium polo shirts</a>, fleece <a href="http://www.boatnamegear.com/boat-name-blanket.html">blankets</a>, and <a href="http://www.boatnamegear.com/totebags.html">sailcloth boat bags</a>.<br />
<br />
The other sites in the Nautical Sites network, including FirstBoat.com, Daily Boater, BoatlinX and the Boat Name Blog, have been adding advertisers such as <a href="http://www.empirecovers.com/boat-covers.aspx">Empire Covers</a>. <br />
<br />
All that, and we survived <a href="http://www.dailyboater.com/2011/08/after-storm.html"><strike>Hurricane</strike> <i>Tropical Storm</i> Irene</a> - only one of our websites was down (FirstBoat.com for a few hours, and yes, we're finding a new web host company), and none of our Internet orders were lost or even delayed. For some pictures of some boats and marinas that were not so lucky, check out our <a href="http://www.dailyboater.com/2011/08/after-storm.html">collection on the Daily Boater</a>.<br />
<br />
There's more, but there are not many more boating days left this year in the northeast. We'll see you soon in <a href="http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=235880156440536">Newport</a>! <div class="blogger-post-footer">Nautical Sites Marine Marketing helps companies in the boating industry make the most of the web</div>Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00849004483204745351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2031510016734012915.post-67865637645271249472011-06-01T16:46:00.000-04:002011-06-01T16:46:44.065-04:00FirstBoat Adds Boating News Show<b>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE</b><i><b> </b></i><br />
<br />
<i><b>Weekly fast-action boating news report to air on FirstBoat.com.</b></i><br />
<br />
Newington, CT – June 2, 2011 – The premier boating information site for new and experienced boaters, FirstBoat.com, today announced that it will make “World on Water” available to its visitors. “World on Water” is a weekly news program produced by Boats on TV covering international sailing and powerboat races and events in a fast-paced and visually stimulating format.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.firstboat.com/TV" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUDs-UzP4S7W8NYb0B6aK6FtMP3ALg1_tWRKNaGJcwgsaHufuJGCGpOpGRROF7t-ezUKqZS9J6WRKwQa8iynsRokcxH9LzJrneEOvdb6SLAgkxSXHkKfOYHP35kiGRvNcs1xHZZGIjhMB-/s1600/WoW-4-15-11.jpg" /></a></div><br />
This is FirstBoat’s first venture into video programming in its ten-plus years of providing helpful information to boaters that has included articles on buying a boat, getting insurance, boat loans and the basics of boat names. FirstBoat founder Andrew Canepari stated, “World on Water complements First Boat perfectly, providing an engaging show that continues to expand our breadth of content beyond the basics of boating”. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.firstboat.com/TV" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLpYJPP6DqkV2ssDngJ50c1tNr8drcNOzsuHqgxUbjv_HsZmn55niDl886ausc7MNRkdwDwkNJ_vreUOwxvGzruV9eYe615iEv_V25alt1iRjxuhvOCczcbCB-PLvSy7tfqeXctYt6THU/s1600/World-On-Water-Ad.gif" /></a></div>Jeremy Baulf, the managing director of Boats on TV's "World on Water", added, “We are excited to partner with a quality site like FirstBoat to give our TV shows significant exposure to boaters in North America.”<br />
<br />
A new episode of World on Water is available for viewing each Friday at: <a href="http://www.firstboat.com/TV">http://www.FirstBoat.com/TV</a><br />
<br />
<b>About FirstBoat.com</b><br />
FirstBoat.com is the flagship site of Nautical Sites Media, which publishes a network of websites that provide information and resources to recreational boaters. To learn more about FirstBoat and other properties in the Nautical Sites network, visit <a href="http://www.nauticalsites.com/">www.NauticalSites.com</a>.<br />
<br />
<b>About Boats on TV</b><br />
Boats on TV, the Web's best Boating TV Channel, is the home of everything to do with water-related activity. It covers all aspects of sailing, racing, cruising, the Volvo Round World Race, TP 52’s, Farr 40’s, 18 Footer Racing, iShares Cup, World Match Racing Tour, Ice Sailing, UK, USA, Australia , Power-boating, Racing and Instruction, P1 Powerboats, Honda Formula 4-Stroke Racing and more. See all this plus historical and special interest videos at <a href="http://www.boatson.tv/">www.boatson.tv</a>.<br />
