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employment
Posted by: Mark Crouse (---.proxy.aol.com)
Date: November 10, 2005 02:13PM

I am seeking for employment in the fishing business, I am better known as the Munich Rod man and know every thing about Rod building there is to know. I am willing to move where ever I have to got to.
Thanks and best Regards Mark Crouse- The Munich
Rod man

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Re: employment
Posted by: Jesse Buky (---.exis.net)
Date: November 11, 2005 09:25AM

Hi Mark, I'm always looking for wrappers that I pay by piece work. To be honest with you I think you are over qualified for the position. If I hear of anything I'll let you know. Good luck, Jesse

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Re: employment
Posted by: Cliff Hall (---.dialup.ufl.edu)
Date: November 11, 2005 11:55AM

Mark Crouse - Wow, huge subject. Ideas are all I can offer. (Currently between jobs myself.). Asking yourself a thousand questions and establishing your priorities is Job #1. Marketing yourself is Job #2.

Where do you want to live?
How much do you need to make -$$,000- ?
Will the sale of you own rods supplement your income?
How much free time do you need,
How close to fishing do you have to be?
How do family, friends or religion affect this ambition?

NETWORKING is the only way into this whole echelon if you really want to go beyond the bench-top work. Sales or product development, if you have those skills, could prove rewarding. If you want to build rods, hands-on, all the live long day, then self- employment (supplemental or full-time) will be the only satisfaction for that addiction.

As in any field, we rarely get paid for WHAT WE KNOW. We tend to get paid for what WE CAN DO WITH WHAT WE KNOW. It's all about the PRODUCTIVITY. Keep that angle uppermost in your mind and heart when making the contacts and meeting the people who can take you where you want to go. SERVICE SKILLS & DIPLOMACY make a HUGE difference in our employability, and there is no substitute for perseverance when it comes to all this. ...

Going to large conventions in the fishing tackle industry should figure in this job search. Directly contacting a potential employer of interest is certainly one way to pan for gold.

Best Wishes, Mark Crouse. -Cliff Hall, Gainesville, FL-USA+++

WARNING: Rod-building, and day-dreaming about it,
can become habit-forming, and may be hazardous to
other relationships. Participant discretion is advised.

"If people concentrated on the really important things in life,
there'd be a shortage of fishing poles." --Doug Larson

Definition of a Custom Fishing Rod:
A scepter of our own making,
ruling over a watery kingdom
of our own machinations.
-Cliff Hall, Gainesville, FL-USA+++

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal:
it is the courage to continue that counts." -Winston Churchill



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/11/2005 12:02PM by Cliff Hall.

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Re: employment
Posted by: joe klepeis (---.unt.pa.atlanticbb.net)
Date: November 11, 2005 12:05PM

mark
i heard the cabelas down your way was looking for steelhead guides thats right up your alley.
joe

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Re: employment
Posted by: Art Parramoure (---.252.144.107.Dial1.Chicago1.Level3.net)
Date: November 11, 2005 02:38PM

What,,,, may I ask , happened to your business ????

Art

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Re: employment
Posted by: mark crouse (---.proxy.aol.com)
Date: November 11, 2005 10:41PM

Hi Art
To answer your question is very easy, I had no orders in last 6 weeks, and I had to cancel all fishing trips up North because they don't have much water this year, very dry up there, and my business with the schematics and rod building tools is very slow, and some guys out cost me a lot of money since they got some of my schematics and made copies for the friends and their friends, that is also the reason why I don't answer E-mails with questions about decorative wraps, they just don't realize how much work is a weaving pattern, but I will continue to built rods and help guys at he shows but no where else.
Best Regards Mark Crouse- the munich rod man

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Re: employment
Posted by: Art Parramoure (---.252.147.120.Dial1.Chicago1.Level3.net)
Date: November 12, 2005 04:30AM

I am truely sorry to hear that Mark.... BUT,,,,, the FACT IS: You are one of the BEST ROD BUILDERS ANYWHERE !!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think I speak for all that have seen your work.... Things may be tough at the moment, and a lot of the spending ideas of people change when the pricing of other necessities (sp) go sky high.. folks may be just holding back on ordering a custom fishing rod. I know in my little nitch in life that there is a cycle... an up and down trend, and for me it occurs in the winter and summer months. Maybe you need to sit down and write down the good things that you did with your business, and the bad things... (looking back is usually 20/20) Maybe some of the things on that list NEED to be changed, and some things stay the same. Maybe some things are your fault, some the fault of others. (as in copy of your designs) But you can still change the bad things by not letting them happen any more.

