OK I’ll admit it…I’m a newbie….both to this forum and to woodworking. But I am a Business Student in my junior year of college. Now this doesn’t make me an expert by any means. But it seems to me, no matter where you are, or what your niche is in woodworking, the best tool to market your product is the internet.
Whoops gotta go….wanted to make this longer….but I’m late….C-Ya later….
Replies
I disagree. The first and most important tool is the yellow pages of your local telephone directory.
well, I'll go ahead and disagree with both of you. I've NEVER had a sale based on someone looking blindly in the yellow pages. Your best marketing tool is quality. Happy clients tell their friends...
sb
OK, ok....I guess in the five minutes it took to write my idea I didn't consider everything. What I was getting at was that the marketing tool with the ability to reach the most people, in the shortest amount of time, with the least start up expense is the internet. I pay $9.99/mo for internet access and that allows me an email address and a small web page. With the proper bank account, site listing, and an online billing service I can market, well anything.
I will agree that the yellow pages are a great idea, but I would say they are limited in who they can reach, and they can be pricey. And the idea that quality craftsmanship should be central in any marketing plan is completely true. This is what I like about these forums. I can throw out a thought, and get lots of input. Thanks.
I've been in retail (not ww-ing, though) for about 10 years now. Here's my 2-bits worth. I'd agree with Jeff that quality work and happy customers/word-of-mouth are certainly essential. However (Scott), yellow pages advertising is not just for "blind lookers." It's the place people go when they remember someone saying something nice about you, and at midnight when they're plotting a purchase, they'll pick up the YPs and find your name and say "Yeah, that's who she was talking about! She said they did great work! I'll call them tomorrow. Or, they'll see your name in the YP's and start asking around about you. I'd not want to count on someone keeping my card handy to get my phone# when they need it, and will always pay for YP advertising as long as I'm in business.
What about the internet? Depends on what kind of work you do I s'pose, but it wouldn't be on top of my list of places to invest money. Woodworking is not a mass-market effort for most of us. That being said, if you do a lot of custom work, and maybe go to shows or display in galleries, a beautifully laid-out web site would probably provide another aspect of marketing that would bring in additional sales.
The object of marketing is to get your name out there, over and over and over and over so people think of you when they think of woodwork needed. One of the best advertising bargains in our area is a 30-second spot on cable TV. You get to choose 5 different channels (out of 40 or so), x-number of spots per day, for 3 months. The up-front cost of the production is the big bite (about $500), but the air-time is pretty cheap. $2000 of air-time will beat $2000 of newspaper advertising 10-times over. I've seen this work great for basic retail stores, and for service businesses such as custom window-coverings and design businesses. Can't remember for sure, but I think it ran about $500 per quarter for air-time in a basic package.
End of my 2 bits
Edited 3/22/02 9:22:30 PM ET by forest_girl
Edited 3/22/02 9:24:48 PM ET by forest_girl
Well, forest_girl, you certainly said a mouthfull and I agree ! TOTALLY, the average person will look to the YP's for assistance because that is what we've all been taught to do. The internet is a cool place but ask the average joe where they think of to look first and it will always be the YP's.
I've been in this business for a long time and I could never, not even once, figure out why anybody in their right mind would invest hard earned dollars into something that had no product except expecatation to sell.
If you were to put a price tag on the knowledge that I have gained from the folks on this website, neither of us could work all of our lives to pay the tab. But, put a price on the right to access that knowledge and I would walk away as fast as my overweight, heart attack ready, body could take me.
I'll take that free phone book once a year. I can guarantee I'll wear it out before the next one arrives.
That reminds me, where in the heck is page 479.... Oh yeah. Mount Storm custom wood products... Its in the shop hangin on the wall... Ring,,, Ring....
Steve - in Northern California
If the doctor says you have Attention Deficit Disorder, do you pay attention to him?
Steve,
Wow! I'm going to write this date down in my diary. It's been ages since anyone agreed with me totally! ;-)
How'z Northern Cal? I'm a Davis grad myself, but have relocated to Puget Sound. By January of each year, I'm ready to swim back to the valley!
hey, listen, y'all,
it's all good marketing, I have both a website and a yellow pages listing, its just that I don't count either of them as the single best marketing tool I have, and that was the statement that opened this thread. Forest girl (what is your actual name - I always feel silly referring to folks by their screen names?) is right about finding every way you can to just get your name in the air. Once they know my name, they can find me all over the place - yellow pages, internet, etc., I just want to get them looking for me. I'm easy to find once they're looking. So I figure the things that get them looking are the things that are the most valuable to me, if I have to choose a "most valuable"...
sb
"readjustthetruth"
Edited 3/23/2002 2:57:39 AM ET by Scott Braun
I suppose that the phrase "single best marketing tool" is open to interpretation. I took that to mean some form of advertising. And I wouldn't include the quality of my work in that. However, I agree that quality is a defining characteristic that gets me jobs and keeps my clients happy....it helps to assure that they will be repeat customers.
