Advice on which youtuber might review my new products

[philip sewell]

As I’m getting older and my back is becoming more problematic I’m trying to diversify my income stream and move away from struggling with lumps of wood on my own as much as I can anyway.

I have the boxes that I make but I’ve also designed two products that I’m trying to get to a wider audience.

One is a magnetic door catch (I haven’t come across any mass produced mag catches that I like, mine hides the magnet in a wooden block).

The other is a simple scribing tool for fitting furniture. I confess this is a design I found many years ago in a book. I knocked one up and it’s been such a useful tool for many years on site I thought I’d make a better version to see if it would be of any interest to anyone.

What I’d like to do is see whether a woodworking youtuber would be prepared to review either of these items.

I’d appreciate some advice on who you think I should contact. I’m into engineering much more now and watch a lot of engineering related utube channels but I don’t know who the woodworking youtubers are.

I’m not sure whether I will have much success with these new ideas but it’s just a case of “nothing ventured!”

Any help would be much appreciated.

Many thanks

Philip.

www.tooleypark.com

www.bespokehandmadeboxes.co.uk

www.neatcatch.co.uk

 

[shed9]

Don't want to be negative in the first reply to this and I applaud you for exploring these routes but I'm a little confused on who your target market is for both products.

This is a genuine question and maybe it's just me.

 

[mindthatwhatouch]

I think one of the issues you may have is it’s so subjective on a personal level. I’m sure you’ve come across engineering videos that you’ve clicked away from because you don’t like the presenters style/content/pace/quality of work etc. Realistically you need to look past this and get the word/product out there.
A lot depends on which market you are looking for. Is it a niche type product or are you seeking volumes?

The door catch. DIY or home owners (unless you wish to go for wholesale) lots are USA centric, is there a market there? Or one of the smaller uk suppliers.

The scribing tool, DIY or furniture makers, kitchen fitters maybe? Peter Millard, who frequents this forum would be a very good start, as much for his YouTube knowledge as well as his woodworkFeel that the likes of ‘rag N bone brown’ and ‘gosforth handyman’ would be where I’d start. But that’s only because I’m aware of them, find their videos useful.

it’s going to be interesting the way YouTube is heading.
Just a few thoughts, best of luck.

 

[petermillard]

I think a good starting point may be the ‘Favourite YouTube woodworker’ thread - Favorite YouTube woodworker

Started out as ‘favourite UK YouTube woodworker’, but drifted - shocker! Have a read through that, take a look at some of the channels that are mentioned and see if they do the kind of work where these products would fit.

These aren’t for me I’m afraid - I did a 3-part scribing series last year and have said pretty much all I’m going to say on the subject - and Gosforth isn’t doing any of this kind of work right now as he’s involved in his long-term house build/renovation. Don’t think it’s Keith Brown’s thing either - he doesn’t typically do fitted work, and he’s more likely to salvage original catches and latches. Don’t know if @Steve Maskery has anything planned where these may fit?

Speaking plainly though, I think it may be a tough sell; you’ve designed these to scratch an itch you have, but it doesn’t always follow that others have that itch too. As noted above a lot comes down to personal preference, and if I’m fitting a magnetic catch (and I don’t do many) there are plenty of nicely-designed steel or die-cast zinc ones around, or like a lot of others, I’ll sink a small magnet into the material and cover it - veneer, leather, whatever. Also - and this is only from the pictures you’ve posted on your website, and a purely subjective - your wooden ones look a little chunky, to my eyes.

As for the scribing tool, again, it’s a bit of a tough one as they’re only really of interest to fitted furniture guys, and if you’re in the fitted furniture business then you’ll probably have a system in place already; what does yours offer that the others don’t? Pricing isn’t a huge issue - if it scratches an itch then people will pay anything - but you can get e.g. the Trend Easyscribe for £18 or the Rutlands knock-off for £15, plus there’s the 3-D printed pocket-money stuff from Blockscribe and Swankyscribe, or the classic pair of school compasses.

Alastair Johnson at Freebird Interiors might be worth a try; he uses ‘buy me a coffee’ as his membership platform, might be worth joining that before making an approach as members tend to get more attention. He’s is very busy right now having just moved workshop, but a member request may get through the noise.

