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WHY ARE YOU STILL MARKETING TO POOR PEOPLE? (Our Industry’s Missing Market Segment)

Have you ever sat down to a big round table with a bunch of industry folks, and the conversation just didn’t quite get off the ground? I had dinner some time ago with a good client, but with a bunch of key people I didn’t yet know very well. When the conversation stalled, I got out my conversational secret weapon: “So what hobbies and enthusiasms do y’all have outside of shooting?” When I ask this old standby question, I learn just how diverse we are. The responses ranged from outdoor garden model railroad layouts with vintage German locomotives, to  [...]

By Ben Langlotz | February 19, 2025 | Business, Firearms Industry Advice, Marketing | 0 Comments Read More »

HOW TO GET YOUR CUSTOMERS TO PAY YOU TO SELL TO THEM

My favorite conversation starter at a dinner table with a client and their key employees (who are usually sick of talking to each other about work) is: “So, what do you like to do outside of the gun world?”  These folks who’ve worked together for years sometimes end up learning interesting new things about each other, and I’m invariably reminded about just how interesting the people in our industry are.  I have a special soft spot for the “geek” who acquires extraordinary expertise on one narrow area (as half the industry including me did with guns before  [...]

By Ben Langlotz | January 26, 2025 | Business, Marketing | 0 Comments Read More »

TAKING THE TESLA TEST (AGAIN)

This isn’t an ordinary rerun.  It’s a TIME CAPSULE.  Five years is an eternity when looking at a company like Tesla, especially as I was merely a curious observer then, and am now an enthusiastic multiple owner and shareholder. For reasons I suspect those in our conservative community are comfortable with now that Elon helped Trump get elected.  I’ll try to leave the time capsule as it is, but offer some context in italics we go, now that these are out on the road for a year… How did you react when you first saw this truck?  On social media, especially  [...]

By Ben Langlotz | December 30, 2024 | Business, Marketing, Opinion Pieces | 0 Comments Read More »

THE GOLDEN AGE

How to Get Ahead of the Rest at the Dawn of the Trump/Musk Era Can you feel it?  Since the election things are VERY different.  Overnight, things have changed profoundly.  Most people, even most business owners are slow to act on these changes.  Everyone feels it, but most wait until they get proof with their own eyes, and end up missing out on the best opportunities. A friend is a Dallas property developer, and days after the election I was ready to tell him what I’m telling you.  With uncharacteristic restraint, I simply asked him how things feel since the  [...]

By Ben Langlotz | December 30, 2024 | Business, Firearms Industry Advice, Opinion Pieces | 0 Comments Read More »

HOW A “LIFEBOAT” KEEPS YOUR PATENT RIGHTS AFLOAT

Sometimes a topic is important enough to revisit after a few years.  This one reexamines the frequent question of how to “extend” a provisional patent application beyond its natural 12-month life. My readers all know that the smart start for a small inventor or a new company with an invention to protect is a Provisional patent application. For a low flat fee of $1500, and with my personal guidance, templates and coaching, we earn First-to-File “Patent Pending” status by filing an inventor-created document that I review and verify can provide a foundation for  [...]

By Ben Langlotz | September 11, 2024 | Firearms | 0 Comments Read More »

STOP THE WORRYING!

A typical marketing consultant would tell me I’m crazy to reveal the secrets in this month’s newsletter, but I have to be honest with my readers:  Y’all worry too much*. *Yes, you might have detected a change in my language since our relocation to Texas now more than 10 years ago.  DFW is now our home port. The classic marketers say that the two greatest motivators are FEAR and GREED.  Looking at today’s ads, SEX might seem to be another biggie, but when it comes down to it there’s either the fear of not having it (Charles Atlas ads with sand kicked in  [...]

By Ben Langlotz | August 8, 2024 | Business, Intellectual Property Advice, Opinion Pieces, Patent | 0 Comments Read More »