When I first answered this thread, I mentally took myself back to when I went pro and started into business. I knew no one then and no one knew me. I made things of quality but so what if I didn't find a way to inform the world about my work? Back then, I advertised in the local newspaper and the yellow pages. I have maintained a yellow page ad (small) ever since. I no longer advertise in the newspaper, having found that the yellow pages and repeat customers (includes word of mouth) keep me busy. Although the hits I get from the telephone book often do not result in jobs (I can usually recognize from their questions what the result of the conversation will be) some turn out to be real winners. I easily get my money's worth of exposure every year. And, I suspect that should I stop the yellow pages, some of my customers from years back might suspect that I've left town and will look for someone else.
For the record....I have zero personal experience from internet advertising, although I will get around to trying it.
Hi Ty,
It’s hard to say what is the single most important marketing tool available to you: a carefully chosen company name, a well-designed business card, the telephone, a fax machine, a website. I have all of those and marketing is still hard!
Marketing is not about any one tool, but rather a comprehensive approach to the problem. Certainly the web has changed the face of marketing - especially for young people. But, I have to tell you, that a fairly sizeable portion of my clients, who are older, are not yet comfortable shopping on the web. As a matter of fact many of them don’t shop at all – they hire decorators to do the work for them. And those people have their own contacts. Reaching those people is about making phone calls, “meet and greet”, handing out lots of business cards. Rather than thinking of a website as the end-all, think of it as an extension of your business card. Just like it is good practice to attach your card to every piece of paper that goes out of your shop, make sure your URL is also on every piece of paper.
I’d like to recommend Martin Edic’s very good book “The Woodworker’s Marketing Guide.”
Regards,
Kim Carleton Graves
Carleton Woodworking
For all small companies, word of mouth is going to be the biggest and best, simply because that kind of advertising cannot be bought I have survived 10 years because of word of mouth.
However, along with word of mouth is
A- Paid advertising. For me I ran 5 ads in a local rag and had a very nice 1/2 page write up in Oregon Home magazine and had zero, nadda, zip, bupcus in return. Not a call, visit nor email. Not to say paid print does not work but I certainly got a little sun burnt.
B- Yellow Pages. Works for me. Not great but i have made a few good sales simply from blind calls. And as for name recognition by looking though the names to find the one you just can't quite remember, everyone does it so it doesn't hurt to have your name listed. This is just for listing though. I do not believe in the hugely exspensive side bar ads as they are not going to be cost effective for myself *(Do you know what those things cost per MONTH!!!???!?)
C- Internet web sites. Works for me. I average about $5000 a year at least because of my website. ----shameless plug--- http://www.vincentfurniture.com I spent alot of time at the beginning spreading my name across the internet and it has paid off some. Another thing for positive internet sales is using your real name on forums and such.. I have had other forum users refer people to me becuase of internet meetings and communication.
D- Finally and most important. LUCK. Saved my bacon more than I can count. You never acknowledge luck unless you need it. But when she comes through, you know it was luck and not your business savvies that saved your ass. I just made a critical sale simply because a woman was in the mood for wine. My little show room is next to a wine store. Two days later a $6000 transaction has occured. Now yes the sale happened because my showroom and talents would make the sale happen but I had to actually meet these people one way or another and meet them when they wanted to spend the money. Ah, I love luck. It is literally the only reason I am still in the business. (of course sometimes luck also flow the other way. The $6000 sale just called up and cancelled. Ouch. Wants his deposit back. eawww.
Douglas Vincent
Douglas,
Good post, good info and a sorrowful conclusion! I see a lot of web sites of furniture makers and some are good and some are well...in need of a little spit and polish. Quality aside though, I think furnituremaker's web sites should offer a soft way to see your stuff and learn more about you.
If furniture makers would spend more time in "selling the dream" of their work, I think their sites would be more effective. Part of the dream involves sexy photos of your work from various angles, short pieces of information about the object, the wood (educating the consumer) and the craftsman. Clear navigation through the site is key.
