How did Babes with Bullets end up recently on CNBC headline news in a story relating to the NRA annual convention? We're still not sure, though since I'm a believer that God runs my ship (not me) I think His hand waved this marketing wand. For those of you who are curious go to the CNBC.com website and under keywords type in Babes with Bullets to get the story to pop up. Since it aired we've received hundreds of emails from people moaning about the "anti-gun" attitude of the mainstream media relating to this piece. Please do not be upset on our behalf; we thought the short marketing blurb about Babes with Bullets being a "pro gun" marketing group was excellent. And bluntly a mention about BabeswithBullets.tv on mainstream media, seen by tens of millions of people, was something we could never have afforded on our own.
Speaking of mainstream media I believe far too many involved in the gun industry; including gun manufacturers and pro-gun associations, have deliberately hidden away from mainstream media for far too long. So here is a homework assignment for each of you (and don't start moaning again, this will be much easier than high school chemistry!) There are a few websites listed below showing a way to educate yourself about reaching out to mainstream media with pro-gun stories. First, go to www.BabeswithBullets.tv and watch a few of the short video pieces shot on location at our ladies camps. Then watch the short mainstream media pieces we regularly receive on our Babes with Bullets ladies camps. Second, go visit the website of The Women's Outdoor Media Association at www.TheWOMA.com. This association encourages both mainstream media and outdoor industry media to do stories on women/about women, as it relates to their adventures in the outdoors.
I openly admit what we do with Babes with Bullets may not get hunting or fishing stories covered. Still you'd still be amazed at how many stories relating to shooting sports like action pistol through United States Practical Shooting (www.USPSA.org) or women doing archery contests WILL get covered! If you are involved in media in any way i.e. blogging, quarterly newsletters to a women's business club, an eLetter sent to your own gun club each month; then TheWOMA is a great environment, at very little cost, for you to generate a positive flow of information relating to your outdoor endeavors which may include hunting, fishing, along with shooting sports and archery. And just in case you are wondering if any of us on The WOMA board of directors is paid, the answer is NO. Being a board member is work for all of us, there are no commissions based on how many new members we each bring, however is a viable way for you (me too) to continue being part of the solution in telling our story.
All that said I am already picking up your brain waves emitting sounds of, "I don't have time, I don't want to become involved, I don't want to join one more club/association." I urge you to STOP that thought process; it's self-defeating on all levels. Remember that if you are not part of the active solution to reaching out to media at some pro-gun level (local/regional/state whatever) then you are part of the problem. Keeping our love of the outdoors and pro-gun stance hidden like we are ashamed of it (and I'm NOT) will not do any of us any good down the road. I won't tolerate being part of the "silent majority" and I encourage you not be silent either. As I mentioned in my book I've grown weary of the term PC. I don't think PC means Politically Correct, rather I think it means Please Conform.
Now getting back to CNBC here is a "truth is stranger than fiction" moment; we weren't at the NRA convention. Our tv production team attended in Scottsdale a ladies "pro gun" luncheon the day before the convention started in Phoenix. When the luncheon ended we walked through the convention center touching base with our industry friends (like Tactical Solutions) as they were setting up their booth. We all had on our matching pink BabeswithBullets.tv shirts, I did a few interviews, then we took off to drive out to L.A. where we ran our premier/private "mini" camp out in L.A. for some fairly influential ladies related to liberal Hollywood (and by the way it went great!) And I probably wouldn't have even noticed the CNBC piece except we had over 2,300 + emails came into our website in like 5 minutes, causing our system to crash from the overload. I'm not complaining about the attitude of the CNBC hosts, nor complaining about the demand making our system crash, rather I'm thrilled that we had interest and emails from hundreds of women asking about our 2010 camp schedule.
FYI - Our 2009 ladies camps were sold out many months in advance. For those of you who are asking about a 2010 schedule the camp applications are handled through our head instructor, Kay Miculek, at her website of www.Bang-Inc.com . We hope to have the 2010 schedule up by mid-summer. To receive an email blast update from Kay go to her site (www.Bang-Inc.com) and on the front home page on the right side there is an area indicating CLASS UPDATE. Place your name and email, hit send, that puts you on the email blast list. Many times the camps fill up before an email blast can even be sent so your best bet is to keep checking back to Kay's site for the most recent camp postings.
Also, for those of you who ask me about how to find my "Outside My Comfort Zone" short articles, they come out every two weeks through a free eWire called the Women's Outdoor News. You go to www.WomensOutdoorNews.com, subscribe at no cost, on-line with your own email address. Again, another easy way for you to stay involved and get some of your gal pals who aren't "into" guns to check it out as well. It's for free and you can unscribe whenever you want...no harm/no foul, so everything to gain and nothing to lose. Hope to see you at the range sometime in the future!
