I'm going out with the Reinhart forms with the preset eyes that I was tought on and in with McKenzie forms. I'm on my third year of business and taking in 5 head a year. I just feel a lot of this has to do with the forms. As I get plenty of business fish/birds from guys but squat for deer heads. And yes I do advertise, but for some reason I'm not taping into the deer head market. It probably doesn't help there is 10 taxidermist for a city of 120,000. I also think a lot of it has to do with none of my deer that I'm mounting are big. This year I'll be doing a 150 and 160 witch should help. I think a lot of guys will walk into a shop and if you have a big turd on the wall they automatically want you to do their work. I'm seriously considering buying some 230" replica for this reason. Having said that I've never had a customer walk out of the shop because they didn't like something I did(Knock on Wood). Being in Iowa there is a load of big deer killed yearly, and they go to the same taxidermists year in and year out. I just need to figure out how to jump in the ring. I just read a post below earlier about a guy whos going through my same problems. And yes I'm a middle man as well I get 375$, while the two big shots in town get 425$, and some stupid shats down the road are charging 200$. I think I'll get there it will just take time, word of mouth I'm finding is the biggest advertisement in Taxidermy.
Hopefully the change to McKenzie forms will boost my confidence anyway, now I need to teach myself eye placement on manicans.
Thanks for listening to me ramble. Everyday is a learning experience.
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Where in Iowa are you located? I'm 50 miles east of Sioux City. I don't have a shop open yet but I don't want to be a "down the road" guy. Peace~Sam
I learned on Meder forms, love them. They come to life, hands down. I like setting eyes because you can change expressions so easily with a pre-rotated Meder IQ, a little boring out of the eye socket, etc. You can just be so much more creative. Pre-set limits that. I'm green with 1 year into this and loving it. I to am in Iowa (eastern), and I only did 5 deer, 2 of them were my own, and 3 buddies. Which in turn brought me an elk (word of mouth), 1 european, several antler plaques, and 2 pheasant. It's hard to tell a buddy you need some cash; or the buddy of the buddy wants the same deal you gave the mutual friend. The wife says these hours have to turn into revenue sometime "STOP the freebies!" I only have training in game heads (Meder) and now I want credible bird, mammal, and fish training to expand the arsenal. I read this forum religoiously, buy videos, books, Taxidermy Today, etc. I plan on spending every hour of the last weekend in April in Marshalltown at the ITA show. Thought I would just say Hello to a fellow Iwegion. Good luck with the McKenzie forms, have fun and happy taxi-ing.
And No I personally do not have a big successful shop, so take what I say from someone who just looks at the world from a standpoint of logic.
Yes, all the guys who have been in business want to tell you. You need to charge well for your work. And that if you work cheaply all you will ever be known as, Is taxidermist to the el cheapo. That is fine for them. And maybe others in different situations. But it obviously is not working for you. you may very well do top notch work. Work that may well rival the best in your area. However in this business word of mouth is all important. It would be great to sit back on our high and mighty principals and say I will do things my way. And at my price, or not at all. When we feel that way. we must be prepared to accept both ends of the scale.
Adaptability is key to success in any business. You need to make yourself the buzz word what does it matter if when the hunters are talking shop. If your name is mentioned as the best or the most affordable? Right now when they mention you they are saying. "heck, he has only been in business a short wile and he ain't that much cheeper than long time Joe." May as well pay the extra. lower your price to $295.00 and it will be I don't know. I seen his work and its as good as long time Joe's but its only $295.00. Next year you will have 25 people singing your praises to two of their friends. Then 50. then 75. In three years you will be back to the $375.00 but then you will have a following. Now, here is how you lower your price without lowering your profit too badly. Remember this year your gross profit was $1500.00
Buy your deer forms from Van Dykes. I know, I know, They are not "perfect specimens" but ya know what? 90% of the customers do not know the difference, you simply have to put a bit more time into the form, but when you are slow anyway what else you got to do. as you get busier, you will be so familiar with what adjustments each form needs. you can do it in seconds. you can buy a 7 1/4 X 19" deer form with white banded eyes, and ear liners from Van Dykes for an average of $35.00 I bet the forms alone you are using now cost that or more. Think it over. Let me know in a few years weather you like success or pomp. You can't eat arrogance
If you think that switching from Rinehart forms to McKenzie will bring people in, then think again. I have walls full of deer heads on display in my studio. Some are Rinehart and some are McKenzie along with a couple others. When they look over my collection to decide on a mount pose, just about everybody picks out Rinehart forms. It's all about doing quality work and marketing. If you do decide to do some big repro mounts to display, then they should be on another wall away from where you will hang customer mounts when they come to pick them up. I have a specail place to hang mounts to be picked up where they are well lit and surounded by small mounts. You want to give them a good first impression of their mount.
