Johanna

Darryl, when I get a note that says, "This forum helped me!" it makes all the work worth it. Merry Christmas to you and yours, from Ohio to OZ and everywhere in between. And for those of you who don't celebrate Christmas, may the holiday season be a time of family, friends and laughter, and may the new year bring you good luck! Johanna

You've got the Pitt Pounders Leather Guild, too. I'm originally from Charleroi. Nice to meet you, and welcome to LW! Johanna

Marketing Handcrafted Leathergoods A basic guide for craftspeople This practical guide sets out a range of cost effective and commonsense leathercraft marketing strategies for maker/retailers. Introduction I have been working leather for more than thirty years. In that time I have attended countless craft markets, owned and run four retail shops and more recently set up a small manufacturing unit and wholesale leathergoods operation. I am happy to share my knowledge but definitely don't have all the answers; so if you have any great leathergoods marketing ideas you want to share or need more information about anything in this guide then please email me at ray@barefootleather.co.uk Market Research Marketing depends largely on knowing who your customers are - or who you think your customers might be - and precisely what they want to buy. Market research allows you to find out what people want to buy, ergo it tells you what you should be making. Remember: it is much easier to sell people what they want than to try to sell 'em stuff they don't need. Start out with family and friends and then move on to groups and clubs to discover what people in your area are looking for. If you are really brave then go and ask people in the street. You could be surprised at what you discover. Personal promotion Always carry a top quality piece of your work with you. Wear one of your own hand-tooled belts, carry a bag you have carved or a briefcase you have hand sewn. People always notice unusual or beautiful things and will often ask where you got an item from. You won't get a better chance to promote your own products. Demonstrations Take every opportunity you can to demonstrate your craft alongside your sales operation. People love to see something being made especially if they can't do it themselves. You will make a lot of friends and sell a lot more products if you demonstrate what you can do. Photography You might want to start out by getting some great photographs of your products - if your budget is limited then a friend with a decent digital camera, a set of lights and a burning desire to create is a huge asset. You can use these pictures to develop all kinds of marketing collateral such as postcards for putting in store windows and to be handed out everytime somebody comments on your belt, bag or briefcase or asks why your hands are that funny color... Flyers If you are a computer geek grab a copy of MS Publisher (or any other desk top publishing package) and create yourself a three fold flyer with pictures. You can promote a huge range of items on one of these and best of all you only need print what you need. They look good on noticeboards too. Postcards I used to have some very simple postcards with the words HANDTOOLED LEATHER in big letters at the top and a couple of nice pictures underneath that brought me in loads of work. Best still they got people to call me to talk about stuff they wanted. I couldn't always help but after a chat they often came back with other ideas. Noticeboards You could put business cards, postcards or flyers onto noticeboards at colleges and big office complexes. Find friends who work in these places and persuade them to pin cards up for you. The simple approach is best. Another good trick is to make up your flyers with printed 'tear off' strips underneath so people can rip off a copy of your phone number or email address to take home with them - that way your flyer stays on the board. Tags Make tags for your leathergoods that carry your contact details. People like to see who made an item and, if they are pleased with the way it performs, you will have made it easier for them to re-order from you. You can also use a tag to promote bespoke/custom leatherwork. Be inventive - how about using your leather scraps to make your tags? All you need is a rubber stamp or a Sharpie. Niche markets Re-enactors have always been a great source of business for me. I love 'em all but I don't expect them to have big bucks. If they are your target market then you might want to think about the sort of stuff they might need and produce yourself a mini catalog of good leathery things for distribution at Medieval Fairs and the like. You will be surprised how these catalogs are kept safe until the cash is found to make a purchase. Dog equipment is another lucrative market for the leatherworker because it constantly needs to be replaced. Hand-tooled collars and leads are good sellers and can lead to bigger orders. Try your local pet shop with a sample of your work. I have created a number of blog sites that offer advice to people in niche markets. For example: A Guide to the Restoration and Renovation of 1940s Leathergoods http://1940sleather.blogspot.com links back to my website and to my eBay shop. This will be picked up by the search engines and will lead people to my sales area. Online marketing Build yourself a website to use as an online brochure. Go to Blogger or one of the other free blogging sites and see how easy it is to create an online brochure for free. For an example of a free leatherworker's blog check out: www.barefootleather.blogspot.com Don't worry about online sales as you can always open an inexpensive eBay shop until you are ready to invest in a full e-commerce package. A more design-focused and craftsperson friendly alternative to eBay is Etsy. Listing prices can work out cheaper but the market isn't as large. The 'plus side' is that buyers know that goods sold on Etsy are handmade. Check out: http://tombanwell.etsy.com Always remember that people can't buy from you unless they know you are there. You will need to make sure your website URLs are clearly visible on all your marketing materials, on the end of every email you send and on every letter you write. You should also try to get other websites to link to your pages - add a link to your Facebook page, take a look at all of the social media websites and link your web page as many times as you can so others will find it. Conclusion I really enjoy the marketing side of leatherwork and can't wait to try out new ways of reaching out to potential customers. The trick is to stay focused on the client. Always try to make what they want (which is not necessarily what you want to make) and make your marketing materials look as good as your leatherwork! http://www.barefootleather.co.uk ©2008 Ray Hatley UK

