Shopsmith Left Out?

[alancooke]

I've read several places that SS is never included in any head-to-head comparisons in magazine tool reviews. Could this be b/c SS does not advertise in any magazines. Mags. make a lot $$ from advertising revenue so they don't want to help a non-advertiser out sell a loyal advertiser.

I'm not being critical, just asking b/c I don't know. Any thoughts?

I'm getting addicted to this forum & my wife comes in from out of town tomorrow, what to do?:)

[8iowa]

Alan:

The magazines will deny it of course, but good reviews and good advertisers seem to go hand in hand.

I remember discussing this topic with Nick Engler in Dayton back in April. Nick was a little generous to the magazines by saying that the Shopsmith is hard to classify - that is, it's hard to compare it to a line-up of single purpose machines. He went on to say however that many of Shopsmith's stand alone accessories could be compared.

What best comes to mind for me is the Pro Planer. The magazines seem to gush something silly over bench planers that are powered by innefficient short life universal motors. Yeah, the Pro Planer costs twice as much, but you get an induction motor and a lot of long life and service with the Shopsmith planer. The Bandsaw, Belt Sander, Strip Sander, and Scroll Saw, mounted on their power stands could also be included in reviews.

I used to participate in the Wood Magazine forum. They refused to post my thread in which I announced Shopsmith's clearance day sale back in April. Does this give you a hint as to how they feel about non-advertisers. I cancelled my subscription.

[john]

Many years ago Wood Magazine included some Shopsmith tools in their tool reviews, including one that matched SS against Total Shop, (needless to say who came out on top). At the time both of these multipurpose tool makers advertised in WM. Since I was a newcomer to SS at the time I was very interested in their comments.

I suspect they no longer do it because SS really does not fit into any specific category. I'm not sure the fact that SS no longer advertises has any bearing on their choices, but I may be wrong.

However it would be nice to see some reviews that included SS tools in some hands on testing by professionals. This would certainly help with exposure though I suspect it would always be rated with the qualification that it is a small shop tool. And in fact that is where it excels but it sure would be nice to see and hear this from the magazines that ask us to support them with subscriptions every year.

Just my 2 cents.

John

[charlese]

I'm getting addicted to this forum & my wife comes in from out of town tomorrow, what to do?:)

Just one computer? Had that problem and the Wife had control of it. Bought a lap top. Problem solved. My justification for the lap top was - we were going out of town for an extended stay in our motorhome and we just "needed" to stay in touch.

[dusty]

Was Shopsmith ever a really big advertiser? I have years and years worth of old wood working magazines that I read and reread. I seldom find any really impressive ads taken by Shopsmith.

I believe their successes (and their shortcomings) have been advertised by word of mouth. Even now, when they show up at Lowes, or Home Depot, or wherever you won't read about it in a magazine or hear about it on TV. You will probably know because you just happened into the store to buy a box of screws and there they were.

"Hands Online" might well become the most successful advertising tool Shopsmith has ever utilized. I am excited and can't wait to see the next "Proof of Concept".

[woodburner]

I have seen small advertisements awhile back, but not lately.

The closest thing I have seen to an advertisement lately was when Wood magazine put out a special issue, about two years ago, that featured woodshops around the country. Two of the woodshops proudly displayed their Shopsmiths and were quoted saying that their Shopsmiths are the center of their woodshops. One woodworker boasted that he actually planned and built his small backyard shop to fit his Shopsmith and Shopsmith accessories. If that's not great advertising without having to pay for it, I don't know what is.

[Nick]

Straight, simple magazine advertisements have never worked particularly well for us. The reason is that our tools have to be demonstrated for the viewer to understand its uses. You can show a picture of router or a table saw and most woodworkers, even newbies, understand what it does. You don't have to educate the reader; you can jump right the benefits of the pictured machine, followed by the offer. The Shopsmith Mark V is such a unique approach to woodworking that it's uses are not immediately apparent. You have to demonstrate all five modes -- sawing, sanding, drilling, boring, turning -- just so the reader will begin to understand how to use it. This takes at least a page, and you haven't even gotten to the benefits, let alone the offer.

What Shopsmith used to be big on was the "BRC" -- Buyer Response Cards. These where either blown in or bound in to magazines. The reader, if he was interested, flilled them out with his name and address and sent them to Shopsmith. We responded with a direct mail package of information that not only included photos of the Shopsmith Mark V in all five modes, but complete explanations of the benefits, photos of sample projects built by Shopsmith owners, testimonials, an invitation to watch a demonstration at a nearby mall, and -- of course -- an attractive offer. Some even included a coupon that you could take to the mall and exchange for one of my books. This was the only way we had to get the large amount of information to a consumer that he or she needed to make a fair comparison between the Shopsmith woodworking system and stand-alone tools.

It also partially explains why Shopsmith was never a darling of the magazines. I've worked for enough magazines to confirm your suspicions that the editors tend to include in their comparisons mostly those tools that are manufactured by the big advertisers. This isn't necessarily because editors wouldn't like to include other tools. It's because editors are under tremendous pressure from the bean counters who never get tired of reminding the editors that the salaries of the editorial staff depend upon the number of beans that come in to be counted. And this, unfortunately, is The Way Things Work in journalism.

Today, some of our marketing woes stem from the problem that, through overexposure, the buying public have become resistent to the direct mail packages that they once requested from us by the truckloads (literally!). This is compounded by two additional cultural shifts. First, there are fewer tool-savvy young people entering the woodworking craft either as a vocation or avocation due to the demise of educational shop programs nationwide. Second, neither the management of malls nor the people who visit them are as receptive to our demonstrations as they once were, and we have yet to find a suitable substitute where we can perform demos and sell tools profitably. The long and short of it is that our traditional sales channels are less effective than they once were and our new customer base is shrinking. When we look is one direction, we see a rock. Look the other way and there is a hard spot.

Our salvation may be the Internet. Ten years ago, we never could have carried on a conversation with our users such as the one you and I are having right now. Internet sales are the only one of our marketing channels that are currently perfoming better than we expected. Those of you who have stumbled onto the semi-secret Shopsmith Channel demo can see how effectively we might use this media for both demonstration and education. In my humble opinion, I don't think the answer is to try to convince the magazine editors to include us in tool comparisons and other articles. Our marketing needs are the same as they always were -- we need to demonstrate the tool and educate the consumer. The best and most economical vehicle we have to do that right now, at half-past 2007, is the Internet.

With all good wishes,

[billmayo]

Since there are many of us "loyal" Shopsmith owners, I still believe we could be a valuable source of information for potential Shopsmith buyers. Years ago, Shopsmith had a program of interested owners for buyers to contact for demos and information. Was this program too hard to manage and/or little return for time Shopsmith invested in it?

I have a booth at Florida's Largest Home Show in Tampa, FL, daughter-in-law owns it. I use this booth (no electric) for offering Shopsmith repair service in Florida. This is only a retired hobby for me, not a business. I enjoy meeting and talking to people. I have tried to get Shopsmith information packets and/or Buyer Response cards for handouts, list the Shopsmith web site on the back of my cards and perhaps a few catalogs but the Shopsmith sales personnel was unable to get permission to do or send me any literature. I am sure other Shopsmith owners would love to have a couple Shopsmith handouts to give out at woodworking meetings and at other places and times. Getting Non Shopsmith people to stop and discuss woodworking needs is difficult when all the literature I have is my Shopsmith catalog to show them. Any advice, suggestions or help would be appreciated.

Bill Mayo