One propblem is those forms you have used. Next problem is your advertising. All the ads in the world dont do any good if your work is not up to par. Now I am not saying your work is not good, its just that your work needs to be better than the others or at lest comp. with the better taxis.
Customers are learning the difference!
Now what have you for them to look at? What kind of display do you have?
You live in big deer country, so get some capes, capes are cheap where you are at, hit a couple locker plants and do some trading with the owner, maybe some antler mounts or Euro style mounts for capes, you should be able to aquire capes at nomore than $10.00 each in the 22-24 inch range. You may have to run to the locker and skin the heads but do what you have to do to get some average sized capes.
Now look around at all the taxis that have extra reproduction antlers for sale. No need in paying $600.00 or more of big name deer racks, one thing DAM Chase has thats their own is repro racks, get 10 of his biggest and most uniform racks and mount them up.
Now hit the sports shows with your fresh deer mounts, and catchy business cards.
Picj you out a business card with flare, and class, you can find antique looking papers, western style lettering and put the word taxidermy in orange.
To make sure people hang on to your card, put a caping guide on the backside.
For get the typical Elcheapo 500 or 1000 cards, go big get 10,000.
Next design a flyer a color flyer, with profession closeup shots of the uppr neck face and antler. You will need 25 of these to start.
NOw get out beat the bushes and hand them out, they dont do any good stashed back.
Get a map of your state and a compass, scribe a 120 mile circle, with your town right in the center, this is your area for work load.
Hit every mom and pop store, with one of the posters and hand out cards, make friends with the owners, even offer them a discount the first couple years.
You need to make that run to every store two times per year.
See if they will be a pickup point.
You dont have to depend on them to be a place where you drop your finished work off, you can schedule dates for mulitple deliveries so you deliver directly to your customers.
Make it your route!
Your flyer or posters should be color also.
Archie Phillips says color sells and Archie is right. Most of this is right from Archies book and it works and works well.
If you will do these steps for two or three years You will have all the head you ever wished to mount.
Bueno por mi amigo de la taxidermia
your rates to 450.00, and watch what happens. You might be surprised, provided that your deer are very good. No disrespect intended. Try it, what have you got to loose?
Doesnt matter what form your using! Doesnt matter how big those racks are! A couple mounts with blue ribbons hanging in your show room will be more impressive to people walking into your shop than anything else you can do. Doesnt matter what form you use, It's your responsibility to make it correct. Pre-set and cheap looking eyes will not cut it. I don't want to impress people with big racks , I want them impressed with a lifelike appearance. A couple mounts, in various poses and expressions is all you need. Nothing will lure in the business like awards for quality work! Join your state association, the NTA and go compete. Learn from it, and while you grow, so will your business.
I would agree with Paul,but he's right. I do between 125-150 deer a year and after competing in the world and taking a first in the professional level, my work load has increased even more. When people see the whitetail and the awards along with other pieces, they are sold. The work should speak for itself if done correctly.
