Barbecue Competitions…Are Higher Gas Prices Preventing You From Entering More Barbecue Competitions…?
July 15, 2008 by admin
Filed under Personal development, unconvential Thinking
I was reading a very interesting Blog post today by Kevin Bevington who publishes his blog at HomeBBQ.com.
HomeBBQ.com is a very nice site offering a ton of free barbecue information. You can also buy their quality barbecue rubs and sauces they actually use while cooking for HomeBBQ.com competition team.
So anyway, Kevin was discussing how the increasing price of gas has kept him and his team from traveling to competitions further away from his home base and out of state.
You can read Kevin’s post right here!
Kevin’s fear is some of the smaller events who depend on out of state cooking teams or teams who travel further distances will start to go away because teams will no longer travel to them.
Now there is no debating the price of gas has made it very difficult for many people to make their bills much less travel all over the country to attend barbecue competitions.
But I have a real problem with the mentally of people who say ” I cant afford this ” or “this is too expensive”
I think the better question to ask is ” How can I afford it?”
However it’s totally understandable–I mean I used to say those same words until I started reading and hanging around successful people.
You see, what I’ve learned is once you say, ” I can’t” your mind automatically shuts down. You loose your resourcefulness.
But if you ask yourself ” How can I do something” or “How can afford it” your mind goes to work.
Don’t believe me? Fine, try it yourself…
Next time you find yourself in a tough situation and you find yourself saying ” I cant afford this, or I can’t do this, or I can’t figure this out” tell your brain to STOP!
Then you’ll want to grab a sheet of paper and write “How Can I (blank)” at the top of your paper. Next, just start answering your question…
You’ll be amazed how creative your mind can be!
I left a comment in Kevin’s blog stating I don’t think gas is effecting my family all that much. While we do feel a pinch it’s not to the point where we have to stay home, pull the curtains shut and lock the doors.
You see, what I did is I started to ask myself the question. “How can I afford it?” or “How can I make more money for my family?”
So what I’ve done is create a business around my passion for barbecue. That’s right BBQFreaks.com is a business and anytime I travel to a barbecue event, restaurant or whatever, I make a note of my miles and I keep all copies of my receipts.
If I attend a competition I hand out flyer’s, business cards and t-shirts. If I eat at a BBQ Restaurant I’ll mention it in my blog and do a review.
In other words I’ve created a perfectly legal and ethical way to enjoy barbecue passion and to also build and grow a business to take advantages of certain tax breaks offered by the U.S. Government.
And here’s the other thing, I’m able to make some extra money with my business so I’m able to EXPAND my means– rather than shrink away.
So many of us allow our salary to dictate our lifestyle–why not make a salary to suit your lifestyle?
I know these can be very obscure and controversial comments to you and I understand this. I was the same way. All I’m asking you to do is open your mind and ask yourself ” How Can I” instead of saying ” I can’t”
After all, you owe it to your Country, your family and most importantly–you owe it to yourself!
Now go smoke something, Bill Parlaman
If you enjoyed this please post your thoughts in the comment box below. I’d love to know what you’re thinking and what’s going through your mind.
If you own a barbecue business and you would like to discover unconventional ways to market your business please shoot me an email or contact me through my blog!
Its all about underground maverick marketing baby!
I understand you point. I also publish a bbq blog and run a bbq business.
On July 6, I wrote a similar post about ways to make bbq contests more affordable on my own BBQ Blog.
I applaud anyone that starts a business, whether it is bbq related or not. But, I think the bbq contest organizers and sanctioning bodies also bear some of the responsibility for increasing corporate sponsorship and making it possible to at least earn back your expenses. A category win or even a RGC is not a guarantee anymore. It used to be. Costs have risen, but prize money has not.
It’s all tied to spectators, or the lack of them. For corporate sponsorship, you have to have spectators. Many, many contests are poorly attended. I think those events are going to struggle in the future.
Brian,
First of all I want to thank you for taking the time for posting your comments. It really means a lot to me.
I don’t want anyone to take what I said the wrong way.
I know it’s tough out there, heck the gas prices are hard on me too!
I feel your pain!
But the point I was trying to make is far too many play victim and don’t try to take matters into their own hands.
They give up right away and rather than try to find a way to make it, they just give up.
So, to get back to your point, How can we improve the prize money to encourage more teams to participate?
I know up here in the Northeast we have waiting lists for comps…what are we doing up here in the Northeast that other areas are not?
Bill,
I applaud your can do attitude and while many of us have made a business out of our love of BBQ, to many of us in competitive bbq, not that I’m in Kevin’s league, this is still primarily a hobby or at best a side business.
On average, a contest in the tri-state NYC area will cost a team about $1,000. Now if the family attends with me, add another $500. That includes gas, meat, entry, tolls, etc, but keeping it very very simple.
That’s $1,500 for the weekend. This is not exactly a cheap hobby or start up.
Unlike Kevin, I’ve never won an event. This is money straight out of my pocket. I don’t have an end product to sell except for my blog. Most people who have made money from their competition experiences are people like Kevin, who’ve won enough events to be able to market their BBQ or BBQ related product as award winning. Or already have a restaurant to promote.
The majority of folks who compete that I know, do it simply for their love of competition and BBQ. Most don’t do it for the chance to recoup their expenses.
As for the Northeast having contests with waiting lists isn’t exactly accurate. There are some contests that fill up, most don’t. Connecticut has been unable to come up with an event this year. Contests are struggling all over.
BrooklyQ,
Thanks for checking in. I really do appreciate your comments and I really enjoy you’re blog, http://www.whitetrashBBQ.com.
I completely understand the money thing.
I really do. I was just trying to make a point, and its just my opinion people are using high gas prices as an excuse.
For instance, my girlfriend and I headed down to the beach this weekend and it was a ghost town.
I’m thinking part of this is due to the higher gas prices.
But when I think about it, before gas was up over $4.00 a gallon it used to cost me say $35.00 to fill up. Now it cost me about $55.00. So there is a $20.00 difference of course its round trip so I’ll say its an additional $40.00.
I don’t think $40.00 is enough to keep me from heading to the beach for a weekend get away or to keep me from driving to a BBQ competition.
I just think people may be better served learning a new skill or trying to figure out a way to make a few extra dollars to offset their expenses.
I’m trying to inspire!
I’d recommend picking up “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill, Rich Dad Poor Dad and the Cash Flow Quadrant. Also, go to Itunes and get yourself a copy of Earl Nightingale’s ” Lead the Field.”
Just see if you can get inspired!