MAAST Sponsors...

[Mr Cob]

Just wanted you all to know that if you have translated my posts in your forums as me taking a cheap opportunity to advertise my signature in your threads that I would never do such a thing.

If I comment in your forum it's because I'm genuinely trying to be kind, give props where props are due, a free bump for a silent thread and or offer up some type of rapport or community between the sponsors. It's gone on far too long that we all have to hate one another. We are all here for the same reasons; love for our hobby, advancements in our hobby, friends, love for MAAST and love for the reefing community and of course to make money.

So, let's give one another the benefit of doubt first and assume the worst last. Put our ideas about one another in the trash and start fresh.

Post here if you would like a "sponsor friendship" with us and other sponsors.
Why not work together so we all win? We can start by joining one another’s social media accounts; YouTube, Twitter, FB etc. So feel free to post links to them here.

Shared tips:
Shared tip #1: Posting a banner in your sig gives your customers quick access to important info about your business to include contact info and even specials you are running.
Shared tip #2: Check out Complete Reef, www.completereef.com (http://www.completereef.com/) They employ a similar concept as “sponsor friendship”, if everyone works together and does their part to bring in traffic then everyone stands a better chance to make a sale and gain new customers from around the world. They are also great at re-posting your tweets and FB comments...great community between sponsors.

Out of respect to those that have complained about my posts in your forums, if you don’t post here then I will not post in your forums again. BUT if you have a change of heart... feel free to post!

[Texreefer]

:thumbs_up:

[Neptune@gabesfish]

Agreed all sponsors have to work together .. Wish all local sponsors could all get on same page.. Ive talked with other store owners in other cities and they all get along for the better of the hobby and in those cities the hobby thrives.. Feel free to bump my threads anytime man we could all use the help right now..

[Scream311]

:applause:

[Regric25]

:thumbs_up::applause:

[Coral Creations]

Very well stated! We are all mainly here for the love of the hobby. Kuddos!

[johnmaloney @ Reef Cleaners]

I agree! I will send you all business cards this week to post in your stores, please pass them out to customers that might not know about the website. I will keep business cards for you guys too, send them to 3267 se slater st stuart, fl 34997. awesome idea man, look forward to working with you on this!!

[Neptune@gabesfish]

I agree! I will send you all business cards this week to post in your stores, please pass them out to customers that might not know about the website. I will keep business cards for you guys too, send them to 3267 se slater st stuart, fl 34997. awesome idea man, look forward to working with you on this!!

Ill get some right out also John my adress has changed please note... 8034 Culebra Rd. #502 San Antonio Tx 78251.. Thanks man

[txav8r]

Awesome! Thanks guys!

[Triggerman]

Very good idea Mr. Cob and well stated...San Antonio is a large enough city to support all the LFS & Vendors...friendly competition is good for everyone....

[Mr Cob]

Really appreciate all the comments, especially from the old timers who have much to offer. I know everyone has very busy schedules so thanks for taking the time to comment and network a little.

Feel free to send me your business cards or anything you would like to include in our orders we package. We will add them to all orders we ship (good benefit for those of you that have online shops) and we will include them in some of our local pickup orders especially the orders that we think our customers may not know about you or might need a reminder for local support (good for the brick and mortar sponsors). We are already including MAAST business cards in our orders.

If anyone wants to send us anything please PM for our mailing address, I don't want it indexed in the search engines because we are an online vendor and not a brick and mortar.

Below are our media account links...just click the images, our YouTube channel has over 1100 subscribers which isn't exactly easy to come by.

YouTube Channel
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5205/5293533416_4ee0cbef5e_o.jpg (http://www.youtube.com/user/MrCobsCorals)

Follow our play by play action on Twitter...
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5044/5233751932_0abcc7c214_o.jpg (http://twitter.com/MrCobsCorals)

Facebook Fan Page and a place for customers
to post pics...
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5083/5233160757_49f261d80e_o.jpg (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mr-Cobs-Corals/175395059145388?v=wall)

[citypets]

I like the concept very much. However, down in Houston, some stores just do not like each other. Some talk mess and some tell consumers bad things about the other, my goal is to keep my business afloat. There are way to many things to worry about then just talk. That is why I like maast. I haven't seen much bad talk at all, and everybody here is nice and respectful.

[tebstan]

We are all here for the same reasons; love for our hobby, advancements in our hobby, friends, love for MAAST and love for the reefing community and of course to make money.


Well said :thumbs_up:

[johnmaloney @ Reef Cleaners]

Ill get some right out also John my adress has changed please note... 8034 Culebra Rd. #502 San Antonio Tx 78251.. Thanks man
no problem i send a lot of packages around texas, but no corals or fish...so....? it wouldnt hurt for us to network to some extent, i think everyone has their own niche anyway and hobbyists would get bored with only vendor, no way to keep up with them. i am not local though...but I can send list of stores as part of like an info packet to customers, letting them know of local club and stores in their area. people down the block probably know of you, but maybe not the guy 45 minutes away, but will make a day trip out of it...

[Mr Cob]

sent you a PM John with my address.

If anyone else wants us to include information about you in our orders just PM me for my address.

[Louis]

Networking is a great thing and I am all for it. If retailers stay motivated it helps the hobby grow! When things get stagnate our hobby tends to do the same.

[Neptune@gabesfish]

I think it is great that we can all agree to work together for the best of this hobby.. but and let me apoligize first for going off a different direction for a moment .. I think its very cool for each of us to maybe be able drop business cards or other info about each others place of course with each other permission or understanding of what is to take place.. Its another thing for me to go onto a fellow LFS website and find that not only did they use my name but all LFS names from here to Austin as search engine tags on the front page of website..i dont remember being asked and maybe you dont have to but maybe with some type of morrals.. I dont like it and im sure other store owners would not like it either.. Antics like that is why it seems like we owners cant seem to get along.. once again sorry Rob for going off I hope that the few of us that have the same goals can climb many mountains.....

[TaknByD]

Way to go guys... It's awesome to see businesses work together than try to cut each others throat's. Who knows, maybe a partnership is in order... Perhaps get together and make one BIG fish store? No? :D

[tebstan]

Its another thing for me to go onto a fellow LFS website and find that not only did they use my name but all LFS names from here to Austin as search engine tags on the front page of website..

Wow. That's desperation, to mooch off someone else's good name. Take it as a compliment, since it assumes you're the one being searched for. :D In this hobby people learn quick to look for quality in the product and kindness in the staff.

[tebstan]

Perhaps get together and make one BIG fish store? No? :D

We would just argue about which side of town to put it on ;)

I vote northeast

[TaknByD]

I vote northeast


I'll second that motion.... :D

[johnmaloney @ Reef Cleaners]

I have to agree with that...that kind of keyword use is borderline TM infringement.....plus when the person entered it they were knowingly hoping to benefit from your hard work. See that is the thing that bothers people. It isn't that they are losing hits b/c of the keywords or anything, it is because someone actively and knowingly is going out of their way to mooch off of their work...bad business practice to say the least.

They probably lose page rank because of it though, it is a bad google move. Google likes webpages that make sense, if it says "Gabe's Fish" they want the page to be Gabe's Fish. I get that isn't the point, but for your own piece of mind.