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Jean Thibodeau
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 Posted: Mon 25 Oct, 2010 3:15 pm Post subject: |
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| Allen Foster wrote: | | Allan told me that one of the folks who came through the biggest for him was Hal at Therion Arms. Let's not forget to thank Hal by buying from him too. |
So where these personal purchases or for re-sale on the Therion Arms site ? In either case I'm happy about it.  
If for resale I suggest that if people buy some of Allan's armour from Therion it helps both businesses and it would motivate Hal to order some more from Allan. ( Or other things they like and see on Hal's site ).
Good to see some mutual support by and for makers and vendors.
By the way I have " Bookmarked " Therion arms and will regularly have a look at their offerings and seriously consider buying from them also and put Therion on my short list of preferred vendors. ( Even more so for things of interest I don't see offered by other vendors ).
I have to wait until past mid November before I consider any new purchases from any source as I want to have a " recovery month " where my credit card will get a rest.   Sort of an every other month plan to keep spending under control while still indulging myself with new toy purchases.
Support our makers and vendors.
You can easily give up your freedom. You have to fight hard to get it back!
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JG Elmslie
Industry Professional
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| Posted: Tue 26 Oct, 2010 5:59 pm Post subject: |
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| J.D. Crawford wrote: |
One other little thing - there's some material on the front page of your web site that is a bit intimidating for us non-Americans. Remember that you do have friends and admirers outside of the good ol' USA.
Good luck, JD |
I'm inclined to agree with JD on this, that the frontpage, while having support for soldiers is perfectly fine, the jab at politicians does'nt look particularly professional, in my opinion. Capslock sections, in particular strike me as SHOUTY, LOUD which comes over as unreliable. its the sort of thing I'd expect to see on a dodgy used-car salesman's site, not a professional page.
Likewise, for those of us not in the US, overt flag-waving patriotism is something rather... crass. it comes over as a bit too jingoistic. First impressions count, and I'm afraid to say I have looked at the webpages in the past, and chosen not to really go much further, as, my first reaction there is "this person is jingoistic, excessively outspoken in his views, a bit ranty... he's an ar*ehole, I'm not going to get kit there"./
and yes, that's harsh, but I hope you'll excuse me being honest on my reactions, as I'm sure I'm not alone.
To be honest, once you've read that they're american made on the frontpage, I really dont want to see "MADE IN THE USA" on every, single bleedin' page. I got the hint the first time. they're all made by you, so I dont need to be reminded. To quote Samuel Johnson, "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.", after all, and it rather grates.
So, I've done some looking around, chewed off my own kneecap to get over that initial impression, and would like to give some thoughts.
The originals gallery: the cynic in me thinks that the gut reaction is "so its a load of originals. And?" - And it's a massively under-exploted selling point, that's what!
Tarted up, that could be a killer marketing deal, right there (and, by the way - look at consistent presentation of photography at the moment it's scrappy. there's little consistency in backgrounds, presentation and composition of photography. that, to my mind says "scrappy attention to detail". likewise, there's no order to the peices. if they were organised better, in subject groups (particularly weapons. unless you are making replicas of the weapons in the collection, have them as a sub-section below), that would make them look less scrappy.). Presented cleanly, the worn, old and patinated peices, alongside the stunning perfect modern duplicates, that sort of element could really be an impressive sales feature. it lets you market yourself as "we dont simply understand how these were made, we *really* research our stuff, and have the originals to hand too!"
that's an under-used asset you have there.
(as a note, the photography generally has a very blue cast to it. cold colours can put people off. if it looks fine on your machine, your monitor may be off-caste there.)
for the catalogue of items on sale, re-arrange the categories into alphabetical order. it looks haphazard just now. Again, lacking attention to detail.
Maille nik-nacks and bodices: possibly just below the main armour lists? just now they feel out of place.
Re Bodices, may not be everyone's cup of tea, but, ever tried marketing that or leatherworking goods to the Alt/Fetish types? as long as you're not going to feel uncomfortable with 'em, there's a good market there of people who like good, handmade fashion items like that.
Just dont ask why they want any modifications asked for... :/
Other marketing. considered a Facebook page or the likes? a "like this" tabs to create a link so people can link what they're drooling at to failbook/mywasteofspace/livejournal/whatever opens up markets of people who will be (hopefully) similar to the person viewing, since its on a social network and therefore, might well like what they see and order too.
in all honesty, its the details of presentation which stand out as poor, not the products. getting that quality over is the thing. I hope you can get through. I'll certainly be considering one of two or three peices shortly, but I'm afraid cant quite make a purchase instantly. hope the critique is of use, too.
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Christian G. Cameron
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| Posted: Tue 26 Oct, 2010 6:44 pm Post subject: |
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Just sent you an e-mail--happy to help with an order if I can.
After all--I'm FROM Rochester and I'd never heard of you til I found you on the Albion site!
