The First 2011 Wolff Show

Wolff has scheduled their first show for the 2011 season. It will be held on Saturday May 7th and Sunday May 8th at the Crown Plaza Park Central Suites in Dallas, Texas.

The show times will be 9am - 6pm on Saturday, and 9am - 3pm on Sunday. There will also be a separate vendor room that will be open each day so you can spend time with a number of our supporting vendors. The price to attend is just $89.00 if you sign up by March 24th, and then $109 thereafter. The price includes access to all seminars and the vendor room.

Speakers will be Bob Schiessl, Bruce Nihart, and myself. We will be touching on all aspects of sharpening shears and clipper blades, business growth, and increasing sales.

Seating will be limited to just 50, so sign up right away to get the discount $89 dollar rate and your seat. If you have any questions, give Wolff a call at 800-888-3832. Looking forward to seeing many of you at the show!

Lucky Hare's New Website

Just a heads up that George Harris, owner of Lucky Hare Shears, just redesigned his website. It's a nice clean site that's easy to navigate. To take a look, click on the link below:
http://www.luckyhareshears.com/

If you decide to take a peek, be sure to check out his scissor care page. If you're interested in the Lucky Hare line, give George a call (He's a super nice guy), or give Wolff a call. It's one of the top lines they carry.

New Website Training

David, Ryan, and I spent some time with our buddies at WorthWhile doing some Joomla and Wordpress training. This is all prep for a new website Wolff will be rolling out to promote the industrial shears they sell to the composites market. I'll let you know when the site is up and running and would like to know what you think of it. Be on the look out.

I also shot a new video the other day showing a repair I did on a true left hand beauty shear using the different Wolff sharpening units. That will be up sometime this weekend after I edit it.

The New Kenchii Website!

Wowzers! Holy Smokes! Great Day in the Mornin'! Stellar work! These, among others, were some of the exclamatory statements I made when I logged onto Kenchii's newly designed website today. Eye catching, easy navigation, and great info makes this site a visual masterpiece that begs to be viewed. You've gotta see this! Here's the site address. Go look and let me know what you think!
https://www.kenchii.com/

Google Boost

A question I get often from professional sharpeners is how can I advertise my local sharpening service effectively on search engines like Google. Well, it looks like a good answer has made an appearance. In this recent post on Mashable, Jolie O'Dell shares a write up she did for American Express OPEN Forum about Google Boost*; Google's new locally targeted, location-based marketing program. This looks like an excellent option for local sharpener to promote their websites.

If you have a website for your business I suggest you give this post a once over and see if this new Google program will work for you. Here is the link to that post on Mashable: http://mashable.com/2010/11/10/google-boost/

If you don't have a website for your business, we should talk. There are many benefits to having a site that I'd be glad to go over with you. Call me at 864-381-8697.

Image: Mashable

*Jim Sharp is in no way affiliated with Google Boost or Mashable. This post is informational only.

Business in the New Normal

I think Professor Jeff Cornwall hits the nail on the head in his August 16th post titled Survival Strategies the New Normal. He starts the article out saying:

Even the optimists are saying that we have at least two more years of economic stagnation. Other experts are warning of a possible double-dip recession.

There is even growing talk in some circles of America experiencing a "lost decade" in its economy. That refers to the 10-plus dismal years of economic doldrums suffered by Japan in the 1990s.

Recent employment and bank lending rate data seem to support a prolonged recession for small businesses.

So what does this "new normal" in our economy mean for entrepreneurs?

To read on, click here and jump down to the 5th paragraph. Professor Cornwall gives some good advice to anyone who is in or starting a new small business. Take a few moments and read the rest of his post.

Wolff Sharpening Show Pictures

Here are some long awaited Wolff Show pictures. Sorry for the delay, but I was slammed after the show and then was out of town the week after that. There is a full write up of the show in the August Issue of On The Edge.

Bill at the Wolff Table.

Mike doing an adjustment to a nipper.

There was never a time where Mike didn't have a crowd. :)

Dennis going over the testing procedures they use at the NBTSG.

George going over the ins-and-outs of the Lucky Hare Line with Bruce.

George doing the same with Robert and Chad.

The Nebraska Blades booth was also full all day. Everyone was glad to see Bob back at a Wolff Show.

Bonnie and Gene going over the Bonika Line of shears.

Randy from Shark Fin going over the benefits of the Shark Fin Shear design with Bruce. These two really know how to sell.

Joe going over the ProLine Shears with John.

