All;

As you may already be aware, the Pond Boss Ambassador and Field Correspondent program is in full swing. Forum ID's reflect those who are engaged in helping spread the Pond Boss mission throughout the nation to pond owners, and I want to thank you for your involvement - I'm having a blast working with you!

I'd like to extend a request to everyone to consider involvement in the Pond Boss Ambassador and Field Correspondent program. Briefly I'll describe the impetus for the programs and provide a summary of each role and respective responsibilities.

Pond Boss is the world's foremost Pond Management resource and is responsible not only for helping many of us to develop and accomplish our pond construction projects, but also guides the ongoing management of our little slices of heaven. Personally, I owe all my pond management success to the guidance of the forum and magazine. The forum continues to be provided free of charge thanks to the blood and sweat of Mr. Lusk and Mr. Otto, and has saved me thousands of dollars in consulting fees and potential mistakes along the way. With that in mind, I want to help give something back for footing the bill and creating a special place for pondmeisters like us to educate one another and provide a unique opportunity for comraderie we all enjoy.

While I'm doing my best to increase the visibility of Pond Boss, results aren't instantaneous. We've implemented improvements to the forum and added free Pond Boss articles on the website, but a long list of projects remains. We're working on web design and adding new information, products and services available on the website. In the interim, the the Pond Boss Ambassador and Field Correspondent program are designed to raise awareness of the existence of Pond Boss as an useful resource for pond owners, just like us.

Pond Boss Ambassador Program:

The PBAP is designed for current Pond Boss subscribers to help raise awareness and introduce Pond Boss as a resource to future and existing pond owners. Bob and Gayle have designed top notch collateral materials, in the form of a tri-fold brochure, that provide an introdcution to Pond Boss, summarize our collective mission, and ultimately encourage folks to visit the forum and get a taste of what Pond Boss has to offer the pondmeister. These have been mailed to all participating PBAs for distribution.

What's our target audience? Ideal candidates include acreage neighbors, friends and family members who own ponds. However, thinking outside the box somewhat, I'm confident together we can identify new avenues to promote Pond Boss through the ambassador program. One idea is contacting local Tractor Supply and Orschlein locations in your geographic region and explaining that Pond Boss often helps promote their Fish Days. Thus far they've been open to having us attend and address their customers and introduce Pond Boss as a tremendous pond management information resource. Successful pond managers reinvest in fish stocking periodically, and we have made that abundantly clear in our conversations! This can serve as a nice symbiotic relationship and provides a great audience for us to address.

Free seminars provided by State DNR's and your local Purina pellet dealers are also great places to focus efforts on raising awareness of Pond Boss. Again, we're helping direct additional customers to these Purina dealers, so far they've been happy to keep brochures on hand and distribute to their fish pellet customers.

Pond Boss is working on a way to reward PBA's for their hard work and involvement. Free magazine subscriptions, free "inner circle" memberships on the website, free Pond Boss gear, or maybe even an annual trip to Lusk Lodge 2 are being discussed.

In regards to the Pond Boss Ambassador program, I humbly pose three requests:

First; consider hopping on board and helping us spread the word that is Pond Boss. We have a great core group of 32 established, but I know we can do more!

Second; please suggest some potential target audiences for us. We want to think outside the box here - we need to focus our efforts where pond owners are concentrated. We've outlined a few here - let's generate some more ideas together.

Third; while I know most of you don't need an incentive to help the Pond Boss mission - Bob and Mike want to do something to say thanks. What are your ideas regarding some kind of contest or reward program?

Pond Boss Field Correspondent Program:

The FCP consists of forum members who will write features focusing on a wide array of pond management topics. We'll help recruit new Pond Boss members by writing stories about their ponds and seeing them featured on the website. We'll provide an opportunity for you to share your experiences with Pond Boss through articles YOU write. We'll provide a new resource of information for Pond Boss members with features that might not otherwise fit the size or topic constraints of the magazine. Our efforts not only enrich the Pond Boss product with your unique pond managment perspective and observations, but it also helps further foster a strong sense of community by encouraging others to share their insights and experiences with the Pond Boss family.

We encourage FCs to visit area pond owners and offer to write a story about their pond. Essentially consider this the Pond Boss "Future Member Spotlight". The story will cover the impetus for the pond construction project, provide all details on the pond, and discuss the challenges and successes of the pond owner. The potential subscriber will be encouraged to read about his pond on the website, and the Pond Boss forum experts will offer solutions to the challenges he/she may be facing. Pond Boss, in all likelihood, gains a new subscriber. The new subscriber finds a great community full of information and knowledgable, friendly folks. The Field Correspondent gets to publish an article and has enjoys flexing his journalistic skills. All around it's a beneficial experience.

Let's dispel any fears you may have regarding your writing skills. We will be softly editing the articles, and bear in mind that writing improves with practice. In the end, this process is far more about passion and the willingness to get out there, gather details, and convey back to us. We'll edit where necessary and add the frills...

FYI - Bob also wants to reward FCs along the same lines of the PBAs.

We're all aware our community is unique in that it consists of intelligent, talented writers and knowledgeable pond managers. I want to encourage you to share your experiences with us all, and help provide Pond Boss as a resource for pondmeisters around the world. Please email myself and Gayle with your contact information [Name, forum handle, email address, physical address, phone] and indicate in which capacity you'd like to be involved. As always, feel free to give me a holler anytime with suggestions, questions, or concerns!


tjhudson@pondboss.com
402.817.1123

gayle@pondboss.com
800.687.6075