Newsletter For The Fishing Indus

Newsletter For The Fishing Industry

July 2004

Marketing information, business tips, and news for Fishing Charters and Guides.

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In This Issue

Marketing Tips
    Driving More Traffic to Your Web Site
Additional Revenue From Your Web Site
    Affiliate Programs
News
    Fishy Tax Evasion
    MAN On Charter Fishing Boat Gets Bitten By Barracuda
    Protecting the Great Lakes
    'Kids Can Fish Free Week' is Aug. 9-13
Picture of the Month

Special Offers
    List your fishing charter for free
    10% off Web Site Design
    Web Site Hosting
Services Available at Find the Fish
Contact Information

Marketing Tips - Driving More Traffic to Your Web Site

It is not enough to have a web site. Somehow you must drive traffic to it in order for it to be more than just a way to get email. While much of the emphasis in the past has been to get your web site to the top of the search engines, that can be very difficult, expensive, and can take a long time. Also you have to work at it on a regular basis. There is a much easier method of getting qualified traffic to your web site that is very cost effective.

Many search engines have programs that allow you to appear at the top of the searches for your keywords. These services charge for each person that clicks through your listing and goes to your web site. That means if someone is searching for "walleye fishing

charter Lake Erie" and you have those key words, your listing will appear at or near the top of the search results. If they click on your listing, you will pay a very small fee. It can be as low as $.10 a click and more for keywords that have higher bid amounts.

Many fishing charters have learned that they can drive a large amount of qualified traffic to their web sites with little expense. This can be the most effective way to generate new customers and increase your number of trips booked.

This is something that is not difficult to setup. For more information on these programs visit Google's Adwords at https://adwords.google.com/select/ or Overture's (Yahoo, MSN, Alta Vista, etc) http://www.content.overture.com/d/USm/ays/bjump/?o=U5273&b=U5273&AID=10280699&PID=1256264#su (click on self-serve to sign up)

This is something that you can do yourself, but if you would like help setting up an click-thru plan, we offer Adword management services. We can assist you in determining the best keywords for your business and setup an account with Google, Overture or both. In most cases, your sponsored links will begin appearing within the hour.

Additional Revenue From Your Web Site - Affiliate Programs

Depending on your traffic levels, you may be able to generate revenue from your web site by taking advantage of affiliate programs. These programs are simple to setup and once in place require little or no action on your part. You place a banner or text ad on your web site. When a visitor clicks on the ad, it takes them to the affiliate web site. If they make a purchase there, you will receive a percentage of the sale. Unless you have a tremendous amount of traffic, you are not going to get rich, however it can be a nice way to earn some extra cash from your web site.

For more information on affiliate programs check out http://findthefish.com/affliliates.htm

News - Fishy Tax Evasion

A Thunder Bay man who claimed losses on a charter fishing business that didn't exist, has pleaded guilty to tax evasion.

The Canada Revenue Agency says the business referred to as South Bay Charters was actually a camp on an island in Lake Nipigon. According to the government, William Lucas had estimated the value of his 168 square foot chipboard cabin, shed and outhouse at $85,000. He claimed depreciation expenses of about $33,000.

However the Canada Revenue Agency placed the actual market value of the property at around $12,000. Lucas was fined $6,000, representing 100% of the tax that was evaded. He must also pay civil re-assessments of $23,000 including penalties and interest.

News - MAN On Charter Fishing Boat Gets Bitten By Barracuda

TYBEE ISLAND, Ga. -- A man fishing off the Georgia coast has discovered that when the fish are biting, it can really hurt.

A 30-pound barracuda jumped into his boat and bit him.

The Coast Guard says the 65-year-old man was aboard a charter fishing boat about three miles off Tybee Island on Wednesday when the incident occurred.

The boat owner said the fish wasn't hooked or anything -- it just leaped about 30 feet from the water to the boat. She said the barracuda was "sailing like he had wings."

The man was treated at a hospital for a serious cut on his finger.

News - Protecting the Great Lakes

Because the nearest of them is about four hours away, the Great Lakes generally don't attract a lot of attention in Greater Cincinnati.

But the Great Lakes protection plan unveiled this week by Ohio Gov. Bob Taft and other Midwestern governors bears note -- and applause -- even down here along the Ohio River. The proposal would not only strengthen environmental protections, but more importantly would help maintain one of the Midwest's greatest competitive advantages: a reliable water supply.