Christian G. Cameron
Qui plus fait, miex vault
www.hippeis.com
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Allan Senefelder
Industry Professional
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| Posted: Tue 26 Oct, 2010 8:10 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | I'm inclined to agree with JD on this, that the frontpage, while having support for soldiers is perfectly fine, the jab at politicians does'nt look particularly professional, in my opinion. |
Business people have opinions just as everybody else does and enjoy the same privilage of expressing them. The above befuddeled group has done a great deal to make the lot of myself, my industry and many of my fellow countryman pretty unpleasent. When they cease doing so i'll be properly warm and fuzzy twords them, and might have been more inclined to doing so before having to sell off most of my possessions besides my tools to cope with thier malfeasence. Laying back and taking it has never been my strong suit, I prefer to fight back and staying silent has never solved much that i've observed. Having just had a brush with no longer being a " proffesional " at their hands hasn't done much to warm me up. Hows staying quite going to help me avoid that? I'm sorry but there it is. I mean no offense but that is the point i'm at these days.
| Quote: | The originals gallery: the cynic in me thinks that the gut reaction is "so its a load of originals. And?" - And it's a massively under-exploted selling point, that's what!
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You realize we own, or rather owned all those right?
| Quote: | Likewise, for those of us not in the US, overt flag-waving patriotism is something rather... crass. it comes over as a bit too jingoistic. First impressions count, and I'm afraid to say I have looked at the webpages in the past, and chosen not to really go much further, as, my first reaction there is "this person is jingoistic, excessively outspoken in his views, a bit ranty... he's an ar*ehole, I'm not going to get kit there"./
and yes, that's harsh, but I hope you'll excuse me being honest on my reactions, as I'm sure I'm not alone.
To be honest, once you've read that they're american made on the frontpage, I really dont want to see "MADE IN THE USA" on every, single bleedin' page. I got the hint the first time. they're all made by you, so I dont need to be reminded. To quote Samuel Johnson, "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.", after all, and it rather grates. |
Buying American is a big deal over here as almost nothing is MADE IN AMERICA anymore. With the preponderance of Made in India, Made in Pakistan and Made in China in the A&A business its important here. There are websites to aid in buying specifically American made products. Not to mention the recommendation of the consultant.
| Quote: | | Other marketing. considered a Facebook page or the likes? |
You mean like this http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=1200387794 If you think i'm to political, you won't make it two minutes with all the stuff people put up there. Seemingly nonstop and even folks in the industry.
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JG Elmslie
Industry Professional
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| Posted: Tue 26 Oct, 2010 9:27 pm Post subject: |
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| Allan Senefelder wrote: |
Business people have opinions just as everybody else does and enjoy the same privilage of expressing them. The above befuddeled group has done a great deal to make the lot of myself, my industry and many of my fellow countryman pretty unpleasent. When they cease doing so i'll be properly warm and fuzzy twords them, and might have been more inclined to doing so before having to sell off most of my possessions besides my tools to cope with thier malfeasence. Laying back and taking it has never been my strong suit, I prefer to fight back and staying silent has never solved much that i've observed. Having just had a brush with no longer being a " proffesional " at their hands hasn't done much to warm me up. Hows staying quite going to help me avoid that? I'm sorry but there it is. I mean no offense but that is the point i'm at these days. |
I'm inclined to disagree on that point, I'm afraid. however much we may want to murder the two-faced smarmy *expletive* *expletive* *questionable parental marital statuses* for their wonderful ideas, on a commercial site, it strikes me as... just plain unprofessional. on a blog page, commenting on how their actions have affected businesses like you, yes, that is absolutely acceptable, but on the front page like that, just feels... off.
you've got every right to do so, but personally, I'd say its the wrong place to say it.
| Quote: | The originals gallery: the cynic in me thinks that the gut reaction is "so its a load of originals. And?" - And it's a massively under-exploted selling point, that's what!
You realize we own, or rather owned all those right? |
yes, and it just feels under-exploited. hence the cynical "so its a load of originals". I've never seen any maker who's got a range of originals like that that could be used as references for the techniques, to hand. its.... it's the pink elephant in the living room, and its not being used to nearly its potential in marketing terms. (god, I'm talking about marketing. I feel dirty... I've become what I used to hate.)
I'm not sure if I'm making any sense, (but then it's 5am, and I've been up getting rtv moulds to cure.), but the range of parts for reference there screams to me "unique selling point!" at the top of its wheezing 500-year old lungs, but its far too quiet just now. there's a tonne of the flag-waving patriotism which sits a little oddly with people over here, but there's almost an embarrased "oh, and here's the 600-year old original, too..." which seems to be a bizarre case of misplaced priority, from where I'm sitting.
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Buying American is a big deal over here as almost nothing is MADE IN AMERICA anymore. With the preponderance of Made in India, Made in Pakistan and Made in China in the A&A business its important here. There are websites to aid in buying specifically American made products. Not to mention the recommendation of the consultant. |
fair enough. to eyes on the other side of the atlantic, It comes over in a different way, I think. when I was considering going into a fulltime business, I contemplated doing the "made in scotland" angle, and jokingly discussed the idea of tartan backgrounds. to those around here, the conclusion was it had "no dignity" or was "bordering on parody". so tastes differ, I guess.
| Quote: | | Quote: | | Other marketing. considered a Facebook page or the likes? |
You mean like this http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=1200387794 If you think i'm to political, you won't make it two minutes with all the stuff people put up there. Seemingly nonstop and even folks in the industry. |
Duh. my... brain.... hurts.
