It's a sad note

[Frank Turley]

Dave,

 

Some caveats. Consider what it means to make the same thing over and over. The first 10 wizard head bottle openers may be fun, but after that, not so much. And also consider printing a picture and price catalog. Ten years hence, you may have outgrown your catalog products and especially the prices.

 

The format of your press releases must be correct and written carefully with proper grammar and without typos and misspellings. Your newspaper may have its own style, but I preface my releases by saying: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE; 11/28/2013; SANTA FE, NM. Then, I begin my information.

 

Buena Suerte

[dognose]

It appears as though Yellin, amongst other craftsmen of his era suffered from many of the same issues discussed in this thread. Here is a quote from Jack Andrews YELLIN from George Howe, an architect and one of Yellin's contemporaries. "It is an unfortunate fact that the real nature of craftsmanship, the use of materials in a way appropriate to their nature, for ends to which they were well adapted, is little understood today, not because there is any dearth of information on the subject, but because the perfection of the mechanical means of production at our disposal has blinded us to the simplicity of the means which produced the great works of art of the past, and had led us to admire tricks of legerdemain, and illusions, by which one thing is made to look like another, and materials are loosed from there proper sphere to be discovered again in another, and foreign one. To add to his difficulty, the craftsman is constantly asked to slur over that which is deemed unimportant, or will not show, and is urged to make his work as cheap, yet as showy, as possible. Against this tendency, Samuel Yellin has steadfastly set his face". This quote is from 1918. 

[VaughnT]

1918 or today, things remain the same.

 

I've read interviews with a number of top businessman, including the guy that started Subway, and they all say that they wouldn't have been able to start their business in today's regulatory atmosphere.  Hiring someone to help you has become increasingly problematic, and you'll soon see the ripples from recent legislation.

 

Getting started and succeeding to the point that you can simply break even?  You need to create an atmosphere around you and your product that includes a strong website.  Every little thing counts, including how you mark your work.  

 

Even when you're selling on ebay or etsy, you have other smiths selling similar products.  Why should I buy your widget for $30 when Bob's got basically the same thing for $20?  How is Bob making his widget so cheaply?  How do you duplicate that, or convince the buyer that you're worth an extra ten bucks?

[petere76]

All,

 

A great thread. I particularly like the combo physiology- businessman observation. I guess we all have to have a certain knowledge of the former to be successful at the later.

 

Way back in the college days I took psychology courses primarily to boost my CPA. In retrospect, it did enhance my business activity. Advertising is essentially understanding the client or the market. It all comes down to sales, you either sell yourself as in the case of an artist or a product as in the case of a tool maker. What grabs the buyer, where is the appeal? Understand this concept and you have won the battle.  Tooling or knife making; its the function, fit and finish. The feel in the hand.  Art by comparison is somewhat more abstract as you have to appeal to the visual as well as the tactical sense. Honestly,  I have more of a challenge when faced with the artist as opposed to a contractor. I can satisfy the needs of a hardware efficinato much easier than someone  looking for a sculpture.  The good thing about hardware is it's self defining. Form has to dance with function or its a no-go; It either works or it doesn't. Art on the other hand is interpreted by the onlooker and  what to you may seem like some collection of random joinery is seen as something completely different by the client.

 

The good news is that "art" pays a lot more than hardware. In college I worked occasionally for a guy that did sculpture work. His medium was bronze and he made these huge abstract clamshell like pieces. It was all formed and then welded out of sheet.  We were employed as riggers to help move these things in his shop. The pieces we installed as city art in New York and Philly and the price was off the chart high. The artist in question did a lot of this abstract style art work for cities. So, for this fellow, who had identified his market, art was a money maker. HIs shop was on a point of land in an old light house overlooking the ocean. You couldn't ask for a better location.  

 

Peter     

[Chestnut Forge]

I got started like most. Cup hooks, plant hangers and such. My buddy and me set up a table at a craft show once. We had our usual stuff out. We had made a whole camping set, Tripod, trammel, roasting fork, some lantern hangers...pretty much everything one would need for a camp site. We were asking $200 for the set. We had 6 solid days of forging it. This guy says to his wife/gf "That's too much. I can get all that stuff cheaper" He was right. Could get it cheaper if it was imported to one of the "SuperMega Marts"

[Glenn]

I had a grill on a sales table at a re-enactment event. The wife was interested, the husband said he could make it. I told him that he was right, he could make one, and most likely as good as or better than mine,

 

I then said: But do you really want to hear the wife ask when you are going to finish HER GRILL each time you eat dinner, OR do you want to purchase this grill and eat a pleasant dinner together tonight? 

 

When you do make and present her with YOUR grill I am sure she will choose to use your grill over mine, after all you made it for her. She can then sell my grill and give you back the money, so you will not be out anything. You do want to eat a pleasant dinner together tonight don't you?

 

Item sold, so wife is happy, husband does not have to listen to a crabby wife and.eats good dinners. Everyone wins.

 

I ran across the wife several years later and ask if she sold that grill. With a twinkle in her eye, she said "not yet". 

[gearhartironwerks]

It's all about selling yourself as an artist and engaging people wherever you are. Those folks who sit in the back of their tents at craft fairs will never survive regardless of how good their wares are. One has to be people oriented to succeed in any economy.

john

[John McPherson]

Glenn, sounds like a guy that used to display his woodworks at guns shows. He had a dozen of the most ingenious ways to hide a gun (or guns) in coffee tables, mirrors, clocks etc. that I have ever seen.

