promotional materials

[DansSawmill]

thought i'd start a new topic  8)
what do you guys use for promotional materials ?
i give out the woodmizer log and lumber rule to my larger customers
its a sort of pocket scale that will tell them what bdft they can get out of a log and such, i glue  my biz card to it ... have got a lot of new biz from it  cause they will show it to thier buds when they are down at the coffee shop discussin'
i also  give out pens on occasion, i need pens for work anyways, so i buy some personalized ones for around $.50 ea and use them / hand them out to my smaller buyers  

wish i could find who makes woodmizers log scale, i'd have them put my name and number up there ( more proffessional)
anyways theres nothing like show and tell for word of mouth to spread... course you have to do quality work  to get good word o mouth
dan

[J_T]

If you were closer I could send you a bunch of work. Would think some of the mills near you would let you put some cards out .I try hard to stay away from coustom sawing ,but sometime I get caught

[Kevin_H.]

I think that jeff checked into have the scales made at one time and they were kinda pricey...

I made my own scale using excel, it doesn't slide but hey a lot cheaper, they are just bigger that a post card, one side have the scribner scale and the other has a lumber scale.

[Fla._Deadheader]

  Has anyone approached the CEO at Wood Mizer and explained what they would like to use their "scale" for ???

  I see NO copyright on the scale except for the WM logo??? Maybe they would give you permission to place your name and address label over their's at the bottom front ???  I used to have some from Corley, when we were in Ar. I doubt that there would be a copyright problem with running a few on a computer, as long as you don't sell them ???

[logman]

I hand out the Woodmizer scales also.  I have managed to
acquire quite a few of them by sawing at events and requesting their event pack.  I always ask for extra scales
which they gladly give out.  You also get 2 blades and a
hat.  I would just get a stamp made and stamp them.

[sparks]

Priority Press Inc, Indianapolis,In, 317-241-4234. That's where we get them. Give them a call see if they can help you out.

[DansSawmill]

thanks sparks, will look into it.
dan

[RMay]

DansSawmill let us no what you find out with Priority Press  ;D I could use some of them with WM on one side and my mill name stamped on the other side :

[Kansas]

We have a business card that folds in the middle... its double the size of regular business cards. The doyle scale is printed on the back. I dont recall what they cost to have made, but it wasnt much. We have had people drive quite a few miles just to pick up one of our cards when they were trying to figure board footage.

[Larry]

I got one of those cards.  Seems like it came from a little sawmill out in the middle of Kansas called Kansas Hardwoods. 8)

Welcome Steve -- think you will feel right at home. ;D ;D ;D

[Norm]

Welcome to the FF Steve. Good to have another midwesterner on here.

[Kansas]

Thanks for the welcome. Btw  Larry, the KFPA is going to be putting on a tour not far from you. Sometime this fall, we are going to tour a new facility in wathena that has a new timber harvester sawmill and edger, a pallet operation near there, and then I think we are going to sneak across the border into missouri and tour the American Walnut sawmill and facilities. We dont have  a firm date or  schedule yet, but your on the list, look forward to seeing you there.    Steve

[Jeff]

Welcome to the Forestry Forum Kansas!

[Bibbyman]

Welcome to the Forum Kansas.  

So... You think you need to slip over into Missouri to see how the Missouri boys turn trees into lumber?  Well come on over!

Please fill out your bio  - what kind of opperation do you have? etc.  You've got the advantage on us...

[Bibbyman]

Oh,  back to the topic.  We too looked at getting fold-over business cards with the log and/or board scales on the back.  We opted instead to just print a map to our location from the nearest highway intersection on the back side of a standard card.  I cost less than double to have both sides printed.

We've given a few of the WM scale cards away to a few that needed them.  I didn't worry that they didn't have our name on them.  Kind of like my WM friends. ;)

We do have a spokesman from Arkansas that shows up at major events and puts on a show for the folks. :D

[Tobacco Plug]

I try to pass out business cards wherever I can, putting them up on bulletin boards in feed stores, stockyards, restaurants,etc.  When I pass out cards to individual people, I give them two, the idea being that they can give the extra one to a potential customer.  When I finish a custom cutting job and have been paid, I have started giving a tree identification book that the state forestry department publishes.  My cost on these is $1.00 each, so you see why I wait until I have been paid.  I stamp my name and address on the back.

[Cedarman]

We put the cedar scale on the back of ours.  It is rare to find a cedar scale and most people keep them for years.  I see some that I gave away 10 years ago.  It is not that expensive to print both sides.  I like to give people something they want to keep that is different from what others give.