Building Business Question

"Joe AutoDrill" wrote in news:SoF_d.8153$qN3.7171@trndny01:

I don't suggest spamming Joe, But AMC (alt.machines.cnc) is a group more directed at the professional machine shop owners/employees. Getting to know folks over there may not be a bad idea.

If you are suggesting that my post was apam, then I suggest you check your facts. I'm not spamming the group, I was asking a legitimate question. I have no affiliation with the page I talked about at all other than the fact that my releases have and are covered there sometimes.

If you are suggesting that I not spam qwith my press releases, you are 100-% correct. Spam will kill an online reputation very quickly!

Regards, Joe Agro, Jr.

V8013

Know someone with a motorcycle in the NY Metro area?

Yes, that is exactly what it is...well not apam, but spam.

Vaughn

You've set a pretty low threshold for spam, Vaughn. Joe's products are of interest to at least some of us here. I've used stuff from his competition in the past, and will certainly consider his products in the future.

Ned Simmons

Joe,

Calm down !!!

To me it appeared much more like an invite to visit the mentioned group than any accusation of spamming.

And a reminder that if you do appear to be spamming, others will generally let you know about it rather quickly.

I would suggest sending press releases to related trade magazines, or local papers.

Tony

"Joe AutoDrill" wrote in news:SoF_d.8153$qN3.7171@trndny01:

Here's one:

Not a bad mag to put an ad in BTW. In fact most of the trade mags will take press releases and usually have an area for "New Products", where the press releases are more often than not published verbatum. The other thing you could do is get a small booth at say the PMTS show. There is a press room at every show where you can leave product info and press releases. You can also hold a small press conference at your booth and invite the trade mags. I'll bet Ed Huntress could give you some good advice on this stuff. PMTS would be a good venue as it's geared toward screw machines and higher volume production. . You should also think about becoming a Tech Member of PMPA. It would give you a chance to network with your target audience. They also operate several listserves, which provide you with the opportunity to give and recieve advise. Recently there was a post asking for a recommendation for a multi spindle drill head manufacturer.

I don't know if any of that helps you or not. In any case good luck.

Dan

Vaughn - I don't get ticked off too easily, but this is a hot button for me... So forgive me in advance if my post starts to sound like I've got a chip on my shoulder. I really don't mean it to come across that way.

Now.. I've been very anti-spam (spelled correctly this time around) for a few years now and really can't see how me posting a genuine inquiry to metal workers asking where they advertise their businesses via press releases constitutes spam as defined by any rational Usenet user...

I'm not hawking my goods. I'm not even talking about my product at all. I'm not sending anyone to my web site or to a web site that I have an "agreement" with in any shape or form. I simply asked if, and I quote, "Anyone have a favorite Web Site to send your press releases to? i.e. one that accepts new product or service news?" I then mentioned one (of about a hundred) I know of that fits the criteria...

How is that considered an internet eMail chain, unsolicited commercial email, unsolicited bulk email, etc... i.e. spam?

Ned - Thank you for the backing... but to be honest, my main goal for visiting here is not to advertise my items. Hopefully, that happens everywhere I go with my sig file (content relevant to where I post normally unless I mess up and use the wrong one!)

Now... Which product did you want me to tell everyone about?

Good advice... Thank you.

Msot of what I do is not really compatible with CNC because of the tool changer "lifestyle" those folks live in, etc... But the poster certainyl has a point that those folks probably do mroe business like mine than the folks here might... Commercial large production stuff that is. I know there are folks here who do it, but I bet everyone with a CNC looks for high volume jobs only VS a one-off project like so many here enjoy, etc.

Hopefully so. As someone who gets 400+ eMails a day and most of it spam... I appreciate it.

We hit a lot of them already... But the general opinion is that the trade magazines and journals are slowly shrinking into uselessness. There are a number of good ones out there still - and I pay to advertise in a few (affordable ones!) but we also receive 5 useless "packing material" publications for every useful one these days, and my industry is not that complext that they are simply off topic...

Papers... Maybe if I lived in an area that hada very high number of shops or something, but I'm not sure anyone would look in a newspaper for a non-home use metalworking tool. Do you have any insight into this I can learn from? Maybe I'm missing something. ...Always looking to learn!

Bottom line is that I've only been heavily involved in the industry for the past 2 years or so... Befoer that, it was all influential learning from my father as a kid... These days, I read all I can here and the woodworking group to learn as much as I can as fast as I can about the industries, tooling, machines, thought processes, trends, etc. If I don't learn quickly, I will surely find myself in trouble everytime someone calls on me to provide something as a supposed expert.

SNIP

That was by far, the most helpful response to date. (consider that a challenge folks )

Thank you. I'll take a look at it in detial after I get some sleep!

Regards, Joe Agro, Jr.

V8013

Know someone with a motorcycle in the NY Metro area?

Joe,

If I were you I would advertise with Yahoo's Overture service and Google adwords. Select keywords relevant to your product, such as drill press, machine tool, etc. You pay per click, typically around $.10. You set up an account online. It's a great way to target a specific market.

Good Luck,

Tony

Great advice. I sent you a private eMail (responded to yours) with our basic strategy here... But it bounced.

"Joe" wrote in news:DwJ_d.9801$I16.5872@trndny03:

Joe, Calm down and type... If I had been accusing you of spamming, it would have been blunt and to the point. What that post was about, was an invite to join discussions in amc, as a participant, but not an invite to go there and spam. While RCM is geared more toward the hobby machinist, AMC is geared more toward the professional machinist/moldmaker/tool/die/engineer/CNC/job- shop/high-volume production crowd. Folks who own their own business, or like myself, work for larger (sometimes huge) companies.

Anthony,

My apologies to you... I am very careful to not spam and very anti-spam these days... and I guess I'm a bit hypersensitive in that area. Please accept my apology in regards to that.

Now... I've been lurking there a few days. Interesting message histories... I'll probably lurk a while longer to get the "feel" for the group and then start asking questions.

"Joe" wrote in news:WkN_d.18369 $FB6.16644@trndny09:

I forgot to add their (PMPA) magazine

to the list. It's geared toward higher volume production as well. I read in another post where you don't get much business from CNC users. Magazines are usually starved for content, so if you've got a customer willing to share their story of how your product solved a problem and saved them money, most any of the mags would love to do a story. For a couple of hours on the phone, you get a couple of pages of free publicity. A good deal no matter how you look at it.

Dan

Could you (or someone) please advise what AMC stands for?

Thanks.

Longshoreman