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Getting started as a hobby

ahollow

New Member
I started out the same way. Decals for my own radio control cars. Moving into banners for other racers, started doing T shirts, then sublimation, then buying a large format printer, etc.
Now I'm looking at retiring from my regular "day" job, and continuing this part-time. It is a lot of fun, and is very enjoyable when you aren't out to criticize everyone.
Did I knock out some "full-time" sign guy somewhre along the line. Maybe. But those same full-time sign guys bitch about home repair, auto repair, etc and do their own. So are they knocking out the home repair and auto industry? There are two sides to the fence, folks.

Everyone starts somewhere. Let's give him the benefit of the doubt.
 

iSign

New Member
welcome WG.

what is your day job? I think you seem like the right candidate for a warm welcome. I know the word hobby was probably your first mistake, but I think that still qualifies under the "If you are, once were, or want to be a professional sign maker, we invite you" terms.. so I invite you to remember that the majority point of view posting on your thread may not be the majority view overall..

I asked about your day job because I want to make my other point to the rest of this board. If your day job needed decals or iron-on t-shirts.. and if that was your primary motivation to get into the DIY decal/t-shirt gig.. that is when it's not a "hobby", it's just a cheap short-cut to avoid paying for professional work (which of course is still the American way, and admirable at times, from a work ethic standpoint.. but NOT the kinda guy we are inclined to help)... BUT, if you want to do graphics on your radio control hobby & your kids athletic team stuff... AND you had previously been around your friends start-up sign shop & retained an interest.. well, in my book "you are, once were, or want to be a professional sign maker, and in my book... "we invite you"

(now, if this thread still goes south... guess what.. just don't post here any more.. go post in the threads where you ask what you came to learn & ignore the hazing... too many fellow comrads get too caught up in defending against the dog-pack mentality that sometimes dominates these threads... so just go enjoy the rest of the site if that happens)
 

WGRoper

New Member
I manage a quality assurance department for a dental software and digital x-ray company, definitely not doing any sign work for my employer.

Thanks!
 

iSign

New Member
I manage a quality assurance department for a dental software and digital x-ray company, definitely not doing any sign work for my employer.

Thanks!

and that, to me is the distinction.. that shows me you are interested in the activities themselves & not just in cutting costs. To me, that's a good enough reason to be here. Good luck!
 

Mosh

New Member
I just got a new saw, I think I will start building houses....
People like you are ruining the sign/vinyl business! GO AWAY!!!!!
 

Bigdawg

Just Me
It gets very old watching every new person go through the "grilling" from a couple of the same people over and over.

And listen to how anyone new just isn't a REAL signmaker if he doesn't meet THEIR criteria.

Guess what Gino (and I'm answering you directly although you didn't say you were talking to me... cuz I'm pretty sure you didn't know)...

I learned to make signs on the internet.
Actually from this very board before it was a hatefest for newbies. Back when people like yourself actually helped. Combined with a whole lotta research and talking with my vendors and asking questions.

Asking questions is how you learn...

Nowadays y'all would have kicked me to the curb... pronto... because I wouldn't have fit your idea of what a signmaker really is...

Maybe I should just hang it up now because I can't handpaint a sign to save myself, I've never apprenticed at another shop... and I still have to ask questions to ascertain the right way to do things...

I must just suck.
 

Gino

Premium Subscriber
Stacy…..

And I’m talking to you in case you didn’t know it. :peace!:
Yes, I did know this about you because you’ve told me on various occasions. However, it doesn’t change my mind about the subject.

You joined here a year before me and I have no idea how you came on board, but it would seem most likely that you had quite a background in printing, type setting and other areas that roll right into sign making. You already had quite the eye for sign making. You just didn’t know terminology, substrates and larger eye appeal for layouts. You probably just wanted to fine tune it or get more ideas to please your boss.

I have no problem with anyone coming here. For crying out loud, it ain’t my place…. I just participate, but I too, like you… on the opposite side of the coin, am sick and tired of all the people that come here and think you just buy a computer or a cutter or printer and ‘Presto’ you’re a sign person. I still remember a conversation you and I had about 13 months ago face to face about that very thing. You seem to have changed your outlook from back then, or you just said what you thought I wanted to hear. :loveya:

There is no hatefest for newbies. They are all welcomed, but I’ll bet you 10 to 1, you can count on one hand how many I’ve picked wrongly and have falsely accused. I don’t want a prize for that, I just want people to stop cheapening this industry with their half hearted replies for getting into this industry.

Unlike Doug, I don’t see how someone that wants to make decals for their hobby club and other parents’ car decals and other points of interest is not trying to find something cheaper and cutting out yet another sign shop…. somewhere, USA. My allegiance is to all of the people represented here on s101 and the many many shops not even on here or even know about this place. I wonder if you asked the shop down the street what he thought about giving advice to his customers of where and how to build and execute professional signs if he wouldn’t punch you in the nose ??



