Getting started as a hobby

[WGRoper]

I found this site when searching for vinyl cutter information. It looks like the place to be to find all sorts of information.

I recently ordered a GCC Expert 24 from imprintables.com, I hope it gets here in the next couple of days. I've been playing around with trial versions of Illustrator on a Mac and CorelDraw on a PC for the last couple of days to see what I think will work best, still exploring though. I've got a couple of files ready to cut....just waiting on the cutter and vinyl.

My main goal is to produce graphics for my hobbies - radio control modeling, full scale aviation and amateur radio. My daughter is involved in a lot of sports, so I figure I might dabble in some of that as well, producing decals for the other parents for their cars, etc.

A friend of mine used to be in this business and I helped him from time to time when he needed me, so I'm not totally new to vinyl cutting, but a lot of things have changed since we were cutting vinyl on a DOS PC.

Anyway, I'll be hanging around here a good bit as I figure out what I'm doing.

 

[James Burke]

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I think your status may prohibit you on this forum...please check rules:

Welcome to Signs 101! We are a community of professional sign makers and others interested in our craft. If you are, once were, or want to be a professional sign maker, we invite you to join us. If you are a supplier to our craft, a teacher or student interested in the craft, or a member of a related craft, trade or profession, we also invite you to join us. Registering will allow you to post, view images and search our archives.

If you are making or are seeking to make signs and graphic products for your own needs, you have entered a community where you are not welcome. Please do not attempt to register.

 

[binki]

 

[4R Graphics]

WGRoper,
I will tell you that there is lots you can learn here however be very careful and do lots of searches first as we are professionals and will help but we dont really take to Hobbiests well as you tend to undercut us produce lower quality and then you are gone and we are left with the mess.

Now that is said if you want help on what to do and how to do it right and set your pricing to be fair to those who reliy on this for a living then feel free to ask but read a lot first or you will get burned or the cold shoulder.

Not trying to be rude but many such as yourself have come and gone and really hurt the rest of us.

 

[Craig Sjoquist]

Welcome to a outstanding forum and people.

we started someway some how ....welcome

 

[binki]

... My daughter is involved in a lot of sports,...

get a heat press and apparel vinyl and you can do their uniforms for them. there is gold in that market.

 

[WGRoper]

I should have phrased my introduction a little better I guess. This is going to be a part-time business for me, one which is fun, i.e. another one of my hobbies. I doubt very seriously that I'll be able to take any business away from any of my local sign shops as I'll be catering to friends in my model airplane club, ham radio club, etc. I'd love to own my own full-time business one day, maybe it'll be in the sign business.... maybe not.

That said, you can count on it that I won't be posting stupid questions in the forum expecting the experts to answer. I know how to use the search features of the forum and of course google, I got this far on my own and I will continue.

 

[WGRoper]

get a heat press and apparel vinyl and you can do their uniforms for them. there is gold in that market.

I've been looking into that as well! Thanks!

 

[4R Graphics]

WELCOME
I hope you didnt take my first post to heart just letting you know to tread lightlly for a while. Again welcome and I will help when I can. I agree get a heat press and you can turn some great profits. Besure to check around to see what the pros are charging. Even though this is part time and a hobby the pros in town are charging the prices they are for sveral reasons and the most important one to you is because people will pay it might as well make the most you can from your part time job/hobby.

Good luck.

 

[Techman]

It appears that you are not a signmaker in the business. It appears that you will be making your own personal decals for your hobby. And it appears that you will be trying to get work for your daughters team just as a hobbyist.

Cutting you own decals is fine, In fact there are other hobby sites around that will guide you to what you wish to do.

But it appears that you will be doing full scale graphics for aircraft. That activity will take work away from full time sign makers who do this for a living and know what to do with aircraft..

And you plan to do auto graphics that will take work away from full timers. And your heat press work appears to be taking work away from full time professionals who do this work for a living as well.

 

[Poconopete]

That activity will take work away from full time sign makers

And you plan to do auto graphics that will take work away from full timers. And your heat press work appears to be taking work away from full time professionals who do this work for a living as well.

I think I missed the part where you have to be a full time sign guy to be here. I guess 70% of us have to leave now.
He says he is getting in the business, how about giving him the benefit of the doubt and the same amount of rope Fred gives the rest of us!

 

[SignosaurusRex]

I think I missed the part where you have to be a full time sign guy to be here. I guess 70% of us have to leave now.
He says he is getting in the business, how about giving him the benefit of the doubt and the same amount of rope Fred gives the rest of us!

"Part Time" and "Hobby" are two totally separate articles of operation.
The bottom line is.....in his/her own words and explanations...It's a HOBBY. Hobbyists come and go all day long in this biz. Water only seeks it's own level.
With that said..........
Welcome Aboard WGRoper! "Got Skin?"

 

[Techman]

He says he is getting in the business, how about giving him the benefit of the doubt

He said he is getting into the HOBBY..
He said he wants to DABBLE.

Looks to me like its a tourist walking through

 

[The Big Squeegee]

Welcome from OK

 

[Gino]

Welcome from PA.................................

As Pocono said, give him enough rope and he'll hang himself.

