Friday, May 29, 2009

Angler Tournament Director Creates Thriving Fish Taxidermy Store

In Ernest Hemingway's classic tale, The Old Man and the Sea, Hemingway wrote:

You did not kill the fish only to keep alive and to sell for food...You killed him for pride and because you are a fisherman.

Troy Denson, founder of Mount This Fish Company, (mountthis.net)knows about that pride. From 2000-08, Denson was the Tournament director for the Hot Fishing Circuit, a circuit of 24 offshore fishing tournaments off Florida's East Coast.

Eventually, the wear-and-tear that comes from eight years of long days at sea and battles with mother nature began to takeits toll, and Denson decided to take his passion for fish to the land.

It's tough because you can prepare perfectly and Mother Nature makes you postpone it. In 2001, I was running fishing tournaments and I needed a cheaper, more affordable prize to use as trophies. I contacted one of our local taxidermists and he was running half-sided replicas. We started re-selling his products and the business expanded from there.

Mount This creates incredibly realistic fish mount replicas (also commonly called fish replica, fish taxidermy, fiberglass fish replica) that are ideal decorations for any setting, inside or out. Their full mount fish replicas and half-sided fish replicas are available in many different species including freshwater and saltwater fish from all regions of the United States as well as other areas around the world. Browse through their collection of species and you'll see everything from alaskan salmon to hammerhead sharks and yellow fin tuna.

Green movement activists will appreciate Mount This' mounting method. Mount This supports fish conservation by using fiberglass, allowing customers to practice catch and release,  All they need is a picture of your fish to reference when painting, the length and girth. They also have standard models for purchase, which comprise most of their sales.

Denson was born and raised in Orlando and set up shop in Port Canaveral in 2001 on Florida's Space Coast. Six years later, Denson moved the store just across the Indian River to Merritt Island. The tropical setting showcases a vast collection of species, including giant Tarpon and Mako. I took a few minutes to sit down with Troy and hear how he made the transition tournament director to taxidermist.

How did you get your start in the fish mounting industry and why did you move to the Space Coast in 2000?
I wanted to be closer to the water.When I lived in Orlando,and I came over here all the time. I'm an avid fisherman and grew up fishing in Port Canaveral and surfing at Cocoa Beach. I learned a lot about the local fish.
 
When did you launch mountthis.net?
  In 2001, but when we first started it was just a six page 6 static html, no SEO at all. We didn't rank when they searched for fish mounts. We're primarily an Internet company, 95% of our customers are from out of the area and majority of his orders, 65-70% of all our customers come from online leads ,so we concentrate on internet marketing and SEO. Since 2001,our sales have grown 800%.

What are some of the analytical tools and gauges you use to analyze conversion ratios and advertising ROI?

We us Google analytics, we use Volusion for shopping cart.

What are some of the changes you've seen in the industry during the past few years?

Before, you had to talk to guides and charters who would refer you to a taxidermist they worked with. Now, people can look on their iPhone to see what the mount costs on our site, and they'll see that we offer very competitive prices. They don't feel pressured into going with the guide's taxidermist.

Do most of your orders come from charter fishing clients, or customers just looking for nice decorations?

We sell a lot of our fish to restaurants, interior decorators hotels and resorts who want a local fish. For example, a bed and breakfast a with different fish theme for each room,like a Mahi-Mahi room,a Wahoo room.

A lot of our orders are half sides. We give the half sides a standard painting, but when a customer wants to commemorate a prize catch, it's normally a full mount, so we ask fora photo to match it as close as possible.
    
What's one of the biggest obstacles  to success in the fish mounting business?

Painting. You can take a perfect blank and hand it to 10 different artists, and of them will come back looking like fake fish,because they don't know the right blends and patterns.We have n airbrusher who's been painting for 30 years.

How has the economic downturn affected your business and why?
We ramp-up our advertising because we have to push harder to find them. We have competitive pricing and our sales are up from last year.

What fuels your passion for this career?

Everyday my conversation is with anglers and fishermen around the world who have the same passion I have for fishing, They tell me what's hot and where the fish are. Plus it has its perks. You get the routine invite to join them on their boat.

By Matt O'Hern at 01:01 PM | Comments (0)