And please stop ending your posts with your little lean on you can’t do chit and you’re gonna go home now. That’s really getting old. :peace!:

 

Bigdawg

Just Me
And please stop ending your posts with your little lean on you can’t do chit and you’re gonna go home now. That’s really getting old. :peace!:


I'll quit that when you quit acting like you do...

because when you slam the newbies without full information - I feel it for them. Honestly? It's almost embarrassing... the reception that you and a few other give them.

You DON'T see the full information they enter to join. You DON'T know what their background is. You DON'T know whether they know chit from shinola when it comes to signs.

But look back at your posts Gino... tell me the last time you actually welcomed someone with some good advice instead of telling them what an amateur POS they are. I was NO BETTER THAN THEM when I started. I screwed up. I did things wrong. And when I need help in doing them right? I came here.

This place isn't that resource anymore. And it's a crying shame that it isn't. And the attitude you and a few others project to those that YOU don't think should be here is why it's not that resource.

If you are so old and jaded on the sign business... maybe you should quit posting in the newbie threads... better yet - just post a standard "you suck because I said so" thread and you can just refer them there and save yourself some typing.
 

OutlawsLimited

New Member
Sounds like some here not all, have a professional attitude towards entry level prospects.
I wonder how many actually started as a hobby and decided that they have a niche for this talent/market and became "pro's"?
If your that good at what you do, then you would have no worries on what a hobbiest can do, and if he screws up work that you have to clean up, then you have job security.
Dont forget where you came from.
We all started somewhere and not everyone is trying to cheat the field.
 

Kottwitz-Graphics

New Member
You DON'T see the full information they enter to join. You DON'T know what their background is. You DON'T know whether they know chit from shinola when it comes to signs.

In respect of what you said to Gino, and I am not taking up his side, but when someone comes on and posts the first time and says this:

I found this site when searching for vinyl cutter information. It looks like the place to be to find all sorts of information.
My main goal is to produce graphics for my hobbies - radio control modeling, full scale aviation and amateur radio. My daughter is involved in a lot of sports, so I figure I might dabble in some of that as well, producing decals for the other parents for their cars, etc.

Anyway, I'll be hanging around here a good bit as I figure out what I'm doing.


My first thought is to read what he said, which is "for my hobbies" and " I might dabble", which says hobby.

We all know someone in our town that has gotten a pos plotter and come into our towns and started lowballing our customers. It cheapens our profession. Unfortunately there is nothing we can do about it in our own towns, but when someone starts talking about it where we spend our free time, it does hit close to home.
 

Bigdawg

Just Me
Absolutely K-G... and the original post coulda, woulda, shoulda been worded a little more artfully. I understand that.

But it's not just this thread. Take a read around the newbie posts and you'll see a recurring theme. I talk to a lot of people on this board - newbies, oldies and some that just read and don't post. EVERY SINGLE one of them has mentioned at some point that this board is very unfriendly to newcomers.

I hate to admit it but they are right.

And I do understand not wanting a fly-by-night to be your competition... but the truth is not every new person is a fly by night. Some are here to actually learn the right way.

But they seemingly all get painted with the same brush.

I don't know the answer - we screen the members carefully - and my point to Gino was that HE doesn't see those forms... he doesn't know how long they've been at it OR their stated intent when they join.

There was a thread about a sign warehouse package deal the the same crap went down in. Guy asks about digital printing... assumptions are made that he has no clue as to what he's doing... when in reality he'd been in the sign business for years - just not the digital end.

So that's why I'm on my little rant here... I want the kinder, gentler Signs 101 back... the one that helped instead of slamming without gathering the facts...
 

fmg

New Member
Gino.
Must be honest and say out loud.You sound like you have one big hang up when someone new comes onto these forums and asks advice about the sign business.
Look back in your posts and you will see anger.Man you spend too much time behind a screen and not enough time making signs no wonder you are angry at the newcomers in the biz!!!
Calm down sunshine and give the new breed the benefit of the doubt.And no one does not have to work in a sign shop these days to learn the biz' this is the wonder of the internet a fantastic learning tool!
Welcome WGR and please ask any questions you feel you want to.
You may or may not get the answers you want but at least you can use the cliche ask and you shall get.
Thanks
 

Jillbeans

New Member
We all know someone in our town that has gotten a pos plotter and come into our towns and started lowballing our customers. It cheapens our profession. Unfortunately there is nothing we can do about it in our own towns, but when someone starts talking about it where we spend our free time, it does hit close to home.

