The Start of Something Great

by: Tom Sorenson

It all began in the winter of 2005 as a harmless suggestion from my cousin, Cody Waldo. We were going coyote hunting – I pause to say here that most of my brilliant ideas came while coyote hunting or fishing – but in all fairness, this idea was far from my own. Cody hopped in the truck with me and first thing he said was, “Know what’d be cool? To start your own magazine – that’d be pretty cool.” I tried to dismiss the idea, because I knew it just couldn’t work. But it also didn’t work to dismiss the idea. My mind became consumed by this idea – a person can make a living at what he loves?! It was a new concept to me, and I loved it! So I bought books, I researched the web, I listened to CDs. I found out a couple things about making a magazine. 1) This was gonna cost a bunch of money. 2) I didn’t have a bunch of money.

I finally approached my father about the idea – fully expecting him to tell me to forget it. But, shock of all shocks, he actually liked the idea. So, we began to brainstorm. What can our magazine be about. Hunting/fishing obviously. But, what could we do to set the magazine apart from the eight billion other hunting/fishing magazines out there? We still weren’t sure, but we knew we wanted it to be completely and totally stories. We just wanted it to be the average Joe Hunter telling about his favorite hunt where he may or may not have even harvested an animal. So we had our starting point.

We still didn’t have a bunch of money, though. So we talked to business people. We went to the local community college and talked to their business advisors. Finally, Dad attended a class taught by a marketing guy that we actually knew but never really understood what he did for a living. When Dad attended his class, he immediately told me about his philosophy and thought I should talk to him. I was more interested in making a magazine than talking to someone that I sort of knew, but not really, about something that was, in my mind, none of his business. He was a marketing guy, and I wanted a business guy. I wanted a business guy with deep pockets and a giving attitude, really. Finally, I realized I was only banging my head against a wall. Y’know, even a person of my intelligence will change direction after 8 months of going one direction running him smack into a brick wall. So, I contacted the fella that Dad thought I should have talked to eight months ago. So, it was the summer of 2006 I finally contacted Justin Foster of Blueline Results.

The first thing Justin told me was he would discard the magazine idea and shift to the Internet. I almost hung up the phone, but figured he was enough of a family acquaintance that it’d be awkward each time I saw him thereafter. I heard him out, and eventually he made sense. Material is always fresh on the web – the ability to update information daily, hourly, and so on. Then, being a baseball fan myself, he put it in terms I could understand. “Think of it like a magazine on steroids,” he’d said. OK, I can do that. A magazine with capabilities that were almost endless. Instead of a limited number of stories in a publication, we could now create the largest library of hunting stories ever told. Or written. Or videotaped. Or photographed. The light bulb went off in my head. Then he set the hook – hard and fast. The cost of doing a website is MUCH less than doing a print publication.

I talked to Dad about it. Always one who was excited about the whole idea, Dad got a little hesitant when it really looked like this was going to happen. He got more hesitant when it became apparent that his son wasn’t going to be able to fund it himself. But, the man who had a million reasons to doubt this son – from questions of ambition, to doubts of motivation, to misgivings about his abilities – Dad took it all in, and went through with the investment. For that, and of course, everything else in life, I can never thank him enough. Ever. Without his support, this would never have happened – of that I am completely one hundred percent sure.

February of this year we began to lay our plans. Justin became our leaning post, and we began learning about technology. A far cry from hunting – this learning about computer programs, marketing strategies, and such, but, it was necessary. We met at local restaurants and endured waitresses with overpowering perfume, patrons with loud mouths and free speech, and perhaps toughest of all – we endured one another. Ideas were hatched, scratched, and – well, nothing comes to mind that rhymes with those words, but some ideas we kept and they have blossomed into what we have now. From a small booth in a home-style restaurant in Nyssa, Oregon, we received the Blueline Results’ bid. At Denny’s in Ontario, Oregon we met countless mornings to discuss possibilities, hopes, and dreams and finally we graduated to formal (sort of) business meetings at Blueline’s headquarters in Boise, Idaho. By this time, we’d come a long way from an idea about a magazine. So far, in fact, that I sometimes forget what even sparked all this madness.

I believe it was June or July of this year that we formally became clients of Blueline Results and we were off and running. At least off and jogging. Maybe it was off and speed walking. Regardless, we had a plan now, we had an idea, we had means to manifest our idea, and now our idea was moving forward. From the moment I realized I would try my hand at making a living at something I love – hunting/fishing/camping – to now, I have realized that there are a lot of things that go with this business that don’t involve hunting, fishing, or camping and have everything to do with computers, technology, and gadgets. These are not my style. But it has still been an exciting ride and now, the fun begins!

Hunting season happened upon us, and although my season has ended already, the next 2-3 months will be a crazy whirlwind of hunting trips, video editing, story telling, recording, writing, and editing. Ah, the miseries I must endure for the sake of a passion. I have come to realize now it isn’t all fun and games, but the realizing of a dream requires putting in a lot of hard work. But, at least this next step will be familiar territory for me – Mountains, deserts, game, fish, and amazing scenery. These are what I know. I look forward with much anticipation to the next few months, and I’m glad to have you along.