Tuesday, January 5, 2021

"Your Eyes Are Bigger Than Your Stomach"

My Grandfather use to have all these cool sayings like that one. As a hungry kid I would load my plate up to the brim only to find my stomach would totally fill up half way through eating it. ( That was an egregious sin by the way. You had to "eat everything on your plate".) In business, I have a similar problem, except 'my mind is bigger than my head'

As each new year begins, I always ponder the business strategy for the coming year. You know, things like how do I get more page views, video hits, customers, social connections etc.. And I'll always come up with what seems like a good plan. Like many plans it invariably gets tangled up in that ever so demanding  world of every day life. It's just amazing how those mundane time consuming chores like cleaning the toilet, sweeping the shop, even just brushing your teeth and such all sum up to way more than you might think.  This means my business is always plagued by the 5 by 10 rule where any project of value will involve five times more effort and take ten times longer than originally thought.  It's true.  

I've been in business since 1988 and on the internet since 1996. Yeeeesh.... Here is the BlueSkyKitchen.com story if you ever care to read it. During that time I have collected a lot of what us website developers call 'content'. Here is a website I put up last year that essentially has a lot of this 'older' content and even format of my earliest websites. 


Let me point out that the content is just as relevant now as it has ever been. There is some good stuff there. Backyard Camping is a great way to get preflighted for any coming camping season. My Arizona Flash Flood story is a cautionary tale all campers should know and consider. And I have even been working on some newer pages like "I HATE Camping!" ( There are people that actually say that and mean it. )

This year will no doubt bring some more content along those lines, more Youtube videos especially of the 'how to' variety and maybe even a newsletter every month? Naaaah that's always the lowest priority. ( It is still part of the plan, though. :)  

Nonetheless, one part of my business plan will always happen. It's the "go camping a lot part". Wonder why that is? ;-) Well, at least we get to experience the videos I take from all that camping. And ten years from now I am really going to be glad I took those pictures. 

The 2021 Calendar/Planner video is pretty cool if I do say so myself. 

Go Camping! 

Monday, January 4, 2021

The Secret to Happiness - Less News, More Camping!

So begins another year. Seems to me it's started off pretty much as they always do. Resolutions, hopes, expectations and dreams abound. That is as it should be. So let me offer up my normal routine and help you plan out your camping year with our 2021 calendar/planner. Here's the promotional video: 


And here is a link the PDF:

2021 Calendar/Planner Link

It should open in a new window. ( Be sure you SAVE IT before you close it. )

As far as making this a better year.....well my plan is to turn the TV off and Go Camping!


Uncle!

For the younger among us ‘uncle’, means ‘I give up’.  In January I decided to pull the plug on the manufacturing side of my business. Joe Bi...