SLC or Bust Day 1 reflections

On October 1st we pulled out of Los Lunas headed towards Salt Lake City. Our plan was to stop in Green River for the night then go on from there. As always Philip forgets 20,000 things so we didn't get out of Los Lunas until about 12:30pm. Oh well half an hour late is not so bad.

US Highway 6 from Los Lunas to Interstate 40 is only 2 lanes but is a fairly nice road. Set your speed at about 60mph and you really don't have much breaking to do. The drive along I-40 to Gallup was very uneventful and even the construction wasn't too bad. The contrast as you go along I-40 in New Mexico is awe inspiring. We stoped at the McDonalds in Gallup for a quick pit stop and a bite to eat while we where on the road.

From Gallup to Shiprock is quite the adventures route. The construction (re-paving) has the road pretty tore up north of Tohatchi. I'd use lots of caution! Again you will run into construction as they are adding more lanes south of Shiprock. I wish they would do this ALL the way to Gallup! The second set of construction isn't quite as bad though you must be careful for trucks coming on to the highway.

Shiprock became quite an adventure. I had heard that it was the fastest growing city on the Navajo reservation and one of the 5 fastest growing in New Mexico. Forty minutes in traffic waiting to turn to Cortez, I beleive it! Shiprock is a lot different than when I lived there as a kid or Philip played football there 20 some years ago.

Once we got out of Shiprock it was a pretty clean shot to Cortez for our first fuel break. We decided on stoping at the Maverick station that is on the north end of town on the highway. While it was jam packed we where in and out pretty easy. There where a few stations in town that where cheaper but only a penny or so. Cortez is a nice place to stop off if you need to and the gateway to Mesa Verde ruins and a lot of other cool places.

The road between Cortez and Green River is a very intresting drive. From the furtile farm fields around Montecellio, Utah to the high desert and archways between Montecellio and Moab, it assures you there must be a higher power. Out of Moab you start into what I think is one of the ugliest deserts in North America. Now I'm not talking the Canyonlands or Arches parks. Just the desert along the highway. I'll write more on Moab in another article.

We finally pulled into Green River just before 8pm at night. Like the poor folk we are we had decided to stay at the Rodeway Inn. Don't! Simple enough, the room was old and decrepate, smelled and was filthy! Sure other than that it had a roof over our head. We ate at the West Winds Restraunt next door the food was edible and that's about it. Though Philip is having issues with them because they mischarged his credit card almost $8.00. I'd stick with somewhere else to eat!

I'll cover Day two in a few hours. Hope you all had a great weekend!

Pollie Williams

It's all part of the game

Marketing, it is all just part of the game. When you look around it's important to look at people who have been successful in your business. For 2007 the New Mexico Department of Agriculture voted the New Mexico Pecan Company its top marketing company. Read the official release below:

New Mexico Pecan Company of Mesilla, New Mexico, is being honored as Marketer of the Year for 2007 by New Mexico Department of Agriculture (NMDA).

New Mexico Pecan Company began operations in 1990 as an extension of Frank Salopek Farms to market shelled and flavored pecans from a retail perspective. The sales of the value-added pecans created new opportunities for New Mexico Pecan Company to expand their marketing objectives by attending trade shows both domestically and internationally. It was at these trade shows, meeting with foreign buyers, where New Mexico Pecan Company developed an innovative approach to sell in-shell pecans to the Chinese market. After lengthy negotiations with several Chinese companies, New Mexico Pecan Company sold their entire production to China, making this the largest documented sale of New Mexico pecans to China. The success of this initial sale opened the door for other New Mexico producers to explore this exciting market with confidence and long-term commitments.

“The Marketer of the Year recipients must demonstrate creative and innovative marketing with success in the market place. New Mexico Pecan Company has established national recognition for shelled and flavored pecans and expanded its market share throughout the region,” says I. Miley Gonzalez, New Mexico secretary of agriculture.

So what does this have to do with rodeo? Well do you want to make money at it or just piddle at the sport? How many people with talent and ability who tried to travel never made the big show because they ran out of money? How many who where slightly above average made enough to keep going because their sponsors helped them out just enough? Trust me if you talk to some of the greatest to ride they'll have stories about the guys who were very good and they still don't know why they never got that Gold Buckle!

Ok, ok so your half sold on the idea of marketing yourself, your breeding program or your event, but now what?
1) Simple, do a little studying! Go out and see who's being successful ask them questions, see what's working. Then check out the things you don't think you'd do and try to figure out why their doing whatever it is like that? Sometimes things seem silly, stupid or just plain wrong but that doesn't mean it is.
2) Next go out and develop a plan to be successful, ya ever gotten in a car driven someplace you've never been before and did it all on time without a map or asking questions?
3) Next get confidence in yourself, when you present yourself and your plan to others you need to have confidence that you’re selling a million dollar package! Heck when it comes to selling yourself you'd better get use to it because that's what the fans and sponsors want! Yes you will sometimes feel like that stereotypical used car salesman, guess what you are! Now get out their and talk to EVERYONE about sponsoring you. Don't think anyone is too small or too big, too local or too unrodeo. Money is money and advertising is advertising. Let's take a look at the recent sale of the PBR to Spire Capital. Where in the world do you think Spire Capital would have gotten the idea to buy the PBR? Is it a western company, maybe western New York City!
4) Now when you go to ask for the sponsorships, partnerships or any other ships, take care to how you approach them.
a. Are your clothes cleaned and pressed?
b. Are you in appropriate rodeo attire?
c. Hat cleaned? Boots Shined?
d. Do you have your plan neatly typed and double checked for spelling errors, do you show them in the plan how they will benefit from handing you a check or two?
e. Do you have your sales pitched practiced? Just like riding a bull, practice makes perfect!
So sure there is a lot to this marketing gag, but there are lots of benefits to it if you'll spend the time!