This site is for professionals and professional help, answers and dialog. Giving answers out to someone who sees their friends and neighbors as guinea pigs does not seem to be a nice gesture on your part, unless you're gonna be giving these things away for free, then it's a hobby. So, if you're starting up and don't know what you want to do, I'd suggest looking for a hobbyist forum to hang out. You'll get better answers and probably next to no grief.

 

[dweinmann]

Signs101 isn't for all interested!?!

Why are so many giving this new-comer such a hard time? On every page of this forum, it says "We are a community of professional sign makers and others interested in our craft. If you are, once were, or want to be a professional sign maker, we invite you to join us."

Sounds like the guy is interested in the craft. Sounds like he may want to become a professional sign maker. I say welcome aboard.

Reminds me of when I was installing vehicle graphics for a business located next to another sign shop. The owner of the other sign shop sat in his window and watched me the whole time. He should have been working on getting his neighbors business.

If you other guys are worried he may be taking money from you, I say get out of your chairs, quit looking at the boards all day, and get out there and sell signs!!!

Guess I'll probably be getting flamed for this?:Oops:

 

[Gino]

dwein....

No one will flame you... or at least shouldn't. You're entitled to your opinions and anyone else is entitled to theirs.

If someone shows interest in learning this sign thing as a trade and wants to better themselves, I would think being adults here, one should come forth with that. If they just want to do things behind some local shop's back and find ways to skirt around paying a professional his wages, then he/she should stay away from the professional forums and stop pretending to be a legitimate shop. Look for a hobby forum. That’s my opinion.

What's that you say............. ?? How can anyone become a professional shop... they have to start somewhere ?? Why yes, again you're correct there dwein.....

However, you don't learn via the internet… they are way too many ignorant people giving opinions and answers to things they don’t understand themselves, therefore giving out bad information. The professionals know right from wrong, but usually beginners will take the easy way out and use it as gospel and eventually end up having some insurance company writing a report about what some idiot did while making or installing a sign, thus making it harder for everyone to make a living the honest way because of new rules and laws being written to protect the innocent.

Why is it so hard to comprehend from most newbies that it takes learning, experience and most likely working in someone's sign shop for a few years to become good at something ??

You just don't go out and buy a Black & Decker drill and get the smallest bits and start drilling people's teeth.
You don't go out and buy Tonka Toys and expect to start a construction business.
How many restaurants are run by people who have vast knowledge of cooking and buying groceries ??

If someone wants to get into a business where you can just play…. open a tanning salon or a coffee shop. You can’t go wrong…. and there’s very little upfront capital needed. You only need desire and thinking outside of the box a little.

 

[WGRoper]

Wow. Tough crowd.

Is there some sort of signmaker's union I've ticked off by showing an interest in making my own signage for fun and profit? I'm not trying to deny anyone any of their hard earned business, if it's earned business in the first place.

I didn't come here to incite or be berated, I was looking for information on the sign business and I thought I had found it.

Ideally, I'd love to open my own professional shop, but unfortunately I've got mouths to feed and can't quit my day job to pursue this as a fulltime career or to be an apprentice to an experience signmaker or whatever it is that you require to be worthy.

Maybe one day.... but not now.

Thanks to those of you that offered me a genuine welcome. I appreciate it.

I never post in these new member forums when I join a board, this was an exception. Boy, did I learn my lesson.

 

[dlndesign]

Well your going to get both sides of the coin here. Just have some tough skin about it and learn as much as you can. Welcome aboard.
:Welcome:

 

[Gino]

WGR……..

No, it’s not a tough crowd. It’s a crowd of professionals discussing things about their industry. There used to be a union and it still exists to this day, but it isn’t used as much. Perhaps if it was, there wouldn’t be a need for newbie discussions because that alone would eliminate newbies entering in at all.

Your intentions are nice, but you really don’t fit the criteria for being in the sign business or at least not this forum…. yet.

Please…. Just think about what you said in your post #18 and see if you can see the other side of the coin.

You can’t cut coming in because you have mouths to feed, so you can’t quit your main gig. Well, this gig is ALL of ours main gig and you want to come in and louse things up. You might have a legitimate cause or liking for this industry, but as of yet, you don’t want to sacrifice a thing, but yet take good hard earned knowledge away for free. No money invested, no time invested…. no nothing going on, but you feel you have some entitlement to a professionals business, and possibly even some sign shops customer base if you land the right information. Why can you take the safe road, but we’re supposed to share our knowledge with you for nothing ??

A genuine welcome you say ?? Are you really feeling that anyone here owes you a living ?? Honestly, why would I give some person coming in my door a job when all they say is… I like signs and want to make a living working for you, but I can’t do it right now. Will you just mail me my weekly payroll check and send me the information I want so I can sell on the side to my relation and friends ??

A warm welcome will indeed follow you in here, when you find the time or inspiration to do this full time and take the same risks and headaches we all take to service our customers. No free lunches… especially now that times are tough and getting tougher with so many people entering our ranks and thinning out the flock.

No hard feelings. Business is business. You seem more like a customer than a fellow tradesman and I don’t tell my customers all there is to know about my trade.