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Media Contact: Andrew Canepari, (860) 249-1166, andrew@firstboat.com<div class="blogger-post-footer">Nautical Sites Marine Marketing helps companies in the boating industry make the most of the web</div>Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00849004483204745351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2031510016734012915.post-25609569958478782842011-06-01T16:09:00.000-04:002011-06-01T16:09:48.206-04:00Thirty Days LaterSeems like an eternity to go without a blog post. We've gone longer, but a lot has happened over the past month.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.boatnamegear.com/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bUPnaTCVjSI/TOLPlp8MPnI/AAAAAAAABcA/OQXT4qplDJg/s200/boatnamegear-striper.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A custom shirt from <a href="http://www.boatnamegear.com/">BoatNameGear</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>First, we've been flat out busy with our two online stores. Taken as a whole, it's the busiest time of year for the two sites. <a href="http://www.customboatnames.com/">Custom Boat Names</a> is active as people are ordering new boat names for the back of their boat to kick off the season. And <a href="http://www.boatnamegear.com/">Boat Name Gear</a> is hopping for Father's Day... our personalized gear makes great gifts!<br />
<br />
We've also done a boat show recently, again exhibiting as <a href="http://www.boatnamegear.com/">Boat Name Gear</a>; this time, it was in Mystic, Connecticut, at a new show called <b>SailQuest Mystic</b>. The weather was rough, and the crowds were small, but this new event has potential if the organizers keep at it - and the timing (spring, right before Father's Day) and location (on the water at historic Mystic Seaport) are perfect for our business, so I hope it continues. While the sun was out, and without many attendees, I was able to snap <a href="http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150170532406486.302608.30452961485">a few pictures</a> of both the newer boats on display for the boat show as well as the historic boats that are part of the Seaport. Thanks again to the folks at <a href="http://www.windcheckmagazine.com/">WindCheck Magazine</a> for their effort with the show.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150170532406486.302608.30452961485" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="208" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VUXECXPWQgw/TdVJ042ZOgI/AAAAAAAABmQ/P4sEa91pINI/s400/mystic_seaport_river.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The weather was beautiful on the 1st day of the show...</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
On other fronts, we are:<br />
<blockquote> - putting out a press release (in just a few minutes) announcing a partnership that allows us to put some intense video of sailing news on <a href="http://www.firstboat.com/">FirstBoat</a>.<br />
<br />
- sponsoring a huge contest with the NMMA to promote their new Welcome to the Water campaign (Look for details any day now on the NMMA's <a href="http://www.facebook.com/DiscoverBoating">Discover Boating facebook page</a>). BoatNameGear is the sponsor, and is in good company with the likes of <a href="http://www.sperrytopsider.com/">Sperry</a> and <a href="http://www.basspro.com/">Bass Pro Shops</a>. <br />
<br />
- getting close to finally launching a new boating site or two, and continuing to expand our existing sites.<br />
<br />
- seeing a lot of activity on advertising, and we've even closed a few deals, so be sure to visit our sponsors anywhere you see a new banner or text link. Contact me (via email or the contact link to the right) if you want to get in on the action, and by that I mean buy some advertising!<br />
<br />
- now under contract to exhibit (in our BoatNameGear booth) at the <a href="http://www.newportboatshow.com/">Newport (RI) Boat Show</a> in September, 2011. </blockquote><br />
I'm sure there's more, but gotta get back to the press release I promised you.<br />
<br />
Tight lines,<br />
<br />
Andrew<div class="blogger-post-footer">Nautical Sites Marine Marketing helps companies in the boating industry make the most of the web</div>Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00849004483204745351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2031510016734012915.post-8851477631067004052011-04-27T14:36:00.000-04:002011-04-27T14:36:33.016-04:00Thanks for the MentionsLast week, we announced the <a href="http://www.firstboat.com/boatnames2.html">most popular boat names</a> of the year via a <a href="http://nauticalsites.blogspot.com/2011/04/our-most-popular-boat-names-of-2011.html">press release from FirstBoat</a>, and we were pleased to see the top ten list get so much press from other publications around the web. Here are a few of the first that we'd like to thank:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://messingaboutinboats.typepad.com/sailing/2011/04/most-popular-boat-names-of-2011-serenity-now.html">Messing About in Boats</a> <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.boaterlifeonline.com/2011/04/best-boat-names-for-boating-lifestyle.html">Boater Life Online</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.boating-industry.com/output.cfm?id=2741401">Boating Industry Magazine</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://boatsafe.wordpress.com/2011/04/20/the-top-boat-names-are-out/">Boat Safe</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://nasailor.com/2011/04/20/check-out-the-most-popular-boat-names-of-2011/">North American Sailor</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.ribcraftusa.com/blog/2011/04/top_ten_boat_names_of_2011.html">RIBCRAFT USA</a><br />
