New guy with some initial generic questions :)

[Nestor Fernandez]

Will definitely keep that in mind, but, for now we need to stop hemorrhaging money. My wife has also caught the "hey, we can etch that!" bug, so we are rapidly loading up with "samples". Combine that with the rest of the expenses that go with a start-up.... and not having made sale #1 yet...

But I have faith it will be alright. We've been through a lot worse.

On another note, as far as Google ranking, I've installed a SEO (Search Engine Optimization) module on our website's shopping cart software which removes all the nonsense from the URL and clearly defines each product page with a distinct address. This has helped our ranking tremendously and we have starting appearing on pg. 2 of a google search in just under a month. There are quite a few things one can do to help your ranking. Some involve more work than others, but most are well worth it.

[Martin Boekers]

Will definitely keep that in mind, but, for now we need to stop hemorrhaging money. My wife has also caught the "hey, we can etch that!" bug, so we are rapidly loading up with "samples". Combine that with the rest of the expenses that go with a start-up.... and not having made sale #1 yet... .

Take her by the dollar store and everything will be ok! :-)

[Nestor Fernandez]

Take her by the dollar store and everything will be ok! :-)

Sounds like a great idea... in theory. Unfortunately, her "dollar store", at the moment, is Michael's.

[Dan Hintz]

This has helped our ranking tremendously and we have starting appearing on pg. 2 of a google search in just under a month.

Yes, but what are you using for search terms? If I Google my company name, I come up first... that's easy. If I Google LEDs underbody lighting, well, not so much. No SEO was done...

[Nestor Fernandez]

Yes, but what are you using for search terms? If I Google my company name, I come up first... that's easy. If I Google LEDs underbody lighting, well, not so much. No SEO was done...

As strange as it might sound, believe it or not.... "black polished river rock prices". This showed up two days ago, using google analytics, as a referral from a google search that came from Amarillo, TX.

[Josiah Gallo]

Welcome! I've been in industry for 8+ years but am fairly new to sawmill. For tape, JDS is great - comes in rolls of different widths.

[Brent Franker]

Thanks to all the additional comments. I've been hard at work but not hard at work getting my laser up and running Maybe I can make some headway on it this week. I just need to get my ducting and air lines run. Was going to try to do it all at once but I think I'll tackle it in stages since I don't seem to have an entire day free anymore. LOL Thanks for the great ideas and recommendations thus far!

[Brent Franker]

Reading all the posts is the most invaluable tool available, consider it "free education",

I'll wager you will find things that some of us have toyed with that you may never have thought
of.

If you decide against it, please make use of the forum's search engine as most anything you'll
have a question about has been addressed here at one time or another.

You'll see that when someone new comes on board the first thing that will be recommended is to
read the posts.

Consider those hours reading as a "right of passage" and part of your investment in yourself.

Hey Martin! I definitely understand what you are saying and do agree with it. And, I definitely will read posts here on my free time to learn more. I just wanted a little starting point, mostly on supplies, from the experts

I moderate a very active and popular car board (but haven't been too active in the last few years though due to my job) and have over 15,000 posts there where 99+% of them are answering questions and helping others so I definitely know the value of the search tool for the new guy I will definitely use it here!

[Brent Franker]

I hope this helps. Good luck to you!

Yes, that did help for sure. While too far away for me to drive to, it is good to know of a distributor fairly close by in case I need something quick! Thanks!

[Brent Franker]

Welcome fellow SMC newbie. Laserbits is a great source for laser engraving items. Also JDS and Marco Plastics. Roy Brewers' site engrave.ca has alot of useful lasering information. You would also be surprised how many Youtube videos there are about the graphics software in general, and lasering.

Thanks, Tony! Is this the link you are talking about for JDS?

http://www.jdsindustries.com/homepage.htm

I saw in another post somebody talking about "JDS" and some products they were buying from them but when I went looking on the above site for the products they were talking about I didn't see it so I'm not sure if I have the correct JDS?

As for the YouTube videos, I have watched several and agree they are very interesting and valuable for a new guy. I ran across some where they were lasering their fingernails with designs... definitely not recommended but interesting to watch

[Larry Bratton]

Brent:
You have the right JDS link. However, they are a wholesaler and require a tax number to get set up with them. Once that happens you have access to pricing and they send out their huge catalog and price list.