LISTEN TO THE PODCAST HERE:
Bruce: Three, two, one . . . Welcome to another web, wait a minute. Welcome to another episode of Whitetail Rendezvous. Welcome to our community. Today I have Jake Hoffer. Jake a unique individual. He is a college student, he does run a company called Common Scents Deer Urine, and he’s a contributor to a fast growing blog called Wild Open Spaces. Jake, why don’t you say hello to our listening audience?
Jake: How’s it going? I’m happy to be here and talk about some deer hunting.
Bruce: How did you get into the deer urine business?
Jake: Yeah, so I grew up, ever since I was born we had deer. It was always like family dogs or cattle, you know? They were in the backyard. We used to grow shooter buck for various game farms in Missouri, Texas, but then a lot of money was getting corn into market and therefore, it kind of got bloated. So we kicked back on the genetic side of it, but we loved deer and we kept them around. A couple years later, I go to college and no one is really collecting fresh deer urine, so I figured, hey let’s give it a shot and it’s been going well ever since.
Bruce: So your parents own a deer farm, I heard you say that in our warm up to the show. So how did you do the market analysis and all the things that you typically do to decide this stuff can sell?
Jake: Well, I mean, I just kind of looked around the market and I’m thinking, all right, hunters buy the best stuff possible. They buy scent lock, and they’ll spend thousands of dollars on a bow. Why would they want to go buy deer urine at Walmart that’s been sitting on a shelf for who knows how long when you can buy it from us where it’s collected and shipped the same day and it’s the freshest possible? Also on Twitter I made an account that caught a lot of traction. I’m thinking, well I have this cornered, this specific market. I love to deer hunt, I can market the product on there and I’ve been getting millions of hits on that Twitter account every since and I think its’ really panning out and I look forward to growing and developing as I go. I’m not an expert, I’m a college student, I’m learning as I go.
Bruce: What are you studying in college?
Jake: My freshman year I was studying criminal justice, but this year I switched to a double major with PR and Marketing, also.
Bruce: And you don’t have to answer this, but is your business paying for your college these days?
Jake: It definitely helps out. I’m not Duck Dynasty by all means right now, but it’s definitely been nice. A little supplement income and it’s something that I really enjoy doing, so it’s definitely a bonus.
Bruce: Tell us about your blog writing.
Jake: Yeah, so I started writing for Wide Open Spaces about two months ago and it’s been a real blast. Every day gives me a reason to look around on the web and see what’s trending and I’m learning a lot from a writing stand point. Not only that, but I get to write about stuff that I like. And once again, that’s been a nice little supplement to my income as a college student. So it’s been a real blast. I’m learning a lot and just becoming a better writer overall.
Bruce: Now how did you get connected with them?