<br />
If you're planning mentioning <a href="http://www.firstboat.com/">FirstBoat</a> or the top ten boat names in an upcoming article, or if you did and I missed it, please email me. <br />
<br />
It also did not go unnoticed that several of our <a href="http://www.facebook.com/FirstBoat">FaceBook</a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/FirstBoat">Twitter</a> friends shared our list. There were too many to mention all of them, but here are a few folks you should follow if you tweet:<br />
<br />
@<span style="padding-bottom: 1px;"><a class="l" href="http://twitter.com/#%21/marineproducts/status/60435572111585280" style="border-bottom: 0pt none;"><img align="middle" alt="" border="0" height="44" src="http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR_j75ZLp3eEu-29xemXYxwZfCkpjo4QGrSHX37uuVJxltNfQ" style="padding: 1px; vertical-align: middle;" width="44" /></a></span><a class="l" href="http://twitter.com/#%21/marineproducts/status/60435572111585280" style="text-decoration: underline;">marineproducts</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/Perri_Marine/status/60441479172198400">@Perri_Marine </a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/Take_Me_Fishing/status/62531190015533056">@Take_Me_Fishing</a> <br />
<br />
<a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/LouMintzer/status/60417395461857280">@LouMintzer</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/caughtinthewild/status/62535902915862528">@caughtinthewild</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10150157186955899&id=100225840898">Top Notch Marine and RV</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Nautical Sites Marine Marketing helps companies in the boating industry make the most of the web</div>Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00849004483204745351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2031510016734012915.post-80664721723851500402011-04-19T08:11:00.001-04:002011-04-19T08:11:00.160-04:00Our Most Popular Boat Names of 2011<b>(The following press release went out this morning. It was a lot of fun to sift through the thousands and thousands of boat names in coming up with this list. Hope you have as much fun reading it as we did writing it... Enjoy!) </b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Most Popular Boat Names of 2011 </span><br />
<i><b>The top ten most popular boat names of 2011 confirm that boaters are seeking serenity</b></i><br />
<br />
Newington, CT - April 19, 2011 – FirstBoat.com, the premier boating information site for new and experienced boaters, today announced the <a href="http://www.firstboat.com/boatnames2.html">most popular boat names of 2011</a>. A trend seems to have emerged from this year’s list that demonstrates how boaters enjoy their time on the water. “Boat names like Serenity, Happy Ours, Family Time and Just Chillin dominated this year’s top ten,” stated FirstBoat publisher Andrew Canepari. “It is clear from these names, perhaps now more than ever, that boating really provides people with a way to relax and make the most of their time with family and friends,” Canepari added.<br />
<br />
The list is compiled annually by FirstBoat in collaboration with <a href="http://www.customboatnames.com/">www.CustomBoatNames.com</a> - where boaters design their own boat name lettering online, and <a href="http://www.boatnamegear.com/">www.BoatNameGear.com</a> - the leading retailer of personalized gear and gifts for boaters. FirstBoat is also the home of the original <i>Boat Name Machine</i>, featuring over 100,000 randomly generated boat names. The <i>Boat Name Machine</i> and other boat naming resources are available online at <a href="http://www.firstboat.com/">www.FirstBoat.com</a>.<br />
<br />
Following are the top ten most popular boat names for 2011:<br />
<ol><li><b>Serenity </b>(In addition to “Serenity” we saw variations such as “Serenity Now!” of Seinfeld fame, as well as clever misspellings including “Sea-Renity”)</li>
<li><b>Happy Ours</b> (<i>Time </i>was a common theme in boat names this year. Variations on this boat name included “Happy Hours” and “Happy Hour”)</li>
<li><b>Feelin' Nauti</b> (This one surprised us when it rose to the top five, as there are so many other popular boat names that include “Nauti” in the name)</li>
<li><b>Family Time</b> (Another variation of the <i>Time </i>theme that we saw again and again. There were many other boat names that referenced <i>Time </i>that came close to the top ten.)</li>
<li><b>Liberty </b>(Always a favorite, we also saw variations such as Miss Liberty, Lady Liberty, and Liberty Belle)</li>
