On this episode of Gritty Bowmen, Aron Snyder decides to do a Kifaru backpack giveaway to Gritty Bowmen podcast listeners. I'm not so big into advertising or offering promotional stuff or into sales. But I've been receiving emails and PMs daily from people who cannot find our podcast on iTunes under the hunting or outdoors category searches. Our listeners have found us by word of mouth or on Youtube, FB or Instagram. In fact, when you go to iTunes and do a category search for outdoor podcasts, the Gritty Bowmen podcast does not show up in the search. Apparently, only featured podcasts by Apple are shown. According to apple, they couldn't show all the outdoor podcasts or there would be thousands. So the chances of someone finding the Gritty Bowmen podcast by browsing in iTunes for a hunting podcast is very slim until Apple recognizes our podcast and features our content. And apparently, our Gritty Bowmen cover art in iTunes is too gory for apple so we're thinking about changing that.

I want the Gritty Bowmen brand to grow organically, to be made up of genuine fans with an interest in what we're doing. I want every review on iTunes to be obtained because someone is genuinely into the show—and NOT because we're giving away a pack or doing some other promotional offer. So until now, we have avoided promotional offers. But then I got to thinking, do I leave reviews for the podcasts I listen to, and really like? The truth is, before I started my own podcast I rarely left reviews for the podcasts I listened to and thoroughly enjoyed. So I realized, a little motivation can go a long way. I'm sure you folks are just like me—you're busy, you have jobs, family and life tugging at you. And I remember the first time I tried to leave a review on iTunes—after 30 minutes of effort and still no review I gave up. It wasn't until I was sufficiently motivated to leave a review that I stuck with it until I figured out how to do it. So… hence the backpack giveaway. What kind of hunter wouldn't want a chance at a free backpack anyway! I hope the possibility of winning a free backpack can justify the time it will take for you to leave us review.

In this podcast you will learn why Aron Snyder is NOT in charge of this backpack giveaway. His bleeding heart is just not as unbiased as mine. A-Aron just needs to leave this give away to the professionals at the Gritty Bowmen. Aron just needs to donate the pack—we'll take it from here.

Aron seems to think that our listeners in Djibouti should be left out of the giveaway. But we, at the Gritty Bowmen will not discriminate. Which brings up another point, the giveaway is not restricted to Apple users. You android and apple-haters can participate in the giveaway by leaving us a review on Stitcher. And while you're leaving us a review on Stitcher or iTunes—be sure to subscribe to the podcast if you haven't already. This way, you can have all of the episodes automatically download to your mobile device so you can enjoy them anytime, anywhere. And for people like Tom Ryle or my college roommate Chad Nelson, who are struggling with leaving us a review on iTunes or Stitcher, Mark Brownlee and I will be creating a little "Gritty Tip instructional video on "how to leave a review and how to subscribe to a podcast." So look for that Gritty Tip in the next week or so. The deadline to participate in the giveaway is September 10th so don't worry, you have some time to wait for our little instructional video to do your review.

Lastly, the giveaway extends to everyone who has EVER left us a review.

And without further ado, here is today's podcast.

Alright folks,

As you can see, Aron is not qualified to manage this backpack giveaway. Although he is very qualified to donate the pack to the give away. in all seriousness, I want thank Kifaru International for supporting our show and what we're doing. And I want to personally thank Aron Snyder for being a regular on the show and graciously sharing his expertise. And I want to thank all of you out there listening and supporting the show—your feedback is awesome.

Stay tuned for our instructional video on how to leave a review and how to subscribe to a podcast. I wish you all great success in your lives and in your hunts this year. Stay Gritty!

A-A-Ron Substitute Teacher Video