Even if your site sold nothing last year, I'd still say yours (to single you out) is a good one because it shows the furniture, tells the story and gives the consumer something to chew on.
My 3.25 cents worth.
Tim____________Tim SamsAssociate Editor, Fine WoodworkingKnots Moderator
Edited 3/25/2002 2:43:04 PM ET by Tim Sams
Selling/Buying Process
All marketing begins with a firm understanding of the buying and selling process. All buyers go through these stages and all sellers must address each stage to be successful.
1. Need Recognition/Arousal - Direct response advertising. Prospect sees your product and consciously decides it might be a solution to a problem he is already aware of, or, it stimulates a new problem he was not aware he had.
2. Information Gathering - Prospect decides to seek additional information to verify the product offered will solve his problem. Prospect "raises his hand" by calling, returning a coupon or sending an email to several companies offering potential solutions to his problem. Information can be in the form of a catalog, direct mail package or a sales call.
3. Comparative Analysis - Prospect receives information and evaluates your benefits and compares them to the benefits offered by your competitors. This is where you either win or lose the purchase. Winners will be those companies that successfully translate the features of their product into "Unique Selling Benefits" (USB’s) that will add value for the prospect.
4. Benefit-Price-Value Equation - Every consumer either consciously or sub-consciously applies this equation to every purchase they make. By adding up the benefits of your product and dividing them into your asking price, they will arrive at a value ... which MUST come out in their favor if you are to get the sale.
5. Decision Making - When and ONLY when this formula comes out in the prospects favor will they make a purchase decision and buy your product.
6. Risk Analysis - The final consideration comes down to how the customer perceives his opportunity to get his money back if the product fails to function properly or to solve his problem. Your marketing materials must fully disclose your guarantee of satisfaction and product warranty.
7. Remorse - This is the stage at which the new customer begins to question whether they made the right decision. How you handle his concerns will determine his level of satisfaction and future purchases.
Given that this is understood, all your marketing efforts must address:
The Five "P‘s" of Marketing
P#1 - Product - The assumption is that you have the right product. Products that have low perceived local availability, high utilitarian usage and high perceived value are ideal for selling direct. If the prospect believes he can purchase your product at a local store, that it will not solve his problem or that it is not of value ... it is unlikely a purchase will be made.
P#2 - Proposition - Given that you have the right product, you must make the right offer. Examples of direct marketing offers include savings, a free premium or gift with the order, a two-for-one (buy one-get one free) and free shipping.
P#3 - Place - This is your audience. You have the right product and the right offer. Now, make sure you expose them to the right audience. First, determine the demographic and psycho-graphic profile of your "ideal" customer. Then go about the task of identifying the right mailing list, magazine, card deck, radio/ television station, or other advertising medium that reaches prospects matching your customer profile.
P#4 - Promotion - Your "creative" or "format" can be a print ad, broadcast commercial, catalog, direct mail envelope package, self-mailer, etc. Your choice of formats is determined by how you plan to sell. If you choose to "One Step" your product ... then you must choose a format that allows your copy and graphics to tell the complete story about the product you are offering. No more and no less. Describe the features of your product in terms of how they benefit the buyer and show the product being used by a person that reflects the demographics of the buyer. If you elect to "Two Step" your product it is best to reveal just enough about the product to allow the prospect to decide if it will offer a solution to his problem/need/want/desire. Once the prospect "raises his hand", then your fulfillment information must be the same as when you "One Step" sell.
P#5 - Presentation - The final "P" is somewhat like a checklist to insure that you have adequately addressed the first four "P’s". By dedicating yourself to the concept of these elements you will be stacking odds in your favor for a successful sale.
Hope this helps. While I am a direct marketer (some of you call this "junk mail"), the information applies to all forms of marketing. BTW, I am the dude that developed the direct marketing strategies that sold over 150,000 multi-purpose woodworking tools; and that launched the first real nation-wide direct marketing program for scrollsaws (selling over 10,000 the first year - 1985/6).
When I retired I launched an e-commerce company selling woodworking plans via a website. I had no web experience but applied the above information. I retired again and that company is now owned by my son and it is the worlds largest marketer of full-size paper woodworking plans.
I wish every professional woodworking business much success and truly hope you have the "passion" to press on with your dreams of turning your hobby into your profession.
Accurate cuts,
Ben
Very good information Ben, thanks.John E. Nanasy
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