For more on this story - http://www.cincypost.com/2004/07/21/edita07-21-2004.html

News - 'Kids Can Fish Free Week' is Aug. 9-13

Kids Can Fish Free Week, sponsored by the Lake Erie Charter Boat Association, is Monday, Aug. 9 through Friday, Aug. 13 and kids can fish free on selected Lake Erie fishing charters in the Port Clinton area as part of a program, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife.

During Kids Fish Free week, adults booking a charter through the boat association hotline, 1-800-932-9116, can bring one young person age 17 or under at no charge for each paying adult. Charter reservations must be made by Aug. 8 to participate in the event.

"The initiative shown by the Lake Erie Charter Boat Association to encourage youth fishing is commendable," said Steven A. Gray, chief of the ODNR Division of Wildlife. "Lake Erie is Ohio's best fishery and is among the top fisheries in the nation. Anglers of all ages enjoy the abundance and variety of fish they can catch in Lake Erie."

For more on this story - http://www.portclintonnewsherald.com/news/stories/20040720/localnews/882407.html

Picture of the Month

While fishing in northern New York, Celeste Brownell made this catch. It actually pursued the bobber through the water and up the bank.

Celestes' mother is known as FisherMOM and writes fishing articles for numerous fishing web sites including Find the Fish.

Read FisherMOM's articles at http://www.findthefish.com/writers/fishermom/fishermom-about.htm

Special Offer - List Your Charter For Free

We have a very active advertising campaign to drive traffic to our Fishing Charter & Guide Listings. You can take advantage of this traffic by adding your charter to our listings for FREE. Your free listing will include your business name, your name, address, phone number, and a description up to 25 words.

For $9.95 per year you can add your email address and a link to your web site by signing up for our Premium Listing.

To gain the most impact, sign up for a Featured Listing and appear in the top section of your state's listing and include a picture or a moving gif with several pictures. This is by far the best value and is only $19.95 per year. The traffic to our Fishing Charter & Guide Listing is very good and we are increasing our advertising to make it even better. Our costs are much lower than most similar sites and very few of them advertise to increase the traffic like we do. $19.95 a year is a great bargain.

Click here to see sample listings and to sign up for this service.
http://findthefish.com/chartersign.htm

Special Offer - 10% Off Web Design

We have designed web sites since 1995 and specialize in fishing and outdoor sites. Our designs are proven to be effective in increasing bookings and charters. Unless you have more business than you can handle, you are missing out by not having a properly designed Web Site. If you are not regularly booking trips from your site, you should consider upgrading your web site. We have had great success at increasing the number of charters for our customers. Take a look at some comments from our customers-http://findthefish.com/testimonials.htm . For less than the cost of an average charter, you can have a new web site that can be a very effective marketing tool that will help you book more charters.

Our web site designs start as low as $250 for a professionally designed site full of features. If you mention this newsletter, you will receive a 10% discount on your web site design.

Read more about our web design services - http://www.findthefish.com/webdesign/websitedesign.htm

See some samples of our work - http://www.findthefish.com/webdesign/websitegallery.htm

Before and after pictures - http://www.findthefish.com/webdesign/beforeafter.htm

Special Offer - Web Hosting Low as $8.33 per month

We also offer web hosting. Our hosting rates start at $8.33 a month and are full of features. If you are not computer literate, we can build your web site, host it, and do all of the maintenance for a surprisingly low rate. Plus, you will love our very personal level of service.

Services Available at Find the Fish

We are working hard to make Find the Fish a treasure trove of information for fishermen and the fishing industry. We add to the site on almost a daily basis. Come back often and see all the new information and services. Services and information that are currently available include:
Fishing Charter and Guide Listing Fishing Articles Talk Forum Fishing Polls Fishing Videos Fishing Jokes Weather Reports Tide Tables Moon Phases	Charter & Guide Business Marketing Links to State Fish & Game Departments Fishing Reports Email Accounts Web Site Design Web Site Hosting Fishing Business Resources Fishing Related News Many fishing related links
and much more.... As we said, we add more all the time. Come join us at Find the Fish - http://findthefish.com

Online Version of This Newsletter is Available

There is an online version of this newsletter. To view it online - http://findthefish.com/newsletter/0704.htm

Contact Information

Find the Fish
http://findthefish.com
9105 Affirmed Lane
Ste 202
Boca Raton, FL 33496

Email: fun@findthefish.com