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James Taglienti
01-03-2011, 7:59 PM
How do you guys solicit work? Word of mouth has kept me going for over a year now but things are slowing down. my shop will be empty until Thursday for lack of materials, then it's 3 small projects (total less than $1000) and after that nothing. I am considering some local advertising or something but i dont know where to start.

I used to have a finish carpentry business down south, but that was easy, we'd just walk up to a house that was being built and bid the job. Now i live in a rural area with no new builds.

Any advice?

Andrew Gibson
01-03-2011, 8:19 PM
Good Question... you are doing better then I.
My current build is for a competition then hopefully a dining set for a friends parents...
I am hoping that the competition will stir up some interest in my work and turn into a few commissions.
besides that my next step is Grad School...
It would seem that the money in Woodworking is in the teaching not in the doing, at least in woodworking you have to be able to do to teach :p

Johnny Kleso
01-03-2011, 8:58 PM
I know a few doctors and they always ask if I can build them something for the office or house but I am not well enough or have a space to take on the work...

Down here in GA people always place small signs i the ground at intersections..
Check your county rules where you live..

Have you ever thought of making totes for hand planes?

$35-$40 a set and I guess more for custom woods...
I'd be happy to set you up with a website if you have free webspace from your ISP
Cost of a re-direct service is only $20 a year like I use..
Paypal charges 3-4% and has a shopping cart..

george wilson
01-03-2011, 9:19 PM
I don't need extra money beyond a few choice regular clients,but I have thought about teaching clinics in my shop. Trouble is,I'd have to totally convert the shop into a classroom,and it's pretty crowded as is. Teaching is probably one of the best ways to make money these days,with all the new people wanting to get into woodworking. There is a well known old guy who just travels around teaching classes in host's shops. He teaches scraping the surfaces of machinery back to precision after they are worn. I mean scrapeing,not scraping(which sounds like you are throwing them out.)

Pam Niedermayer
01-03-2011, 9:35 PM
...I mean scrapeing,not scraping(which sounds like you are throwing them out.)

I think that would be "scrapping," not "scraping."

Pam

george wilson
01-03-2011, 9:44 PM
Maybe so,Pam. Everyone on the Practical Machinist's Forum calls it scraping. Many of them have poor spelling skills,though.:)

P.S.,I checked it out,you are correct. I shouldn't take their spelling for granted!!

James Taglienti
01-03-2011, 9:53 PM
thanks johnny, my wife is making me a site right now, i always wondered how well small local businesses did with them but it seems like a good place to keep a portfolio! and as far as teaching goes, i dont think i could do that. i never had a teacher to begin with and my methods are probably not the most direct... maybe like hiring a witch doctor to teach at a medical school heheh

plane handles sounds neat. ive made a few for myself i think i still have the templates. i also noticed a few trinkets on ebay that were easy to build and seemed to be getting some action. ...

perhaps i cold go door to door with a hobo stick over my shoulder full of chisels and saws?
.

Johnny Kleso
01-03-2011, 10:10 PM
I think a website is a must for any business in this day and age..
If your not good at selling yourself in person let your site close the deal for you..

Ask a few folks to write a reference for your site..
godaddy or monsterhost you want the most basic service, email and redirect.. You can phone them to make sure you get what you need and ask how to set the redirect in control pannel..

I agree with you you should be selling some easy to make tools on eBay.
Bow saws, Mallets, Shooting Boards, Awls, Pepper Mills, Cutting Boards just just have to make them stand out much like George does..

Johnny Kleso
01-03-2011, 10:42 PM
Here is a image I throught together

It has a transparent background (no Background color )

176228

Jim Koepke
01-04-2011, 2:27 AM
This is an interesting thread since I have been trying to figure more ways to sell things myself.

A big problem is if you work with a retailer, they have to mark things up. Sell them a piece for $75 and they will want to sell it for $150. If they pay cash for items that is fine, but if they want to take it on consignment it is painful to watch it sit in their store for more than a week.

It also reminds me of a story from Click 'n' Clack from Car Talk fame.

It was about a wood shop that had a deal with a local lab. The lab ran tests on rats and needed cages for the rats. They would have to use new cages each time to prevent contamination. So when ever things got slow the wood shop would build rat boxes because the lab would eventually need a few hundred more.

The story was about their car repair shop and one of the cars they called a "rat box". When things were slow, they would be rebuilding the junk car until eventually it was ready to drive or sell.

So, maybe we need to find our own "rat boxes" to keep us busy during the slow times.

