A couple of days ago, NSSF chief marketing officer, Chris Dolnack wrote a great post about the growing number of gun bloggers at SHOT Show. Chris noted that it’s time for the firearms industry to take gun bloggers and internet media seriously, and recognized the fact that those of us that blog about guns and shooting have the ability to take a new product and give it instant recognition.
I went back to the post yesterday to catch up on the comments, and was quite surprised to see this from a representative of GunsAmerica:
Now the question is when you are going to start qualifying internet media? We have to crawl over nobodies who can install wordpress and have nobody reading anything they write, It isn’t so hard to qualify internet media using Alexa.com and Compete.com. Why do you waste the manufacturers’ time and make the real internet media have to deal with wish I were internet journalists who are just using your stamp of approve to solicit review guns and accessories? You’ve created this giant gorilla in the room and we all have to deal with it, and you may think the industry takes your numbers seriously, but everyone sees things for what they are. If you are serious about bringing value to your exhibitors, you need to vet the press list.”
I guess not everyone “gets” new media. Go figure.
30 responses so far ↓
1 ExurbanKevin // Jan 13, 2012 at 11:56 am
Good luck generating buzz with that attitude: Apparently, GunsAmerica recently hired Ocean Marketing or something.
http://venturebeat.com/2011/12/27/ocean-marketing-how-to-self-destruct-your-company-with-just-a-few-measly-emails/
Just when you think the gun industry “Gets it”, something like that happens.
2 SayUncle » Gun bloggers and social media // Jan 13, 2012 at 12:17 pm
[…] From comments to that last post, comes SHOT welcoming gun bloggers and internet media types for the instant coverage. Then, someone from GunsAmerica chimes in and is not happy about it. […]
3 Jennifer // Jan 13, 2012 at 1:51 pm
Oh isn’t that cute! The internet has a funny way of making a nobody, somebody in a remarkably short amount of time. And when things go viral, just the opposite can happen too.
4 DirtCrashr // Jan 13, 2012 at 1:52 pm
GunsAmerica – the auction site that’s fussy and impossible to use now has blog?
5 Kevin Paulson - HuntingLife // Jan 13, 2012 at 1:58 pm
WOW!!! What a way to create some negative buzz right before the biggest show of the year. Whether a blogger, site, writer or personality has a 100 readers a day or 5K, the bottom line is that most of them have the right readers who are interested in that niche subject which makes their readers buyers. GunsAmerica is missing the boat, I saw on their site they have a blog which every blogger could be linking to in their blogroll and driving massive traffic to their site. As well they have a Create Your own Site section which could be a win/win for outdoor gun writers who could write reviews about the guns they love and sell them directly to their readers. Outdoor Media whether it is in print or electronic blog form is here to stay and any company not willing to embrace it is missing the boat. Just my humble opinion of course!!
6 Gregory Markle // Jan 13, 2012 at 2:08 pm
These comments make me proud that we only post firearms on Gunbroker and various Class III oriented sites. Any thoughts we had about possibly using GunsAmerica have been completely banished by this attitude. I wonder if they realize how many customers come to us looking for items they saw on such-and-such weblog and even if they didn’t hear about it on the internet, they search for reviews and get opinions there. These guys can go hang out in the corner with the Elmer Fudds who tsk-tsk the young uns with their tinker toy rifles and Tupperware pistols…Gun Culture 2.0 is the future whether they like it or not.
7 El Bombardero // Jan 13, 2012 at 2:34 pm
hey, FUCK those guys…..amirite?
Signed,
A Nobody
8 mike w. // Jan 13, 2012 at 3:11 pm
I never used Gunsamerica before because of their godawful interface / layout. Now I have extra incentive not to use them.
Nice job Gunsamerica! Way to help your business!
9 Paul // Jan 13, 2012 at 3:31 pm
What a shame. The Internet has changed everything and those who choose to believe differently will simply fade away.
10 Ben C // Jan 13, 2012 at 3:57 pm
Hmm, I never knew GunsAmerica had assholes out trolling the internet. Learn something new every day.
11 Fuck GunsAmerica.com | Guns For Everyone // Jan 13, 2012 at 4:17 pm
[…] Found out about this nonsense HERE […]
12 Bob Owens // Jan 13, 2012 at 4:48 pm
I get it that some people don’t get the gunny blogosphere. I don’t get that a internet gun company doesn’t get the gun blogosphere.
You might think that they might be aware that some of these “no-name” gun bloggers might also write for other media outlets, gun magazines, web sites, or blogs under their own or other names, or appear on the radio or television.
Of course, that assumes that everyone is willing to do their homework… and this guy obviously wasn’t. Don’t poop where you eat, GunsAmerica.
13 Capitalist Pig // Jan 13, 2012 at 5:10 pm
Well said, Bob!
Most in the gunny blogosphere are quite humble and don’t feel the need to shout “don’t you know who I am” at every opportunity.
Unfortunately, Paul managed to ignore every point in Chris Dolnack’s post.
14 Cargosquid // Jan 13, 2012 at 8:10 pm
GunsAmerica?
Never heard of them.
Must be a nobody.
15 Chuck Z // Jan 14, 2012 at 5:28 am
Here’s a thought: Gun bloggers actually like guns. We shoot them. We do show and tell. We understand the vast differences between them, and we don’t think they are evil or otherwise likely to do anything on their own. We understand the differences between clips and magazines, between semi-automatics and automatics, between bullets, rounds and ammunition. We frequently write about how the vast majority of journalists and “professional” writers so very often fuck up the details, both minor and important, when writing about guns.
