Secret Pro Audio Sale

Hey All - check our site, www.gearsource.com later today for a link where you can get a password for the sale beginning on Wednesday morning. There are 100s of items being put on sale for this event and you can only see the sale prices with a Password. Good Luck!

Marcel

Beamers are On!

The next battle for Moving lights seems to be forming on BIG BEAM lights. They started with High End’s Showgun - a large, bright wash fixture with a big tight beam - and even (sorta) gobo projections. I always thought the Showgun was a pretty cool light, but outside of a few early adopters, it hasn’t sold really well. In fact, I’ve heard pretty low prices outta High End recently. Prices that show approximately a 30% drop from early dealer cost numbers.

Next came Varilite with their VL3500 wash. Their claim was that it’s as bright as the Showgun, and now also offers a single gobo wheel for Effects.

In from nowhere comes Clay Paky with, what I thought anyway, was the coolest light at last year’s LDI show. The Alpha Beam 300 is 300 Watt Beam light that produces a natural 8 degree fat beam. At LDI they were blasting it across the hall. Here was this little 300 watt light putting a spot on a wall a few hundred feet away. Impressive. With PRG now distributing the product in the USA, I think this light may have a shot in big rentals.

I’ve recently learned that now Coemar are also showing an early version of their Beam light. Not sure what it’s called - but again, it’s meant to be small wattage BIG effect.

After all, with video, what is it that designers are looking for? They want Beams. Beams moving through the air, or fog - and providing texture to the show.

What do I know… I just sell the stuff. If you’re in the rental biz though - you should probably be looking to add Beams to your mover arsenal.

Marcel

More on Production Loop!

For a couple of hundred dollars per year, is it worth marketing your company, and your gear to hundreds of thousands of users every month? That’s exactly the opportunity we’ll give you when we launch this site (late) in October.

Production Loop should really change the way everyone in the production industry markets their business’. Manufacturers will be able to TARGET their advertising to specific user types, or even geographies. End Users will be able to locate exactly the gear they need, a rental company for an event, or maybe even an event for their services..

This site is going to be like MySpace or Facebook for the production world. and it’ll be priced in a way that you can spend nothing and get benefits, or spend a little bit of money from your current marketing budget, and get a TON of targeted response.

Standby for more - or got HERE to sign up for further updates.

Marcel

A New Era for the “Sources”

My combined companies - Gearsource and LEDsource will get quite a face lift next week when my old friend Betsy (formerly Betsy Halpin) comes in to whip some sense into our financials. We’ve done very well for ourselves considering, but now that we’re all grown up (by corporate standards…) we need a more grown up approach to the accounting and administrative aspects of the business.

Monday, Betsy takes over the reins and will really stand to become my right hand person in many aspects of running these business’ and growing our companies to become powerhouses.

If I seem excited about this development, it’s because I really am. I am thrilled to be in a position to bring in a CFO / COO and excited about the massive difference she’ll make in our business.

If you know Betsy, be sure to call her next week - and welcome her back to the industry. She’s pretty pumped!

Marcel

Summer Blues…

People keep asking us how to move their gear during the slower summer months, and to be honest, there’s not a magic answer to this question. Obviously Price is always a factor in motivating people to buy your gear over another piece of gear when times are slow, however, believe it or not, price is not the ONLY factor. Here are a couple of other important issues…

Plan for Fall!
Remember, a lot of our clients are in the business of Shows. Fall tours, corporate meetings, tradeshows, television events - it all heats up in the fall. Therefore, companies will start making purchases now for gear they need in September. Be smart! Include free freight or a special price if purchased in August, throw in warranty for 6 months. Do something that makes your gear stand out!

Buy The Right Gear
Don’t fall for manufacturer hype. Pay very close attention to what the market is doing - and ride the market. For example, sell your Varilites while VL is still the hottest gear on earth! Don’t wait until you’ve beat it to death, and the market has softened. Sell at the top - and if the future looks good, buy the same gear! You’ll make your money back quickly on rentals, then sell them again in no more than 2 years!

Make your listings look good!
I know I already said you need your listing to stand out - but this is more the Physical aspect. Taking good photos, providing additional information such as hours, age, etc - it’s all stuff that makes our buyers choose yours over something cheaper but with less detail available.

Update your pricing more often
If a piece of gear isn’t selling, continue updating the price every week or so. This will get your gear in our Daily updates, and eventually will hit someone who’s interested. You don’t have to drop the price by 10% each time either. Sometimes just 1 or 2% does it.

Pay Attention to Pricing
People come to us all the time and say “You’d got these listed at $1000 and mine are cleaner so I should be able to get 1200. Well, while that might be true - it’s also possible that the $1000 listing has been there for two years. We are currently working on Seller Tools that will allow you to make better pricing decisions. Until then, either ask one of our people - or look around and try to form a consensus.

Watch the Need Zone
So few of our users pay close attention to this area of the site. Basically - as a vendor, you should ALWAYS watch the Need Zone. This is where our users are posting listings of things they’re looking to buy, typically IMMEDIATELY. Watch the Need Zone - and try to match items from your stock with items people seek.

Strength in Numbers!
Basically, this just means that the more gear you list, the more you’ll sell. Sounds obvious, but people don’t get it. Putting up 1 listing might get you a sale in a day - but might take a year. Putting up 100 listings will almost always get you a sale weekly!

That’s about all I can suggest for now. In addition, always stay in contact with our helpful staff. They’ll be happy to continually steer you in the right direction on the topic of what’s selling, and at what pricing.

Marcel

Mobile Staging Takes Off!

