This arrangement is often a mine field for the cue builder. How many pros go bust and dump a cue builders product on the market too cheap just to have some cash in pocket? This used to happen quite often and a lot of custom builders have gotten wise, so these deals have become pretty hard to get. Having said all that, I've known John since he first showed up in the South. John is without question one of the most honest pool players I've ever had the pleasure to know. I don't get out and about to the big tournys much anymore, but I've had a lot of great nights being in the Schmidt camp in years past. Any cue builder that has an inkling of an idea of doing business with John will be very happy with the results.
tv time for cue deal
- Thread starter john schmidt
- Start date
Cuebacca said:
A pretty smart move I would say. And he is already getting some good suggestions as to who he should talk too. If this works for John, more power to him. He's a good enough player, that he should be getting some help from within the industry.
John Barton
New member
cleary said:
How else do you suggest they fish?
In this case John has proven himself quite successful at using this vehicle to reach a large audience of sponsors and supporters.
A potential sponsor reading this forum sees a young man with initiative and drive who puts the deal out there for all to see.
Effectively he is asking sponsors who are interested to contact him. Much more desirable than the old method of fishing which is send out inquiries to dozens of companies that file the request in the trash bin and don't bother to reply.
This is quite an efficient way for a pro to gauge both interest in sponsorship and fan support.
Of course, if you mean that it's a shame that one of the world's best players has to "find" a sponsor at all I could agree with you if pool were a big time sport. It's not. Pool is small time in the world and as long as it remains so then the players who choose to make it their full time gig remain at the point where they must solicit rather than being sought after.
However, if "the game" had the talents and connections of big time people like yourself then perhaps it could find the open door to the next level and players of John's caliber would not have to "fish" in small ponds like AZ for sponsors.
Would you care to step up and volunteer some time to get pool to that level?
The catch 22 in this situation is that Tascarella, Szamboti, and Scruggs don't need any promotion. Not only that, no custom builder I am aware of does enough marketing to gain any benefits from a player sponsorship that goes beyond giving a player a cue. Why pay someone to represent your product if you don't have the money to tell people about it?Shawn Armstrong said:
The only companies that have a marketing budget to take advantage of what a player brings them are the larger production cues and distribution houses. Cuetec spent a lot of money telling everyone that Allison and Earl played with their product and it worked.
To my knowledge Schon didn't even use Alex Pagulayan as player rep even though he played with their cues anyway, seems like a no brainer to me but they obviously feel the return on investment doesn't merit it. Essentially the player must bring IN more money than what he is paid to make any deal viable. That is tough without the marketing support.
John is a U.S. Open Champion, clean cut nice guy who has a good image. He would make a great player rep for any company, the problem is finding one that will expend the resources to take advantage of his representation.
Good luck to you John I hope you find a deal. You would bring a lot to the table for any sponsor.
Jack, Joss is already one of the sponsors for Ralf Souquet. Obviously, I don't know the details of that deal, but it could be quite expensive for Joss. I'm not sure if they could support another player, of John's caliber.Jack Madden said:
I hope John finds a good sponsor. He deserves it.
Maybe consider the new Carolina Cues. They are a large outfit making & selling a lot of cues. They may have the income to cover it and surely would benefit from the exposure.
Shawn Armstrong said:
I like the sound of that, you could call it "Schon John"
Carolina Cues is already involved with WPBA player Kelly Fisher, and some others, in KwikFire, Inc. Carolina Cues produce the KwikFire cues for this operation. However, you never know, they may be looking for a male player rep for the company.Varney Cues said:
JCIN said:
Good point, JCIN. Look at Gabe Owen, U.S. Open champ 2004. His dad, Bob, manufacturers Shurtz Cues. He went with Mueller Recreational Products as his sponsor.
You are correct. It has to be a company with the money and the marketing ability behind them.
Rich R. said:
and some others --- think that includes Montana player, Morgan Steinman. I talked to her a couple years ago about visiting the shop when she got home to visit her folks - just never connected.
I hope John gets a deal I think any maker in the cue industry would be well served by the relationship. I also know most high end makers can already sell all of the cues thay have time to make so it would not help them sell more cues. The production cue people do have the funding.
Also, I agree with the prior post about the agent and what they could add to a players marketing themself and the game.
I think the players need to attract a different class of sponsors. Sponsor money of any significant amount will need to come from Coke, Pepsi, beer, smokes,cars, banks,casinos, fast food etc type of companies if the players are ever to get well paid. These are all the sorts of things used by ALL pool players.
IMHO - The cue maker pond is quite small and they are the small fish. I think the players/organizers need to try to attract some of the larger fish from a larger pond.
Good Luck John
Also, I agree with the prior post about the agent and what they could add to a players marketing themself and the game.