Oh it does.
They even buy premium subscriptions.
This guy said from the get-go he was an RC hobbyist.
He may cut sports team stuff for his daughter.
Neither one of those is going to effect my business, really.
There's one guy over the hill who eats up hours of my life wanting specific RC stuff.
Cheap, of course, and he nags me until the job is done then picks it apart when he comes to get it.
I wish he'd buy a plotter!
Love....Jill
 

jc1cell

New Member
Oh it does.
They even buy premium subscriptions.
This guy said from the get-go he was an RC hobbyist.
He may cut sports team stuff for his daughter.
Neither one of those is going to effect my business, really.
There's one guy over the hill who eats up hours of my life wanting specific RC stuff.
Cheap, of course, and he nags me until the job is done then picks it apart when he comes to get it.
I wish he'd buy a plotter!
Love....Jill


:Big Laugh
 

Gino

Premium Subscriber
Stacy.......

You're turning this into something that I don’t think you realize you're doing. Then again, maybe you just want a confrontation of some sort. You’re making this personal and there’s nothing personal about getting into business.

With today’s level of entry into business bar being set as the internet, you are enabling anyone into anything. Sure, it’s good to venture into something you already know something about, but if you’re just gonna run with something, you should at least be prepared. Take classes, take business classes, learn hands on at a shop and most of all pay attention and be motivated or you’re doomed to fail within a year or so. You need to be able to face risks and then…. if you are in fact really wanting to learn the sign business, I’ll help. But when these people say they can’t afford to do this or that…. to me, they aren’t serious.

Today’s people want everything served to them on a silver platter. Nothing invested except a little part time fun. If it works they jump in, it if fails…. they didn’t lose a thing, except a little time invested. To me, that is not a serious person. They don’t have the aching feeling in their belly to be successful; they just have a little time invested. If they displease someone…. ah well, too bad, this is just a hobby.

We’re trying to better other professionals in our ranks. We want the best to keep going and those that only have a little time invested, well, too bad, they didn’t take it seriously and just fall through the cracks. This ain’t one of those no kid left behind programs. You must work for what you get here. Is it hard, yes, indeed.

The part about having to start somewhere… is so ridiculously lame, it borders on a not worth a reply.

Of course everyone has to start somewhere. Is the internet the best way ?? Perhaps. You did it and many more here have done it, but were they dabbling… or already to some extent already in a form of the sign trade and just stretching their horizons ?? Someone wanting to sell to their friends is like someone baking cakes and selling them at a fair. Once and done. Fine. No harm, no foul. Get a big head and want to make money at it and sell on a much bigger scale and these people don’t ask questions like, what licensing do I need…. what exams must I pass to make food for others to consume…… what do I have to do to make myself legal……. where do I find additional training or can I go to a culinary school for baking ??

No, all you get is :
  • What size oven can I get without blowing myself up ??
  • Where do you buy flour ??
  • What proportions do I use if I wanna bake two cakes ??
  • How do I cut back on the ingredients and still make something they will buy ??
  • Where do you buy sugar ??
  • Do I really need to let it cool down before icing it ?? The customer wants it right away.... I think it will work.
  • Do I really have to get a bigger circuit breaker for this big stove ??
  • How much can I charge and still undercut all the other bakeries in town ??
  • What size spatula should I get, or since I already have a spoon.... can I use that instead ??
  • Should I buy a Dunkin’ Donuts or just buy wholesale ??
  • Can you actually make money doing this 6 hours a week…. my other job is doggie grooming and I can’t have an oven in the backroom because there seems to be too much doggie hair going down the drain clogging it and when those things need to be unclogged, the commotion it creates…..my cake will fall.
  • Can I sell a flop cake ??
  • How much can I get for that ??

Oh……… what oh what should I do ??


And don't give me any negative responses..... I don't need the extra pressure.:frustrated:
 

WGRoper

New Member
This will be my last reply to this thread.

I find it humorous that a few have drawn conclusions as to what my aspirations are.

No where have I stated that I wanted to get into the business to save money on signs or anything of the sort. That'd be kinda stupid considering the cost of equipment, materials, software, and time involved in getting started to cut the first inch of vinyl. Even with the cheap stuff.

I'm a pretty hard-core DIYer and enjoy the satisfaction of doing something for myself. That ranges from repairing my own vehicles to building a 20'x20' detached garage in our back yard to ripping out all the carpet in our house and laying hardwoods. Are you going to blast me for robbing the mechanic down the street or the contractor that lives two doors over of their living? If so, then frankly I would never do business with your sort anyway so no love lost.

That's my piece. I'm done. I'm sure I've set some sort of record for inciting the longest newbie welcome thread in all of signs101.com history.

:peace!:
 
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