Aviation Marketing Intelligence http://adamwebster.com Business advice from start ups to shut downs. Wed, 24 Aug 2011 21:21:53 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3 en Time to buy http://adamwebster.com/2011/08/24/time-to-buy/ http://adamwebster.com/2011/08/24/time-to-buy/#comments Wed, 24 Aug 2011 17:17:58 +0000 adam http://adamwebster.com/2011/08/24/time-to-buy/ At the risk of sounding arrogant, I’m just going to say it: I know which ones to buy, what to pay for them and how to do the deal. I’ve been through enough cycles of aviation armageddon that I have a pretty good idea on how you can get a turboprop or jet for less than that schmuck that is always trumpeting on about his plane. As Mr Buffett says, when people are scared - be greedy.

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]]> http://adamwebster.com/2011/08/24/time-to-buy/feed/ Turboprop 101 http://adamwebster.com/2011/02/20/in-praise-of-the-pt-6/ http://adamwebster.com/2011/02/20/in-praise-of-the-pt-6/#comments Sun, 20 Feb 2011 14:24:42 +0000 adam http://adamwebster.com/2011/02/20/in-praise-of-the-pt-6/ The thing about turboprop engines, is the degree of confusion they cause amongst non-pilots. “Oh, it’s a prop.” Yes, there is a propeller, but that’s the only commonality to the more dangerous cousin you are referring to - the piston engine with a prop nailed to it. When you hear what sounds like a big vacuum cleaner, with a subtle “boom” after the click click click of the ignitors is heard, you can be assured you are not flying in a piston powered aircraft. You are also, suddenly, in the realm of expensive stuff where how you start and operate the engine has hundreds of thousands of dollars of ramifications, not just tens.
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]]> http://adamwebster.com/2011/02/20/in-praise-of-the-pt-6/feed/ IRMI & the return of money. http://adamwebster.com/2011/02/14/writing-for-irmi-evidence-of-money-is-back/ http://adamwebster.com/2011/02/14/writing-for-irmi-evidence-of-money-is-back/#comments Mon, 14 Feb 2011 15:22:45 +0000 adam http://adamwebster.com/2011/02/14/writing-for-irmi-evidence-of-money-is-back/ I’ve been writing for IRMI for years now and recently I was asked to get off my alpha sierra sierra and to submit something. So I cobbled together what I think is a good bit on what is happening in the land of small business in the US and Canada. While most of the frequenters of this blog know that I’m pretty obsessed with adequate aircraft utilization, the jist of this piece is to help the newcomers navigate the complexities of buying an aircraft and setting up the flight department.
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]]> http://adamwebster.com/2011/02/14/writing-for-irmi-evidence-of-money-is-back/feed/ SEO, Real Estate and Private Charter http://adamwebster.com/2010/11/11/seo-real-estate-and-private-charter/ http://adamwebster.com/2010/11/11/seo-real-estate-and-private-charter/#comments Fri, 12 Nov 2010 00:04:32 +0000 adam http://adamwebster.com/2010/11/11/seo-real-estate-and-private-charter/ Recently my wife became a realtor, specializing in real estate near Hawkesbury, Ontario, in a small town called Vankleek Hill. The cool thing about helping someone outside of private aviation is realizing that the internet (specifically driving traffic) actually has an ROI that makes sense if the campaign is structured properly. And therein lies the rub for private aviation - pay per click doesn’t work, when the folks flying aren’t the ones clicking.
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]]> http://adamwebster.com/2010/11/11/seo-real-estate-and-private-charter/feed/ Jepp Props to Sullenberger http://adamwebster.com/2010/09/15/proper-pdf-props/ http://adamwebster.com/2010/09/15/proper-pdf-props/#comments Thu, 16 Sep 2010 00:19:04 +0000 adam http://adamwebster.com/2010/09/15/proper-pdf-props/ Capt Sullenberger is to be immortalized for the Hudson River class act of playing it by the book and keeping it cool. Bravo to him for not killing anyone and be sure to download this PDF from Jeppesen for good artwork to adorn your cave with.

