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Re: Sales/Marketing/Follow-through
Terry:
Assuming that you are still in the market for some natives, I have some
nice H. formosa I would be willing to sell you or trade for fish from
your area. H. formosa are truly a fish that you want to get a few of,
because you won't have just a few for long. Nice fish to have, no
trouble, eat anything, propagate like crazy. Because of their small
size, quite a few can be shipped in a small package so postage is
relatively inexpensive for these fish.
Sorry that you had a poor experience. Hopefully, the NFC will be able
to do more "missionary" work when we get our programs up and running for
a while and have a good supply of fish to distribute. The Breeder
Program is expected to generate lots of domestically raised fish, so it
would not be unreasonable to expect a Beginner's Special promotion where
someone could get a few fish to try.
I would be willing to trade some H. formosa, along with some nice
Northern Redbelly Dace (another easy species to keep, but not compatible
with the H. formosa as the little livebearers would be a menu item for
the dace) for some Kansas darters or Cardinal shiners, if you could
acquire some. Perhaps a local bait store or local fisherman could be
used as a source if you don't have collecting equipment yourself, like a
minnow seine, etc.
>From owner-nfc at actwin_com Sat Jun 6 05:41:49 1998
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>Date: Sat, 6 Jun 1998 07:41:42 -0500
>To: nfc at actwin_com
>From: Terry Mercer <tmercer at wichita_infi.net>
>Subject: Sales/Marketing/Follow-through
>Sender: owner-nfc at actwin_com
>Reply-To: nfc at actwin_com
>
>This is in response to the Herb Harris email concerning sales...in a
sense....
>
>After some time keeping fancy goldfish and actively participating in
several
>goldfish lists, I was becoming disenchanted with the "trophy" fish
aspect
>of that part of the hobby and the "my dog's bigger than your dog"
mentality
>that makes a $650 Hong Kong import a "better" goldfish than my lovingly
>raised and cared for Wal-Mart treasure.
>
>Inspired in large part by Robert Rice's FAMA article on the Flagfin
Shiner,
>I began looking at native fishes, reading the NANFA web site
extensively,
>and generally thinking about a shift in focus to native species. At the
>same time, I was exploring in the killiefish areas on the web, trying
to
>decide which group I would be most comfortable with - which group of
>hobbyists I could be most comfortable with, and which group of fish
would
>provide the greatest challenge and (intangible) reward.
>
>This is a process not unlike that which most prospective members of NFC
(or
>converts to native fish keeping) might go through, and I offer three
>observations for what they're worth to this group.
>
>1. As it happens, another Wichitan whom I have never met began
exploring on
>the Killie list at the same time I was. When we expressed an interest
in
>beginning to keep killiefish we were both inundated with offers of free
>(except for postage) fish (both eggs and fry). The killie folks are
truly
>"evangelistic" about their hobby, and seem wildly willing to share more
>than advice. The other guy in Wichita chose to go the killie route, and
he
>has already received eggs and fry and has three tanks of killies "up
and
>running." Needless to say, he is a killie convert completely now, and
we
>all know how three tanks leads to four tanks leads to five tanks...etc.
I
>decided to concentrate on native fish (although I realize the two
groups
>are not mutually exclusive), which leads me to point two.
>
>2. I decided to get a "sample" group of what I believed to be one of
the
>more common native fishes (not in my area, but in general): H. formosa.
I
>looked through the NANFA Trading Post and picked out two breeders who
>advertised there. (Unfortunately, I didn't choose Robert Rice because
his
>ad seemed to imply that his fish only went to those with "established
>breeding programs," and I didn't think I qualified - my experience
might
>have been completely different had I chosen to deal with him!). One of
the
>breeders to whom I sent a query ignored my email completely. This
person is
>a "mover and shaker" in the native fish movement, but I don't think
>ignoring potential converts to native fish speaks to his moving and
shaking
>for anything more than his personal aggrandisement. The other person
>responded with an offer of fish for sale, to which I responded
immediately,
>with the check for said fish sent within two days. That was nearly five
>weeks ago and still have NO fish, nor even a subsequent email from this
>gentleman for over four weeks. Initially he said the weather was too
cold
>to ship H. formosa, but that reason seems a bit thin as we suffered
through
>100 degree days last week - perhaps now it is too hot? I cannot believe
>that this gentleman is dishonest - anyone scamming would figure out a
>better way of doing so than selling "vapor" fish! It is difficult to
figure
>out what his game is: do I not qualify somehow for keeping H. formosa?
Does
>he doubt my qualifications (he never asked)? Is my set-up somehow not
>adequate for taking care of these fish (again, he never asked)? I've
asked
>myself a lot of questions like that in the past four weeks, and not
come up
>with any good answers. But you'd be right if you guessed that I wish I
>chosen killies like the other guy in Wichita who woke up this morning
to a
>lively population of killiefish!
>
>3. I am somewhat bewildered by the 12 fish minimum that seems most
popular
>for NFC fish sales. For someone who wants to "test-drive" native fishes
>before plunging off the deep end, 12 fish of a particular species can
be
>frightening. I wrote to Robert Rice awhile ago outlining my experience
with
>White Clouds which I bought to "season" the tank which was waiting (and
>still is) for the H. formosa. I bought only 8 of them, and now I am
>practically run out of house and home with White Clouds! The idea of
buying
>12 of any species gives me nightmares of sleeping in the yard while the
>house fills up with new tanks full of more and more and more fry! Sell
me
>three of something; let me play! As a teacher, I'm sure that play is
the
>real way to learn; time enough for the work when the student is engaged
and
>interested. The same method works with converts to the native fish
>movement: let us play with a smaller number of a species or two; get us
>hooked and we'll be moving out the kids to covert their bedrooms to
fish
>rooms to hold the 12 fish minimums of our new interest!
>
>I'm writing to the gentleman who "sold" me the H. formosa this morning
to
>tell him to forget the whole deal. It's not that I no longer want H.
>formosa, it's just that I no longer care to do business with him! Will
I
>ever get H. formosa? Will I ever get any native fishes? The bigger and
more
>important question is do I care? It does very little good for Robert
Rice
>to convert ten-thousand FAMA (or TFH in the coming year) readers to the
>native fish movement if there is no follow-through. If six months later
>those converts are still watching empty tanks (or tanks full of White
>Clouds!) then 9,999 of them are going to find something else to do with
>their time!
>
>As I say, just my two cents worth. Your mileage may vary. Forgive the
long
>posting.
>
>Terry Mercer
>
>
>
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