 

He had a big engraved plastic sign on his table that read "Sure you could. But will you?"

 

I still have not.

[notownkid]

First thing my father taught me when I went into the family auto business, concentrate on talking with the wife, don't leave the husband out but make her a part of all conversations.  When all is said she controls the purse 90% of the time plus we know what else she controls.  It worked and the ladies were always ready to return for another one car.  They remember!

[hillbilly bling]

I totally understand where all of you are coming from. I don't know where you want to go,but i see $$$ signs in all. Not everyone thinks and does things the way i do. Don't want you to. Be yourslf,, but ask yourself why? Why are you a Blacksmith? To make alot of money and maybe get rich? That's fine if you do think that way.My Blacksmithing skills are very young. Just getting started. I have no problem staying busy. There's a reason for that and it's simple. Sell your product cheap! I am not a Blacksmith to get rich. I am a Blacksmith for the love of the trade. If some thing takes me 2 hours to make and i have 8 dollars in materials, I have no problem selling it for 15 dollars. Thats 7 dollars i didn't have 2 hours ago. $3.50 an hour is sad. But it's not about the money for me. The smiles i put on peoples faces and the thanks i get in return are pricless. Also that person will tell another and so on. Some have even paid more than my asking price. BONUS! Jim Coke knows what i drive, "Don't laugh at my truck Jim" I live a simple life and don't live beyond my income. If i can provide someone with what they want or need and get a lil money and a smile or a good hand shake,then i have been successful as a Blacksmith in my book!!!

[Randy]

I've experienced a lot of different events in trying to make a living by creating forged metals for over forty years. I did well in the late '70's when I specialized in colonial reproduction ironwork. It got tougher when I added more artistic elements and kept growing in that direction. In some of my bad times I've contacted successful friends in hot metals and asked them how they were making it. I am still trying to figure this out for me.

 

I think the two things that I have learned is to specialize in something. They say that if you take whatever comes in the door, which I did for most of my carreer, the "universe" says, "oh, he wants a little of this and a little of that, so we'll give him more of the same". That is what you attract for yourself. It doesn't really know what to give you. But if you speciallize in something people will know who to go to for that type of item. It will becomes special and also worth more. I know one shop that only does shutter hardware and has several people working for him.

 

The second thing that I have learned is figuring out the items' value. So it is overhead, time and materials. But don't forget the "perceived value". That may take some experimenting. I just saw a story where a guy was giving away free hugs on the street at some event. Then a guy came up and had a sign that read something like, "extra special hugs, $2 each". People were in line to get and pay for the special hugs and the other guy was just standing there. When I did shows if I carried an item for two years and it didn't sell then at the next show I would RAISE the price by 30% or more. It almost always sold at the next show. If it is not expensive enough there must be something wrong with it in the buyers eyes. I think we deal with our own poverty mentality. I know I do. "Oh, I couldn't pay that price for that." So we mark it down accordingly. Wrong move. I have been working with some mentors who say my work is too cheap and I need to raise it by a certain amount. My mind won't allow me to do that, but I did raise the price almost to their point. So I'll see how that goes and then I can always raise the price again. Believe me those people are out there who want and can afford your work. Figure out your specialty and where it fits and then hit that group of people. If you can be creative in your work then you also need to be creative in your sales!

[arkie]

One thing that strikes me as unique...all most everything we buy these days is "Made in China".

 

I have yet to run across a truly blacksmith-made object that was made in China.

 

Keep the art of blacksmithing alive; it may be the only thing left not Made in China...

[SoCal Dave]

The blacksmithing stuff is made in Mexico.  Go to IMS, (industrial metals supply) and they have tons a pre-made, fabricated textured bars, scroll work, forged items, for gates, etc.  This reminds me of the old time farrier who makes his own shoes, and the new horseshoer who buys any kind of horseshoe he may need. Even the farrier who made his own shoes buys the new anyway you want it shoes. It's a sad note.   

[VaughnT]

Make the economy of scale work in your favor.  If you try to fight it, you're gonna end up on the losing side of the battle every time.

 

Even if you're making hooks, look at having a local metal supplier do the cutting for you.  Figure out how much time it takes you to cut all those 4.5" pieces from a 20' rod of round stock, then factor in your broken/worn saw blades, electricity, frustration, etc.  If the supplier only charges a few pennies per cut, that money spent translates into time and energy you could be using on something more important.  

 

The idea isn't new.  In olden-times, the apprentices were the ones doing the mundane tasks while the journeymen and masters did the big stuff and assembled everything.  They knew that the little things took a lot of time and money out of their pockets, so they had the least-experienced and lowest-paid doing it as part of their learning the trade.  

 

There used to be a guy on ebay that was selling pre-cut leaf blanks.  I haven't seen him around in a bit, but I do remember thinking how brilliant that idea was.  It completely removed the tedium of me having to cut and file all those blanks before I could heat and shape them, probably saving me over an hour of work on each leaf.  And that translates to either a lower price to the customer or a higher profit margin for the shop.  It's a win-win situation if ever there was one!

 

Even as a hobbyist, profit shouldn't be ignored because the same things that make a shop profitable make a hobby shop more productive and enjoyable.