Dogs Ahoy

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.

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 portion of all profits 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...

DogsAhoy.com offers a mix of personalized and fun products for dogs and dog lovers

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.

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.

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 

About DogsAhoy.com
DogsAhoy.com is the premier online source for fun and safe products for dog lovers. To learn more about DogsAhoy, visit www.DogsAhoy.com or call 978-751-DOGS (3647).

3rd Annual Holiday Gift Guide for Boaters

This week, for the third year in a row, I published a holiday gift guide on the Daily Boater. 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.

Once again, the gift guide includes products from trusted partners, such as a little cookbook filled with 800 (count 'em!) practical recipes: The Boat Galley Cookbook. 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.

Of course, no self respecting boating gift guide is complete without personalized boating gift suggestions, 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 Personalized Nautical Gifts section of the Gift Guide, and you'll find a mix of personalized and non-personalized boat-wear ideas in the Boating Apparel area.

Enjoy the 2012 Holiday Gift Guide for Boaters at DailyBoater.com.

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 contact me.

Your Quarterly Update

Quarterly 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...

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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!

Multiple Mentions Of Nautical Sites

It's been a good week when it comes to PR for Nautical Sites.

Monterey Boats put out a blog post yesterday that mentioned several of my websites, and included links, in an article about boat names: The Name Game

And on Monday, BoatUS announced their BoatUS Angler “Catch of the Month” photo contest, which has four major sponsors - one of which is BoatNameGear.com!

The latter news has already been mentioned in a few publications across the country - including the Paramus Post, the Bladen Journal,  and Captain Ken Kreisler’s Boat and Yacht Report (THANKS TO ALL FOR INCLUDING THE BOATNAMEGEAR LINK) - and I suspect more will follow.

Here's the full release from BoatUS...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Contact: D. Scott Croft, 703-461-2864, SCroft@BoatUS.com

Take Your Camera on Your Next Fishing Trip and You Could Win Big

BoatUS: Contestant Callie Shumway of Bellefonte, PA

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 www.BoatUS.com/angler/contest, which kicked off this week and runs monthly through October 31.

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. In addition, winning photos will appear in BoatUS Angler Magazine and Tacklebox monthly fishing e-newsletter. 

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 The Fish Mount Store, and a $50 gift certificate from BoatNameGear.

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 www.BoatUSAngler.com for more. Anglers can also check out all of the photos submitted at:
 www.BoatUS.com/angler/contest

About the sponsors:

BoatNameGear 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. 

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Holiday Gift Guide 2011

It's that time of year again!

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 (MegaYacht News, SkipperTips, Victoria Allman, 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 BoatNameGear.com.

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 Daily Boater Holiday Gift Guide will be an ongoing tradition. Stay tuned!

So, without any further b.s., here is the announcement about the SECOND ANNUAL Daily Boater Holiday Gift Guide hosted on Pitch Engine (Pitch Engine is a great service for hosting and sharing professional-looking press releases, BTW); and here is the link to the actual Gift Guide itself on DailyBoater.com: dailyboater.com/2011/11/holiday-gift-guide-for-boaters.html 

If you don't hear from me here again before Christmas, I hope you enjoy the holidays!

AJC

FirstBoat Adds Boating News Show

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Weekly fast-action boating news report to air on FirstBoat.com.

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.

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”.

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.”

A new episode of World on Water is available for viewing each Friday at: http://www.FirstBoat.com/TV

About FirstBoat.com
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 www.NauticalSites.com.

About Boats on TV
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 www.boatson.tv.

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Media Contact: Andrew Canepari, (860) 249-1166, andrew@firstboat.com

Thirty Days Later

Seems like an eternity to go without a blog post.  We've gone longer, but a lot has happened over the past month.

A custom shirt from BoatNameGear

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. Custom Boat Names is active as people are ordering new boat names for the back of their boat to kick off the season. And Boat Name Gear is hopping for Father's Day... our personalized gear makes great gifts!

We've also done a boat show recently, again exhibiting as Boat Name Gear; this time, it was in Mystic, Connecticut, at a new show called SailQuest Mystic.  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 few pictures 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 WindCheck Magazine for their effort with the show.

The weather was beautiful on the 1st day of the show...

On other fronts, we are:

 - 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 FirstBoat.

 - 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 Discover Boating facebook page). BoatNameGear is the sponsor, and is in good company with the likes of Sperry and Bass Pro Shops.

 - getting close to finally launching a new boating site or two, and continuing to expand our existing sites.

 - 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!

 - now under contract to exhibit (in our BoatNameGear booth) at the Newport (RI) Boat Show in September, 2011.

I'm sure there's more, but gotta get back to the press release I promised you.

Tight lines,

Andrew

Thanks for the Mentions

Last week, we announced the most popular boat names of the year via a press release from FirstBoat, 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:

Messing About in Boats

Boater Life Online

Boating Industry Magazine

Boat Safe

North American Sailor

RIBCRAFT USA

If you're planning mentioning FirstBoat or the top ten boat names in an upcoming article, or if you did and I missed it, please email me.

It also did not go unnoticed that several of our FaceBook and Twitter 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:

@‎marineproducts

@Perri_Marine 

@Take_Me_Fishing

@LouMintzer

@caughtinthewild

Top Notch Marine and RV

Our Most Popular Boat Names of 2011

(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!)

Most Popular Boat Names of 2011
The top ten most popular boat names of 2011 confirm that boaters are seeking serenity

Newington, CT - April 19, 2011 – FirstBoat.com, the premier boating information site for new and experienced boaters, today announced the most popular boat names of 2011. 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.

The list is compiled annually by FirstBoat in collaboration with www.CustomBoatNames.com - where boaters design their own boat name lettering online, and www.BoatNameGear.com - the leading retailer of personalized gear and gifts for boaters. FirstBoat is also the home of the original Boat Name Machine, featuring over 100,000 randomly generated boat names. The Boat Name Machine and other boat naming resources are available online at www.FirstBoat.com.

Following are the top ten most popular boat names for 2011:

1. Serenity (In addition to “Serenity” we saw variations such as “Serenity Now!” of Seinfeld fame, as well as clever misspellings including “Sea-Renity”)
2. Happy Ours (Time was a common theme in boat names this year. Variations on this boat name included “Happy Hours” and “Happy Hour”)
3. Feelin' Nauti (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)
4. Family Time (Another variation of the Time theme that we saw again and again. There were many other boat names that referenced Time that came close to the top ten.)
5. Liberty (Always a favorite, we also saw variations such as Miss Liberty, Lady Liberty, and Liberty Belle)
6. Black Pearl (Every boater feels like a pirate sometimes. Just plain “Pearl” was popular as well, but it didn’t crack our top ten)
7. Andiamo (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)
8. Knot On Call (Several boat names used the word “Knot” cleverly, but only this one made the top ten)
9. High Maintenance (Yes, this describes most boats very accurately)
10. Just Chillin (Looks like relaxing is on the mind of even the younger generation of boaters)

About FirstBoat.com
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 www.NauticalSites.com or call 800-306-8708.

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Media Contact: Andrew Canepari, (860) 249-1166, andrew@firstboat.com