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“Couple sells all possessions for sailboat, sinks 2 days into trip.” This is the headline in a recent Fox News article about a young Colorado couple who sold all of their possesions to buy a boat and sail around the world. 

The couple, age 24 and 26 said they were, “tired of working,” and dreamed of a life sailing around the world.

“How can we live our lives when we’re working most of the day and you have to pay so much just to live?” 24 Year old Nikki Walsh told the New York Times. 

So, apparently their solution was to sell all their furniture, their SUV and purchase a 49-year-old boat in Alabama to live on and sail the world. 

“We were pretty prepared,” Walsh said, but the boat capsized in a channel of water called John’s Pass. She and her boyfriend, who previously drove for Uber, did later admit they were “new” to sailing. 

But, wait. There’s more. The couple has set up a Go Fund Me account to help them rescue their boat and keep the ‘sailing the world’ dream alive. Tired of working at age 24? You serious, Clark? <Insert hand slapping me in the face emoji here.>

“You only have one life. Why spend it doing what you don’t love. Money isn’t everything!” Walsh told the Post.

Is this pathetic or what? Money is what makes the makes the world go around, it’s what shapes our economy, our country, our security, and our quality of life. And the only people I’ve ever heard spew that money doesn’t matter crap are people who don’t have any. 

If money isn’t so important then why start the Go Fund Me?

And money moves based on principle. You can’t trick it, and this poor couple is going to learn that the hard way. 

Think about your used inventory. The market, supply and demand, are what dictates the true value of what a unit will bring.  And it can’t be deceived, regardless of what some book or website says it’s worth. I know, because I’ve tried it many times. I can’t tell you how many hundreds of thousands of dollars I’ve written off in obsolete inventory, over allowing for trades, over paying at auctions, etc. I’ve made many stupid mistakes trying to trick the movement of money in business. 

That’s the problem with get-rich-quick schemes, 4-hour work weeks, and silver bullet marketing magic jargon. It’s all attempting to out smart money, and money can’t be out smarted. You must devise a plan, execute that plan, and work to earn it, a concept this young couple has yet to grasp. 

Sadly, this world is full of mis-informed, mis-guided, do-gooders who think giving these folks money is a good idea, which is evident by the over $16,000 that has been donated to their Go Fund Me, exceeding their $10,000 goal! You can’t make this stuff up. 

While that may seem to be a solution to this couple’s challenges, it’s going take a lot more than that to buy a boat and sail the world. It will only undermine the ultimate life lessons about work, money, dignity, discipline, and fulfillment that all successful high achievers learn. Similar to how procrastination and indulgence are just creditors who charge you interest. 

Here at PSM we speak with hundreds of dealers a week, which means we run across many who have no clue of the principles of marketing and/or are trying to outsmart or trick them. Many times, dealers hire young in-experienced marketing managers, or appoint office managers to handle tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars in marketing decisions, who are no more qualified to do so than are those two Coloradoans are to sail the world. If you’re reading this, you’re likely not one of them, or won’t be for long. Good for you.

Right Message, Right Market, Right Media, Right Time, are the guiding principles that we have focused on in this newsletter for the last 100 plus issues. It’s also, the foundation behind all of the products we’ve created over the years. And if we can’t quantify its performance with real metrics, we don’t touch it. We don’t do it because it “feels good.” We do it because our metrics say that it works, and we should do more of it.

That’s one of the many reasons I’m so excited about our Firestorm email system. Not only is it architected with our guiding principles in mind, it’s the only email software built from the ground up specifically for this industry that allows you to send kick ass emails fast, without needing to be a graphics wizard. The data says it’s consistently one of the top three sources of website traffic for our clients often accounting for more than 1/3 of all total website traffic. That’s huge! But, that’s not the only thing that makes our system unique. We’re able to follow that traffic to your site, and then send them a follow up triggered email, taking an anonymous website visitor and moving them further into the sales funnel. 

This couple’s plan may have sunk, but yours doesn’t have to ; -). To learn more, join one of afternoon webinar training sessions at https://www.powersportsmarketing.com/training-calendar or give us a call, 877.242.4472.