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Any advice appreciated!

SBowlerDesign

New Member
I am looking to reinvent myself a little after a job layoff a year and a half ago. Graphic Designer by trade (no permanent jobs available in area - at least for an old guy - since when are we expected to retire at 48?) I have training in traditional art mediums, and have been carving for the last 10 years. I have done a few hand-carved signs for people and have really enjoyed it. Do you think it is possible to make a living at this? I have no desire to do any other type of signs (no vinyl or one-dimensional). Any advice, opinions or direction is appreciated.
 
Yes, there is money in it.

Congratulations, on the early retirement (even though you still feel like 20 !LOL!)

If you have the talent, put it to work for yourself, and not others. Sometimes it takes things like this to make us realize our destiny and purpose.
 

Ken

New Member
Welcome to S101!
We have a local guy who is a world-class carver. His work mostly goes into log homes but he commands a very respectable commission for his work.
So that may be another avenue you can persue with your carving.
Good luck.
Ken
 
just like anything you can have all the tools in the world, an abundance of knowledge...but none of it will make you a dime if you can't sell the services or products you are capable of offering.

Identify your target market, a couple that come to mind for handcarved signs would be, homeowners (family name/address signs), businesses that are concerned with having a sign that fits in with a more natural environment (golf courses, ski resorts/lodges, game reserves), businesses that want to portrait a "classic" craftsman type feel rather than the mass produced computer generated (artisans/glassblowers/potters, boatbuilders), restaurants. these are just a few ideas off the top of my head of course there are many more.

this is a service that you can charge a premium for as there is very little competition compared to some other areas of the sign industry and it is a product that customers will pay more for.

identify who you want to do work for, make samples that would appeal to them, and get out there and sell it.
 

OldPaint

New Member
advice(from a 61 yr old)
dont take wooden nickels,
dont pee into the wind,
dont mess witha nother mans wife.
don't pull the mask off that old lone ranger
dont tug on supermans cape........
and that and $1.50...will getcha a cupocoffee anywhere....
 
Last edited:
advice(from a 61 yr old)
Okay I'll bite
dont take wooden nickels
Do you remember those?:smile:
dont pee into the wind
Self-explanatory:thumb:
dont mess witha nother mans wife
I guess that is an oops:Oops: :Big Laugh
don't pull the mask off that old lone ranger
Why not?:rolleyes:
dont tug on supermans cape........
Again, why not?:rolleyes:
and that and $1.50...will getcha a cupocoffee anywhere....
WHERE????:Coffee:

Now, in relation to this thread.....

One of my old mentors taught me long ago that new technology eventually forces the prior generations out of most businesses. To an extent he was correct, when the transitions start to occur.

What he did not know, because he himself was not really old enough (50 year old speaking to a 16 year old), was that the "old" stuff is rarely if ever learned by the newer cutting edge generations. After every technological transition is complete, a transformation occurs. This transformation turns what was once ordinary and competitive into something extraordinary that commands more money than ever.

SBowler - if ya got it - use it!
 

OldPaint

New Member
"Any advice, opinions or direction is appreciated."
so i gave "any" advice.....most is from a jim crochee song..."dont mess round with jim"!!!! reworded a bit......
as for wooden nickels....nooooo iam not that old, but i have seen wooden "round-to-its."
 

PMG

New Member
"Any advice, opinions or direction is appreciated."
so i gave "any" advice.....most is from a jim crochee song..."dont mess round with jim"!!!! reworded a bit......
as for wooden nickels....nooooo iam not that old, but i have seen wooden "round-to-its."
LOL Op must be token on a # and digging on the radio!!!!! O wait thats The CDB
 

mladams7259

New Member
doug, Bad, Bad Leroy Brown was Another song. OldPaint is right. It was Dont Mess Around With Jim. Two seperate songs.
 

OldPaint

New Member
Uptown's got its hustlers
The Bowry's got its bums
Forty-second street's got Big Jim Walker
He's a pool-shootin' son of a gun
Well he's big and dumb as a man can come
But he's stronger than a country hoss
And when the bad folks all get together at night
You know they all call Big Jim "boss"
(Just because ...)
(They say ...)
CHORUS:
You don't tug on Superman's cape
You don't spit into the wind
You don't pull the mask of the old Lone Ranger
And you don't mess around with Jim
(Ba-doo-da-doo-doo doo-doo-doo-doo doot)
Well out of South Alabama come a country boy
He said I'm lookin' for a man named Jim
I am a pool-shootin' boy, my name is Willie McCoy
But back home they call me Slim
He said I'm lookin' for the king of forty-second street
He's drivin' a drop-top Cadillac
And last week he took all my money, and it may sound funny
But I come to get my money back
(And everybody say, Jack -- don't you know that...)
(CHORUS)
Well a hush fell over the pool room
When Jimmy come boppin' in off the street
And when the cuttin' was done, the only part that wasn't bloody
Was the soles of the big man's feet
He was cut in 'bout a hundred places
And he was shot in a couple more
And you better believe they sung a different kind of story
When Big Jim hit the floor
(And now they say)
You don't tug on Superman's cape
You don't spit into the wind
You don't pull the mask of the old Lone Ranger
And you don't mess around with Slim
 

