My sincere appreciation

[Robin Lake]

I want to express my sincere appreciation for all the valuable input to this forum. That valuable input takes many forms, questions, answers, advise, warnings, friendly consolation, encoragement, to name a few.

One recurring question that often comes up relates to how to get a new business up and running. I am not new to self employment (been that way since 1970) but I got tired of my old line and went looking for another one. So while I have a leg up, I still have a lot to learn. As I prepared for the laser to go into operation, I kept thinking of ways to reintroduce myself (ourselves, really, my wife and myself).

One thing I have been doing is making something of value to take into businesses as a gift. Attached (I hope) are two photos as an example of what I mean. One is the front, one is the back of a little item I made to give to the owner of a business in my community. I took a photo of her sign, hand traced a vector from it, engraved it. I then made a base from scrap wood by cutting a kerf at 15* to hold the sign and a second kerf at 0* to hold a up to a dozen business cards.

The idea is that the business owner will display the sign somewhere prominent and it will generate an occational discussion. She can then provide one of my cards, cleverly concealed on board. When the cards are gone, my name and number are still there, engraved onto the back, to refer to. Of course, the display needs to somehow match the location it will be left in. It needs to be meaningful to the new owner.

This may seem like a lot of work, but this is the 6th or 7th one of these I have done, and I have not only left quiet little salesmen behind in various locations, but, in the process, I have learned a tremendous amount about making SVG's and transferring them to engravable substrates.

For those of you looking for ways to move your business forward, I hope this provides a few ideas.

Again, thanks to all of you for helping me, whether you knew it or not.

God bless.

Robin Lake
Kelly Laser

[Mike Null]

Robin:

Good idea and very impressive art work.

[Nancy Laird]

Robin, this is a really good idea. Do you have a "patent" on it, or can someone in New Mexico borrow your idea? We are also fairly new at the laser game (1-1/2 years) and are always on the prowl for new customers.

Thanks,
Nancy

[Robin Lake]

[... can someone in New Mexico borrow your idea?]

You are very welcome to it, Nancy.

[Mike Shauer]

Hi Robin, Good to see your up and running!
The give aways are a cleaver idea and should bring business.
Anything we can do just holler I'm usually around. Nose to the grind stone and all that. Cheers, Mike

[Frank Corker]

Robin,

Very nice work, good simple idea too. I use a similar sort of idea, instead of using business cards, I hand out acrylic keyrings to just about everyone I meet. The idea being business cards end up in the drawer or the wallet, keyrings are always there in their possession. It only needs one or two people to respond and you have commissions.

Frank

[Keith Outten]

Robin,

Something I have done that is simular is to scan old newspapers and look for advertisements from local businesses and engrave them. I found several companies in my area in a 1934 newspaper and engraved their ads. When I visited then you wouldn't believe their reaction :)

A local Cadilac dealer started out in the early 30's repairing tire tubes. When I delivered their engraved ad from 1934 I was wisked down the hallway to the Presidents office who was the grandson of the man who started the business.

There's gold in them thar old newspapers :)

.

[Nancy Laird]

Robin,

Very nice work, good simple idea too. I use a similar sort of idea, instead of using business cards, I hand out acrylic keyrings to just about everyone I meet. The idea being business cards end up in the drawer or the wallet, keyrings are always there in their possession. It only needs one or two people to respond and you have commissions.

Frank

Great idea, also, Frank. We are using wooden business cards made of 1/32" Finland birch plywood and they really get a lot of comments.

Robin, thanks for the go-ahead. I think my digital camera is going to start getting a workout.

Keith, your idea just rocks!!

Nancy

[Michael Kowalczyk]

Robin,

Something I have done that is simular is to scan old newspapers and look for advertisements from local businesses and engrave them. I found several companies in my area in a 1934 newspaper and engraved their ads. When I visited then you wouldn't believe their reaction :)

A local Cadillac dealer started out in the early 30's repairing tire tubes. When I delivered their engraved ad from 1934 I was whisked down the hallway to the Presidents office who was the grandson of the man who started the business.

There's gold in them thar old newspapers :)

.
Hey Keith,
Neat idea. Do you have any pics? What did you laser it on? Did they produce anything other than the WOW factor?

I have a few clip art sets that have vintage ads like veg or fruit crate ads, cigar and several others. The colors are what have impact on them but I wonder how B&W laser would look like. When I get some time I will try one.
Thanks,

[James Jaragosky]

2 good ideas here, thank guys.
I came up with mine at a gem and mineral show. I engraved this guys business card into a few of his smaller samples of dyed agate ( sliced geode) the blue and purple ones really made an impression with the guy. I only did this last week and I already got 3 orders, just from that 1 freebie. I am charging $3.00 each ( size of stone slice is about 3.5 x 2.5) for simple cards. I may not be charging enough but it is my first “ordered” paying job. So I am excited. It’s not so much the money as having your work appreciated. im sure that this phase will pass, and it will become more about the money, but for now it's all still new to me and i get excited about everything. :D

[Anthony Welch]

James,

May we inquire as to where you get these "agates". This is something I'd like to try myself.

[James Jaragosky]

I sell at craft fairs and have run into this gentleman a few times. He sells polished agate.
Be sure to talk to him and negotiate a price, his retail price was around $5.00 a piece but he told me he can sell them to me in bulk for .75 to a dollar each For the small stuff.
Bill at geo world
1-317-837-7440
Just make sure that you order solid ones, the ones with the crystalline centers won’t work unless you can work around the center. The centers have no contrast, and even on a very low power setting they tend turn out looking like frosted cracked ice. Good luck.

[Scott Challoner]

Try this place for agate slices. I haven't tried them, but they look pretty reasonable.

http://crystalrivergems.com/products/minerals/agate/index.html

[Keith Outten]

Hey Keith,
Neat idea. Do you have any pics? What did you laser it on? Did they produce anything other than the WOW factor?

I have a few clip art sets that have vintage ads like veg or fruit crate ads, cigar and several others. The colors are what have impact on them but I wonder how B&W laser would look like. When I get some time I will try one.
Thanks,

Michael,

Scan their old newspaper advertisement and engrave it just as it was printed in the paper. Make sure you include the newspaper name and date in the engraving. People like doing business with a car dealer that has been around for a long time, its the we aren't going out of business tomorrow kind of attitude. You know..."Serving the blank blank area for over one hundred years" and nothing proves it like a scan of a very old newspaper advertisement.

Wood plaques work best for engraving old newspaper advertisements but you could use just about any substrate material you felt looked the best. Car dealers purchase a lot of plaques for their employees each year and will often order name badges. When you get your foot in the door show them some badges vector cut in the shape of an automobile. They will also order vinyl signs for their delivery vans and a whole bunch of other stuff like coffee mugs and signs once you get to know the decision makers. Don't forget to offer them clear acrylic business cards for their top sales people and managers, I make them from scrap acrylic so the cost is just engraving time. Wooden key chains are also a big hit engraved with the dealership logo and phone number.

Better than engraving is a dye-sub plaque of their advertisement. Old newspapers turn yellow with time so a Corian dye-sub of their advertisement looks just like the original. Their eyes will pop out of their heads :)

Cabinet shops will use your services to engrave glass for cabinet doors, spice rack cabinets or mirrors for bathroom cabinet doors.

Look for businesses to do business with rather than the public. The work flow is more consistent and generally more profitable.

.