We’ve recently cut a deal (soon to be announced in a press release) with Mega-Stage in Montreal Canada. GearSource.com will exclusively represent their stages in the USA, and will help to promote their name through marketing on our site.

This is a big deal for a number of reasons. First, Mega-Stage is a hardcore competitor to StageLine who have been the front runner in that market for a long time. In fact, in the Eastern Canadian Market, these two fight like cats and dogs. It’s a very competitive industry we’ve learned.

Additionally, as a whole, the Mobile Staging market is growing very rapidly. Not only are these stages much easier to erect, they also don’t require the same permitting in many tough staging markets (Miami Beach comes to mind).

We’ve done a great deal of research, and Mega-Stage not only compete on price, but in quality - they offer product over and above that being offered by Stageline and others.

Following is a shot of one of Mega’s largest offerings, the behemoth 70 X 52 which hardly even looks like a Mobile stage.

Mega-Stage 70 X 52 Mobile Stage

Get In The Loop!

Well, I’ve been hinting for a while that Rental-Source is being redesigned, and re-branded. The new site, Production Loop is expected to launch on 9/1/08.

We (my partner Henry and I) are THRILLED about the new site for a number of reasons. 1 - it’s going to be cheaper for companies to list their inventory! Our goal is that everyone on earth can afford to get their gear up for the world to see.

Secondly, there are a TON of really cool Social Networking aspects to this new site. By clicking into a Rental company, you will be able to see the manufacturers they’re “Looped” to - along with a ton of info about the company, their recent events, and more.

Similarly, when you go to a manufacturer, and click on a particular product - you will be able to “Loop” in to Dealers and Rental Providers for that product. Find anything fast is going to be our goal.

Be sure to come back and check out the site. You can also go to the current holding page at www.ProductionLoop.com and sign up to be notified as things progress.

This site should be able to change the way people locate inventory, other people, rental companies, etc. I hope you will support it as much as you have Rental-Source!

Marcel

I’m For Sale - first guy with $55 Million!

Obviously, it’s fun to watch companies buy other companies, and create huge conglomerates - but at the same time, it often just doesn’t make sense to me.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the guys at High End. If anyone deserves a payout, it’s Lowell and Richard (yeah, bob too I guess…) because it’s them who had the foresight and energy to build a highly respected brand. Along the way - sure, they’ve made mistakes - but in the end, they’ve not managed to hurt a successful brand name.

However… $55 million?? I have always heard that most offers were in the mid 20’s (and some less..) then all of a sudden someone comes in at double, or triple that amount. I am certain this had everything to do with a horrible dollar, and healthy Euro. The price is heavily discounted when you look at it that way. I just don’t understand the math though - but that’s just me.

The only problem is - the money isn’t going to those who deserve it most. The big winner on this deal is Generation Partners, who converted loans to equity and ended up owning a majority. Not sure what percentage the founders will receive, but I am sure it’s enough to put a smile on each of their faces after all of the vultures have taken their cuts.

Congrats guys - and please, send any future buyers over here. I’d love an over-payment myself!!

Free LED Retrofit Lamps!!

This week, one of my companies - LED Source made an interesting more to establish a “Referral Program” for friends of mine, my partner, and really - anyone who works in the company.

We created a deal whereby a friend can purchase LED Replacement fixtures for use in his / her home replacing the Incandescents. In addition to the MASSIVE electric savings (approximately 80-90%) my “friend” will be buying these fixtures at our cost. In return, all we ask is that they sign a simple sheet stating that the friend will show these lights to their visitors, and will try to explain the benefit. Then - they can hand their visitor a Discount card - that will entitle them to a discount on the same fixtures from LED Source.

When their visitor makes a purchase, we will automatically credit our friend’s account for $5 / lamp purchased. In the end, the goal is to AT LEAST cover the cost of the friend’s initial lamp retrofit.

Cool idea huh?

Marcel

Lightfair 2008 Show Notes

I survived yet another Vegas tradeshow, this time, Lightfair 2008. Had a whole bunch of fun, and oh yeah, got a little work done as well.

The biggest thing I realized was that LED source really do represent the best of the best in the LED world. At this show, our manufacturers were the guys showing all of the coolest stuff.

Color Kinetics with the new Color Reach (a wash light capable of lighting a 400ft tower) showed well. The Color Reach represents a new level of LED wash light. No one else has even attempted to do something this big. CK will own the market on this one, at least for a little while. We’re told it’ll ship in October. You can be sure that LED Source will be all over that unit.

LLF, now Cree Lighting Solutions, showed their new 24″ Panel. This product will easily replace 24″ X 48″ Fluorescents. It’s bright, looks great, and will ship in a couple of months. LED Source already have several on spec.

A new line for LED Source is Renaissance Lighting. Their new 4″ RGB Downlight is about the coolest recessed downlight on the market. It offers very smooth color blending, and dimming - plus total uniformity in appearance (no Red, Green and Blue LEDs). Control options include a Dial, Bluetooth and even Crestron. LED source has the units in stock, so feel free to request a sample, pricing, etc.

Elation and Acclaim were at the show displaying several new products in their Architectural and Entertainment ranges. More on that later.

Other highlights at the show included another LED Source offering, Nexxus with their new PAR 30 Replacement lamp - offering 95 Lumens per watt in a very small, lightweight (and BRIGHT) package. Otherwise, it was more of the same. 100s of Asian manufacturers displaying products that appeared to be the same, plus a ton of Street lights. I guess that one makes a whole lotta sense considering the energy savings - however, not a market that interests me a bunch.

Stay tuned for more later. Ciao for now.

Marcel