Suggestions or Stories for Finding new customers????

[Melissa Wollenweber]

Just curious if anyone has any tips or suggestions, on getting some of the bigger/repeat jobs. Or maybe even stories of how they really got their business up and rolling in the laser engraving industry?

If anyone cares to read a novel, here's my background: Boss got REALLY mad that I was pregnant and I was "laid off" (long, very illegal story, but she got away with it). I saw it coming, knew a bit about laser engraving and was interested in it for the work from home aspect. I'm establishing myself in a small tourist town in SW Colorado with my 40 watt Epilog Zing 24. I'm getting ready to send the kids off to grandma's so I can hit up the local retail shops to offer things I make and do promotional items. I do a lot of my own designs, am trying ideas on things I can create and sell (mostly kid related items), and play with my machine a lot, doesn't feel like work, Yay!
In the meantime, I do get random, "one time" type jobs from friends/family, and I'm starting to get the word of mouth customers and customers from the time I've spent at craft fair booths, etc. I'm all over the social media with local pages, and have a Facebook page, and website. They often turn into repeat customers, but haven't gotten any type of routine, somewhat reliable, or larger jobs. My husband has a steady income but not much and I'm getting kind of tired of living in poverty and eating Ramen. I was hoping to upgrade food when I graduated college. I am looking for even just a little bit better customer base so I can upgrade from Ramen to Mac and cheese (hehehe, ok, that's an exaggeration).
I'm getting closer to more legit customers and I'm sure patience for that kind of work is important, but does anyone have any tips or stories of how they REALLY got their heels dug in? Maybe avenues I haven't thought of? Someone else in the area does trophies so I won't step on their toes by doing trophies but otherwise, I'm not picky and mostly shameless. Ha! Thanks in advance!

[David Somers]

Hey Melissa!

I am curious. What is it exactly you envision yourself doing with the laser? For example....are you hoping to do crafty things since you mentioned craft fairs and kids things and the like? Or are you thinking of moving into promotional items and trophy's and what not? Or some other niche that is intriguing you? And what kind of competition do you have in the area for laser work?

My neighbor here in West Seattle (who just moved to India following his wife's teaching career) had started a laser business in his garage. He was doing trophies and awards and tags and that type of thing. I don't believe he ever advertised, but instead worked off word of mouth. He started with a smaller Epi like you. He ended with enough business by word of mouth that he ended up buying a second used laser. Then things got busy enough that his small garage was getting too small so he got a small shop in West Seattle. It was at the south end of the business district in West Seattle and not visible from the sidewalk, but the word of mouth work he was getting was sufficient for him to get a 3rd larger Epi. He was doing mostly engraving so he could operate 3 machines by himself. Before he sold the business he had quite busy. Again, trophy's and awards and commemoratives for school teams, private sports groups (you know....the local little league and adult leagues in anything from flag football to bridge leagues). He did stuff for companies doing up thank you's and appreciations for employees, and cups and mugs and glass and acrylic trophies for various things. He also ended up getting a small micro sand blaster (SCM I believe) because the engraving he could do on glass was so much better and faster with that on glass than the laser was. His laser glass work looked good, but I saw the amount of variation in quality he had on large runs and could see why he was not happy with the laser for most of that work. The sand blaster did much better work with little to no waste.

By the time he sold the business in the late Autumn 2015 he was quite busy. And that didn't count walk in work for people who had all sorts of little one off requests. He sold the business to an existing laser business with a similar focus that operated out of the neighborhood of Ballard. They wanted to expand to a second location and so bought his business out.

He drew almost exclusively from people in West Seattle. I think our population here is about 25,000? It is a bit of a physically isolated neighborhood compared to other neighborhoods in Seattle so it is uncommon for folks from outside West Seattle to come in here looking for businesses. Hope that gives you some comparison with your town in CO.

I have another friend who focuses on toys for kids. He sells only on Etsy I believe. At least I have never seen his stuff in Seattle. He does a combination of laser and CNC work on his toys.

