Greetings……..
As you know, engraving my Calligraphy grew out of a long history in lettering with pen and ink for me. It still took me 11 months to figure it out and make the drill make pretty letters, pretty well.
I did this batch of bottles in 1997. It was 100 cases of 12 bottles per. There were 600 red wines and 600 white. Each bottle had two names to be engraved…a law firm. No dates. Nothing else. It took me 55 seconds to do those two names on each bottle. It took me two weeks to complete them…3-4 hours here and 4-5 hours there. It was just a part of my day for 14 days. The winery that hired me for the job had sold the 100 cases to a Dallas law firm as gifts for their key clients. Each customer got one red and one white. Six hundred customers. The winery paid me $10. per bottle. 1200 bottles. Two weeks. Do the math.
Now, the amazing part. My work at that time was not nearly as good as some of my students who have been at it less than a year. As I always tell my classes, THEY have a far better teacher than I did!
Christmas business begins in October for all of us who do this. There are countless more jobs and opportunities than all of us can do.
Here’s the pitch. This is a learnable skill. Your handwriting doesn’t matter. Calligraphy experience is not a requirement. You learn a distinct method and when you do, the work will find you.
Only a tiny number of the few hundred I’ve taught in 14 years have studios or storefronts. They work in a spare room or on the kitchen table.
Potential is huge. I had a man from New Jersey call me just this morning, desperate for me to supply names of engravers I had trained in his area, to do events before Father’s Day. I gave him several names in the northeast whom I’ve taught. Every one was booked.
I just confirmed hotel dates for the final two Engraving Workshops in 2015. They are in September and October. Dates on our home page. Details on the site.
Christmas is coming…..
-Ken •250.6958
Comments are closed.