I know you asked about YouTube specifically, but don’t ignore Instagram - there’s a very active maker/installer crowd over there. Derek Barrett - @derekbarrettdesign - has a solid following and may be worth a try, and ditto Gary Banks - @bankscarpentry; bear in mind that these are one-man band maker/installers - they’ll call a spade a spade, and if your gear isn’t up to snuff they’ll say so.

Best of luck with it all; it’s a good idea to start diversifying the income stream before your back gives out completely, and whilst I’ve gone about it in a different way, I’ve no regrets at all about stepping back from paid work.

Cheers, Peter

 

[pcb1962]

Just one point on the scriber.
I would not pay good money for any tool that has a wing nut for adjustment.
To me wing nut equals cheap. A nice piece of knurled brass or aluminium would improve things no end.
On another note I am extremely impressed by your box collection.

 

[AJB Temple]

The scriber at £27 is silly money for a wing nut and a cross head screw to hold the pencil in place. No professional will buy that and pretty much any woodworker can make their own.

The boxes are fine. The snag is there are a hell of a lot of box makers around and again as a woodworker if I wanted another box I would just make it.

I think you need retail outlets not you tube promoters.

 

[shed9]

To the OP, don't be disheartened by the above comments, see this as feedback to act upon.

I didn't want to critique the products themselves in my first retort in case it came across as too negative but have to agree with the comments up there. If the scribe was presented as a scratch built device it would come across as a fairly well constructed home made tool however this is how it also translates in the final product. I also fail to see the catches being viable in terms of target market and visibility of them.
I appreciate your query on possible YouTubers addressing the later issue of visibility of both products but (as above) the scribe does not come across as a finished tool and the catches don't seem to sit anywhere obvious within the market. My point is that at this juncture you would very likely be setting yourself up for a fall but with a bigger and far less forgiving audience. Youtube can be brutal from the content creators to the actual comments.
Send out your products to Youtubers, Instagrammers, bloggers, vloggers, etc, on the basis that you want feedback not exposure. Use the feedback, perfect the products and then approach them for exposure - if they are still along for the ride at that stage they have investment in your own objectives and are far more likely to give you more appropriate and less fraught exposure.

 

[lurker]

Your boxes are very nice and deserve to sell in the right market.
The best that can be said for the two products is that the sort of people who might use them would just make their own using your idea.

I can see some u tuber going " I wanted to do...... And then had a great idea and made this". And his audience would think that's a good idea, the bloke is a worth watching for ideas like that.

 

[akirk]

I would support some of the other comments (in a desire to be constructive) - for both products, there is a feel of something knocked up in a workshop, which negates a sense of value, making suggested changes such as to a knurled knob would give a more premium feeling which makes it easier to persuade people to part with money!

I would also suggest that the websites are not as good as they could be in terms of persuading people to buy - there is a skill to how you construct a website, and it needs you to focus on the customer / their need / your solution / how easy it is and please buy it here... - you are making the viewer work to understand need / solution / etc. which means you will lose buyers...

 

[Doug B]

I’m all for folks making a go of things & your boxes look excellent but (you knew there’d be a but) the furniture scribe already exists Trend E/scribe Easy Scribe Scribing Tool - Anglia Tool Centre
& I’ve been using counter sunk magnets under a piece of veneer for cabinets & boxes for years & they are so inexpensive I can’t see there being a huge market for your catches.
Sorry

 

[doctor Bob]

Best of luck with everything.
I think you need to look at pricing and design a bit.

 

[philip sewell]

Thanks for all the feedback from everyone. You have taken a lot of time to write your critiques and although it’s all a bit disheartening it’s good to get feedback even if it’s not what you want to hear.



Looks like I’ll be struggling on with that bad back for the foreseeable future!



Thanks again.

Philip.

 

[AJB Temple]

Philip, you have reacted to that well. Credit to you. Marketing is often harder than making. You are in a market research phase. Have you tried things like an Etsy outlet for your boxes?

 

[h-magic]

Am loving the magnet box idea but can you not make it out of 3D printed plastic to bring the cost down.
It’s rather expensive in my eyes for what it is but yet a brilliant idea.


