The LDS of the future

[lamont]

JUST NOT TRUE!

I know, I was there -- and now I am here. (Note -- even though I admit that "If you remember the 70's you weren't there" has more truth to it than I'd like to admit, I WAS there and I do remember my 1966 training.)

The training is different, of course, but so is the gear and what is known about diving.

Please, as my dearly departed Grandfather was fond of saying (someone who, in fact, rode the range in Montana, was in the Yukon Gold Rush and was on one of the first ships sunk by a Japanese sub in WWII):

"Good old days? Good old Days? HELL, there WEREN'T any Good Old Days!"

From The 6 Weirdest Things That Are Ruining Your Memory | Cracked.com :

"The reason your grandpa remembers the 1950s as nothing but friendly neighbors and soda fountains is because ads and TV shows have been hammering his brain with those images for five straight decades."

(Apparently not Peter's though)


​

 

[Mike]

Advertising is just for people who aren't good enough to get referrals.

flots.

Business wisdom from an employee.

Next time you turn on your TV, and you see all those 30 second commercials from billion dollar companies, keep a running log of their names and you go write every one of them, to tell them they suck because they advertise. Make sure you go tell Ford, McDonalds, GE, Wal-mart, Coca-Cola and the rest they are just moments away from financial ruin since they've been having to advertise for the last 50-100 years, and if they were really good at what they were doing they wouldn't have to advertise since all they need are referrals. If you want I'll send you some books - Economics 101, Business for Dummies... etc...

 

[flots am]

Business wisdom from an employee.

I haven't been an employee for more than 30 years. You can run your little blue shaking head all you want, but I own my own business and it's 100% referrals. I have never advertised, and make a very nice living working roughly 6 hours/day, doing work I really enjoy.

Next time you turn on your TV, and you see all those 30 second commercials from billion dollar companies, keep a running log of their names and you go write every one of them, to tell them they suck because they advertise. Make sure you go tell Ford, McDonalds, GE, Wal-mart, Coca-Cola and the rest they are just moments away from financial ruin since they've been having to advertise for the last 50-100 years, and if they were really good at what they were doing they wouldn't have to advertise since all they need are referrals. If you want I'll send you some books - Economics 101, Business for Dummies... etc...

To a certain extent, you're correct. They have to advertise because they do suck. It takes work to convince consumers that they want to eat crappy food from a paper sack, and that it's in their best interest to buy foreign made products cheap, instead of local products that would ensure their continued employment.

I have all the work I choose to accept as does the mason who did my chimney and the roofer who did my roof, and my doctor and attorney. None advertise.

Needing to advertise means that you haven't sufficiently impressed your existing customers. There is no better marketing in the world than a happy customer.

flots.

 

[Thalassamania]

Business wisdom from an employee.

Next time you turn on your TV, and you see all those 30 second commercials from billion dollar companies, keep a running log of their names and you go write every one of them, to tell them they suck because they advertise. Make sure you go tell Ford, McDonalds, GE, Wal-mart, Coca-Cola and the rest they are just moments away from financial ruin since they've been having to advertise for the last 50-100 years, and if they were really good at what they were doing they wouldn't have to advertise since all they need are referrals. If you want I'll send you some books - Economics 101, Business for Dummies... etc...

Interesting that you do not list a single business that I buy anything from. You're likely right for the price shopping, quality ignorant, segment of the public, but try this on, how many 30 second TV spots do you see for a Rolls-Royce, a Lamborghini, a Uni-Mog, Martin Guitars, Crown Amplifiers, Swizol International waxes, Pernod-Ricard Perrier-Jouet Champagne, a Kluft mattress, Charlotte Thomas thousand thread count sheets, or any of thousands of other items made by thousands of companies who don't really give a damn whether or not you know of them or what the make or where to buy it.

 

[endurodog]

It's the same people and same arguements but damn if it still ain't amusing. Any fresh ideas out there?

 

[Tug]

.....

 

[adelman]

[...]On the other hand, I don't teach because I need the income ... I make a good living outside of scuba, and only teach when I want to.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Flight Instruction is the same way. There is a big gap in experience required between being able to get your instructor certificate and being able to get a job flying passengers (sometimes over a thousand hours). The result is that the average experience of the instructors are very low, many of them just got their license themselves. A lot of schools offer "zero through hero" flight instructor programs with a guaranteed job after you graduate teaching the next wave of students.

The advise I give new students in both aviation and diving is to find an instructor who is looking to share experience, not gain it.

 

[Scott]

The advise I give new students in both aviation and diving is to find an instructor who is looking to share experience, not gain it.

I met with three instructor candidates two weeks ago to conduct their skills evaluation as part of their IDC. During our introductions I learned one had been diving nine months (Diver A) and had a few days earlier recieved their DM number, another (Diver B) around 2 years and the third (Diver C) about four years. Both Divers B and C had spent over a year as Divemasters and had assisted with a number of classes at differing levels and had made dives locally at a number of sites as well as SoCal and warm water locations.
Talking with one diver afterwards, a comment was made about how 'polished' Diver A's skills were, and I agreed and commented that they , Diver A, would make a really good instructor in a few years. Not because they can not instruct, but because they have little experience to share.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I haven't been an employee for more than 30 years. You can run your little blue shaking head all you want, but I own my own business and it's 100% referrals. I have never advertised, and make a very nice living working roughly 6 hours/day, doing work I really enjoy.



To a certain extent, you're correct. They have to advertise because they do suck. It takes work to convince consumers that they want to eat crappy food from a paper sack, and that it's in their best interest to buy foreign made products cheap, instead of local products that would ensure their continued employment.

I have all the work I choose to accept as does the mason who did my chimney and the roofer who did my roof, and my doctor and attorney. None advertise.

Needing to advertise means that you haven't sufficiently impressed your existing customers. There is no better marketing in the world than a happy customer.

flots.

I've been self employed for longer than I've worked for somebody and I'm 49.
I'm with you, word of mouth is the best advertisment hands down.
I've learned that people or companies that need to advertise heavily are not always doing so well or else they wouldn't be blowing huge sums of money on something that might or might not work, or requires a steady stream of one time customers to feed their machine.

I've never had to advertise once and I've always had more work that I can handle, except between 2009 and early 2011, but that was because nobody had any money to spend so advertising wouldn't have done any good anyway, it would have just sunk me further. But, I'm still here, that's more than I can say for a lot of people and businesses.

 

[slimey]

Apologies if it's mentioned in one of the few pages I didn't read. Air fills get mentioned a lot in this thread. One thing that occurs to me is that we don't seem to have invented / created / developed an automatic air-fill machine. I suspect that the majority of divers just dive on air. Do we need a human to do that air-fill? Why not just have a machine which you can insert your cylinder, attach the whip yourself, close the door, swipe your "cert" card, and insert the relevant $ into a coin slot?

I know that this isn't really promoting LDS, but is it a natural progression? We pump our own gas or LPG into our cars (and gas/LPG have the same potential to cause injury or death if mishandled), so why not our own air?