[TheForge] Re: Pure Iron Truck Specials.

[Andrew Vida]

Mike, I was discussing this at Pennsic, with other smiths, and I think =
there
is a consensus that the marketing was not optimal. I think you hoped for =
too
much, with too little effective effort (notice I'm not saying you didn't =
put
a lot of effort into it, it's just that I think it was not necessarily
directed as effectively as it might have been).

	Mike, I think Phlip makes a very good point here.  Marketing will often
	determine success or failure.  If you guys are not born- or trained and
	experienced marketeers, you may well have expended a whole lot of time=20
	and energy for nothing in terms of results.  A large company would do a
	thorough market analysis before going into an endeavor such as this, =
but
	you're already there.  An analysis might not be a bad idea at this =
point.
	You have a lot of sweat devoted to this and to simply drop it without
	full konwledge of the potential would be a shame.  It could be that an
	analysis will reveal that there just isn't a market strong enough to
	support this sort of thing.  Or it may say there is a very good =
potential
	market if the product is properly promoted.  If that be the case, then =
it
	would behoove you, assuming the interest and desire remain, to hire a
	marketing firm that would build and launch a campaign.  This would take
	money, but as the old saying goes (and it's not universally true in my
	experience) "you have to spend money to make money".  In this case I
	feel the addage is accurate.

	This is a material intensive business and stuff on the shelf is eating
	into profits.  You want to move product as quickly as possible.  Your
	pricing may be wrong, or you may not be getting your message to the =
real
	professional in a manner that will generate the sales you're looking =
for.
	For example, you cannot rely on the blacksmiths to  carry the business.
	We all know what a stingy bunch many of us can be.  Until I got poor as
	a sewer rat, I was atypical in that I was not afraid to spend money on
	materials and machinery, but that is uncommon amongst us.  I suspect =
you
	need to have at least one prong of a good marketing campaign aimed =
squarely
	at the architects and designers.  Such a campaign needs to play on them =
at
	many levels, such as purity, exclusivity, durability, beauty, etc and =
so on.
	Hammer at them the virtues of PI and why it is to their advantage to =
demand
	this material be used in their decorative ironwork.  The smiths have no
	choice but to comply.  The price is added into the job, but the labor =
may
	be a bit less, or possibly even a lot less and it is the labor that =
costs.
	Cost of material is usually trivial in comparison to labor, but many =
smiths
	cannot see past what they perceive as high material cost.  It's a =
myopic
	view and so you have to take the decision out of their hands and place =
it=20
	into those that carry the cash.

	The way these tings work out, is once they get used to the pricing and =
become
	more familiar with the properties... when they realize that an errant =
hammer
	blow at the last minute is far less likely to wreck a piece, causing =
further
	loss of time and material, the price issue should go away, but you have =
to
	get the trend going first.

	The other prong of the marketing attack should go right to the consumer =
and
	it should go in nice glossy magazines with the right photos and ad copy =
that
	explains to the end consumer precisely why pure iron is what they want. =
 Play
	on the mystique, beauty, durability... get some ass kicking photos that =
show
	the warm, smooth textures of PI... you have to have the wallets =
creaming in
	their jeans for something made of this, whether it be a railing, =
furniture or
	a fine art piece.  Show mixed media pieces, perhaps something that has =
been
	enameled.  Maybe some of the guys could do a few high art pieces that =
you could
	have photo access to in exchange for some material.  One hand washes =
the other
	and all that. You basically have to wag the dog, and it can most =
certainly
	be done, but it takes cashola.

	It seems to me that you have put entirely too much effort into this
	endeavor just to walk away.  Your marketing, while noble in terms of
	enthusiam, heart, and effort, may not possess the polished power that
	it probably needs in order to make PI a household name.  That would
	require non-trivial capital, but if there is indeed an untapped market
	of sufficient mass, and if you still love this product and the whole =
idea
	behind it, then I think you'd all be acting prematurely in walking away
	without at least looking into a professional marketing effort.

	If you have such an analysis done and put together a good business =
plan,
	you can get some pretty serious funding in the way of small business =
loans
	and all that.  Most markets are don't exist until someone creates it.
	The job of the marketeer is to let the buying public know what they are
	missing and just how badly they need what you have to offer.  This is
	the way it's done in the serious world of business and if you decide =
you
	are also determined, I'd bet you could do it too, all other things =
being=20
	equal.

	These are just my random thoughts on the topic.  Whatever you decide, I
	wish you all the best.  You certainly made a very good faith effort and
	I like PI a whole lot and will be sorry to see it go.

I think you need to look beyond your intended usages, essentially for =
the
home smith, and think how this might be of interest for other =
applications.
The magnetic thing was a start, but who else might use it?

	You are right on the money.