A few years ago, it seems everyone was nuts for bird houses.

Who knows, maybe this year is will be spice racks.

jtk

Paul Incognito
01-04-2011, 6:10 AM
James,
I wish I could help. My wife and I have been running a cerpentry/cabinetry business for the last 8 years. All of our work comes from word of mouth. We do have a web site, and I'm sure that's helped us get some work, but I don't think it's been a major contributor. Can you, or do you want to do renovations? There's always a market for that work.
We've tried selling some stuff on Etsy, but our experience is that folks there don't want to spend more than $30-50.00. If you can set yourself up to mass produce something that has some marketability, and comes in at the right price point, you may be successful.
I'm looking forward to hearing other's suggestion.
PI

Nick Laeder
01-04-2011, 12:32 PM
check out Etsy for handmade things. Mostly art/furniture stuff, but you could certainly make boxes and get some cash for them. Etsy charges a listing fee and then takes a cut when the item sells, but it's not too much. We have a friend that uses Etsy to sell repurposed sign letters and she's selling them as fast as she can list them. My wife is working for her part time just to help out.

David Keller NC
01-04-2011, 12:38 PM
James - to make any real $$ on one-off custom projects, I'm sure you've realized that it takes a special clientele - those that are willing to pay 4-8 times the cost of the same object on the showroom floor to get exactly the dimensions, finish, and woods that they want. Generally, that means building a word-of-mouth reputation, though the internet assists in presenting an instantly-accessible portfolio.

I build a lot of picture frames - solid wood, some guilding, all built to last the next 300 years. They cost about 2 times what a custom, high-end framing shop charges for the same frame put together with corner brads from mitered finished stock, so I'd estimate that only about 5% of frame-buyers are interested. I developed the word-of-mouth list by working with a custom gallery about 15 years ago - I made zero money on the items I made for the clients of the gallery because of the mark-up, but it was enough exposure to get regular phone calls from former customers and friends-of-former-customers.

Eric DeSilva
01-04-2011, 1:03 PM
We do have a web site, and I'm sure that's helped us get some work, but I don't think it's been a major contributor.

I hear this a lot from craftsmen, but when I think back to how I hire craftsmen, a website is important. I may get a name in the middle of a conversation, with no contact information. I may scribble down a name and number while I'm in the middle of a phone call. If I can't look you up in google, find a site with contact information, and bookmark it for when I need it later, you are pretty much gone... And sure, if asked, my business was word of mouth due to a recommendation. The question is how many jobs do you lose where you had the recommendation, but the slip of paper got lost, or forgotten... Or the quality of your work wasn't immediately visible from looking at a website? It's like a built-in recommendation.

Heck, even a single page with some work and contact info--maybe a little text about what you do and your philosophy. You might find it nets you a lot more of the word of mouth fish that might otherwise have swum away.

James, have you thought about people you previously did commissions for? Maybe a friendly call--"just wanted to check in, see how you liked the piece" or "I came across a neat design for a Y in the style of the X I made for you, so I thought I'd give you a ring"--might stimulate someone to remember they actually wanted another piece...

Paul Incognito
01-04-2011, 1:20 PM
Good points Eric.
I've found that keeping our name in front of former clients is important not only for repeat business but also for referals.
James, definitely contact past clients and at leat solicit referals. It's an easy subject to broach, just tell them that you're calling to see how what you've already built for them is holding up, or that you want to come take pics of it. Most folks will appreciate a call like this.
PI

Ron Petley
01-07-2011, 3:17 PM
I did woodworking for a living.
We, the two us had 3"clients" that were regulars, this filled in the slow spots.
One was a place that sold "antiques". One was a place that had buyers who bought up large lots of furniture and distrubuted it to about four stores. Nobody wanted the broken pieces, this store came to us and asked if we would "restore" the broken pieces. Since nobody wanted the broken pieces thes store got them for next to nothing and were happy to have us fix them. It was a intersting job and they would drop off a lot of furniture and pick it up when we were done, so they were in no hurry. So when ever we had a slack time we would work on these repairs.
The other thing we didwas make wodden funeral urns. When things were slow, using jigs, we could make up a dozen or so and drop them off at the the wholesalers.
We also did stereo speaker building for a high end shop, "custom jobs", again work that went fast, read profitable, once jigs were made.
The point being more that you should hunt around for something like this that you can do to fill in the slack. It takes some thinking/legwork to find but once done the work is always their when you have the time to do it.
We also got referals from these clients so they also generated one off jobs.
Cheers Ron.