Precision Diving

I was talking with a fellow diver a while ago. He mentioned that he supports people who provide solid training. He was willing to pay more for good training than find some place that was the cheapest. As our discussion progressed, he started to talk about how he uses the internet to find the cheapest prices on dive gear that he wants. I asked him if he had any favorites that he mostly buys from and the answer was no. He basically only purchased from whom ever was the cheapest. As I listened to him ramble on about his purchasing patterns, it crossed my mind that this type of mentality is what is hurting those people who provide good scuba diving courses. Read the rest of this entry →

As a technical diving instructor, I get asked many times how people can prepare for their technical diving classes. Certainly there are skills that one could practice. However, there are certain things that people really need to think about prior to signing up for that technical diving course. Below is a quick list of a few topics that I tell people. I give two lists, one for in-water skills and the other more mental skills. Read the rest of this entry →

I should start off with an apology. This will be more of a rant than anything too useful. But since no one else is paying my web hosting fees, I’m free to do what I want on my blog. I was talking with a prospective student this week about a couple courses he was interested in taking. Specifically, my buoyancy and wreck diver courses. Just like many people before him, the first question was “Why are your prices so much higher than everyone else?” He seemed intent on trying to nickel and dime me on my course pricing. I stood my ground. Read the rest of this entry →

“At this point, ******* and ***** are barely aware of your existence. I doubt that either of them would ever sanction a full-blown campaign to put you out of business. You need to ask yourself if you could withstand an effort like that and if you think that publicly dissing them is worth it.” This is a message someone sent me a while ago trying to give me business advice. I think this person is missing a vital point in business, that is the customer is always right. Even as a dive professional, we are also consumers and have consumer rights. Read the rest of this entry →