One thought on selling through stores vs selling on Etsy or a similar venue. Stores can take a large chunk of your earnings. I do a lot of wood turning and most galleries and stores around here do a 60/40 split with them getting the 60. And they often make you sign an agreement not to undercut the price they offer in store. So if you plan on selling through stores or galleries AND on an Etsy like site you might find that limiting if you have not given it careful thought.

Hope that helps! And I do love that fact that you have help from your spouse so you are not forced to get out mid-river right away and have some time to learn the machine and explore your available niches. That is such a valuable cusion to have as you get started!

Dave

[Mike Null]

Do not be tempted to put your stuff into stores on consignment. Do not ever assume that because your best friend or neighbor says they'd buy an item that they will. If you want proof just ask them for the money.

First and foremost, engraving is a service. It is not a product. We have a very small handful on this forum who make products or engrave products for sale--but most offer service. That's where you're most likey to find repeat business.

[Bruce Volden]

+1 on Mike.

Bruce

[Dave Sheldrake]

Make that +2

[Melissa Wollenweber]

Thanks! I was kind of afraid that very few people come up with a couple of their own products to make and sell. I'm all up for offering the service rather than a product but I do have some "products" that I've designed. Seems like to stick with a "product" would require a combination of the perfect situation and moment with a stroke of genius... and maybe winning the lottery. Lol.
That's funny you mention the part about friends! I have a few friends and family that order gifts from me to be supportive of me. They're fantastic. But the majority of friends say that they would "totally" buy that product from me but it's more like they would totally love that item FROM me as a gift for them or their kids. Hahaha. I love them but....

[Scott Shepherd]

Hi Melissa, welcome to Sawmill Creek, and congratulations on starting your journey!

100% agree with Mike, and will also add that your location is irrelevant to anything. Build a good website, that's my advice. We get customers from all over the world from our site. Do NOT underestimate the power of a website.

[Melissa Wollenweber]

Thank you! I do have a website but it's in the process of being built. It got put on hold while my husband built a site he actually gets paid for. I just haven't had a lot of faith in it bringing in much business. But after the social media experience I've had over the last few days and your comment... I'll give it more faith. Thanks again!

[Scott Shepherd]

Thank you! I do have a website but it's in the process of being built. It got put on hold while my husband built a site he actually gets paid for. I just haven't had a lot of faith in it bringing in much business. But after the social media experience I've had over the last few days and your comment... I'll give it more faith. Thanks again!

Just for the record, we get new customers EVERY SINGLE WEEK from our website. Don't overlook it's importance.

[Dee Gallo]

Hi Melissa, welcome to the Creek! I am going to comment in the opposite direction, since you have gotten good advice from a lot of guys who know their stuff well. You would do well to follow their lead.

While you get your feet wet, developing your skills with designing, computer graphics and laser techniques: think about what is known as "niche marketing". It is an elusive category but lucrative if you do it correctly.

By this I mean, think about what you love, something you know a lot about and are able to become something of an expert in a pretty narrow field. Then, lurk on groups and sites to find out what the more rabid collectors, buyers, users like and want and most importantly, dream about. These are the people who have enough time and money to buy things at a higher price point that might be considered "frivolous" or "luxuries". Create something that they will love immediately and cannot live without even though they don't know it. It is not easy, but when you find your niche, you will have more work than you can handle.

I design and make limited edition mah jong sets. You would think this is a tiny market, and you'd be right. But I sell out before I am finished designing each edition I make, have a long waiting list of buyers and a very loyal following. The only "advertising" I have is a website "museum" and a Facebook page... most sales are from word of mouth and repeat buyers. You can take a look at my site if you like. This enterprise makes me as much as I used to make as a teacher yearly, but I work a lot less hours and it is a lot of fun. If I wanted to work more, I could double that income. I am the only person in the world doing this right now.

