MVA say it needs $5.9M for ‘effective promotion’ of NMI

This is the headline for the story in the Marianas Variety this morning. Read the full article here.

Wow, anyone familiar with my efforts over the past year or more to help promote the CNMI especially when it comes to diving can probably guess my reaction to this article!

For those that don't know exactly what I've been doing you'll need to check back on this blog on a regular basis because I'll be filling you in a little more regularly as to what has been going on around here!

I love how "effective promotion" is quoted in the headline!

Don't get me wrong; marketing the CNMI effectively, especially with all the competition in this part of the world is not an easy task. With so many different countries as our potential customer base there are real difficulties with getting an effective message across to all that need to hear it.

But, is the issue really money? Yes Guam and Hawaii have huge budgets that we will never be able to compete with at the current rate but it's not all about the money. It's about the message and hitting the right demographics and the markets available to us. I made a post yesterday touching on the power of Youtube which costs absolutely nothing except the time to make the videos and that is just touching the surface on what can be done.

I can't even begin to tell you what could be achieved here with LOCAL talent should even a small amount of the money MVA throws away (and is now asking for more of) ended up in the hands of people who have already been making a difference on budgets that can't even pay the minimum wage!

As I say tune back in often for more! Unfortunately, right now I need to get out there and sell a few more DVD's to add to my budget for the next one!

200,000 and Counting....

Thank's primarily to the Cruel Death video and the Russian Wedding at the Grotto my Youtube dive videos have reached well over 200,000 views. The power of this tool to reach potential visitors should not be lost. For a link to all my posted videos including this one of sharks in the Grotto, click here or on the side bar under My Youtube videos.