where are all the Grumblers?

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Mike LeCompte CPF

MGF, Master Grumble Framer
Joined
Jul 20, 2005
Posts
792
Loc
Knoxville TN
At last count, you have over 2,800 registered Grumblers, yet I'll bet under 200 post here.

So where are the rest of them?
 
If I'm not mistaken you have to register to use the search function. There is a ton of valuable information in these message archives. I'm active on another trade board for a different industry. They will consistently have say 30 or 40 people posting, 100 registered members viewing, and 700 or 800 lurkers reading at any given moment, with a membership base of over 20,000 people - so I think it's the way of the posting world.

Also, they are probably intimidated by our knowledge and interpersonal communication skills.
shutup.gif
 
Mike, I guess you were never filled in. Those that have registered and don't post are probably buried in the basement........
 
The vast majority of registered Grumblers have never posted anything at all. That leaves Grumblers like Charles and Baer and Emibub (and me) to take up the slack. It's an awful responsibility.

Also, we have a large number of bogus Grumblers (like Ron's Mat Maestro, Ron's Tape Measure and Ron's quadruplet daughters) who skew the numbers.
 
well guys here's the thing. Many of you post what I would consider rather "confidential" stuff. Now maybe I'm seeing the black helicopters, New World Order, and other conspiratorial connivances, but if you don't know who's on here, why would you post your results from month-to-month, what you charge for a particular job, how yo uthink business in your area is? etc etc etc. I know at least two of my competitors are on here, 'cause they've posted before.

Icouldeasily say my busness is up in Dec by 150% and my average ticket price is $450 and most of my business comes from demographically targeted direct mail and cable TV and that in Dec we mailed to 40K consumers.

But am I lying? Or is business really off 50%, my ticket averageis $150 and I'm ready to close the doors.

You see what I mean. If my competitors posted certain information, I'd know how to plan my battle plan for the next coupla months.

and folk, business is a battle plan/action plan and sometimes the goal is to take your competitor off the playing field.

Love the site, love sharing technical how-tos and the ever ranting Warped sections, but real careful on the info I supply knowing there are all those thousands of lurkers out there.

And you don't have to register to read this thing. Just google the site and you're here
 
Michael I can understand your concerns ……and I’m not suggesting that you should post absolute confidential business information on this site……I have always taken the approach that if your competitors don’t have a reasonable idea what you are up to ……..there is little chance that your customers or prospect customers will have any idea what your business is about….

Working in a very small market area (Ireland) most business would know each other and also a reasonable level business data (annual returns) are public record in Ireland unless you are a sole trader ………and for most of my career I have sold products in Ireland from relative small specialist international business again because of the nature of these companies numbers and details are not very difficult to obtain….

I think to sum it up I had a boss many years ago who did not give a rats a*s what his competitors for the most part were up to, his attitude was that his responsibility was to take care of his own business and not to waste valuable time, effort or brain space to what other businesses were up to……today he is in his business class one of the most successful small business in Ireland…..

I have run into a little bump in the progress of my new business in the last few weeks ……and have been seeking some advise from a number of smart people…..the advice I’m getting is very similar to the type of advice Bob Carter has been hammering for years….”Core Products”…….and focus on your core business this way you end up selling to your customer rather than reacting to them……Bob has hammered about “buy well sell well” for a long time……in the heat of getting the business up and running I lost a bit of focus…..

I may have butted heads with Bob on a few occasions and some times I find his way of delivering his message a bit confusing but in the heel of the hunt his advice echoes the advice I getting right now from some very smart business people…..my business may be different these days from framing….but in the end I’m selling (for the Irish market place) a relative specialised product range just as framing in the US is in a relative special retail area…

I think we or at least I can get a bit wrapped up in outside influences towards our business which have no real bearing on what we should be doing…..I guess this is a result of small business people having to deal with every issue that can affect the business without a sounding block…..

There is a good program run by the Government in Ireland which allows small business owners to get a business mentor (paid for by the government) these mentors are generally retired business people and generally you will be matched with someone who is from a different business background than the business your in…….I have applied to be included in this program…

At this stage the data and information contained in the Grumble archives is so spread out and dispensed under so many different subjects that for someone coming to the Grumble these days would face a massive task to get relevant information on a specific business granted those who have been around for quite some time would have no difficulty….but that said I have never had a hint anyone has suffered by posting details of their business on the Grumble……again I would suspect that if I were to target your business I would find more fruitful ways of researching you than trawling the Grumble….perhaps I’m a little naive about my what I have just said but it is me and so be it I like me like this and how I see the world of business…

Anyway it is an opportunity to say thanks to all here at the Grumble I have gained so much business knowledge over the years here that it makes understanding my new business so much easier…


Rgs

Dermot
 
Michael, your concerns are legitimate and well-founded. We need to remind ourselves that this is a privately-owned but publicly-accessible forum.

It's good to remember that, not just when we start publishing numbers, but when we rant about how stupid our customers (bosses, employees, etc)are.
 
I'll echoe Ron's comments. I don't give creditbility to most poster's accounting figures because I don't know if their numbers really have any integrity. But, as an industry, we should be aware of how our grumbling about customers can color us.

I'll sometimes purposely post disgruntlement about vendors...usually without naming them... hoping they can see themselves if they are monitoring this forum. This allows the specific vendor and other vendors to see what is truly important to their customers.,,if they even care.

It is important to realize this is a public forum and I appreciate the reminders that occassionaly surface.

Dave Makielski
 
I agree with Ron, but with one caveat: We all need to share honestly, but intelligently

I read several Business magazines and often am glad that others take the time to share ideas. Seldom is there a direct comparison to what we do, but often you may find a little "nugget"

Think back 5, 10 years ago.

Where would you or could you go to find any meaningful information? Pretty much non-existent

One thing I truly miss from my corporate days was that "instant" access to greater minds than my own (and that was pretty universal)

If there is a problem with a forum like this is that there is no meaningful measure of perspective. We often hear of people with the strongest of convictions but no method of determining if what they espouse is actually what they do

I love a success story as much as the next guy; I just want to be sure it's valid

But, I am so thankful that there is a forum where even a "know it all" like me can learn

I have to echo my good friend's sage advice about "use what you can, ignore the rest..."
 
Huh... Oh hi there. I have been burning corner samples out back and lost track of what I was doing, or was it where I was going, what day is this any way? :D :D
Danny boy
 
30 years ago you only could get info through DECOR, PPFA, local Guild, or the occational rep..

I remember going to a "Businessman's Accociation" meeting... and as we were introducing ourselves, it came to me. "Picture Framer" was first greeted with dead silence, then by the director saying "Picture Framing isn't a real business, what are you doing here?"

Being the smart***ed hot head that I was, I replied as I left "Obviously wasting my time".

Unfortunately, until I ran across the Grumble and started lurking, I believed that we as a industry, were much like the movie Special Effects society.. a "non-business"....

And then I started paying attention to not only what was being said, but also what was NOT being said... pay attention, sort out the chaff, and pay no attention to the black helicopters and there is so much here.

Some days, I wonder why I logged on; and some days there is more info then a day at the Atlanta convention. But, it goes on ALL year. Even in the middle of the night when the tummy is burning and the mind won't shut up.

And beyond that.. its community. Disfunctional, but community none the less.

Welcome back danny.... no more burning.
 
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