<li><b>Black Pearl</b> (Every boater feels like a pirate sometimes. Just plain “Pearl” was popular as well, but it didn’t crack our top ten)</li>
<li><b>Andiamo </b>(Let’s Go! A quick internet search will show you that this is not only a popular name for boats, but also for Italian restaurants in America)</li>
<li><b>Knot On Call</b> (Several boat names used the word “Knot” cleverly, but only this one made the top ten)</li>
<li><b>High Maintenance</b> (Yes, this describes most boats very accurately)</li>
<li><b>Just Chillin</b> (Looks like relaxing is on the mind of even the younger generation of boaters)</li>
</ol><b>About FirstBoat.com</b><br />
FirstBoat.com is the flagship site of Nautical Sites Media, which publishes a network of websites that provide information and resources to recreational boaters. To learn more about FirstBoat and other properties in the Nautical Sites network, visit <a href="http://www.nauticalsites.com/">www.NauticalSites.com</a> or call 800-306-8708.<br />
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###<br />
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Media Contact: Andrew Canepari, (860) 249-1166, andrew@firstboat.com<div class="blogger-post-footer">Nautical Sites Marine Marketing helps companies in the boating industry make the most of the web</div>Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00849004483204745351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2031510016734012915.post-68813882476268789882011-03-17T17:22:00.000-04:002011-03-17T17:22:36.971-04:00TakeMeFishing Hotspots MapIt is nice to be in good company with the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation...<br /><br /><a href="http://www.sharethiscontent.net/Actions/social_share_version.cfm?message_id=1269003&user_id=boatfish&recipient_id=22156474&isRecip=1&sms_ss=blogger&at_xt=4d827ad4f41ede12%2C0">State & Industry Partners Clamor for TakeMeFishing.org Hotspots Map</a><br /><br />If you're looking for our TakeMeFishing maps on our sites, check <a href="http://www.firstboat.com/states/">http://www.firstboat.com/states/</a> - A good example is on our <a href="http://www.firstboat.com/states/conn-fish.html">Connecticut boating</a> page.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Nautical Sites Marine Marketing helps companies in the boating industry make the most of the web</div>Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00849004483204745351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2031510016734012915.post-23467081815280087432011-02-07T13:50:00.002-05:002011-02-07T14:55:16.875-05:00Boat Name Gear at the Boat ShowsHad a great time and, more importantly, some success, at the <a href="http://www.dailyboater.com/2011/01/hartford-boat-show-and-more.html" target="_blank">Hartford Boat Show</a> last weekend. Fortunately, Connecticut's wintriest winter ever took a break from the snow for long enough to allow boating enthusiasts from across southern New England to attend the show.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.hartfordboatshow.com/?FirstBoat" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXxwOdY9pZvm8WhHZsNBWl1YK3M4t8wrBA-9tNoeXQhrahn-x4GZSJg6oTGaiGo_iGmCmfq0egVkIx8vHFabDA6bAVMb5gZKQkH8hC3VA8CT6a2Hguq5y3aU6ckKSXnYMP-hZ0bxfSfWI/s320/hbs-logo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Of all the <a href="http://www.nauticalsites.com/properties.shtml">Nautical Sites properties</a>, I have been exhibiting as <a href="http://www.boatnamegear.com/">Boat Name Gear</a> at the shows to offer personalized products to boaters. I did the 2011 Hartford show for the 2nd year in a row in order to get the web store's brand out to local boating families, and we were very well received. The show organizers claim 11,000 people came through the door and that Sunday saw bigger crowds than usual. Everybody I know was home shoveling snow off their roof in preparation of the next big storm. That may have kept the crowds at bay on Saturday... it's hard to know for sure.<br />
<br />
I was pleased to have met several existing Boat Name Gear customers and I even saw a few folks that I remembered from the 2010 show. A few people also came by the booth after seeing <a href="http://www.dailyboater.com/2011/01/hartford-boat-show-and-more.html">my offer on the <i>Daily Boater</i></a> to "mention 'FirstBoat' and get a free hat or t-shirt".<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=268630&id=30452961485" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEsD0gUg40UE2FlQx0w0wzJqp56TuJDDtv9TXKOth2ZISa3WWP1CBH-Gixv_WddpIq16Eoi7zEo8icTw9Pi0mcRXDw5pW7CMxO6UDo6dbsoxse-NAynYG-g6IhC7DNJSZTgUheWdKNGpA/s320/from-BFG.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me in front of my booth. Photo by Randy Kessler of Barnum Financial Group</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Obviously the boats were not as big in Hartford as they were at the <a href="http://nauticalsites.blogspot.com/2011/01/everybody-loves-ny.html">New York Boat Show (review, pics)</a> a couple of weeks ago, but there were some nice Sea Rays on display from <a href="http://www.bassettmarinellc.com/" target="_blank">Bassett Marine</a>, as well as a large assortment of cruisers, cuddy cabins, bow riders and deck boats, fishing boats and the like from marinas and dealers who were mostly from CT, with a few from RI and Mass. <br />
