advertising/new business

[Carpenter84]

Those who are in business, how do you advertise? How do you drum up business? I know we're in the slowest time of year - in a very troubling year in our generation, but I really need to drum up some work. I have a few ads on Kijiji (craigslist), but it doesn't bring much. I've tried cold calling the local business and machine shops with zero bites... I know once you're established it's much easier to call on previous customers for upcoming work, but until you create that rolodex to call on, it's extremely difficult to build a name... 

[4GSR]

Get set up on Linkedin.

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/

Then start out posting feeds for open shop time. 

It'll be slow start.

[jpigg55]

Shawn, is this something you want to build into a full time job or just part time ?
Are you wanting to keep doing “One Off” jobs or mass reproductions ?
IMHO, the answer to these questions along with the capabilities of the equipment you have (or plan on acquiring) can have an impact on where and how you would advertise your services.

Kijiji/Craigslist & Facebook Marketplace are the cheapest and easiest places to advertise general machining services.
For more specialized work, consider advertising with local car clubs, engine shops, and possibly ATV shops. These may yield jobs like engine block boring, custom repair or add-ons, specialized reproduction parts.
Local boat shops might yield similar jobs for custom parts and/or engine work.
Not sure about what gunsmithing laws are like in Canada, but advertising in local gun shop might be an option if that’s something you want to get into.
Sometimes mid-size and larger machine shops will outsource one-off or small run jobs. Might try contacting any in your area to see if you can offer your services.

[PJB]

Look into signing up as a supplier for online job shop auction sites like 3D hubs, xometry, etc.?

[RayH]

Look into signing up as a supplier for online job shop auction sites like 3D hubs, xometry, etc.?

Shawn,

Before you go that route, lay a palm on a hot stove.
Both will be educational experiences.

My advice is to keep your advertising as local as possible. Eyeball-to-eyeball with your customers, if possible.

[chips and more]

If you do good work at a fair price, your customers will do the advertising for you. In a very short time you will have more work than you can handle.

[Carpenter84]

What if I like placing my palm on hot stoves....?
I hear cooked palm hearts are pretty tasty 


Good word of mouth is important. I do my best to do good work and be fair, but it’s been a very slow start. Now we’re in the slowest time of the year and I have the biggest bills. Not smart business, but hey, no one said I was smart.

Do people actually use linked in?

I’ve considered local advertising, signs, just to get some attention. I’m well aware (from past experiences) signage almost never winds up fruitful. But I really don’t know how to let people and industry know I’m here.
The good business I have had are all from out of town companies, oddly enough. From major cities where you’d think there was an abundance of machine shops.

I have tried canvassing local shops for sub work which resulted in one reply of “we will keep you on file”.

I’ll look into the online job shop auction sites, but I wonder if that’ll just be an undercut free for all?

What I’m sure would be most effective is to figure out a niche. Develop a product that is desirable and focus on that... except, what?!

[jpigg55]

What I’m sure would be most effective is to figure out a niche. Develop a product that is desirable and focus on that... except, what?!

I'd recommend that you start searching for "Open Source" products that have forums, one example is FarmBot: https://forum.farmbot.org/
If you watch their videos, you can see a lot of the components are made from plastic via 3D printing.
I've considered the idea of making and supplying these components in metal, but that would be down the road as I'm not currently set up to do it.
On the PRO side:
1. the 3D CAD drawings already exist and available on their website for free download.
2. reading your other project threads, I believe you have the mind and ability to possibly improve the currently available tools/attachments and/or design your own.
3. the market already exists.

On the CON side:
1. not having one yourself makes it nearly impossible to test the products unless you can find someone in your area that has one.
2. you might have to deal with international shipping.
3. you're on the hook for the cost of the prototype with no guarantee of any sales.

FarmBot is just one example. You can search for others in fields like Prepper forums, homestead forums, model building forums, or any other niche market.
It takes time and effort, but I've seen questions for products in these type forums with responses stating that basically they don't exist. This tells me there's a market for some of this stuff if someone can make and market it at a reasonable price.

I know you've eluded to learning and getting into CNC. IMO, keep going with this as it will save you a lot of time and material if/when you need to mass produce pieces/products. Along those lines, you might consider getting a 3D printer. This would greatly help in your CAD learning process, allow you to "Print" design prototypes at a reduced cost, and allow you to make your own "Plastic" parts, if needed.