I think the players need to attract a different class of sponsors. Sponsor money of any significant amount will need to come from Coke, Pepsi, beer, smokes,cars, banks,casinos, fast food etc type of companies if the players are ever to get well paid. These are all the sorts of things used by ALL pool players.
IMHO - The cue maker pond is quite small and they are the small fish. I think the players/organizers need to try to attract some of the larger fish from a larger pond.
Good Luck John
2 cent
I'm not knocking anyone here
Is it just me or does it seem like the word on who's using
what cue is a little muffled?
If this system worked the way that it should a medium
to high output custom shop could put a guy on board
to make only the pro's signature cue, maybe a signed
sneaky or pj, or w/e the rep wanted with modifications
to not take so long to produce.
Under direction of the master of course.
Then your new customer has the option to get the
exact look of the cue for say $1500 or the "signature"
line for $4-500.
This could really get things going if the pro gets a
% of sales via demos at pool halls, tourney's, etc.
I'm not knocking anyone here
Is it just me or does it seem like the word on who's using
what cue is a little muffled?
If this system worked the way that it should a medium
to high output custom shop could put a guy on board
to make only the pro's signature cue, maybe a signed
sneaky or pj, or w/e the rep wanted with modifications
to not take so long to produce.
Under direction of the master of course.
Then your new customer has the option to get the
exact look of the cue for say $1500 or the "signature"
line for $4-500.
This could really get things going if the pro gets a
% of sales via demos at pool halls, tourney's, etc.
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Sponsor for John
Best of luck in finding a great sponsor John. IMO, your success, high profile and reputation seems to justify a good deal.
Maybe a more direct pro-active approach would work best. A phone call to your favorites on The American Cuemakers membership list could be a great starting point. Good luck in selling them on the idea of increasing their visibility and sales John.
http://www.cuemakers.org/aca-rstr.htm
Beyond that I'd call your own favorite Florida cuemakers first then on to others like Evan at Schon, Tim Scruggs, Andy Gilbert, etc...
Best of luck in finding a great sponsor John. IMO, your success, high profile and reputation seems to justify a good deal.
Maybe a more direct pro-active approach would work best. A phone call to your favorites on The American Cuemakers membership list could be a great starting point. Good luck in selling them on the idea of increasing their visibility and sales John.
http://www.cuemakers.org/aca-rstr.htm
Beyond that I'd call your own favorite Florida cuemakers first then on to others like Evan at Schon, Tim Scruggs, Andy Gilbert, etc...
NYC cue dude
Banned
unfortunately for john, no custom cue maker is going to have the resources to give away money/cues because there is very little return.
Proof is in the pudding.
Very few if any knew that john played with a bobby hunter for many years.
no one knew the following either
Josey= shawn putnam
Charlie williams= predator
thorsten= lucasi
mika= mezz
Archer used to be with schon, now scorpion
When pool fans don't know what's going on, how can cue makers profit from this.
Btw, there isn't too much money involved in the aboveentioned deals.
Rg
Proof is in the pudding.
Very few if any knew that john played with a bobby hunter for many years.
no one knew the following either
Josey= shawn putnam
Charlie williams= predator
thorsten= lucasi
mika= mezz
Archer used to be with schon, now scorpion
When pool fans don't know what's going on, how can cue makers profit from this.
Btw, there isn't too much money involved in the aboveentioned deals.
Rg
I was always aware that Johnny played with a Schon, Earl with a Cuetec, Nick Varner, with a Meucci. Granted, these are not customs, but neither are some of the examples you gave..
As long as the cuemaker is willing to pay to advertise that a certain player plays with his cue, I believe their is some return to sponsoring a player.
Russ
As long as the cuemaker is willing to pay to advertise that a certain player plays with his cue, I believe their is some return to sponsoring a player.
Russ
John Barton said:
Yea, I mean its a shame he has to fish at all. Cue companies (the large ones) should be using these guys to make them money.....and at the same time, paying these guys money. Thats how a lot of other similar industries work, large and small. I would think the top 100 pros would have no problem finding a company to support them just for using their cues. Just knowing how many pros use preditor shafts....makes me want to go buy another one.
WTF? What league do you play in? Grab a Billiards Digest or hit AZ billiards player profiles. Ok, from now on, I would like everyone to refer to me as Efren Crawfish. Thanks, Efren. Hey, if names don't mean anything, I'll just be Efren. Rudolfo if I am in a bar looking for action. If I am out of town, I am Harry. Harry Sachs.Dawgie said:
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lol at some wood cutter being higher on the food chain!!!! sorry, US open champ trumps wood cutters, as long as there are teenagers in China and Taiwan, champions such as John will never be in need of a straight stick
having said that, John has almost zero chance of scoring an endorsement deal in this manner
having said that, John has almost zero chance of scoring an endorsement deal in this manner