[TheForge] Re: How fareth the pro smith?

[Andrew Vida]

RIES NIEMI wrote:
> 
> The economy seems to be a lot more complicated than it used to be, which I
> think, overall, is a good thing.

	This is an interesting perpsective.  Many folks would hold
	an opinion in wide variance with this, cleaving to the idea
	that simple things are better.  Certainly easier to comprehend.


> There doesnt seem to be any one answer- lots of people are busy as can be,
> others are going broke.

	I've noticed this as well.  The middle region seems to be 
	narrowing very sharply.	Those who are in a good marketing 
	method do betterthat those not.  Marketing is more important, 
	generally speaking, than what you make or how well you make it.
	A clear example of this lies in the horribly made junk from
	Mexico.  It was selling like hotcakes with the more-money-than-
	brains crowd in Scottsdale and Paradise Valley.  Marketing
	is pretty much the be all of such businesses.  Combine great
	marketing with superior craft and you may be cooking.

> I think the career arc of a craftsman, someone who devotes their entire life
> to becoming as good as they can get at a skill, is not so tied to the
> economy in general.

	But they are not immune to the demands of marketing.  I would
	assert that they have been heavily into marketing at one time
	or another.  But this doesn't mean they have been conscious of
	it.  I know people that market themselves like pros and don't
	even know it.  The combination of their personality, skill,
	and mannerisms just naturally attract interest.

> People still want Sam Maloof chairs or Albert Paley
> tables, even though they cost more every year and there is a two year
> waiting list.

	As the rich (the smart rich) tend to remain so, they are
	never at a loss to make large capital purchases for home
	and office.  Those are the people and businesses the single
	smith needs to catch the eye of.  Easier said than done.
	My recommendation is to use whatever means and connections
	you have at your disposal.

> On the other hand, if what you are selling is a twisted plant hook,
> indistiguishable from those made by 200 other smiths around the country, its
> likely you are going to be having a harder time when the economy slips.

	Agreed.

> Geography certainly plays a part in it as well. The better known
> bladesmiths, art blacksmiths, or high end ornamental guys are already
> geographically diversified. The guy just starting out is reliant on his
> immediate neighborhood.

	That's why you want to place yourself in places where the money
	is such as NYC, Scottsdale, Santa Barbara, Naples, etc.  I also
	think that making yourself a very social animal can be very
	helpful.  Becoming well known and liked in the community can
	never hurt.  Getting socially connected with the arts people
	and other money-rich sectors is a good way to make that first
	great break for yourself.  That is what Mark Costabi did (he's	
	a NYC painter).  Many revile him as a charlatan, and infact he is
	a flavor of that, but he was a brilliant self-marketeer whose
	paintings sell for tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars
	apiece.

	It's much like the old addage about the three most critical
	factors for real estate: location, location, and location.
	Better to own an outhouse in Beverly Hills than live in a
	huge pristin mansion in the ghettoes of Elizabeth NJ.

> If you allow yourself to be a replaceable, faceless worker who makes a
> commodity, then you are the first to suffer when things slow down.

	This was the problem with one of my recent business partners.
	He's a great guy and very talented, but a throwback from the
	days of filthy hippies, love, and flowers.  His aspirations
	are "modest".  Well, the world is treating him as a pauper
	as result, but one cannot make another person want to be
	otherwise.  After six months he's just come to accept my
	assertion that he ought not lower his hourly rates, which
	plummeted from $85/hr to as low as $15.  You are worth what
	people think you are worth, and they think you are worth what
	you project that worth to be.  I think this applies to smiths
	as well.  Granted you must also have the skills and the sense
	of artistic style that appeals to people, but that is usually
	not enough without projecting the proper image.

> If you spend the time, effort and money to be as good as you can be, and to
> be an artist at what you do (not an artist- but an artist at what you do.
> You can be an artist, too, but the competition is even stiffer in that
> field.) Then people want your work because YOU made it, and since there is
> only one of you, you have a pretty good chance of weathering the storm.
> Of course, this is a lifelong journey.

	We had a long discussion on this last year on artmetal.
	Being and artiste is all well and wonderful, but it will
	not buy you a loaf of bread if you don't have a marketing
	plan or someone associated to you that has one.  Art,
	contrary to much protest, is not essential to life and when
	things get rough, art gets the axe before almost anything
	else.  Those whose art is perceived as being superior in
	value will be bought when that of all the others is left
	on the shelves to rot.  It behooves any serious smith to
	learn the art of marketing or partner with a marketeer to
	do the dirty work for you.

> I mean, face it, the number of help wanted ads in the classifieds for
> blacksmiths is pretty small. If you want to make a living as a blacksmith,
> you have to pretty much write your own job description, then figure out a
> way to hire yourself. Nobody said it was gonna be easy, but consider the
> alternatives.

	Well said.