It sounds like your in a slump.. I know I have been in and out of "slumps" over the past 57 years, but the thing to do is Accentuate the positive and Eliminate the negative. ( hope I spelled those two word right??) Don't let the current lack of orders get you down...I know that is easier said than done, particularly when you got bills to pay.

Maybe sit down and contact all your previous customers, call or drop them a note and say hello. Ask to see if they are thinking about another rod yet. Let them know that you are "running a PRE WINTER SALE" with a % off your regular price... Do a little advertising in the local paper. It doesn't have to be a full page ad, just a small ad that states " custom fishing rod sale".. can't hurt. Have a OPEN HOUSE at the shop... Do some Show & Tell........ Be 1/2 as creative with some advertising as you are with your rods, and you'll be back in the game in no time !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Maybe, also, put some of your business cards in all the tackle shops in your area... OFFER REPAIR WORK TOO !!!!!!!!!!.

You know your previous customers are a great start for repeat business.

Wish you well, I know you will work this out, that this is only temporary.

Art

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Re: employment
Posted by: Anonymous User (Moderator)
Date: November 12, 2005 08:56AM

Sorry to hear that your patterns have been copied and distributed. I run into this sort of thing with the magazine articles all the time (I got a very nasty email from a fellow just yesterday because I wouldn't honor his request to email him a free copy of one of the magazine articles). Folks just don't stop to think about what they're doing - they think they're helping out a friend, but what they're actually doing is stealing and helping their friends to steal. Few stop to consider the ramifications of what then happens when the person or entity they've stolen from no longer makes patterns, information, etc., available. For all the good the internet has done, it has also made piracy of copyrighted materials just that much easier.

There's nothing wrong with sharing information - that's one of the things this site is for, but some consideration needs to be given to the source of much of such information and care taken to see that it isn't taken advantage of. If the primary sources of rod building information should ever dry up or decide to put a lid on what they offer, the entire craft will suffer and what does get shared will be the same old, same old, rehashed, over and over and over and over....

I can also tell you, if you don't know it already, that the months from late July to about the first of November are the slowest times of the year for rod building. This includes orders for rods and the resulting orders for rod parts to the rod building component suppliers. Business generally starts picking up just about this time.

...............



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/12/2005 09:07AM by Tom Kirkman.

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Re: employment
Posted by: Lock Eastland (---.wa.westnet.com.au)
Date: November 13, 2005 12:29AM

Dear Mark ,
I've got no idea what your situation is, I can only go by what I've read above and I dont know of any jobs going .But the thought of someone like yourself trying to find work equates to something like Picasso looking for work as a house painter.
I'm still trying to get my business going. I have to work full time and do rods at nights in order to make ends meet. The thought that someone as talented as you is having a hard time is quite demoralizing for the likes of myself and others who can only dream of achieving the quality levels you have reached in your rod building.
However if not for this site, Rodmaker mag, yourself and all that use this site to post their work... I would never have got as far as I have.
You know people can copy your work and undercut you, but a Mark Crouse rod is a Mark Crouse rod. Not a copy, but the real thing and there are alot of customers out there that would not accept or pay for anything less. Even if you bought out a cheaper range of rods and widended your market, you still have the name and no-one can take that away from you.
So I would agree with everything Cliff said in his post and add ... Never give up, dont even give the copiers and undercutters a scond thought. Just keep focused on your own goals and dont be scared to keep on helping others like you do. In rodmaking circles your one of the elite!! I wish you all the best in your endeavors and I really hope things pick up for you soon.............................

Lock Eastland
Geraldton, Western Australia

P.S By the way...when people start copying MY designs...then I'll know that I'm REALLY good!!!

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Re: employment
Posted by: Phil Richmond (---.200-68.tampabay.res.rr.com)
Date: November 13, 2005 12:40AM

I'm sorry to hear about your slump. Best wishes to a speedy recovery for your business, as you have some of the most awesome craftsmanship that I've ever seen. I wish I had a tenth of your skill and talent.

Let us know how you fair, hope its for the better soon!