Instagram is over taking you tube for showing off products at the moment.
Peter has giving you a good list of people there.

I would work towards what’s being said and come back for round 2.

 

[owen]

The scriber looks like a prototype still, it looks like a homemade tool. If you're going to sell it for 27 quid it needs to be top quality, which at the moment it doesn't look like. You need to change the wing nuts and screw holding the pencil for something a bit more user friendly, maybe brass nurled nut/bolts and polished faces on the scriber would give it a better chance of selling. Either that or you get them printed on a 3d printer and aim for a lower price but sell more.

 

[Alexam]

Unfortunately we do not all get what we deserve and although your products are excellent, I doubt that you will make enough money to have a good living from all you have here. My main comment can perhaps be bet linked to the box making. I have made bandsaw boxes for the last 5 years and although many of the designs have taken a long time to make, particularly with unique attraction, they will not cover more than the cost of replacement timber. Your heart may be in the right place and your skills are undoubtedly very good, but to make a living this way, you need far more to offer. Best f luck for your future. Badger Woodcrafters.

 

[philip sewell]

Just a quick update on the scriber. I’ve taken notice of peoples comments about the wing nut and have changed to a stainless steel knurled knob.

I think brass is too soft for this application and the threads would quickly shear.

I’ve had some positive feedback from a kitchen company who are using the scribe to fit their doors as well as on site fitting. They are using a metal scribe rather than a pencil for door fitting so that’s something I could add with the scriber.

I know people think this is too expensive but I have tried to keep the cost down as much as possible.

This is a break down of the price.

The scriber takes an hours labour. This includes all the different machining operations and admin work ( invoices, postage labels etc). There is some handwork smoothing the edges of the aluminium after machining. It looks like a very simple tool but there are a number of machining operations involved.

I try to earn £20 p/hr. Out of that £20 come all the associated costs of running a business (heating, electricity, vehicle, tooling, workshop repairs, insurance, workshop maintenance, and on and on they go).

The cost of materials and postage is £7.

If I was making hundreds I could reduce material and time but as this has a limited market its pointless me making it in any number.

Ultimately none of this matters if the consumer deems it to be too expensive but that’s why I’m charging £27.00.

Thanks again for all the input from people.

Philip.

 

[akirk]

Very good attitude in how you are taking criticism - and that already looks so much better and more professional!
There is though a lot more to how to make a business work / products sell, than to just get a decent product - I always recommend to my clients that they look at how other companies are doing it to see if they can learn from it...
- Apple: one of the best at doing this - their presentation is superb, the premium feel of receiving one of their products and unboxing it, the marketing that goes with it, the simplicity, clarity, elegance of their websites - all helps to sell the product at a price which is highly inflated over its true worth... What could you learn from them? How would I receive it - is there a standard box you could provide? could the box have in it your device, a set of maybe three pencils (pencils bought in bulk are very cheap - you can brand them with your company, and they add a lot of perceived value), can you add a metal scribe point as well (again, should be very cheap, but adds perceived value)
- Small businesses - look at Høvel for an example of how to do it well - the Hovel is a pencil sharpener in the shape of effectively a mini plane - it sells for £57 and you can spend £15 on a leather case and £12 on a wooden base - everything about it is about perceived quality - and therefore value, yet it is a seriously over-priced item... but they do it well - they advertise it on facebook, they had it backed on a crowdfunder and they have a professional website with pro photography to sell it

The product can be good - but how you sell it makes it 'worth' the money or not...

 

[philip sewell]

Thanks Akirk, good advice. I've seen the pencil sharpener you are talking about, I believe they also make a very fancy tool for drawing circles as well. I did wonder who their market is because I wouldn't dream of spending that sort of money on effectively a compass and a pencil sharpener but there are obviously people who will buy them.
Making things is a breeze compared to trying to sell things!

 

[doctor Bob]

I’ve had some positive feedback from a kitchen company who are using the scribe to fit their doors as well as on site fitting. They are using a metal scribe rather than a pencil for door fitting so that’s something I could add with the scriber.

I'm struggling to understand how they shoot in doors, everyone I know just uses a metal spacer, no need to scribe at all.