This post is from a recent forum thread on the “private” form over at www.USConcealedCarry.com. Two of my fellow USCCA members had a beef with my latest entrepreneurial venture. I’ve decided to post my response to them. Why am I doing this? Well, it took me over an HOUR to write and turned out pretty good! There’s a bunch of pretty interesting info here… Well, I hope you like it!

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LONG Response from Tim

Okay, here we go.

The kids are done with their homework and the two younger ones are in bed. I’ve got a fresh cup of McDonalds coffee next to me (my kids made me give up Starbucks and beer for Lent… YES, Starbucks AND beer!) so now I’m ready to type.

WARNING: … this may be a bit of a long post.

First of all, I’d like to address my detractors. Charles (ccrizer) and Kyle (kgtgv4), I personally apologize to the both of you. I am sorry that you feel duped, scammed or whatever. I know this may sound like a broken record, but if you ever want you money back… just say the word. I promise, there will be no hard feelings.

See here’ a little MORE background about Tim Schmidt. Sure, you may know SOME of my story. You probably know the part about why, how and when I started USCCA and CCM. But trust me, there are a VERY few people who know the whole blood and guts story.

About 2.5 years after I published that first issue of CCM, I was in a LOT of financial trouble. And the only reason I was in that trouble was because I refused to give up my “dream magazine”. So to whoever questioned my commitment to this business or the cause in general, I’d like to think I stuck this thing out LONG after most would quit.

So how bad was it? Well, as many of you know, I started an engineering business (Schmidt Engineering - nice name, huh?) back in 1997. It was a fine business… I wasn’t much of a leader at the time, so the business didn’t grow much. But it WAS profitable. Well, my little dream magazine was about to DESTROY my engineering business.

I had a line of credit at my local bank for Schmidt Engineering. It was a “demand” line of credit for $100,000. That just meant that I could borrow up to $100k whenever I wanted, but the bank could call anytime and say… give us back our money! Well NOBODY would loan me any money to start a magazine about carrying concealed guns so I just borrowed the money from the line of credit for my engineering business!  (If my banker is reading this post… well, sorry for not telling you!)

It didn’t take too long to peg that $100k line of credit. (Starting a small, niche magazine is REALLY expensive!) So there I was, 2.5 years and close to $200,000 ($100k of mine and $100k of the banks) invested in a business that was truly my LIFE PASSION… and it was kicking my butt. I’ll never forget that night on our front porch. It was 11:30 pm. Tonnie (my wife) and the kids were all in bed. I was sitting there looking at our gravel driveway that we couldn’t afford to pave cause I kept spending our money on postage, advertising & printing bills. I prayed. I thought. I got mad.

Well, within the next couple of weeks, 2 things happened that truly changed my life. (It may not seem like it in the beginning… but BOTH of these things have a direct impact on YOU and USCCA, so I hope you’ll stay with me here!)

Here’s the first thing. I happened across a website on the internet that was JUST like the one that Charles and Kyle don’t like (My “Tribal Marketing” website - BTW, this site just went live today). So I’m on this website and I’m reading about some DVD course that claims to teach you all about marketing on the internet. The course cost close to $2,000 and the guy who was selling it was named Yanik Silver. I had never heard of this guy and I didn’t know much at all about marketing or internet marketing. My first impression was that the website was cheesy… it seemed like an infomercial… the graphics were terrible and the sales pitch was relentless!

But guess what… the website was convincing. The website was VERY persuasive. And you know what? I bought that $2,000 DVD internet marketing course with money I didn’t have. I was desperate. And then I went back to work trying to keep BOTH my engineering and magazine businesses from going under.

Well, a week later this “magic” internet marketing course showed up. The production quality was poor, the packaging wasn’t all that great either. My initial feeling was that I was getting scammed. But I persevered. I decided to give this info a fair shake. So I proceeded to lock myself in my office for the next 7 hours. I literally devoured this stuff. In hindsight, this Yanik guy just basically outlined  every basic principle of direct response marketing. I mean these principles have been around for decades (if not centuries!). But it was EXACTLY what I needed to hear. Little did I know, but what I had just done would be the catalyst that would SAVE Concealed Carry Magazine from certain death.

