It's New Year's Eve

It's New Year's Eve which means that today is the day of making resolutions a.k.a. lists of promises to ourselves for 2011.

For most people New Year's resolutions revolve around things like quitting smoking, exercising more, losing weight etc. Since I am not a smoker (aside from the occasional cigar) you can forget about that being on my list. More exercise? Yes, that will be there because I realize I need to be in better shape if I plan to be around a long time - which I do. Losing weight? Well, by default that's on my list as well, and now that Christmas is over I know that Teresa will be facilitating this (whether I like it or not) by not having snacks such as cookies around the house.

Beyond that I have a few other resolutions in mind. In my earlier post I talked about the book "Six Pixels of Separation" and how I intend to implement suggestions from that book into the marketing of my custom furniture work in the coming year. This will involve things like blogging more proficiently, and expanding my digital network further in areas such as Facebook, Linkedin, Zecozi, CustomMade, etc.

Part of the purpose for broading my network is, naturally, to help market what I do for a living - namely designing and making high quality custom furniture. But this is not my sole motivator.

Back in February 2007 a serendipitous chain of events brought me to the tiny village of Kykotsmovi on the Hopi reservation in northern Arizona. While there I was invited into the home of the eldest elder of the Hopi - a man by the name of Grandfather Martin Gashweseoma.

During this visit I was told many things, including how now is the time for all of us to be speaking our Truth. While I do feel I've been speaking my truth, I've also come to realize that I haven't been doing enough of it. And, so, as part of my resolutions for the upcoming year I vow to broaden my discussions to include more of this as well.

Best wishes to everyone for 2011 !

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Six Pixels of Separation

Every year I receive at least a half dozen books as Christmas gifts from members of my family.

Of this year's titles one that really caught my eye was "Six Pixels of Separation" by Mitch Joel.



The premise of Joel's book is that in today's digital world everyone is connected to everyone else through websites, blogs, social networks etc. This means that there are now a variety of digital channels and free publishing tools available online to promote yourself, your personal brand and your small business.

The jacket summary of this book really caught my attention because in many ways I have already been living out this reality with my own business.

I first began using the Internet back in the mid 1990s when access involved AOL accounts and dial-up connections that got terminated with every incoming telephone call. In digital terms those days were the proverbial Stone Age.

By 1998 we were working with Kristina Nagy and Denis Dube of K10 Studios to create our first website at www.wiggersfurniture.com

At that stage I had very low expectations of what a website could offer as a sales and marketing tool. At best I figured it would be a helpful to demonstrate credibility, besides showing product images along with specifications and background information on the company. "Real" sales, I believed, could only happen through "mortar and brick" showrooms that were dedicated to selling my work to discriminating consumers via interior designers and architects.

By late 2000 (exactly 10 years ago today) we were busier than we'd ever been. Most of our sales were high quality custom furniture pieces sold through to-the-trade showrooms located in major urban centers across the United States. For all intents and purposes the Internet had zero bearing on any sales we made that year. But even then the paradigm was rapidly changing.

For one thing the recent collapse of the dot com bubble was already starting to manifest as a decline in new orders. This situation would be exacerbated later in the following year with the fallout from the 9/11 attacks. Cheap imports from offshore were also starting to flood the market, and although we didn't compete directly with this product it was having a domino effect by pushing the lower end guys into the middle of the market which, in turn, compelled the middle end guys to target the higher end.

By 2006 the overall sales to my traditional customer base had diminished radically. In a discussion with Monroe Sherman of Carriage House, one of my oldest clients, I was told that I needed to shift my thinking if I wanted to stay in business. At the time we were making private label OEM pieces for Monroe's Sherman-Designs collection, and he pointed out that because of globalization I was now competing with cheaper vendors from South America and South-East Asia. In effect, I was told that if I wanted to compete I'd have to effectively slash prices even if it meant lowering my quality standards by moving work offshore. This was not something I was prepared to do.

It was at this point Monroe suggested I read the book "The World is Flat" by Thomas Friedman.

The premise of Friedman's book is that because of globalization and computerization supply chains have gotten shorter, with the result being that the world is now smaller and more competitive than ever before.

My reply was "Yes, I've read the book. Have you?"

Perplexed, Monroe said "Of course I've read it. Why do you ask?"

I pointed out that he was only interpreting Friedman's book from his own vantage point, namely that in this new era of globalization and digital communication that he alone would be the beneficiary of using digital tools such as the Internet to find newer and better opportunities.

