Please help me marketing free-diving

[Dark&Cold.Diver]

Hi there folks! It has been a while since i logged on to my favourite site.
I hope that you can help me with a problem that has been more and more common in my daily life.
When i meet new people and im learning to know them better , i often talk to them about weather and stuff like that
....It takes a while before you open up with people that you dont know that good, you probably know what i mean.
And its not that uncommon that they ask me about my hobbies and intrests and so on.
Its then the problems appears for me if i tell them that i have practiced almost every sport you can practice and also mention that im a big fan of free-diving , they often dont understand what im talking about....
I often get answers like: - oooh so you go scuba?
And i say no im a free-diver (no offense to you scuba guys) i prefer to dive without regulators i got my "tanks" in my chest.
Usually i get people looking at me like i were some weird kind of alien or something, and i can often tell by the look of their eyes that they think im insane ,crazy or something.
The next question they ask is : can you dive without regulators and isnt that dangerous?
And i answer of course you can , and no it isnt more dangerous than any other discipline of diving as long as you know what you are doing.
Nine times out of ten the discussion ends there, because people have judged my so loved intrest in two short questions ...and decided that im a weird type of guy.
The tenth time there is someone that has little intrest or experience of free-diving, thoose people usually thinks im a snorkler or something because they have tried snorkeling once when they were on vacation 5 years ago or something.
But thoose people makes my mouth go berzerk ...i usually cant control myself , my passion for this is so big so i talk to them about everything from depths , pressure, famous-divers, to what thickness you should have on your suit and so on.
And when that happends i often cant control my talking until i realize that they arent as passionate as i am .
All i need is a fragment of a second of intrest from someone to get my mouth going.
Maybe im a bad sales-man for the sport , but i do what i can to get people more intrested in what im doing. Atleast i want people to understand that free-diving isnt hard or dangerous to practice, and that you can have a wonderful experience without tanks on your back under the water.
But it feels like im banging my head into the wall :head , i get no or bad response.
So please all you people out there please help me ,what shall i do ?
Maybe you have experiences that you wanna share with me? What can we do to make this wonderful hobby or sport grow larger, and how shall we do to remove all prejudice and get an better understanding from our surrounding.
The ocean is big i think there is room for a few more free-divers , atleast i would love to share it with more "soul-mates". It would atleast be really nice to not always feel like an ailen everytime i talk about one of my most loved hobbies to someone.


Jeppe.

 

[gerard]

Hi,

I don't see why you want to market freediving. Wouldn't you prefer to leave it as it is before it gets tainted like the majority of sports?



Anyway think of this saying (if you want to meet other soul mates): whenever the apprentice is ready the master will find him.

Which means you'll find what you want at the right time.


Take care,

Gerard.

 

[Dark&Cold.Diver]

True

I Agree with you gerard , i dont want free-diving to be main-stream.
i think that will never never happend anyway, but wouldnt it be nice if people knew a little bit about free-diving so you dont have to feel like an alien every time you talk about free-diving.
Oooh and one more thing i have hell of a problem to find people that share my intrest with , and thats not at all good when it comes to safety.
I dont wanna go out free-dive alone, but what can i do when no one wants to share my passion.

Jeppe.

 

[ivan]

hi

Ha Ha mate I get those same questions and people always think im stupid and crazy but Im used to it now and just do my own thing

cheers

 

[Kars]

When I cross the country I go by public transport, mostly by train.
I come accros the most intresting people, and I always carry my "buisinesscards" with me. I'm most of time happy when I travel, and display my buddist smile. This complete lack of fear and openness usually radiates to the other people. They feel secure and good because I do.
I read that you have no problem in making contact, but more with being open. You want to share your discoveries, your passion and love. But the harder you try the more you seem to fail.
I had this problem too. I've solved it through being kind, wait for others to make the first step, and to talk about the soul side of freediving instead of the numbers. Don't ask for their admiration.
Ask people who show their intrest in a talk with you what they do in their spare time, what kind of foods they like, in general show your general intrest in a cencere way. Be interested, for you can learn a lot of nice things from strangers. They are an inspiration to me. When you've heard about their intrest they return the favour and ask about yours. Keep it simple, talk about the beautiful feelings. Tigh your experience to theirs, ask for their pool experience. Seek for ways to bring the feelings accros. Don't get to medical, telling the body undergoes special adaptations EVERYONE posesses. It's exiting to learn your body, learn to relax, make a voyage into myself, discover myself. Almost Everyone can practice freediving, and the listerner almost certainly too.
When people about scuba verses freediving. I tell them about the complete silence, the way fishes react and the feelings. Comparing a scuba dive to diving while looking from a submarine thought a window, and freediving is like being a part of the enviroment. Being able to view the fish with same curiosity like he has show to you with its eyes.

By this time I always run out of time and have to get out of the train, and I tell them I've a website handing out my card and giving an hand. My card has a photo of Umbertoy being underwater floating without fins. I have 3 colourschemes, red, green and blue and I 'sell' my card by asking for their favourite colour, than I reach for the closest matching card I have.
It completes the Immagination I've illustrated with your words

Ok, I hope you can learn something of my words.
I don't know if you like to read, but if you do try a book from the writer OSHO.

Ciao,

Kars

 

[Dark&Cold.Diver]

Thanks

Kars i think you gave me alot of good advices, and i want to thank you for sharing me your experiences.
My biggest problem is that im not enough keen when i talk about free-diving with people that havent got a clue about what it is.
Their experinces is very often based on prejudice or pure imaginations.
I will try to not get to deep into the subject next time i discuss with someone, and only let people know if they are really intrested.
By the way i will try your book , thanks for the tip!


Greetings Jeppe.

 

[Kars]

No problem Jeppe!

I know it's difficult to discribe a sport/lifestyle that brings up so many different and deep emotions. With 'normal' sports there is the usual friendschip, rivalry, loosing and winning. But freediving can and usually delivers much more. This way I end up making comparisons to things like sleeping under the stars, yoga. Many times I ask about peoples swimming pool experience, ask if they reconise that people behave diffrently once in the water. They usually do. This makes clear that there is a lot more between man and the water.

The people who I met yesterday have already left me a huge message on my guestbook A very nice reward for my friendlyness, it makes my heart glow

Good luck, and take it easy!

Kars