Dear listmenbers,
Just had a thought that came to me that should put the "marketing issue" into a practical perspective we can use and also satisfy those who unde rstand the realities of marketing and the world around us. As Richie men tioned; marketing and the principals that make it work will not be going away, the "trick" if one should choose to market oneself is to find a w ay to make it work for you. Each person/builder/business is different an d in some way totally unique.
As I sat at my desk here at the shop, which I almost never do (I'm total ly serious; I spend more time on the toilet here than at my desk) starin g at a half eaten Wendys salad from yesterday and my usual cup of coffee ; the bolt of lightnening struck. I was first thinking about the situati on of profits and what kind of a living a framebuilder such as myself ma kes(I'm in the $20,000 or just under catagory, including my paint busine ss) and what one whold have to do to improve the profits without working to death as you get older by the day? My first thought for my present s elf, I'm perfectly happy with the money I make in this business. I wish it was more but I'm not capable of doing business more effeciently or wh atever it would take (including raising prices, blah, blah) because I ac cept that this is part of how my business works. I don't want even one e mployee; it would change everything in so many ways it's not funny. I do n't want that, so I'm willing to accept the limitations in order to NOT have to change. Instead of an employee I now have a geniune "apprentice" who wants to build his own frames someday. He helps out with some of th e chores related to painting and restoration as he watches and learns ho w to build frames. I'm quite happy with framebuilding the way it is for me. It allows me the "Advanced hobbiest" approach to my work. I can't af ford to give it away, but I don't worry about P&L when I'm romancing a b icycle frame. It is what I love to do and the act of making it and the r eaction of people and the owners/riders more than balance out the financ ial sacrifice. That works for some people and for others it will not. It works for me.
Putting myself in say Bruces shoes (I suspect 3 of my feet fit in one of his shoes) I asked myself, " what would I do if I wanted the situation to change? The obvious first answer is don't continue doing exactly what you have been doing. SOMETHING must change. We know the market and mark eting aren't going to change because people aren't going to change; at l east not overnight. Maybe down the road a few thousand years "they're" p lanning to give back the tail we apparently lost?? somewhere along the l ine, but it ain't happening tomorrow. One might try changing the marketi ng stratagy, changing your product, changing your deodorant; you have to make and or look for the hopfully logical and practical changes to make in an effort to effect change.
I would like more money myself. If and when I get around to putting some effort into that my plan is to do something other than framebuilding. C ould be designing and fabricating components or tools, could be playing music or something related, could be making objects'd arte, which is whe re my closest future plans lie. I think I could be an "artist". We'll se e.
So one must change if one wants the situation to change. For one like my self who prefers things as they are most of the time, change is constant and unavoidable, period. I don't try to control the world and the chang es happening out there, BUT I can control and be selective about what ch anges happen within me and near me to some degree. As far as business an d marketing goes, I spend my time trying not to make my problem any wors e; which means trying to find ways to keep people interested until the t ime comes when I can take an order. Making 2 to 6 frames per year is a t otally different problem than the builder who wants to make between say 12 and 50ish frames per year. I need anti marketing the way I see it, an d most guys require marketing to operate. You gotta find what works for you. If it ain't working something needs to be changed. It is wiser to l earn to adapt and control your destiny than to expect the rest of the wo rld to stay in line with your thinking so that you never have to change.
Change is good, even though I don't like it. Just work to have the chang es be good and positive ones. What more can we ask for? Just my two cent s.
Brian Baylis La Mesa, CA There's a desk under here?? All this time I thought this was a 28" high rectangular pile of papers and crap in my office.