The key is to make sure you produce a superior product and give superior customer service, which is something everyone should aim for anyway. But I do not recommend trying to make a living from $5 items unless you are into handling huge volumes. I prefer to mail out 20-30 packages a year to make my money, with more people begging to be on my waiting list for next year.

Just food for thought, you have to follow your own path.

cheers, dee

[David Somers]

Dee has some very good thoughts! About a month ago I was talking with a gentleman who makes his living doing nothing but game boards. Cribbage, monopoly, Scrabble. He has come up with some lovely designs, and will do one off requests for special, personalized boards. Admittedly he is working with a CNC router. But the same concept applies to the laser. He does extremely well and the only complaint those of us who met him had was he was not asking nearly enough for his work. They were beautiful pieces. As Dee said, a lucrative niche can be a great way to make a living. And satisfy some passion you may have as well. One caution though. Don't let the work take away your love for the niche by turning it into common work. My wife is an avid gardener and had thought about going in to landscaping work. She even went so far as to do a horitculture degree and along the way decided that she really did love being a gardener....for her self and by herself. It was her release and creative outlet and she realized doing it for pay was killing that aspect of it for her. So be cautious of your approach to this.

Dee.....Along that line....what do you do to keep your work on the Mah Jong pieces exciting and enjoyable for you as opposed to it becoming simply a job?

Dave

[Dee Gallo]

Dee.....Along that line....what do you do to keep your work on the Mah Jong pieces exciting and enjoyable for you as opposed to it becoming simply a job?

Dave

You are correct Dave - it CAN kill your passion if you are not careful! I started with a small edition of 10 sets, which sold out in 4 days. I increased to 20, then 30 then 40 then 50 sets. This almost killed me, and I went back down to 30. They still sell out in a week or less. The most fun for me is the designing, the research and the cogitating about what I'm doing. I enjoy the production too, it's kind of zen after you know what you are doing. The feedback from my customers is so enthusiastic, it's like a drug that keeps you going! I am able to satisfy the old teacher in me by sharing a lot of Chinese traditions and folklore, feed the artist in me by coming up with beautiful designs, and reward myself with fame and fortune of sorts. It's all about balance.

I feel like it is worth it because I can charge enough to make it pay for my time and overhead without it taking over my life. I generally confine the production to the winter months when I can't really do anything outside anyway.

[Kev Williams]

This year marks the 50th anniversary of when my dad bought his first engraver, a Scripta 3D something or other. (I was 11 years old when I engraved my first aluminum ID plate)-

My dad learned to engrave on an old Gorton 3-U panto-mill at Hill Field, during his stint as a machinist there after WWII. He left hill around '59 to work for Litton Industries, as a machine shop supervisor. It so happened Litton had a small engraving machine up in a loft, I got to watch him engrave some desk name plates when I was about 8 years old. He just loved engraving, and bought his own machine in '66. It started as a hobby...

As a few years went by, many of his Litton co-workers found other jobs, which led to name badge and desk sign work, requests for ID tags, a few trophy plates- Pretty soon he was making pretty good spare time money just from his old co-workers. As more time went by, his co-worker's new co-workers became aware of my dad-- and some of them moved on to new jobs...

and so on, and so on, and so on---

In 1969 we moved into this house, and dad made the business a partnership, him, my mom and me. I was a 'name only' partner until the mid 70's when I came to work full time, and have been doing this ever since. From then until about 15 years ago, we had our name in the yellow pages. That's been the extent of any advertising we've ever done. While times got tough a few times, to this day we have never had to look for work. Pure word of mouth since day one.

So heaven help me if I ever DO have to search out jobs, that's one skill I DON'T have!

[Jay Selway]

Dee your work is beautiful. Just checked out your site.

[Mike Null]

Bert

What the customer charges for your item should be of no concern to you. Your concern is that you get paid what you want. To the contrary, I would be pleased if my customer could sell my item at better than 50%--then they have a real interest in selling it.

In the retail world 50% is normal mark up. That is an item that costs $3 sells for $6. (no that's not 100% when using the retail method)