pricing,marketing&business start-up

[Cory]

In my daily reading of other blacksmith forums I came across an interesting thread some here may find helpful,Iknow I did. forgemagic.com has had this thread going for a couple of days now. Anyone wanting to check this out can hit the long form tab at the top of that forum page and it will take you back a week or so. Also wanted to thank the few locals from this site for taking the time to post what information they did. If anyone has anything to add to that we could get the thread started here as well.

[Glenn]

Rather than making just a referral to www.Forgemagic.com and some 200 plus posts covering all sorts of topics, and the most of the month of Feburary, why not summerize in your words, the business and pricing information and post it. We could then visit Forgemagic if the topic interested us and read the site for details.

This would benifit both sites as those viewers of IForgeIron with the subject oriented format may find the time stamp format and one continious post of Forgemagic a little confusing.

[Ed Thomas]

That topic comes up and gets marinaded over there for a few days every year or so. If you missed it this time, it will come around again with all new opinions after awhile.

[mike-hr]

Cory, I can give a few thoughts, you can tell me if I'm on the page I should be on..
I've evolved from carpenter to fabricator/machinist to blacksmith and railing contractor over the last several years. I've been backed up over six months for over two years now. I have a yellowpage ad under welding and also iron work, that stresses blacksmithing and iron art. Ive found that folks go nuts over forged work, not perfect, some honest hammer marks, and swelled eyes with tennons and big rivet joinery. I'm a poor salesman, but am passionate about my trade. I show them a chunk of 1 inch square and then show them the caprail i make from it, tell them about how I restored a 1910 power hammer just like the one they've seen on the history channel, and why my product is honest and unlike the stuff at home depot. For almost every job, I'll make a couple feet long sample of product that fits their stairway or balcony. People need to see and feel this kind of work to understand the price you get. The sample also gives me a real time guide to pricing. Keep track of how long it takes to make an element, but remember that forging two feet of something isn't quite proportional to forging a ten foot long piece. If you are going to try for the higher end market, money's not a problem, personality is...design most of a railing and ask the homeowners for THEIR input on several elements. They now have a personal interest in your product and are thrilled to find out that it's no problem to make the bottom half of an S-scroll fatter than the top, per their instructions. I get a lot of my work from several concrete contractors and home builder contractors. If you don't have a network, make some product samples, and a run of nifty bottle openers. Cruise the high end building projects by the lake. Show the general your stuff and give him a bottle opener. He'll call you for his next house if not the one he's doing now. Remodel jobs are a lot nicer than new construction. By the time they are ready for you on a new house, things are a month behind and you can't get initial measurements until the piano is in the living room. They will get quite angry if you tell them you can't get the forge weld on the water leaf to take. It's okay to grab the mig gun and cheat in this instance. Most construction loans have a maturity date, running long is a mortal sin.

I hope this is what you were asking for, it was kind of fun to vent for a minute...