It seems here in Illinois and alot of other places the burning question for new taxidermists seems to be how to bring in work so why don't we all try to give some advice based on what worked for us.
When i started out the number 1 biggest help i had was the guy that trained me..he gave me all the steps to go..1 always get a down payment 2 Advertise wisely 3 Quality will bring them. he to this day 8 years later is still there for me if i run into a problem i can't solve...the local radio proved invaluable..during the friday night football games..However the hardest thing to overcome is the mistake you will make of taking in work without a downpayment and agreeing to do so with it being understood you will not touch it til you have the downpayment...this guy will never pay and will just bad mouth you for taking so long on his trophy even though he never upheld his part of the deal...they WILL listen to the one bad apple...Just use wise choices and get yourself out there..local butchers,sporting goods,4H fairs,put up a display at a check station if you have them and make a good looking flyer will attract its own attention..i'll help someguys out with a flyer design for free just e-mail me..good luck
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When I started playing around with taxidermy about 8 years ago I went to A taxidermist not 5 miles from me who has been doing it for 30 years or so and told him I was wanting to learn,, can I come and help, watch, do what ever I could just to learn something,, no pay, just learn something here and there and he just said no.. he said I would quit anyway so it would be A wast of his time.. Well as hard headed as I am I didn't quit, in fact it made me push harder. I'm glad he said what he did because what I've learned I did on my own.. I'm not 100% full time yet but I'll do 70 plus deer A year and all the other critters to go with em. I am lucky enough to have another job to fall back on when ever I get low on work in my shop but I am getting there. I have and still do different forms of advertising,, but the best thing working for me is simply word of mouth,, do good work and you'll get the same customers next year and they'll send there friends to you. Back to the beginning, I have had several people want to come and watch or try something on there own and I will show and/or help them,, it is true,, most people won't stick with it but they see that it's not as easy as it looks and then they don't mind paying for it as much.
i was at wal-mart buying coleman fuel to clean my birds and a guy asked me why i was buying so much...i told him and just like that he has 2 fish for me to now...ya just never know where you will get the business
Rich, when are you going to join the 21st century and stop with that gas crap. And to pay $5 a gallon at Wal-Mart when you can buy the same stuff for $2.25 at their pumps is a little strange, isn't it.
Some people can't stay out of Wal-Mart