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Thread: Suggestions or Stories for Finding new customers????

  1. #16
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    Thanks Bert! 30% is way better than 50 or 60!! Sedona has artists???? Go figure! I thought all they sold were dream catchers and crystals? <silly grin> (I have good friends with a place in Sedona so I am a bit familiar with the town. Never looked into the retail environment though. That is an excellent deal they are offering compared to other towns and cities I have been in. Though of course, Hawaii has no bearing on reality whatsoever. I think the airlines require people to leave their brains at home when they go there based on the prices I saw people paying for things.)
    900x600 80watt EFR Tube laser from Liaocheng Ray Fine Tech LTD. Also a 900x600 2.5kw spindle CNC from Ray Fine. And my main tool, a well used and loved Jet 1642 Woodlathe with an outboard toolrest that helps me work from 36 inch diameters down to reallllllly tiny stuff.

  2. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by Melissa Wollenweber View Post
    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.
    Lasers : Trotec Speedy 300 75W, Trotec Speedy 300 80W, Galvo Fiber Laser 20W
    Printers : Mimaki UJF-6042 UV Flatbed Printer , HP Designjet L26500 61" Wide Format Latex Printer, Summa S140-T 48" Vinyl Plotter
    Router : ShopBot 48" x 96" CNC Router Rotary Engravers : (2) Xenetech XOT 16 x 25 Rotary Engravers

    Real name Steve but that name was taken on the forum. Used Middle name. Call me Steve or Scott, doesn't matter.

  3. #18
    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
    Last edited by Dee Gallo; 01-27-2016 at 8:29 PM.
    Epilog Mini 18/25w & 35w, Mac and Vaio, Corel x3, typical art toys, airbrush... I'm a Laserhead, my husband is a Neanderthal - go figure

    Red Coin Mah Jong

  4. #19
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    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
    900x600 80watt EFR Tube laser from Liaocheng Ray Fine Tech LTD. Also a 900x600 2.5kw spindle CNC from Ray Fine. And my main tool, a well used and loved Jet 1642 Woodlathe with an outboard toolrest that helps me work from 36 inch diameters down to reallllllly tiny stuff.

  5. #20
    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)
    Mike Null

    St. Louis Laser, Inc.

    Trotec Speedy 300, 80 watt
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    Woodworking shop CLTT and Laser Sublimation
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  6. #21
    Quote Originally Posted by David Somers View Post

    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.
    Epilog Mini 18/25w & 35w, Mac and Vaio, Corel x3, typical art toys, airbrush... I'm a Laserhead, my husband is a Neanderthal - go figure

    Red Coin Mah Jong

  7. #22
    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!
    ========================================
    ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
    FOUR - CO2 lasers
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  8. #23
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    Cool story Kev!!! Thanks!

    Dave
    900x600 80watt EFR Tube laser from Liaocheng Ray Fine Tech LTD. Also a 900x600 2.5kw spindle CNC from Ray Fine. And my main tool, a well used and loved Jet 1642 Woodlathe with an outboard toolrest that helps me work from 36 inch diameters down to reallllllly tiny stuff.

  9. #24
    Dee your work is beautiful. Just checked out your site.
    Epilog Helix 24 - 50w
    Kern HSE 50x100 - 400w (rated at 479w!)

  10. #25
    Quote Originally Posted by Jay Selway View Post
    Dee your work is beautiful. Just checked out your site.
    Thanks Jay, I do my best
    Epilog Mini 18/25w & 35w, Mac and Vaio, Corel x3, typical art toys, airbrush... I'm a Laserhead, my husband is a Neanderthal - go figure

    Red Coin Mah Jong

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