The Strong Loonie and its effect on YOU

Well - here we go again - the Loonie is strong and that means Canadians are going to start propping up the US economy again by buying vehicles, motorcycles, parts and clothing south of the border.

What that means for Canadian retailers is another dismal Christmas, another round of lay offs and more businesses parring back and trying to keep the lights on and the doors open or closing. More job losses, more poverty - more abysmal economic climate - here in Canada.

YOU - the Canadian consumer are in control. YOU can change that.

I want you to think about something before you buy parts or anything else for that matter south of the border.

You know that little business that donates to your chapter's events or your favorite bike rally - how often do you shop with them? Have you considered the fact that if you don't buy something from them, don't support them - they might not be around to support you - your community - your event? Try getting that American Company you support to donate to your event here in Canada - good luck with that!

If you want good deals, ask your local shop first - many businesses are trying to work deals with their suppliers.

Customer service in this country needs to improve drastically - I get that, but when is the last time you went to a store owner and told them about your bad experience with their employee? Or, did you do like most people - whine, snivel, complain to anyone who would listen?  You see when you don't tell the manager or owner - well, they can't fix what they don't know is broken.

YOU - the consumer - are in the driver's seat - but are you actually utilizing that fact here at home or are you just taking your business south of the border?

When our rider owned, rider specific and rider friendly businesses are shutting their doors in droves - will you have the right to be legitimately upset? 

I know many people that I will consider responsible for their demise because they never shop locally - they always go for the deal, south of the border. They never insist on good customer service, they only complain.
And they are the first to complain when there are no businesses in their own community that support riders.  Whose fault is it that that little leather shop closed up?
Whose fault is it that the aftermarket shop isn't there any longer? 

Whose fault is it that the little community newspaper you relied on for news and event information isn't there any more?
Without advertisers the Knuckle won't be around - without advertisers the BDB Club Savings card isn't going to do you much good.

Without the advertisers/sponsors, there are no small events, web sites - the ramifications of shopping south of the border are far deeper and have a longer reach than you might think!

If you aren't going to shop locally - locally won't be there as an option.
Remember that the next time you are on Ebay.

The Busted Knuckle needs more subscribers to keep going (Many advertisers just aren't spending money advertising, they have this defeatists attitude - why advertise, they aren't going to give me a shot anyway) - But many of you riders who read the paper say money is too tight to spend 20 or 50 dollars supporting us - because your on 4 day weeks now and loosing 20% of your wage - HMMM - I wonder why?

Could it be that Canadians are buying the products or goods your Canadian employer sells - south of the border?

Probably!

Use it or loose it has never been a more appropriate saying - If you want the Knuckle to be around next season to promote your events and provide you with good events calendars I need you to do one of four things:
1: Buy a subscription
2: Volunteer to work on the events calendars  - I can't pay people if no money is coming in
OR
3: Support one of the businesses that supports us - it really is that simple -
USE IT OR LOOSE IT.
4: Get active on our web site - click on the ads - nothing awful will happen to you or your computer - 907% of our advertisers and affiliate programs are Canadian. Submit a story, comment on an article. www.beltdrivebetty.com was built for you.

If you are lucky enough to be riding today - PLEASE, ride like everyone around you is blind and can not see you.

Belt Drive Betty
National VP AIM-Can
www.aim-can.com
www.beltdrivebetty.com