Dave Guettler: Living the life? Tell your customers.

Dave Guettler owns River City Bicycles in Portland, OR. He wrote the guest editorial in the current issue of Bicycle Retailer magazine. The title of the piece is How to Succeed in the Industry: In Short, Lead the Life. Here's a choice quote:

"Don't turn into the kind of person who spends more time on the golf course than on the bike seat - otherwise get into the golf business"

I couldn't agree with him more...just look at how effective it has been for Clif Bar. They've spent millions to brand their founder Gary Erickson.

So...if you do "lead the life", wouldn't it be great to let your customers and prospects know? Of course it would. But how can you do that without it feeling like a blatant marketing ploy or spending millions? The answer is to start a blog. So far I don't know of any executives (or staff for that matter) in the bike industry who are blogging and they're missing a golden opportunity to connect their brand with their customers.

Cheers to Masi's brand manager for his "Masi Guy" blog. Even though it's a bit mushy and all-Masi-all-the-time, at least he's doing it. Now, who else is game?