Ken

New Member
OK..OP.. hope it's not windy in Florida.. you might have to change those speedos..
Ken
 

OldPaint

New Member
I LOVE THAT SONG....just so happens my wife was arrested in jackson miss. in the 70's her and her then husband had 2 joints in their possession. wife hate that song....
I was takin a trip out to L.A.
Toolin along in my cheverolet
Tokin on a number and diggin on the radio

Just as I crossed the Mississippi line
I heard that highway start to whine
And I knew that left rear tire was about to blow

Well the spare was flat and I got uptight
Cause there wasn't a filling station in sight
So I just limped on down the shoulder on the rim

I went as far as I could and when I stopped the car
It was right in front of this little bar
Kind of a red-neck lookin joint called the Dew Drop Inn

I stuffed my hair up under my hat
And told the bartender that I had a flat
And ywould he be kind enough to give me change for a one

There was one thing I was sure proud to see
There wasn't a soul in the place except for him and me
He just looked disgusted and pointed toward the telephone

I called up the station down the road a ways
He said he wasn't very busy today
And he could have somone out there in just about 10 minutes or so

He said," Now, you just stay right where yer at!"
And I didn't bother to tell the darn fool
That I sure as hell didn't have anyplace else to go

So I ordered up a beer and sat down at the bar
When some guy walked in and said, "Who owns this car
With the peace sign, the mag wheels and the four on the floor?"

He looked at me and I damn near died
And I decided that I'd just wait outside
So I laid a dollar on the bar and headed for the door

Just when I wthought I'd get outta there with my skin
These 3 big dudes come strollin in
With one old drunk chick and some fella with green teeth

Now the last thing I wanted was to get into a fight
In Jackson Mississippi on a Saturday night
Especially when there was three of them and only one of me

I was almost to the door when the biggest one
Said, "You tip your hat to this lady, son!"
And when I did, all that hair fell out from underneath

They all started laughin and I felt kinda sick
And I knew I better think of something pretty quick
So I just reached out and kicked old green teeth right in the knee

Now he let out a yell that'd curl yer hair
But before he could move I grabbed me a chair
And said "Now watch him Folks cause he's a fairly dangerous man!"

"You may not know it but this man is a spy.
He's a undercover agent for the FBI
And he's been sent down here to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan!"

He was still bent over holdin on to his knee
But everybody else was looking and listening to me
And I laid it on thicker hand heavier as I went

"He's a friend of them long haired, hippy-type, pinko fags!
I betchya he's even got a commie flag
tacked up on the wall inside of his garage."

"He's a snake in the grass, I tell ya guys.
He may look dumb but that's just a disguise,
He's a mastermind in the ways of espionage"

"Would you believe this man has gone as far
As tearing Wallace stickers off the bumpers of cars.
And he voted for George McGovern for President."

They started lookin real suspicious at him
He jumped up and said "Now just wait a minute Jim!
You know he's lying I been living here all of my life!"

"I'm a faithful follower of Brother John Birch
And I belong to the Antioch Baptist Church.
And I aint even got a garage, you can call home and ask my wife!"

Then he started saying somethin bout the way I was dressed
But I didn't wait around to hear the rest
I was too busy moving and hoping I didn't run outta luck

When I hit the door I was making tracks
And they were just taking my car down off the jacks
So I threw the man a twenty and jumped in and fired that mother up

Mario Andretti wouldda sure been proud
Of the way I was movin when I passed that crowd
Coming out the door and headed toward me at a trott

Now I guess I should of gone ahead and run
But somehow I just couldn't resist the fun
Of chasing them all just once around the parking lot

I had them all out there steppin and fetchin
Like their heads was on fire and their asses was catchin
then I figgered I had better go ahead and split before the cops got there

When I hit the road I was really wheelin
Had gravel flyin and rubber squeelin
And I didn't slow down till I was almost to Arkansas

I think I'm gonna reroute my trip
I wonder if anybody'd think I'd flipped
If I went to L.A., via Omaha
 

iSign

New Member
doug, Bad, Bad Leroy Brown was Another song. OldPaint is right. It was Dont Mess Around With Jim. Two seperate songs.

