How to get you business out there

I’ll throw out a few ideas. Make items and donate them to charity auctions. I try to buy from those who I see supporting their community charities. Make a piece of furniture for your Dr. or Dentist’s waiting room and put your company name on a brass plaque on it. Have your company logo/name painted on the side of your truck or use magnet signs. Yellow Page’s advertisement offering free estimates work. Join your local Chamber of Commerce, Kiwanis, or Lion’s Club. Etc… Give member discounts!

-- Dan - Valparaiso, Indiana, "A smart man changes his mind, a fool never does."

Do you have a web site to showcase your work?

When I had my own business I lived in a community where everyone knew everyone. Reputation was important. DO GOOD work all the time, take care of call backs. CHARGE fair prices. I was always too busy , I never needed to seek out more work.
Good luck in your business !

-- "My mission in life - make everyone smile !"

All the above comments may be good advice, however until you clearly know precisely what you plan to make and precisely who is willing and able to buy it, you are unlikely to reach the right people. If these first two answers are clear and accurate, then how to reach these customers becomes relatively easy. You get your message where these potential customers are. It is a complete waste to get your message to the wrong people. Answer these two first.

There is an old saying that “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.” There is another anology: ” Ninety percent of every lake is devoid of fish. You need to determine where the fish are, what they eat, and fish there with the proper bait.”

I sincerely hope this helps.
Roger

-- "Everybody makes mistakes. A craftsman always fixes them." (Monty Kennedy, "The Checkering and Carving of Gunstocks", 1952)

The best thing is word of mouth, but you still need a web presence.

As mtkate says, it should showcase your work. At a minimum, have a few items with lots of clear photos, an interesing woodworking or related story, and most of all your contact information on the main page.

I have kept my site at the top of the listings without help from a SEO company, just by following some general rules, and we have had made sales all over the world with our horses because of it.

Get a good book on building websites, and if you want to be serious, buy a domain name with the name in what you want in there somewhere, for example, include the word chair or bookcase or boxes. That will also help your ratings.

I have several domains with GoDaddy, they are reasonably priced, but so is Blacksun.

The first book I would recommend is Don’t Make Me Think (by Krug). Amazon will have it quite cheap I think, but it will likely be the best website book you buy.

-- Randy "You are judged as much by the questions you ask as the answers you give..."

All of the above is good advice. The only thing I could add, and it worked very well for me, is to establish a referral contact or two. In my case I knew a yacht designer who liked my work and my prices and who would refer design clients to me when they asked about a builder for their new boat. In your case it might be a local interior designer or some other professional in a related field with whom you can establish a relationship.

-- Paul M ..............If God wanted us to have fiberglass boats he would have given us fiberglass trees. http://prmdesigns.com/

Thanks for all of the feed back and comments. All the advice is good. And I do somewhat have a website people can at least go and look at what I have and then they can either email me or call me to order. So thanks for all of the advice.

-- K & N Furniture Middlebury, In.

I had another thought to would it be a good idea to make a brochure and take it around to different places or not. Just a thought.

-- K & N Furniture Middlebury, In.