I sent the artist an invitation to the forum. Perhaps he can explain why someone wanted a leather car? Just when I think I have seen it all....another leatherworker surprises me! Johanna

Ray- I would really like to pin a copy of what you wrote to the top of this section. Good practical advice. Do I have permission? ~J

Okay, folks, here is the file in a .wmv format. It's 491 MB or so, and it's almost done uploading... http://leatherworker.net/Artisan/artisan.wmv If you have a slow or unpredictable connection, I recommend you bookmark the page on LW. You can fast forward or rewind with the player. I'd also like to say that this video was made by George Hurst of HideCrafters on a Sunday afternoon. It wasn't made with the idea of selling anyone anything, it was created to be a teaching tool. I'm sure that the guys at Artisan will be taking into consideration all of your constructive criticism for the next video. But understand, these are guys who know they make a good product and are proud of it, but are also trying to keep costs down for you, the consumer. Artisan has demonstrated their commitment to customer service many times on this board, and they are about to release a brand new user friendly website- chock full of manuals and parts lists. One of Artisan's best selling points is service after the sale, so take that into consideration if you try to save a few bucks and buy an imported knock-off of their product, or a machine from one of their competitors. I don't see any of them on this board every day, patiently answering questions, or sending PMs to members who need help. Remember that when you make your decision. I'd also like to say that they let me operate one of their machines at the last show, and I would feel comfortable sewing with the Toro 3000. If I can figure it out, you experienced guys will think it's a piece of cake. Remember, I'm the one who will hand stitch a belt rather than turn on my super Singer and sew my hand instead of the leather. No, I don't work for Artisan, but I have been working with the guys who run the place, and I respect their sincere effort to take the intimidation factor out of their heavy-duty machines. I don't see the other manufacturers helping the newer leatherworkers jump up into the next level of production work, do you? So, the sound is a little weak, and there are some shots that could have been done better...they will keep that in mind for the next one. But don't knock them- at least they are trying. And we are learning. And that is what it is all about. Johanna getting down now :soapbox: and back to work. My new computer came in today and I am a little excited! It's been a long week since the major hardware failure that killed the last one.

Kate & I are working on a Wiki for things like this...patterns, lessons, videos etc. Stay tuned! Johanna

When I was a kid in the '70s the teachers said, "Learn this metric well, you will need it because everything will convert." The teachers couldn't imagine thinking in metric any more than our parents, who still buy gas and milk by the gallon, and butter by the pound. There are two pints to a quart and four quarts in a gallon. Any questions? You, in the back with the 16 oz. soda standing by the 8-9 oz. leather hide? Do you honestly think of miles per gallon on kilometers by liter? In the US, we buy pop (soda. cola, soft drinks, sugar with fizz) by the 2 liter bottle, but milk and gas are sold by the gallon. Chips are sold by volume, not weight, and how they calculate air pockets in orange Cheetos I'll never know. I have no real idea of what a cubic foot of natural gas (how we heat the house) but I assume I could put it in a gas can? I have no idea beyond 10C is about 50F and 100C is boiling either, as I suspect is true of many Americans. I had a niece here the other day that asked what time it was, and I pointed to the clock that had just finished chiming. "Oh," she confided, "I only know digital time." This kid could not read a standard wall clock, and I'm glad I didn't point her to any roman numerals to confuse things even more? As you may have guessed, I'm coaching a fifth grader through math this year, and it's got me thinking. When she asks why gold is measured differently than lead, and why a quarter pound of butter is a half a cup and, my favorite, "Mom, why don't we use metric stuff all the time like the other countries?" Because, after all, based on 10, the math is easier. Any computer geek will tell you that a gig of ram = 1024 MB, which somehow makes sense in a world that still types on "qwerty" keyboards. the keys were designed to slow an English typist down so the keys wouldn't jam. Meanwhile, the third grader is learning that "through" "tough" and ""thorough" are all pronounced differently, and I don't know why that is, either, except he needs to learn it, just like we faithfully teach our kids metrics. People who deal drugs are very quick with gram conversions, so I suspect we, as a society, need to have a sense of urgency if anything will ever change. Bananas are sold by the pound. I'm going bananas repeating, "I don't know why, but you'd better learn it or you won't be able to do modern algebra!" Does anyone know what time it is? Depends where you are. Seems like time is the only standard the world adheres and agrees on, but that wasn't always the case (Julian or Gregorian?) So, what's it like where you live? Are you metric or not? I live in Ohio, USA, and I'm not very metric. My husband has two sets of tools to work on the cars. He works in a mixture of metric and English at the factory, too. .0000 tolerances What is it like where you live? Do you have any absurd legacies like we do here in the US? Johanna