Phil

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Re: employment
Posted by: William Bartlett (---.proxy.aol.com)
Date: November 13, 2005 10:15PM

Marc,

You have to remember where you're located. I was associated with the WV B.A.S.S. Federation for several years till 2001. I know the Bass fishermen in this state. Most of them are just regular "Good Ol Boys" that can't afford the cost of a custom rod, let alone a piece of art like yours. I wish I was a little closer to Morgantown so that we could get together and I could learn a few things. I don't know how much repair work you do, but in my area, that's where you can make some bucks. Because there isn't anyone around here anymore that does that. I talked to Paul Noetchel this summer and he told me the guys are screaming for someone to repair and clean reels. I know you told me you worked for Mylan, they have a BASS club. Maybe you could contact the president of the club, to get your name out. Back to the "Good Ol Boys", they would rather just throw an old rod away and order new ones from Bass Pro, or go to Wal Mart, than to put out the money for something that would by far out perform any of those factory rods. Sad but true!!

Bill in WV

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Re: employment
Posted by: MARK CROUSE (---.proxy.aol.com)
Date: November 14, 2005 12:30AM

I QUIT MYLAN 6 MONTHS AGO, FOR HEALTH REASONS AND I AM MEMBER OF THE MYLAN BASS CLUB AND THE BASS FEDERATION AND I FISHED WITH BASS PRO'S THE MOST BASS FISHERMAN WILL NEVER SPEND ANY MONEY ON A GOOD ROD THEY GOT IT ALL TIED UP IN THE BOAT.
MARK CROUSE

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Re: employment
Posted by: William Bartlett (---.proxy.aol.com)
Date: November 14, 2005 02:54PM

That's very true Mark,

Then you know Jim Montague, we have a very unique relationship. He was my Non-Boater at the Northern Devision Qualifier at Sutton Lake in 1999. Where in all the excitement I had forgotten to put the plug in and my boat sunk in 40 feet of water. Second worst day of my life, and the closest I've ever come to dying.

Bill in WV

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Re: employment
Posted by: Cliff Hall (---.dialup.ufl.edu)
Date: November 15, 2005 06:41AM

Mr. Mark Crouse - First of all, thank you for your gracious silence in response to my well-intentioned, but generic advice given earlier in this Thread. It was based on an innocent ignorance of your accomplishments and world-class expertise in custom rod art. I only rarely ever visit the RBO PhotoPosts, and I visit the Member Galleries even less, so I had never seen any of your work. Well, now I had the time (and the insomnia) to return to this “Employment” thread, and to read the other Replies and to visit your Member Gallery, [www.rodbuilding.org] . Let’s just say that I have been “educated”. –LOL!-

While my original advice has its place, your place in the custom rod market cannot be dictated to or limited by the potential clientele in your proximal geographic area. Most of the kind of money that you are capable of commanding will not walk in your front door. Frugality is a way of life for most West Virginians, and your work is way beyond their willingness to appreciate. Mark, you need a better way to bring the world to you.

Sir, may I suggest that you do everything within your power to make your custom rod making abilities known by photographs and testimonials to a class of people who can afford to buy your rods like some women buy shoes. They are too beautiful not to collect. And if they do not have a need for it, they will invent one. For some people, spending $200 - $1,200 on a fishing rod is pocket money. And the sooner you can find a way to help them make that transfer to your pocket, the brighter things will seem.

I don’t know if you have a website, but that is Numero 1. Fast loading. Good photos representing your wide range of skills. With earnest clientele testimonials. Find a way to have links to your website in high-end search-bases for luxury boaters or first-class airlines or recreational travel agencies or ritzy hotels or fancy marinas and vacation destinations. Some fishing magazines, like Florida Sportsman, may be affordable enough to place advertising text with a crisp photograph. … I rather suspect that the idea of the cost of advertising is a thorn in your side, being in WV. But the cost of NOT advertising enough in the right way and to the market that can afford what you need to price at has clearly taken its toll.

Rally yourself and let the world know that you are The Munich Rod Man, selling the finest custom fishing rods anywhere: “Hi. I’m Mark Crouse, The Munich Rod Man, ‘Bringing the finest German and American craftsmanship to a custom fishing rod, just for you.’ ” Whatever slogan fits you, Mark, sing it to yourself everyday, like a national anthem, with good pride and honor. Sing it loud and proud. … Work your old client lists, and get that advertising on plane.
Best Wishes, Mr. Crouse. Sincerely, –Cliff Hall+++

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