Changes, looking for feedback

[jlauffer]

All sounds good to me!

 

[000Robert]

Sounds good to me! But I have only bought on Amazon and know nothing about selling through them.

 

[Ian80]

I think these are all great ideas! I will hope to watch some of the videos, that sounds pretty cool. I don’t know much about Amazon but I very rarely buy stuff on there anymore. I will definitely sign up for the newsletter!

 

[Murphjd25]

It all sounds great so far! Yes to everything.

 

[Pete M]

1) I definitely agree with updating the channel name to make it easier to find, whether it's a new channel or a rename of the current one. I also agree that the existing content, if still relevant, should be copied to the updated channel.

2) While selling through Amazon does have it's upsides (exposure, ease of creating a turnkey sales solution), it also comes with a ton of negatives (reduced profit margins, risk of copy-cat products from other manufacturers and Amazon themselves, lack of access to important customer data, inability to market to buyers, etc.) without even considering whether you support Amazon's business model from a moral perspective. I'd say take the money you would have allocated for Amazon selling costs and put it into marketing for your site store. Let me know if you want any suggestions for free e-commerce marketing tools. I have some background there.

3) A mailing list would be great, and would be an excellent way to start building email lists so you can better market to people and keep them in the loop in the future.

Excited to see what comes next for CPK!

 

[woodysone]

1)please do update the channel it really should easy to find .
2) Amazon is a perfect selling platform for many products but not CPK’s . Selling through you website would work better for me, improves your margin and would give something for Jo to do.
3) Sign me up and keep me informed when it comes time for a folder.

 

[tinfoil hat timmy]

We are making some changes to our current processes here and I thought I might get some feedback on some of the things that we will be doing or are thinking about doing. I am sure we won't be able to incorporate everything, but I wanted to get a feel for what you folks would like to see.

1) YouTube- Changing the name of the YouTube Channel to "Carothers Performance Knives". NateAIM is not a good way to find it...

More frequent videos. 1 or 2 a month

2) Purchasing- Forget Amazon! (I finally convinced him) I plan to offer these models that were intended for Amazon directly on our website as they are ready.

Our Friday sales and preorders should not be affected.

3) Mailing List? I am told that folks are interested in a mailing list. True?

I am sure there are some other things I am missing. We have been discussing a lot of things to keep CPK moving forward.

Please let me know what you think. We will see how it goes...

I like all three if it matters at all

 

[Grenock]

I like all three, especially the idea of not selling through Amazon.

 

[Richard338]

It all sounds good.
One thing that hasn't been mentioned and would depend on how much work it would be for you, is to produce a run of the much sought after maker's items. I'm talking about platen, discs, etc.

 

[Mike157]

I think that changing the YouTube name is a good idea. It will be easier for people to search.

I don’t know enough about selling on Amazon to know what is involved. I’m sure it can be somewhat involved and I worry that their sometimes lackadaisical packaging, return, and recycling of products, can reflect badly on a seller, but that may be with any any reseller. I liked the idea of you not having to take the time to pack, label, and mail each knife individually. Selling on the website, will definitely let you maintain control of all aspects of the sales. I do also worry that unless you can hire someone to handle all of that, it could take up even more of your precious time. I like the simplicity of selling on the website, as long as it can work well for you.

I’d be up for the newsletter. As Matty related, most information can easily be found on the forum. As long as the newsletter is fun for you and an efficient way for you to communicate, and does not become an obligation to fill space, I’m in - maybe published on an as needed basis. Mike

 

[XtianAus]

Yes Yes and Yes!

All fantastic ideas

 

[bluemax_1]

100% support 1 & 3.

#2, I'm a little torn on. On the one hand, I'd personally prefer you selling on your own website. You get a better cut without the middleman etc.

When viewed from the perspective of benefit to CPK though, I'd have to concur with the folks who mention dealing with the associated downsides, for the biggest pro of increasing exposure for CPK through Amazon's platform.

The considerations for you guys, are;
- how big of a factor is expansion/increasing potential market penetration?

If the projected increase in productivity that you've been scaling up for, appears to still be pretty well matched up (behind?) current demand, then it may not be as much of a factor.

If OTOH, the plan is to maximize the potential for expansion, then it may be worthwhile to put up with the cons of Amazon's platform in order to increase brand awareness and market penetration, simply from the sheer number of people the platform provides access to.

 

[Keyopp]

1. Makes sense.
2. Forget Amazon. Sales through your website would be great… hopefully with international shipping options
3. True for me, I’d subscribe.

 

[Lorien]

We are making some changes to our current processes here and I thought I might get some feedback on some of the things that we will be doing or are thinking about doing. I am sure we won't be able to incorporate everything, but I wanted to get a feel for what you folks would like to see.

1) YouTube- Changing the name of the YouTube Channel to "Carothers Performance Knives". NateAIM is not a good way to find it... YES

More frequent videos. 1 or 2 a month MEH

2) Purchasing- Forget Amazon! (I finally convinced him) I plan to offer these models that were intended for Amazon directly on our website as they are ready. YES

Our Friday sales and preorders should not be affected. GOOD

3) Mailing List? I am told that folks are interested in a mailing list. True? HELL YES

I am sure there are some other things I am missing. We have been discussing a lot of things to keep CPK moving forward.

Please let me know what you think. We will see how it goes...

 

[Lorien]

outsourcing any aspect of your business, especially now, that you can hire someone to take care of in house is risky. The idea of working with a local college to get a student or two on the cheap to help with taking orders, packaging, cleaning- whatever unburdens you to do other things that are a better use of your time as business owners is worth looking into

giving any of your autonomy away to Amazon is not good, especially when you have structures in place to accomplish the same thing. Exposure? Who cares? CPK is a small business and that is fine. Associating your efforts with industry and community specific outreach will get you all the customers you'll need

that's my take, for what it's worth

 

[Meridian]

All the changes sound good Jo. Wise choice not getting into business with amazon.

 

[gunslinger387]

All good stuff!

 

[Ryan Thompson]

Since you asked, purchasing is the biggest point of issue for most. Myself included. Many have issue with not getting in fast enough, particularly on new products. I know that has been improved with capacity increasing. My issue has been getting a spot in the sales, requesting a knife, getting no response, and sending follow up emails with no responses. You have some of the highest quality knives I have ever come across and enjoy using what I have from you but don’t have the time for that. If you care to reference, one was for one of your boot daggers and one was for an FK2. Neither of which I was able to purchase after scoring a spot in your sales. I understand you get a lot of communication during sales in addition to regular communications, but I find that unacceptable. So my feedback is that you need to do something to keep things more organized with your sales. Also, for what it’s worth, this seems to be a somewhat recent change (last year maybe) as I never used to have such issues. If your looking for feedback, I appreciate that your taking a step to improve.

 

[Standard78]

All 3 are great decisions especially ditching Amazon as an outlet because other than the fact that they suck ass, the chances of your company’s name being tarnished by bad reviews from jealous competitors or some knife-abusing numpty are a lot higher than if you choose to sell through your website or other legitimate knife retailers.

 

[bubbaskyjacker]

Website for sales is only good if you have enough knives to sell.

Or like Busse and use it as a pre order thing - and it will show up at some point.