We are tremendous supporters of second amendment rights and watchdogs of those who would impede on those rights. We spend large sums (large for us, anyway) on guns, ammunition, targets, gear, and collaboration. When we find a company we like, we are fiercely loyal. When we find one that we don’t, we are very vocal about why we don’t like it (see: Paypal.)
Why should the gun industry give us respect?
Because we are the thing they want the most: a consumer who not only buys their product, but is willing to review it for others, tell stories about the product’s use, and provide feedback to the industry on strengths and shortcomings. We are more than willing to share success stories (any dealings with Brownell’s, for instance) and abject failures (any dealing with ParaOrdinance support, for example.)
We are your base.
Maybe, just maybe, the idea that one satisfied customer will tell three people, but a dissatisfied customer will tell dozens, should give you pause. Sure, we aren’t CNN, or MSNBC, or Fox. We don’t have the immediate readership of tens of thousands. What we do have is the readership of a very specific segment of the American population–coincidentally, the exact same segment who buys your products.
Do you really think Rachel Maddow, Hannity, Olbermann, or any of the other talking heads could give an honest evaluation of your products? Do you think that in the editor’s box, where most like to equate guns=violence, you’ll really get a fair shake? Or do you suppose that it is the active shooter, the gun enthusiast, the target hobbiest or the hunters and outdoorsmen who will provide you (and some of your customers) with better feedback?
I think you should vet the people who report at the SHOT show. Question #1: Do you own a gun? 2. Do you carry your gun? 3. Do you want more guns? 4. Which gun do you prefer for home defense vs. burglars? vs. zombies?
16 Grammar Man // Jan 14, 2012 at 10:49 am
Hard to take that seriously when the grammar and tense is so horrible.
17 paul helinski of gunsamerica fails at the internet | walls of the city // Jan 14, 2012 at 12:25 pm
[…] sum it up. GunsAmerica has officially lost my business, and I am definitely, definitely, definitely, definitely, definitely far from alone. Furthermore, I would strongly encourage my […]
18 Jeremiah // Jan 16, 2012 at 8:54 am
Well another reason not to use gunsamerica. No real loss as their website leaves a lot to be desired and is about the crummiest layout to navigate.
19 GMF 02: Death to Bloggers! « WeaponsMan // Jan 17, 2012 at 1:12 pm
[…] other bloggers nobodies had a field day. Like Bob Owens. And "Mz VRWC" at "Great Satan, Inc." (what a blog […]
20 Steve // Jan 21, 2012 at 4:11 pm
I don’t understand the snobbery which exists in the shooting or hunting sports. Our Second Amendment liberties are continuously under attack.
Instead of this bickering about firearms/ammo/news & blog sites, we should be uniting as ONE voting block to ensure our kids will have Second Amendment liberties.
21 Life in 3D » Blog Archive » GunsAmerica Epic Fail… Again // Jan 23, 2012 at 5:41 pm
[…] say that gun bloggers aren’t “real” journalists and that they had to deal with “nobodies who can install wordpress and have nobody reading anything they write” at the SHOT show, and now they are talking about “Man […]
22 Everyone Else is Talking About GunsAmerica’s Paul Helinski, So I Guess I Will Too « Vuurwapen Blog // Jan 29, 2012 at 10:35 am
[…] NSSF blog that didn't sit too well with the firearm blogging community. You can read about it here, here, and […]
23 Sawgunnerusmc // Jan 29, 2012 at 3:15 pm
I went to Gunsamerica.com Just once, And never went back.
24 Tam // Jan 31, 2012 at 9:59 am
Considering that the Gunsamerica.com blog has a tenth of the Google reader subscriptions that my crappy little personal blog does, he needs to put a sock in it.
25 Help a Gunblogger Nobody Cover the 2012 NRA Convention for Outdoor Channel | Great Satan, Inc. // Mar 24, 2012 at 1:29 pm
[…] that it would be super cool for a gun blogger nobody to win, I entered the contest by submitting a video, and now it’s time for judging! Outdoor […]
26 Billy Bob // May 8, 2012 at 6:49 am
I am an interested party. I see pissing an moaning, but I have not seen a single thing that is substantive. And I came here after being on gunsamerica.com I was looking for substantive criticism, all I saw was links to unassociated comments and noting to do with the issues of free speach, press, advertising, or anything else. I found Gunasameriac more compelling. And I have nevere, ever, done $0.01 business with them, or with anything I saw on their web page. So, if there is a beef,” Where’s the Beef?” (the quotes are to show this is not my phrase; I could write my own, but this one is at least adequate).
27 winchester // Jun 6, 2012 at 10:22 pm
Way to go GA What an idiot Unreal
28 You’re doing it right | Misfires And Light Strikes // Jul 26, 2012 at 4:25 pm
[…] the big honking example of how to NOT engage with gunbloggers earlier this year, kudos to Crimson Trace for doing it the right way and inviting Tam and a few […]
29 Kissing to make up? | The Packing Rat // Jan 13, 2013 at 7:36 pm
[…] recall the negative attention Mr. Helinski of Guns America received last year. I didn’t take offense; therefore, made no comment on […]
30 Who uses Guns America?? ....Might want to rethink that.... // Feb 21, 2014 at 9:58 am
[…] is time to sum it up. GunsAmerica has officially lost my business, and Iam definitely, definitely, definitely, definitely, definitely far from alone. Furthermore, I would strongly encourage my readership to […]