You need the codec I mentioned in my previous post. I put a link to it. ~J

bear with me, I'm trying something different for you to download the file. Right click and choose "save target as", navigate to the place you want to store it. When it has completed downloading, choose "open folder" then right click on the file and choose "open with- Windows Media Player". If you try to click directly on the link. WMP will bog down because of the size of the download. If you are running an older version of WMP, you may be prompted to download a codec. You can get it here. Johanna

I can wave my magic wand and fix anything like that. Let me know what you want, and where to put it, and I can help. admin@leatherworker.net is the fastest way to get me. I was out of town this weekend, and I got a little behind on the mail. Johanna

This forum is moderated to where the posts need approved before they are seen, and I've been driving all day. Sorry. We let guests post here, and sometimes spammers try to use this forum because they don't have to register to post. Sorry for the delays. Johanna

I have plans this weekend, and won't be home. If anyone wants a downloaded version, and it;s okay with Artisan, I will put up a link on Monday for a file that's about 2GB. I have some family problems that need to be dealt with this weekend, so I won't be on much. Johanna

There is a sound icon on the player to the right. You may nned to right click it, click "settings" then "enable hardware accelereration" for Adobe Flash Player. Then you should be able to drag the sound slider up after hitting F5 (forced refresh). I had to update Adobe Flash on one of our kid's scomputers, too. This was the same kid that was complaining about not being able to see some of the You Tube videos. He's happy now. Johanna

Under certain circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer. Mark Twain I have to admit there are times that I have used language not appropriate for children, but it's usually over some computer issue. I have learned to walk away and calm down before I break something I can't fix, too. Playing my guitar or banging on something in the shop helps. Or, I'll be cutting the grass when all of a sudden the answer just becomes clear. I don't know why, because I'm not even thinking of the problem at the time. My first husband had a foul mouth, and I knew when something wasn't going well in the shop. In fact, loud long strings of expletives is what inspired me to pick up a brush and start doing his dye work, then his lacing, and so on. I won't ever forget the day we came home and discovered that one of our Rottweilers had mistaken his favorite mallet for a doggie-lollipop, and the whole thing was soggy and ruined. Oh boy. We all have our bad days and mistakes. Show me a leatherworker without a scrap box, and I'll show you one who doesn't do too much work. The best we can do is not say that stuff in front of the kids. Besides repeating it, they want to know exactly what a blanketedy blank is- don't ask me how I know this. Johanna

I got one a few days ago with news about Weaver on the front cover. There may be an article about LW in the December issue- stay tuned! Johanna

No pictures have ever had to be removed from this site. We have enough space for many many more pics. The only times pics "disappear" is when people use offsite hosts for their pics and then either make the folders private, remove or move the pics or delete the account. To give you an idea of our resorces- LW hosts 23 sites (it helps offset server costs) and we have room for 60 some more without ever getting into the area we have designated for LW. If anyone needs affordable dependable webhosting, and wants to support LW at the same time, send me a PM. Johanna

Ian- we are sending over the Leatherworker Anon squad to hide your credit card from you while you calm down. Deep breaths (no- don't be sniffing the leather now!) Broncobuster will be sending you a box of broken zippers to help snap you back to reality. Somebody reach up and grab Ian off of Cloud Nine before he hurts himself. We're all in this together, have to look out for each other. ~J

Rick Reed Treemaker 88 Burma Road Riverton, WY 82501 307-856-4383

Greg, if money were no object, you'd need one of everybody's. It's Fords and Chevys, wine and women- some are better than others, some are just different. It would be great if you could get to a trade show and look at them, hold, them, tap a little. You may want different tools by different makers depending on your style of working and the look you want to get. It's hard to say "better", impossible to say "best". They all do certain things very well, which is why their tools cost more than Tandy tools. The Hidecrafters tools were made in Japan by a company named Kyoshe Elle (I may have spelled that wrong!) if I am remembering correctly. George Hurst liked the quality, and the price was still less than the individual makers. I remember those tools as leaving very crisp impressions, but on a whole they were smaller than some of the comparable Tandy tools. Maybe somebone with a better memory than mine can fill in the details? That said, I have seen Jim Linnell, Tony Laier, Karla Van Horne and others randomly pull tools off the rack of whatever Tandy store they are visiting and create precise and beautiful works of art. Go figure. Johanna

{{Beaverslayer}} Great looking stool- glad you haven't lost your touch! Glad to see you again! ~J

Tom- I don't know why you are getting that error. No one else has reported a problem. Try clearing your board cookies (front page, towards the bottom on the right) and reboot. If that doesn't work, I'll reset your account. Johanna

Hah! No coffee pot and no radio- and you call that a shop! Looks great, Bruce. There will be an inspection next month to see if everything is still orderly and neat. ~J

Just got an email from Tandy- the Pro Tool Kit is on sale now, and they are offering free shipping! This has everything you need to get started: Tell your Tandy Manager LW sent you! Johanna

A new fan for a desktop is less than $7, and I have seen people fry their several hundred dollar processors because they didn't replace a fan they could HEAR was going bad. Changing a fan in a laptop is a little more complicated, but it still boils down to a screwdriver and some heat sink. It's a cheap investment if the computer is important to you. Johanna