FWIW
- Thread starter Nathan of Brainfertilizer Fame
- Start date
atquinn
New member
Here's a marketing slogan for you:
Jon Kammerer guitars: Hey, they're better-looking than Deans
Seriously, congratulations
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Austin
Hey! You could start an import line with a very simple web site to get people interested in the USA guitars.
I saw what you did there.Hey! You could start an import line with a very simple web site to get people interested in the USA guitars.
Nathan of Brainfertilizer Fame
New member
So speaking with him a little more, his goals aren't that high. He doesn't think he can handle a rate of more than 6 per month, so he isn't looking for volume sales.
He was getting 4-6 orders/month before the recession hit, and was down to about 2 every 6 months. Now he is recovering, and getting orders for about 2-3 every month. He wants to get it back to 4-5/month, and then it actually makes a significant amount of money for his family even after continuing to pay off the loan for his CNC equipment. There was a time back in 2010 he thought he might have to go into bankruptcy and sell the CNC gear. Thank goodness he managed to stay afloat.
One of the reasons he can only do about 6 a month is he supports his family by working full-time as an RN. I don't think he has any current plans to switch to making guitars full time. But if he sees his orders rise to the point where he's losing sales due to long wait times, he might consider making the switch. He's hoping that will be 5 years from now, but maybe more like 10.
It looks like what he wants me to handle first is just writing up press releases, writing copy for advertisements, setting up reviews with guitar magazines and doing the scut work of following up with the magazines and writers to get the reviews published, make sure specs are accurate, etc. The direct sales here in the DC area will be later.
He hasn't said this, but I think his intent is to build his business so it is a little bit more resistant to future recessions, and to make the publicity work not dependent on his energy after working a night shift as an RN, and to stop having to choose between building guitars and spending time talking to people to promote his work. I can understand all those motivations.
Compensation will be marginal for the writing, but you've seen my posts here: I write thousands of words for free, so writing hundreds of words for marginal compensation is okay. Partly because I consider Jon a personal friend, partly because I believe in his product, partly because I'm willing to donate some of my time to help out someone with a vision.
Once he gets up to the 5-6 guitars/month range, I'll get a piece of every guitar sale, in recognition of my help in getting him there. When I sell directly, I'll get a larger cut via a commission.
Final word is he feels like he's made it through the most difficult part of his business life, is ready to start expanding, and is offering me a partnership in the future.
The way I see it is, this is the chance for me to join his company in an official capacity and help him build something lasting. When I retire in a few years, I'll have a good activity to keep me mentally and physically active, that will start returning concrete financial gains at a time when a little extra cash will be welcome. In addition, I will gain no-cost licensing rights to make carbon fiber versions of his guitars, which was something I was mulling over taking up as a post-retirement hobby already.
Okay, with the exception of the last carbon fiber pipe dream that will probably never happen, where are the perilous aspects? Obviously, I need to get the compensation and the expected tasks in writing, with quantitative language. What else? Liability limitation terms?
He was getting 4-6 orders/month before the recession hit, and was down to about 2 every 6 months. Now he is recovering, and getting orders for about 2-3 every month. He wants to get it back to 4-5/month, and then it actually makes a significant amount of money for his family even after continuing to pay off the loan for his CNC equipment. There was a time back in 2010 he thought he might have to go into bankruptcy and sell the CNC gear. Thank goodness he managed to stay afloat.
One of the reasons he can only do about 6 a month is he supports his family by working full-time as an RN. I don't think he has any current plans to switch to making guitars full time. But if he sees his orders rise to the point where he's losing sales due to long wait times, he might consider making the switch. He's hoping that will be 5 years from now, but maybe more like 10.
It looks like what he wants me to handle first is just writing up press releases, writing copy for advertisements, setting up reviews with guitar magazines and doing the scut work of following up with the magazines and writers to get the reviews published, make sure specs are accurate, etc. The direct sales here in the DC area will be later.
He hasn't said this, but I think his intent is to build his business so it is a little bit more resistant to future recessions, and to make the publicity work not dependent on his energy after working a night shift as an RN, and to stop having to choose between building guitars and spending time talking to people to promote his work. I can understand all those motivations.
Compensation will be marginal for the writing, but you've seen my posts here: I write thousands of words for free, so writing hundreds of words for marginal compensation is okay. Partly because I consider Jon a personal friend, partly because I believe in his product, partly because I'm willing to donate some of my time to help out someone with a vision.
Once he gets up to the 5-6 guitars/month range, I'll get a piece of every guitar sale, in recognition of my help in getting him there. When I sell directly, I'll get a larger cut via a commission.
Final word is he feels like he's made it through the most difficult part of his business life, is ready to start expanding, and is offering me a partnership in the future.
The way I see it is, this is the chance for me to join his company in an official capacity and help him build something lasting. When I retire in a few years, I'll have a good activity to keep me mentally and physically active, that will start returning concrete financial gains at a time when a little extra cash will be welcome. In addition, I will gain no-cost licensing rights to make carbon fiber versions of his guitars, which was something I was mulling over taking up as a post-retirement hobby already.
Okay, with the exception of the last carbon fiber pipe dream that will probably never happen, where are the perilous aspects? Obviously, I need to get the compensation and the expected tasks in writing, with quantitative language. What else? Liability limitation terms?
Congrats, Nathan! Jon's situation sounds very familiar in terms of not relying on the guitar business to feed one's family.
That sounds like a cool opportunity and that Jon is being very realistic. I'm just thinking of a few things that could be useful from the perspective of someone who's owned an ad agency and works in marketing.
You will be glad you worked this out in advance, as it keeps your brand on-message and make communications way easier over time. Also...
- Get your working arrangements and compensation in writing and get a lawyer to look it over. In a world in which divorce can happen after swearing fidelity forever, don't count on handshake deals
- Spend some time building out your brand messaging matrix. In a nutshell:
What JK Guitars does (this is harder than you think if you go deeper than "make guitars")
- Your brand promise
- Your unique selling proposition
- Your 25- 50- and 150-word descriptions
- Your press release intro
- Your press release boilerplate and contact info
- Your standard letter of introduction
- Your standard thank you
- Your standard "sorry you had negative feedback"
You will be glad you worked this out in advance, as it keeps your brand on-message and make communications way easier over time. Also...
- I'd get HootSuite set up so you can monitor social media posts and set up Google Alerts to do any follow-through on mentions
- I'd build one king-hell of a website and Facebook page
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Nathan of Brainfertilizer Fame
New member
ghamerinfrance
New member
First action.....review the web site (unless you like green...)
In all cases, enjoy and good luck....
I wish I could also jump into the music industry or nearby...this could be a good opportunity to combine fun and the need...
In all cases, enjoy and good luck....
I wish I could also jump into the music industry or nearby...this could be a good opportunity to combine fun and the need...
I still want to try out the peanut/potato/potato chip guitar. My suspicion is that it will surprise most people.
Get some in-hand demos and reviews posted on YouTube. Everything up there now is 6+ years old.