— Wow, this IS getting really long. I’ll try to wrap it up! —

So I proceeded to completely revamp EVERY marketing aspect of CCM. This was when I did the second thing that I mentioned above. This was when I decided to create the USCCA. Sure, the USCCA logo had been on the cover of the magazine from day one… but it was mostly just a figment of my imagination. There was no member interaction, member communication or cohesiveness. In the beginning, it was just a logo!

I’d like to tell you that things changed overnight. But they didn’t. Nope. It took awhile to dig out of the hole that I had dug! But I got out. WE got out. And ever since that day in my office with that $2,000 stack of DVDs that looked like they had been produced by a bunch of 7th graders… I have NEVER stopped investing in my direct response marketing education. You see, without the marketing, the USCCA and CCM would NOT exist.

Marketing isn’t BAD. It is simply a tool. It is a powerful tool that can be used for GOOD or BAD. (huh, kinda like a gun!) Sure, there are a TON of people who learn how to persuade and then use it for bad. These people are all flashes in the pan. Heck, I’ve met a bunch of them. They’re always up to something new… trying to escape the last batch of customers they pissed off. But there are also a LOT of brilliant marketers who build long-term businesses that are built on giving their customers a LOT more value than they’ve paid for.

So where does that get us so far? Oh yeah, the blood and guts story of Tim Schmidt, CCM and USCCA.

So last October a good friend of mine asked me if I’d give a short talk at his “Membership Website” seminar. As a favor to a friend, I agreed to help him out. (Trust me, speaking in front of a big crowd does NOT come easy for an engineer!) My presentation went well. Mostly because I over prepared. My high school football coach would always yell at me, “Schmidt, I told you that Proper Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance!” But, something happened AFTER the presentation that I simply wasn’t expecting….

I was literally mobbed by people who wanted to talk to me. Some of them told me that I had inspired them, some wanted advice, some wanted to just talk about their ideas. Let me tell you, the feeling of being able to have such a positive impact on so many people was intoxicating. It was then that I decided to start yet ANOTHER business where I would help people to do what I’ve done.

For example, right now I’m working with a couple who is starting an association for couples that struggle with infertility. This couple went through 7 years of hell and they want to share their story. I just got done helping a woman set up The Association of Work at Home Women. I’m also helping a friend help set up the Video Marketing Association. Heck, there are a bunch of others…  And since a few thousand USCCA members are business owners themselves, I thought I’d share my new venture with them. I am not embarrassed or ashamed in the least. I am proud and stand behind everything I do. Heck, there just MAY be some of YOU I could help out. Guys, the association business model is a FANTASTIC model. It literally SAVED this business. And it’s NOT fake. You simply can’t fake this stuff. People have VERY sensitive “B.S.-Meters” when it comes to associations. If you’re not genuine about what you’re doing, people will smell it a MILE away! But I digress…

Here’s the bottom line guys.

I risked everything I have to make CCM and the USCCA work. Furthermore, some of my closest friends and confidants are fellow USCCA members. I am VERY proud of CCM, USCCA and every single one of its members. Being in my position, I don’t have the luxury of losing my temper and yelling at people who call me a scam artist and/or dishonest. So a big THANK YOU to those of you who defended me on this thread. But as you can tell by the length and depth of this post, my skin is still very thin… and I still take EVERY single negative post, email and comment personally. (I really have to work on this!)

So I will end with this. Thanks to each and every one of you. Thank you for being man (and woman) enough to carry a gun. Thank you for giving me the chance to make you a happy customer.  And finally, thank you for reading this note.

Sincerely,

Tim

P.S. - Here’s the website of my new business that touched off this response! www.TribalMarketingAssociation.org