To illustrate my point I told him "As flat as you see the world from your side of the planet, it's just as flat going the other way. Yes, you'll be able to find cheaper sources of supply thanks to this new paradigm, but the rest of the world won't be sitting still as you do so. Your customers will be looking for better opportunities and better quality too, as will your current and previous vendors. The world is changing and getting smaller for everyone, not just you."

In hindsight this contention appears to be playing itself out. Where in 2000 I could attribute 0% of my sales directly to activity on the Internet, in 2010 more than 50% of my business has been generated as a result of this digital realm. Thanks to Google, websites and blogs I am finding ever more people using the Internet to find exactly what they want in the way of high quality custom furniture.

As far as I'm concerned Mitch Joel is spot on with what he contends in "Six Pixels of Separation", and one of my New Year's resolutions will be to implement suggestions from his book to make 2011 even better.

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Wine Stoppers - The Good

In my previous post entitled "Wine Stoppers - The Good, the Bad and the Fugly" I provided examples of Bad and fundamentally Ugly wine stoppers. In this post I will describe the process I follow to make Good quality wine stoppers.



In my mind the most important part of making a good wine stopper is the component that goes into the bottle itself - namely the stopper. I was surprised to discover that sourcing components of this calibre is all but impossible, primarily because the bulk of the North American market is obsessively price driven and focussed solely on finding the cheapest stuff available.

Well, seek and Ye shall find because this cheap stuff is everywhere. In fact it is now so prevalent that it's flooding the market faster than consumers can wear it out and ship it off to landfill.

From a low price perspective Cork stoppers are a popular option, but cork is soft and quickly wears out from repeated use. Cork is also absorbent. Who wants to repeatedly use stoppers that have been saturated again and again with stale beverage from bygone servings?

As an alternative to Cork there is also an abundance of metal stoppers out there, but most of these are made of low grade steel that has been plated to look presentable. And as you can see in the photo below this plating will also eventually bubble and dissolve over time. Do you really want this coming in contact with your wine?



This leaves stainless steel, but thorough research will point out that not all stainless is created equal. The differences are explained in this link, but to summarize: the best material available for making wine stoppers is FDA food grade 304 stainless steel. The stoppers I use are milled from solid billets of this material, with the triple seals made of FDA grade nitrile that are fitted into precision machined grooves.


The wine stopper shown here measures 3-1/2" long x 1-1/8" dia., and the turned handle has been crafted from figured Marblewood.



This wine stopper measures 3-3/4" long x 1-1/4" dia., with the turned wood portion being Blackwood. The end is inlaid with Mother-of-Pearl.



This Ziricote stopper is also inlaid with Mother-of-Pearl, and it measures 3-5/8" long x 1-5/16" dia.



The handle on this stopper has been turned from a block of solid Macassar Ebony. Together with the stainless steel end it has an overall dimension of 3-5/8" long x 1-1/8" dia.

Each wine bottle stopper I make is securely assembled by means of an internal machine screw that acts as a mechanical fastener.

After turning on a lathe the solid wood is sanded smooth using progressively finer grits of sandpaper. After careful inspection to ensure all imperfections are removed the wood is then sealed with a special micro-crystalline wax imported from England. This is a specially formulated wax that is used extensively by art galleries, museums and antiques restorers on their finest quality pieces.



Each stopper comes with its own tin box measuring 4-1/4" x 3-1/8" x 2-1/2" high.

Prices range from $45.00 to $50.00 each.

Without question these are high quality stoppers made to last.

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Starting "the Blog"

I am laughing at myself because I have just created a blog, but now sit here with a case of writer's block - wondering what to write about.

Maybe the place to start is to explain why I am here.

About 2 weeks ago I was on the MIT campus in Boston, attending the annual Furniture Society conference called "Fusions: Minds + Hands Shaping Our Future". My reason for attending was twofold. First, the event was an excellent opportunity to get together with other woodworkers and furniture makers, to share ideas and learn new skills at various seminars. Second, I wanted to see a juried exhibition of student work called "Faculty Selects", where my son Kevin had the following coffee table on display:






One of the seminars had to do with Internet marketing, explaining how this medium is taking on greater relevance in telling the world who you are and what you do. On some level I was aware of this already, because I have been surprised in recent years at how effectively a tool such as a website can assist in garnering commissions for custom furniture work.

Of the various suggestions made at the seminar the one thing I didn't have was a blog.

Now I do.

Of course, creating a blog is one thing.
Maintaining one that keeps people interested is quite another.

And, so, it begins: my foray into the world of blogging.

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