Andy,
Having been a sales rep for many years, I'll take a shot at this quandry of yours. Many independant reps carry several different lines of merchandise, and have massive sales routes...I'd try to contact some distributors such as this to start. (some smaller brokers may be willing!) I'd ALSO get around to as many tackle shops as I could and represent my OWN product. The profits are a whole lot better for you if you can sign stores up on your own!
There's also a deal called guarunteed sale. I've rep'd products under this category before. You drop off X amount of product, and see if it sells! The store pays up front in most cases, and then, after a resonable time, if it hasn't sold, you reimbuse them or provide restocks on the products that HAVE sold! It's a foot in the door! It can be a very effective way to get product IN stores!
It looks like your product would merchandise very nicely on what is called a "clip strip" They're the strips of jigs and such you see hanging in stores with whatever on them...usually jigs and lures I see are stapled to light cardboard strips about a foot long with an S hook at the top, they also have plastic doowahs like this with places to hang product. The advantage to this is that shelf space is usually at a premium, and you can sometimes squeeze YOUR product into a store initially by displaying on clipstrips! THEN, once it's proven itself...it'll get a permanant home!
Regarding the website...it looks like you've got a nice product...I'd suggest getting it up OFF the floor and displayed in a nice looking setup...maybe a tabletop draped with fabric...outside on some river rocks...your display board looks professional...your packaging looks good...just try getting some shots where you're not looking DOWN on your product! You want to represent it in the best way possible...cause, it IS the BEST...RIGHT?!?!?
Boy do I EVER sound like an EX sales rep!!! But, that's my .02 cents worth!!! Hope that'll help you!!
Had a friend that used to call on all the main Steelhead areas...I'll see if I can find his number and if he's still doin' it! I'll look into some other telephone numbers for you as well!!
L
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"Great spirits have always encountered opposition from mediocre minds!" Albert Einstein
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"The best way to find yoruself, is to lose yourself in the service of others."
Mahatma Gandhi
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