<br />
Here are a few more photos from the show, and there are dozens more on the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=268630&id=30452961485" target="_blank">FirstBoat page on Facebook</a>.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=268630&id=30452961485" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif9gXW0zD0MJSe-4EhWUR770mbW2ra93HwqP1zCS1c2B3byTsy1w4d_975z61Qfmy3E_bsFG7TDIQ9yAgDKyWF3-p42GysV94_fB8r-obS8aOOvpo6RkJQ9oBXYmc76_shz8jdCV9N4-9_/s320/DSC_0157.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The largest (and smallest) watercraft at the show.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=268630&id=30452961485" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXf3prBOJivlsTJ96TCm9ckBgZ-VcaVnUzJJmM7wmXgz8TrB-_1xnyZkBlf_otzTDyVneZEIQ_fFJeeP6kKpdPvVEamldEp7Mhzp4o3KbDXTD4oITU8783qXjthm2Cmphp-FtH_zr_dSI/s320/woodies.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There was sort of a boat show within the boat show.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=268630&id=30452961485" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVJExmEObN2OOtk6UrSQYAkidlSG_xfvDDnFUvFoLLwJHcq9Uk4EvMgkSkzYhyphenhyphenR9EKRz0V3Qeh6VErjRiSf1UK3zanR4IUnWBH8PgJx26oIDmSw4YaPqTm-IZyhbVHP8kz3l7ze08Sui4/s320/rock-and-roll-charters.jpg" width="311" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rock and Roll... Book a fishing trip at rockandrollcharters.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=268630&id=30452961485" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKASAN425rd5WzHmV9W9NMYQijltAVw5suckhbE9ZMy2NGcxIOlvtvJIKiOt6NpZz3JeusOovnAgsa9KduW0kRB1GwccWV1k-osRzjs3TwTxJ1tMv3cex17bbnTxDum-EDdK-vRqsedJg/s320/Larson_and_fishing_boats.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some fish boats and an affordable Larson bowrider from LouisMarine.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=268630&id=30452961485" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0cqKLTvEikMmPaRPVcqHxHkhNhqeau0qSs1fAU6o2M8SM9J39MqgkbfYoZUO62QBmn8TzY4cKpCr3oeK-CUFht5FyXUoFJqyB1KHD1__RXg9lby80_nTJQv48_F1P4OUmWTN0oXbYA9M/s320/BoatNameGear_Families.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One more of my booth - with some people around it this time.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I have a LOT more photos from the show - mostly taken Sunday morning before the doors opened - on the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=268630&id=30452961485" target="_blank">FirstBoat page on Facebook</a>. You don't have to log-in or have a Facebook account to <a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=268630&id=30452961485" target="_blank">check them out</a>, but if you do, please click "Like" on the page.<br />
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Next up for Boat Name Gear in February and March: The <a href="http://www.fishinghuntingexpo.com/?FirstBoat" target="_blank">Northeast Fishing (and hunting) Expo</a> in Hartford, and the big <a href="http://www.newenglandboatshow.com/?FirstBoat" target="_blank">New England Boat Show in Boston</a>. Hope to see you there!<div class="blogger-post-footer">Nautical Sites Marine Marketing helps companies in the boating industry make the most of the web</div>Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00849004483204745351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2031510016734012915.post-49663278830475003342011-01-26T09:11:00.000-05:002011-01-26T09:11:01.329-05:00We're HiringIf you follow this blog, you are probably aware that Nautical Sites Media is a growing network of boating websites. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://firstboat.com/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCPj9fpA_-Nt2RTS6DTbPQJN4IADFpYzg-cbh1NQrz9_sct6bm92E2QdZAJTLBkYCNEkDLcYS321IyFjGRpU5_ShtR1VD_VG88iTSg2sTWtghCF_fDi_cfXk-dsHbvftNp0EEQ8ixGeJo/s200/FirstBoat.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>In this network are a few content websites... <a href="http://firstboat.com/">FirstBoat.com</a>, <a href="http://dailyboater.com/">DailyBoater.com</a>, <a href="http://www.boatnameblog.com/">BoatNameBlog</a> and <a href="http://www.boatlinx.com/">BoatlinX</a> are the bigger ones. More are being launched in 2011. These content websites get a lot of traffic, all of the visitors are boaters, and the sites have advertising space that needs to be sold. That's where you come in.<br />
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By the way, I mentioned those are "content websites" as opposed to e-commerce websites. Our other sites BoatNameGear.com and CustomBoatNames.com are <i>e-commerce websites</i> which are designed to sell products, and do not normally display advertisements. <br />