:Oops:

I guess I got my "junkyard dog" mixed up with superman & the lone ranger. :rolleyes:

...but anyways, while we're at it...

Well 'ole south side of Chicago
Is the baddest part of town
And if you go down there
You better just beware
Of a man name of Leroy Brown

Now Leroy more than trouble
You see he stand about six foot four
All those downtown ladies call him "Treetop Lover"
All the mens just call him "Sir"

And he's bad, bad Leroy Brown
The baddest man in the whole damn town
Badder than a-old King Kong
And meaner than a junkyard dog

Now Leroy he a gambler
And he like his fancy clothes
And he like to wave his diamond rings
under everybody's nose

He got a custom Continental
He got a Eldorado too
He got a .32 gun in his pocket for fun
He got a razor in his shoe

And he's bad (bad) bad (bad) Leroy Brown
The baddest man in the whole damn town
Badder than a-old King Kong
And meaner than a junkyard dog

Well Friday 'bout a week ago
Leroy shootin' dice
And at the edge of the bar
Sat a girl named Darlis
And oo that girl looked nice

Well he cast his eyes upon her
And the trouble soon began
And Leroy Brown had learned a lesson 'bout a-messin'
With the wife of a jealous man

And he's bad (bad) bad (bad) Leroy Brown
The baddest man in the whole damn town
Badder than a-old King Kong
And meaner than a junkyard dog

Well the two men took to fighting
And when they pulled them from the floor
Leroy looked like a jigsaw puzzle
With a couple of pieces gone

And it's bad, bad Leroy Brown
The baddest man in the whole damn town
Badder than a-old King Kong
And meaner than a junkyard dog

And he's bad (bad) bad (bad) Leroy Brown
The baddest man in the whole damn town
Badder than a-old King Kong
And meaner than a junkyard dog

Yeah he was badder than a-old King Kong
And meaner than a junkyard dog.
 

iSign

New Member
...
And when the cuttin' was done, the only part that wasn't bloody
Was the soles of the big man's feet...


He got a .32 gun in his pocket for fun
He got a razor in his shoe...

...Well the two men took to fighting
And when they pulled them from the floor
Leroy looked like a jigsaw puzzle
With a couple of pieces gone

well, before anyone cries :thread
... both them songs are about "carving" ...sorta :tongue:
 
and the most legible thing OP has ever posted, maybe he should copy and paste everything :) still love you OP but if i splurge on a Xmas present for you i dont know if i should invest the money in huked on fonics or a dictionary...
 

Checkers

New Member
LOL Dan. The scarry part is you can still understand what he says(types).

Hey Bowler,
Dan's original comments were on the right track. Do your self a favor and put a business plan together to see if it would be a worth while investment of your time and resources.
Making signs is easy - as you can tell by the popularity of this board. However, running a sign business is a definite challenge.

Checkers
 

SBowlerDesign

New Member
Thanks, everyone, for your advice. My main worry is the business side of making signs. Any special advice on that? Books or anything else you all might recommend to help with a business plan? That has always been a weakness of mine (definitely work from the other side of the brain!)
 

gROUND cHUCK

New Member
Have you ever thought of doing Arts and Crafts festivals. Doing this, you can carve what you like and when ever you want. Then just sell it all in one place. Though, you may need to keep your day job for a little while, in order to have a steady cash flow.
 
well Sbowler at least you are thinking about this in the correct manner in my opinion. Any business who fails to write a business plan is planning to fail in my opinion...of course some get lucky.

I would start by writing your goals for your business, financial and other. The types of products you are going to offer and to whom. I would do some research on your local area and make sure that it can support the type of work that you want to do and reach your goals or if you are going to need to increase the area in which you need to offer your services and if so how you intend to do that. from there look at your goals and outline how you are going to achieve them. this is a brief outline of how to get started there is much more to be added and literally many books have been written on the subject so i will save you the space.

in addition almost every community has a organization (sometimes more than one) that will help you with the startup planning of your business (often at no cost to you) and i would recommend that you search them out, they can be a incredible resource.

beyond clarifying your thoughts and outlining your goals a business plan is a great tool for keeping you focused on what you want to achieve and how you intend to do so, from initial start up to actually being in operation. if you are going to need additional funding from outside sources make sure to include all of the pertinent information, if you are doing this only for yourself and to give yourself a realistic plan there is alot of technical stuff that you can simplify...however, at the very least give all of those items serious thought.
 
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