"There's More Than 1 Way to Skin a Cat!"

A few years ago, I took my family down to Franklin D. Roosevelt State Park, in Pine Mountain, Georgia to camp. We do this regularly, as it sits outside of Callaway Gardens, where we like to go on day trips. My oldest daughter, who was 5 at the time, asked me to take her fishing at the lake in the campground. While I'm not a big fisherman, I've lived my entire life in Georgia, so I know a little bit about hooking a fish. I grabbed my little Zebco, a bobber, a weight, a hook, a few end pieces from a loaf of bread, and my daughter, and we headed to the lake. When we got there, a man and his pre-teen son were out fishing by the lake, fully geared with their artificial lures, worms, and multiple rods. After exchanging pleasantries, I began to string the line for my daughter. After tying the hook and placing the bobber and weight, I showed my daughter how to make little dough balls with the bread, and chum the water. Afterwards, I placed a dough-ball on the hook, and looked over, noticing that we were being watched. The boy was asking his dad what we were doing. The man laughed, and told his son that I was "trying to teach my daughter how to fish". I asked the man how it'd been going, to which he replied that the fish just weren't biting, that they had no luck at all. I cast the dough-baited line out into the lake, and gave the rod to my girl, telling her to watch the bobber. The boy asked what we were thinking, fishing with bread. I told him that I found this worked well for catching Bream (Sun Perch to some), and I was hoping to let my girl catch a fish. The man laughed again, and told me that "bread was for breakfast, not for fishing"; that they'd been out all morning and not had a bite. About that time, the bobber bobbed and went under. I jumped towards the rod and helped my daughter set the hook, and within minutes, my daughter had her first fish. It was a little bream about the size of a person's hand. After about half an hour, and 8 or 9 fish later, the boy asked his dad if he could go back to their campsite and get some bread. There was a resounding, "no!", and shortly there-after, the father packed he and his son up and left.

The lesson I tried to help my daughter bring away from this was that there are multiple ways in which to accomplish tasks. When she see's somebody doing something a little different, don't pick at them or make fun of them; you might be able to learn something if you pay attention.

When someone has a unique way to market their service, product, etc., take note, evaluate the effectiveness, and maybe you'll be lucky enough to pick up a new trick. "Think outside the box"; "dare to be different", and don't let the masses of nay-sayers guide your actions.                                                                               

     After all..."there's more than 1 way to skin a cat!"                                                                                    

Have you ever had a unique marketing idea, that when you shared it, people told you that it'd never work? Share it here, in your comments. Thank you for reading my blog.