I searched for "the mercenary's tailor" on facebook, not your name. (any way to link the company name to that too, I wonder? I'm rather facebook-o-phobic, so not sure myself.)
ok, ignore that bit then, you're ahead of me there. if you can get a link for people searching for the company name of FB though, I'm sure it would'nt go amiss.
(or maybe I'm just gibbering brainlessly at that half-past-5 in the morning stage, and I really should've just gone to bed and stopped waiting for rubber to set...)
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Nathan Robinson
myArmoury Admin
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Daniel Sullivan
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| Posted: Thu 28 Oct, 2010 1:12 pm Post subject: Shutting Down |
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Nathan,
Thank you...
Dan
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Klaus Gimm
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| Posted: Fri 29 Oct, 2010 4:44 am Post subject: |
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A suggestion
i just surfed over your site and noticed that you seem to own a couple of originals.
Maybe the following is feasable :
Make high res pictures. Give measurements, comment on the construction balance etc. A full in depth analysis of each piece. And create a PDF with a pay-for -download option. Since i think people register on your site you could enable the accouts to remember wich pdfs were bought. Might even be able to automatically personalize each downloaded file. Certainly 5 USD or similar per download would not make you rich but it would be an option to generate income while making the properties of the originals accessible to an interested public. Who could then use that data to have reproductions made for themselves.
Just a thought.
Best regards
Klaus
Memento Mori
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J.D. Crawford
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| Posted: Fri 05 Nov, 2010 7:25 am Post subject: |
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Back on a positive note...
A few days ago the kite shild I ordered (back at the start of this thread) arrived at my local post-office, and I was able to pick it up this morning. The whole thing is very big and sturdy, and yet surprisingly light. In addition, Allan and his colleagues added some nice details at my request, for not much extra. This included a black-on-brown leather swirl pattern (based on my taste and the Bayeux tapestry) and best of all, a bronze cross on the boss to match the MT spangenhelm that I already owned. See them both in the picture below - you can see how great they look together. What you can't see is the detailed harness and padding under the felt at the back of the shield. Altogether, it much lighter and more detailed than the production shields one usually finds at retail stores. The customer service was also excellent - Allan was friendly and helpful, and very patient over many e-mails, because I placed the order before having a clear idea of exactly what I wanted.
Thanks Allan! Great job. I hope this encourages some more customers who have been sitting on the ledge.
I'll post another picture on the shield thread.
Take care, JD
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Jean Thibodeau
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| Posted: Fri 05 Nov, 2010 7:47 am Post subject: |
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Nice shield, WOW ! I have one also but in the plain Jane version mostly because I didn't ask for any extras on that one but with my Heater shield I have a large steel cross and a small steel cross in each quadrant to make the surface of the shield more resistant to cuts while not adding any significant weight.
On the steel target Allan added a number of brass " fleur de lis " as an extra as a nice surprise.
http://www.merctailor.com/catalog/product_inf...ucts_id=77
Allan's shields are very functional and very very robust while not being overweight and he now offers the option of painted designs of the customer's choice for a small extra premium.
You can easily give up your freedom. You have to fight hard to get it back!
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J.D. Crawford
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| Posted: Fri 05 Nov, 2010 8:28 am Post subject: |
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Thanks Jean. I think I might have seen the heater shield you are describing in the samples that Allan provided - if I remember right, that might have been what gave me the idea to ask for this matching cross. Small world here...
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Allen Foster
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| Posted: Mon 08 Nov, 2010 5:25 am Post subject: |
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Since Armour, Swords and Weaponry lean toward the more brutal and barbaric end of the spectrum of interests found on the net, it seems like we could come up with an expression a little more frightening than just "Bump"! "Bump" sounds so limp.
How about a knightly word like "BASH"?
Just to give this thread a BASH, here are some of my pieces from Mercenary’s Tailor: 
 Attachment: 164.35 KB
"Rise up, O Lord, and may thy enemies be dispersed and those who hate thee be driven from thy face."
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Jean Thibodeau
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| Posted: Mon 15 Nov, 2010 8:27 am Post subject: |
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Just noticed that the Topic title was edited to now say (NOT) Shutting down and I think that this is a good idea since the original title was good at the time to get the situation known and out there that you where close to having to close up shop because of slow sales.
Since then there as at least one case of someone seeing the title and assuming that you where not taking new orders. 
I corrected this impression in a post to this person but I'm really glad to see that you modified the Title as the original version could now be counterproductive.
So the support Allan has received kept him in business but he does need a steady stream of orders coming in.
You can easily give up your freedom. You have to fight hard to get it back!
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N Cioran
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| Posted: Mon 22 Nov, 2010 8:17 am Post subject: |
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Well, I'm new, but I'm sorting out the details of an order right now, so here's to helping
Cole
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