If you are going to show customers competition winning work when trying to sell them your commercial services, then you had better plan on delivering that compitition quality on their mounts to, or you may have some disapointed customers when they see that their mount does not look as good as what they were shown. Ribbons certainly don't hurt, but I honestly don't think that most customers care much about them. I run a charter boat on the Great Lakes too. I have won the equivilant of dozens of "ribbons" fishing in professional tournaments, yet I don't even bother to advertise those achievments becasue it means very little to the average Joe who just wants to go out and catch a bunch of fish and have a good time. It's the same in taxidermy, customers want a quality mount at a resonable price. The intricate details of a compitition mount are lost on 99 percent of people. Compitions will help you to improve your skills, but don't expect people to be knocking down your door just because you won blue.
If you want the guys who cant tell the difference, stay in the middle of the road with quality, price and materials, as this will please those who do not see the difference, and your rate of pay vs material costs vs time will not take a hit. Just understand thats where 80% of the taxidermists youll be competing against locally for local work are, too. Upgrade to a standard that fewer folks want, but also fewer taxidermists offer, and you dont have to share the customers with as many either.
Go out on a charter for the first time, and youll start with a captain someone else reccommended, etc. Spend a half day fishing, listening to the radio, and the next time, Ill bet youll be fishing with the guy whose name you heard on the radio all that day, who was catching the fish, reporting the fish, and telling others how he was catching them. The ribbon winner does get attention...to those who are interested.
So, decide what customer base you are looking to attract, and put out the appropriate bait. Good clean commercial work is most popular, and not hard to do. Its very rewarding, and requires hard work. To try and upgrade for a higher level can also be very rewarding, but it too is hard work, just in a different form. Maybe then the awards will help with advertising, it just attracts fewer, and holds you to a different accountability. Just remember, the local guys here that laugh at "all the work Yox loses because hes so slow (or slow expensive, etc)" are still not accounting for all the work that IS here, keeping me slow. There will always be enough work for everyone.
I have to agree with some and disagree with others on this issue. I fermly believe that if you do quality deer mounts you will get the work no matter what you charge with in reason. I have been in business now for over three years. Each year I get more and more work because of customer satisfaction. I have not competed and want to but only for my personal use not for advertising. I agree if you advertise competition work then you better give the customers competition work. A few ribbons on the wall in my shop would be an asset to me and me only. Why? because after going to the show I will I will learn alot. With those ribbons if I should get some will keep me in check. They will be my little reminder to do my best on every mount not just the ones I take to the show.
As for forms. I can't won't nock one or another. I have mounted on all kinds of forms there all good and they all look good. The key I think is find the form your most comfortable with that fit the deer in your area. If you like mounting on a certain form then thats the one you should use. I don't display my mounts in my shop I display customers mounts. By doing this my customers can see the work they will be getting not some show piece I did for hours and hours for display. I believe this is what gets me most of my business. I have found that guys that get alot of heads mounted have one taxidermist they deal with and him only. The only way to get those guys to change is eather the other guy goes out of business or you do better work then he does. And no don't lower your prices thats just stupid stick to your prices. You start lowering prices your going to loose work because of it. If guys notice you lower your prices they will run the other way I know I would. Why? I don't buy reduced steak at the store IT COULD BE BAD. Same goes for mounts keep your prices where there at. If you build it they will come.
I'm not a pro but here what i'm trying to do.
I started by doig a couple of heads for the local gun club(trap shooting) they had a couple of old head that needed TLC saved family capes mounted for them. That got me a few more heads.
My new thought is to get a new hunting club that just started around here. Do the mounts for their lodge with so of mine. The people that have the money to pay to shoot the little deer around here hve the money to have them mounted. Some smart man said go where the money at. that my two cents I hope this helps now my fingers
(as in 2) are tried the most word i've typed in 26 yrs.
I feel that all your work should be the best you can do. If its compition or commercial. I can take any mount of my wall and wouldn't hesitate in placing it in the professional category of any compitition. Why would anyone want to give a customer a lesser quality job just because its commercial. I beleive in quality from the start. I may spend more time on my mounts than most but I can quarentee that that guy will be back next year and the follwoing year and all his friends will follow. Whats more important reputation or money? I'll take my chances with the reputation any day.