<br />
Anyway, I am building a team of sales reps around the United States to sell ads on the content sites in our network. This is a great opportunity, as there is no network of boating sites like ours. Advertisers have the chance to reach a broad spectrum of boating enthusiasts, many of whom just bought a boat (and need new stuff!) or are planning to buy a boat within the next 12 months. <br />
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Advertisers are starting to promote their products and services again, and they need to know that placing their ads on our network is a smart way to bring their businesses back to where they once were... and beyond. Speaking of beyond, organizations that advertise with Nautical Sites Media don't just get banner ads thrown around our sties... they also get a partner in us that can help them get their message out across <a href="http://facebook.com/firstboat">Facebook</a>, <a href="http://www.twitter.com/firstboat">Twitter</a> and other social media outlets that they don't have the time or knowledge to do themselves.<br />
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As a Nautical Sites sales representative, you would be an independent agent - working for yourself, making your own hours, working from your home office (or your local Starbucks) and traveling to marine-focused businesses and boat shows. The gig is commission-only, but you will be paid a generous percentage of your sale plus bonuses. You will also have the chance to be in on the ground floor of a fast-growing company in the fun and exciting boating industry. If you already sell ads independently for another publication, consider adding Nautical Sites Media to the options you offer your clients. <br />
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If you are interested, please send your resume to jobs<i> (at) </i>nauticalsites.com.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Nautical Sites Marine Marketing helps companies in the boating industry make the most of the web</div>Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00849004483204745351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2031510016734012915.post-69578807058052986952011-01-25T16:06:00.001-05:002011-01-25T17:06:49.856-05:00On Take Me FishingI was excited to open the email I got this morning from the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation (RBFF) when I saw the subject line: <br />
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<a href="http://www.sharethiscontent.net/Actions/social_share_version.cfm?message_id=1215802&user_id=boatfish&recipient_id=22156474&isRecip=1&sms_ss=blogger&at_xt=4d3f35d83791073e%2C0" target="_blank" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht62yFSAT2n_-dM1tynL-8ksRJMswfmwXly0hokNX0ts3-jqLbujdV6Hc5GNWlbqnM60k7qA4SA0hgWRUnLkSr7Gj9e7-DVnwQMUIstxQ7OnpdC7OmJnfa15Dx-4CPsjIQmBaOD7-hZ-A/s1600/rbff.jpg" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.sharethiscontent.net/Actions/social_share_version.cfm?message_id=1215802&user_id=boatfish&recipient_id=22156474&isRecip=1&sms_ss=blogger&at_xt=4d3f35d83791073e%2C0" target="_blank">TakeMeFishing.org Adds Live News Feed, Expands Coverage of Boating and Fishing</a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Excited over an email? Very. I knew my conversations with the RBFF over the past few months were panning out and that my Daily Boater blog was among the first few news sources the RBFF had selected for a content partner in their new boating and fishing news section of their site. I knew the Daily Boater feed was already live and sending stories to <a href="http://www.takemefishing.org/community/news/home" target="_blank">the TakeMeFishing.org website</a>. Now they were sending out a press release to promote their new news area, and probably mentioning their partners in said press release. <br />
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I was, of course, a little disappointed that they didn't mention the Daily Boater by name in the press release. I guess they couldn't list everybody, and mentioning partners like ESPN and Field and Stream were probably the safe choice. And actually, listing those household brands will bring more people to the article and more people to the news feed, and thus more people to DailyBoater.com. So it's still a big win.<br />
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And of course, I'm very excited to be part of the launch of <a href="http://www.takemefishing.org/community/news/home" target="_blank">this service</a> on TakeMeFishing.org, and hoping that syndication deals like this continue to spread the word about my growing network of nautical sites. <br />