[Slashdot] [Digg] [Reddit] [del.icio.us] [Facebook] [Technorati] [Google] [StumbleUpon] ]]> http://adamwebster.com/2010/09/15/proper-pdf-props/feed/ Buffett Bargains http://adamwebster.com/2010/01/18/fly-right-by-buying-right/ http://adamwebster.com/2010/01/18/fly-right-by-buying-right/#comments Mon, 18 Jan 2010 14:27:32 +0000 adam http://adamwebster.com/2010/01/18/fly-right-by-buying-right/ The refreshing part of reading the New Yorker is knowing that so many jet and fractional owners are reading it too.

This article highlights one critical thing that leads to fantastic failures of start ups and large well established corporations alike, not to mention the umpteen air taxi start ups fueled by delusional assessments of how business people actually use private and commercial aviation.

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]]> http://adamwebster.com/2010/01/18/fly-right-by-buying-right/feed/ Buying Fractional Jets Right http://adamwebster.com/2009/12/20/musical-fractional-shares/ http://adamwebster.com/2009/12/20/musical-fractional-shares/#comments Sun, 20 Dec 2009 17:41:44 +0000 adam http://adamwebster.com/2009/12/20/musical-fractional-shares/ The tough part about the childhood game of musical chairs is knowing that some fellow party goer gets the axe every time the music stops. Worse, it could be you if you aren’t fast enough in terms of lunging for that chair. While it would have been a stretch to say this about fractional ownership (or new positions in an Eclipse!) years ago, the fact is that we did.
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]]> http://adamwebster.com/2009/12/20/musical-fractional-shares/feed/ Rent Your Jet (Yes, *your* jet.) http://adamwebster.com/2009/09/30/the-owner-and-you/ http://adamwebster.com/2009/09/30/the-owner-and-you/#comments Wed, 30 Sep 2009 22:46:16 +0000 adam http://adamwebster.com/2009/09/30/the-owner-and-you/ When we sent this out in January 2009, we had already laid much of the ground work for www.jetowner.com.

The trick with marketing in the private aviation space is knowing a couple of things:

    The Internet is big - Too big.Think of it like the ocean and of the 34 billion herring in the sea.  There are 34,000 that might need your aviation service.  Hunting them via pay per click campaigns, etc., is almost guaranteeing you to spend more on each client than they generate for you.
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    ]]> http://adamwebster.com/2009/09/30/the-owner-and-you/feed/ Jet and Fractional Owner Update http://adamwebster.com/2009/08/30/jet-and-fractional-owner-update/ http://adamwebster.com/2009/08/30/jet-and-fractional-owner-update/#comments Sun, 30 Aug 2009 22:26:00 +0000 adam http://adamwebster.com/2009/09/30/jet-and-fractional-owner-update/

    Admittedly this is one of the toughest times on record for the industry, be it operator, manager, or owner. When we launched the Fractional Forum in 2003, we had already laid much of the groundwork for the Jet Owner Group. The idea was to fill the void: Give the person in back truly objective and honest information on how the industry worked.

    The key to navigating uncertain times is to understand what you already know. The private air charter industry exists at the pleasure of those who are generous enough to buy an aircraft for the local, regional, or national charter operation of their choice. Being smart about investing in that aircraft typically means understanding all the dynamics that erode the fixed, variable, and true depreciation costs.”

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    ]]>     http://adamwebster.com/2009/08/30/jet-and-fractional-owner-update/feed/     Canned Meat http://adamwebster.com/2009/07/19/permission-for-spam/ http://adamwebster.com/2009/07/19/permission-for-spam/#comments Sun, 19 Jul 2009 17:24:59 +0000 adam http://adamwebster.com/2009/09/20/permission-for-spam/ This spam photo comes care of Michael W. Jackson, who was kind enough to leave it at the Wikimedia Commons for rushed writers to use so long as we attribute it properly

    The reality of spam is that it is so common to your mail server is that you don’t get to see a lot of mail.

    In the aviation paradigm this leaves me wondering how will any FBO, charter firm, etc. actually get anyone to read mail. We are an industry of spammers. The NBAA lists and empty legs alone are a testament to vacuous mail that has little or no value, but yet swamps your inbox.

    When you misbehave with email, it can get serious, since filters will just blacklist your vapid and unwanted content.

    For the record, misbehaving means sending email without explicit permission. That one statement encompasses 99% of aviation marketing mail. Have you ever noticed that Netjets never spammed you, nor Pfizer or McDonalds? That’s because their marketing folk have serious accountability for long term damage they cause to their brand.
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