About the only gun magazines I read anymore are Rifle and Handloader, and maybe I'll look at a Shotgun News once in a while. I usually see the same ads each month from the same vendors (Atkinson to Z-Hat).

Rather than pay a market research group to ask the question, I'll ask you guys directly: Do you even look at the ads in gun magazines? If you're looking for a product or service, where do you look first (online, magazines, etc)?

There was a time when the Yellow Pages would have been my first place to look, but in the days of FedEx and the slow death of the neighborhood gunsmith shop, more and more work is being sent around the country due to a lack of local options.

Thanks in advance for ANY opinions on the topic!

Sam B.
http://www.fireflyarms.com

I can't really speak to the print ads although I do work in the industry.

I would recommend setting up a web page. These days it's easy enough to do. I have found most of what I need these days through the web. Just keep the page simple.

Like you say there are increasingly fewer local options available so you need to make yourself as visible to as large an audience as possible. And the web is a very cost effective way to do so.

Drop the URL to the website in as many forums as possible. I'm not talking spam but visit as many as possible and if someone asks for a reference, provide it.

-Mike

Sam,

I am coming from an Australian perspective, so maybe different.

I think an add for a website (in agun magazine) is good, provided of course the website itself is informative and up to date.

Some websites are also good because internet searchs bring them up on the first page or so of the search.

I also think a forum presence is worthwhile (as in being a poster) but not so sure about having banner adds on a forum.

Basically, advertising needs to be regular.

The other thing I would say is that the large majority of people do not absorb information well from the computer screen. It is almost like they are looking at the screen through a narrow tube.

Mike

[ 08-23-2002, 22:17: Message edited by: Mike375 ]

Mike375 brings up some good points like people not abosrbing info well. That's why I suggest a webpage rather than a website to start with. Think of it as just a larger classifed ad. You get your name & number out where people can see it. You also have the ability to showcase some of your work which you couldn't do in the small print ads.

I would also stay away from the banner ads unless you can work out some in trade as most host websites place their banner ads in ineffective places.

The reason I suggest regularly visiting forums and typing out your URL is that that is how the search engines get your address. That's the way to get noticed by someone who does a search.

If you do decide to build a website, again, keep it simple. So many websites are overly complex and rely way too much on "Flashyness" and not enough on simple content. The viewer should be able to reach his objective in three clicks or less.

-Mike

Sorry,

Here is a great page to use for refernces/ resources: http://www.websitesthatsuck.com

-Mike

Sam,

When I need gunsmith work, I look online at this gun forum and others like it for people who seem to know what they are doing. Then I ask others about their work.

Unfortunately, there is only one local gunsmith I would use and he is a good hour drive away and busy. I ship stuff all over the damn country as a result.

I occasionally buy shotgun news, but usually for firearms. I read F&S and Outdoor Life.

Over the past 10 years, I have shipped more and more stuff to be smithed than I have driven to the shop. Almost all, I heard of online or through friends.

I would dearly love to support some local gunsmith with my business if there were any around that were competent. Unfortunately, there aren't any within 100 miles of me that can even be trusted to do an adequate trigger job, much less a rebarrel job. My hunting partner paid $75 for a trigger job on a browning A-bolt last year that came back worse than it went in. There is a serious lack of peer review in the gunsmithing industry. Anyone who wants to can call himself a gunsmith with no training and go about butchering rifles to his hearts content. I now rely upon word of mouth from forums like these to give me an indication of who can do quality work. I don't mind shipping a rifle to the other side of the planet if I know it's going to come back done the way I want it.

From my limited experience, gunsmithing is a service that is taken on by those whom are much more passionate about there firearms/shooting than the average shooter. Therefore when choosing gunsmiths would it be fair to say that it's word of mouth that determines who gets the gunsmithing work.

For example I have just had my first custom job done and the manner in which I got in contact with the smith who did the job was by a ph. number that Mike 375 Provided. If that smith that does your first job completes the job to your satisfaction then you would probably tend to "keep him as your smith" similar to having a family doctor. Incidently I noticed "my smiths" advertisments following my initial contact.

Hey'
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1geejay