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By the way, the RBFF's press release failed to include the link to the actual news feed page they were announcing, and I had trouble finding it from the TakeMeFishing.org website, so here it is in one click: <a href="http://www.takemefishing.org/community/news/home" target="_blank">http://www.takemefishing.org/community/news/home</a><br />
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I wonder if ESPN and Field and Stream are mentioning this news on any of their sites.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Nautical Sites Marine Marketing helps companies in the boating industry make the most of the web</div>Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00849004483204745351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2031510016734012915.post-21757317023569008702011-01-22T10:20:00.000-05:002011-01-22T10:20:20.563-05:00Everybody Loves NYI stopped by the <b>New York National Boat Show</b> on Thursday to check out the boats, as well as to scout out story ideas, advertising leads and the competition. There are more pics on the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=265491&id=30452961485&ref=mf">FirstBoat Facebook page</a>, but I included a few below, and also a write-up on <a href="http://www.dailyboater.com/2011/01/live-from-new-york-its-boat-show.html">the <i>Daily Boater</i></a>.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_iPNhiUk7cMk/TTrxfKYY0qI/AAAAAAAABIs/g05-a6YtyN8/s1600/silverton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="351" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_iPNhiUk7cMk/TTrxfKYY0qI/AAAAAAAABIs/g05-a6YtyN8/s400/silverton.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Love the classic look of Silverton Yachts</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_iPNhiUk7cMk/TTrxe65kpoI/AAAAAAAABIo/bnDzfTm1tKA/s1600/booth_closed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_iPNhiUk7cMk/TTrxe65kpoI/AAAAAAAABIo/bnDzfTm1tKA/s400/booth_closed.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This seems like bad business. Shouldn't they have at least shown up and talked about their product?</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_iPNhiUk7cMk/TTm53ARvgEI/AAAAAAAABIA/R2NpG2WUG5s/s1600/Deadliest_Catch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="233" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_iPNhiUk7cMk/TTm53ARvgEI/AAAAAAAABIA/R2NpG2WUG5s/s400/Deadliest_Catch.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Deadliest Catch in the house. These guys were a riot. </td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_iPNhiUk7cMk/TTrxeqXzwEI/AAAAAAAABIg/yh2E1xKB_x8/s1600/chaparral.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_iPNhiUk7cMk/TTrxeqXzwEI/AAAAAAAABIg/yh2E1xKB_x8/s400/chaparral.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chaparrals always look sharp.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="blogger-post-footer">Nautical Sites Marine Marketing helps companies in the boating industry make the most of the web</div>Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00849004483204745351noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2031510016734012915.post-31112370676708134312011-01-15T09:08:00.000-05:002011-01-15T09:08:15.125-05:00Providence (and more) Boat Shows<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dailyboater.com/2011/01/scenes-from-boat-show.html" target="_blank" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="362" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_iPNhiUk7cMk/TTGXI3dX8dI/AAAAAAAABGA/Oh3U_ztzbAM/s400/DSC_0034b.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
I attended the Providence Boat Show yesterday (see <a href="http://www.dailyboater.com/2011/01/scenes-from-boat-show.html" target="_blank">my Daily Boater article</a> for a few boat pics) and met lots of great folks. Attendance was not great when I was there (and I heard it was even worse on Thursday), but I was there on Friday afternoon during business hours when people who can afford boats were working at their day jobs; I suspect traffic will pick up over the weekend.<br />
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Hopefully I'll be seeing many of the exhibitors I met again over the next few weeks when I exhibit (for <a href="http://www.BoatNameGear.com">BoatNameGear</a>) at the <a href="http://www.hartfordboatshow.com/?FirstBoat" target="_blank">Hartford Boat Show</a>, the <a href="http://www.fishinghuntingexpo.com/?FirstBoat" target="_blank">Northeast Fishing Expo</a>, and the big <a href="http://www.newenglandboatshow.com/?FirstBoat" target="_blank">New England Boat Show in Boston</a>. <br />
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Not exhibiting, but I'll be doing a similar drop-in at the New York Boat Show next week and will try to bring back some stories and pictures... Stay tuned.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Nautical Sites Marine Marketing helps companies in the boating industry make the most of the web</div>Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00849004483204745351noreply@blogger.com0