[JOAT]

Honestjohn pretty much says it all. Anyway, a catch22, I don't like salespeople much, and don't want to be one. But I'll get it figured out - one day. In the meantime my income is enough to clothe, house, and feed me, so I'm not worried about it.

 

[JOAT]

@JOAT I promise I won't show up in your shop and force you to sell a thing. But there are people who want to make some money with their $5,000 and up CNC mills. This post is for them. I have made a good living for decades simply by putting my good work up where potential clients can see and read about it. That's about what I'm suggesting here. Cold calling, overcoming objections, hard sell, arm twisting, sales techniques don't work very well anymore anyway. Business people aren't sold, they choose to buy. I get it what Honest John means, it's why I don't sell frames. It's a hobby. But my suggestions are for the few that want to do this kind of thing for income. Relax.

Hi Tom. Yeah, I realize that. But, went thru this thread again anyway. And I think I will buy that $10 book you recommended. I don't have a CNC, don't plan on getting one, but I do plan on selling a few canes and banks, and I'm thinking I can get more than $10 worth of information out of that book. Way I see it, even the little guy can use some help in selling. I don't figure on getting rich, but a few bucks extra every once in awhile will be me some warm fuzzies. Cane making for me is a hobby, as you said, but it's nice to be able to make something a bit different that will help someone, and put a couple of $ in my pocket at the same time. So, Thanks.

 

[JOAT]

Hey Tom. Ordered a copy of that book yesterday, $8.90+, used, and free shipping. Got an e-mail, shipped today.

I've got no worry about trademark infringement, I design all my own stuff. However, I have read that if you make 7, or more, changes to a trademark, it is then considered your work. Don't recall where I read this, possibly on the patent and trademarks site. I once used a photo taken in about 1914, of an individual from one of the NorthWest tribes, to use as the face for my cigar store Indian bank. Later figured out I had made 11 changes from the photo - all hand sketched.

 

[JOAT]

Call them clients, not customers. Whole different mind set.

Very glad I went back and went thru this thread again. If that book helps me as much as you have so far, I'll be squattin' in tall cotton.

 

[JOAT]

I take it that this is not the proper way to go about it.

 

[JOAT]

I believe you can reinforce ownership of the material by putting it in a self-addressed, registered envelope, sending it to yourself and leaving it sealed. You must also put a copyright mark on those pages, and on all copies, on the back of products, as well.

I have nearly a thousand pages of maerial and every page has a copyright mark, my name and the year created. And I call attention to the copyright with each client.

I like the idea of putting a copyright mark on each of my canes and banks. I'm not going to be making 1,000s of them, or probably even 100s, but still, I really like the idea. Now to make a stamp.

 

[JOAT]

A hot stamp (wood burning) is a nice way to put it on a product. Rockler has this, but I'm sure you can find one elsewhere.

Nah, I've got an article stuck away somewhere on how to make one. But, if I can't find the article, probably, I can still work one up. Always more fun to make your own stuff, and loads less costly.

 

[JOAT]

OK, most of you already know that I'm not a CNC guy. Which is likely why I never paid attention to this thread before. But when it popped up today, something caught my attention, and now I think I need to read it. Because I'm thinking about getting a CNC machine? Not only no, but Hell no. It is because I'm thinking that a load of the information will also apply to a non-CNC guy, like me.

So, my question for today is:
Is there anything specific I should look out for that would apply to me, that I need to ignore, or just need to read it, pick out what would, apply to me, and ignore the rest?

Fortunately not dependent on woodworking income (a bit of prior planning - retired Army, the disability income was not planned), but on the other hand, can't afford to give away all I make.

I think later I will start a thread asking about pricing.

 

[JOAT]

The products that would sell the best in my head , may not move at all . We have a lot of wealthy people an hour north of me in Fairmont and Invemere , and it would be nice to make a journey there once in a while .
I know your not allowed to park on the side of the road anymore , as there’s a big pullout where I’ve seen vendors before .
May have to rely more on e-commerce

Rick, for a long time I communicated with a retired college professor. He has/had a workshop in his basement, and primarily made some nice boxes, which usually sold around the $40- 50 mark, perhaps a bit more. No CNC. He hit craft shows several times a year, did well enough to give his small sailboat to charity, and to buy a larger one. Then started getting repeat customers. Then the repeat customers started contacting him direct. Somewhere in there he started selling in a consignment shop or two. Eventually he stopped hitting the craft shows, the repeat customers increased, and he got to the point where the consignment shops were contacting him. Not saying that will happen to you, but it does prove it is possible. I don't know about the craft shows as such, but I think consignment shops might be a good start, just make sure that buyers know it was you making whatever, and how to get in contact with you.

In the small town I live just outside of there is now a new 'general store', selling all sorts of stuff. Apparently they are doing decent business, not stopped to check, but have to drive past almost every time I go to town. A lot of the stuff outdoors is wooden yard art, etc., so thought they might take consignments. But when I called, they said they did when they started, but no more; I'm thinking they but the crafts outright, then resell them, but forgot to ask. They did say that every 2-3 weeks, they rent out up to 20 spaces in their parking lot, $25 each, for venders to sell. That seems to be going quite well, so later going to give that a shot. I've been thinking that flea
markets would be a good way to sell my stuff, but this is closer and should work as well. So you mght want to give flea markets a shot.

 

[JOAT]

Just remember, Don't listen to the folks who say "they can't do it".. … because they are right about themselves..... because THEY can't.

With me it was people saying, "You can't do it." Puzzled me for a long time, because I knew I could. Finally figured it out, what they meant was that 'they' couldn't do it, so they figured if they couldn't do it, there was no way I could. It used to make my day when they would tell me that, and I could tell them I had already finished it.

 

[JOAT]

@RainMan 2.0 And I can tell you, persisting is everything. Everyone can be stopped from time to time. The trick is to always keep restarting. If you run up against something that stalls you, look at it until you understand what it is, and then find the solution and way out.

When I read that it reminded me of a guy I learned about years ago. He had about 10 or so businesses - all at once. He would start a small business, get it going smoothly, then hire someone to do the work. Then he'd work on doing it again. None of the businesses gave him a lot of income, in fact I think that after he paid for materials and payroll he only made about $10 a week on 1 or 2, but put together, he had a healthy income. Every once in awhile in awhile one of his companies would run out of customers, or for whatever reason. No problem, he would either have a new business ready to put into operation, or he would work on it until he got one ready. I don't know if I could come up with 2 ideas for businesses that would actually make money, let alone 10 or so.

I guess the moral is just keep plugging, keep coming up with different things that sell, and different places to sell 'em. Short version of your advice Tom.