This was a display that generated a lot of interest. Glen spent part of the show going over a new pressure tester Wolff has put together. It tests the poundage it takes a shear to cut through different mediums and then feeds that info to a graph on a computer. The graph shows any imperfections in the edge and grades the cut of the shear. Some really neat technology we've been working on to help industrial plants improve their sharpening.

Karen going over the ever popular Kenchii line.

Just an aerial shot of the vendor room.

Bob going over clipper blade sharpening in our seminar room.

Interested sharpeners.

Ryan, David Wolff's youngest daughter's fiancee, did a great job running our camera for the presentations.

Bob doing some Q & A.

Mike demonstrating the Nipper Sharpener.

Bruce sharing his story about how he got into sharpening.

Bruce is one of the top selling sharpeners I know and he came to share some tips with us. He did a dynamite job!

Here I am doing a little Q & A.

Thanks to all of you that attended the show. It was great to see everyone and I had nothing but good reviews from those that came. In fact, here is a quick look at part of a letter sent by a sharpener that has been wrestling with going full time with his sharpening business:

"I can't begin to tell you how much I enjoyed the show in S.C. this past weekend. I bought my sharpening business from a family friend a few years back and have been working it part time ever since. I'm a welder by trade and I'm eligible for full retirement soon, but haven't been able to take that step emotionally as of yet. I've been wonder just how well I could really do in my sharpening business if I focused on it full time.

My trip to the Wolff Show has been most helpful in convincing me that - yes, this is a viable business and there are many folks making a good living doing this work. I made a number of new friends that have offered to help me as I take the plunge into full time sharpening and this alone was worth the trip. Great people, great show. Thank you for all you do."

We are looking at putting together the next Wolff Show. Keep and eye on Jim Sharp. As soon as I have a date and place I'll let you know. If things pan out with a place we're looking at right now, I may have info within the next two weeks.

Remember, if you'd like to see a full show write up, visit www.otenewsletter.com or call me at 864-909-3381 to find out more about On The Edge.

Wolff and Bonika Shears

Wolff and Bonika Shears
Wolff is now carrying Bonika® Shears. That's right folks, Wolff and Bonika are teaming up.

What does this mean?
What it means is any Bonika® brand shear available from Bonika, can now be bought through Wolff. As Wolff continues to make itself the one-stop-shop for beauty shears, we a proud to say we're carrying this popular line.

Will it cost me more to buy from Wolff?
Nope! Not at all! You get the same sharpener's price from Wolff as you would if you ordered the shear directly from Bonika.

What's my discount?
Well now...I'd be glad to tell you, but not here on this public forum. Give Wolff a call at 800-888-3832 and they will have all the numbers for you.

I've never sold the Bonika® Line before.
If you're unfamiliar with the line, that's another great reason to contact Wolff to ask for a flier or you can visit the Bonika website at www.bonika.com to see what hey have to offer.

The Bonika® Line has been around for sometime now and Bonika has done a great job marketing this product. Because they've done such a good job marketing, many of the stylists you talk to on your route will know this line; and that makes them easier to sell. Let me know if you have any questions. Keep an eye out for the fliers, they will be in your boxes when you place an order. Talk to you soon.

Stress & Start Ups

Many sharpeners start their businesses part-time. Not an easy thing to do. Sometimes you're tired at the end of your regular work day, other things come up, and more often than not; it adds extra stress to your life. This last point is important to think about and prepare for. Stress affects health, we all know that; the trick is balancing work/ambition/stress when your starting something like a part-time sharpening business.

One of my friends on Twitter passed a link to a great blog post that talks about the importance of maintaining your health while working on a start up business like sharpening. It's filled with good advice and I think you should take a few minutes and give it a read.

To be successful at sharpening, you need to be healthy. This post will help you stay that way, even during the stressful time of starting things up. Here's the link:

http://www.dumblittleman.com/2010/06/having-enough-energy-to-chase-your.html

Image: alancleaver

IT'S SHOW TIME!!!

IT'S SHOW TIME!!! That's right folks! Time again for another Wolff Show!

Where? Good ol' Greenville, South Carolina. It's one town over from the Wolff Headquarters in Spartanburg and a great place to visit. To check out some of the things to see and do in one of my favorite places on earth, click here.



When? July 17th - 18th, 2010. I'll have a full schedule for you soon.


Which hotel is this? The Greenville/Spartanburg Airport Marriott. For more info on the hotel itself, click here.







How much? That's the great part! It's only costs $89.00 to attend all the seminars and gain access to the vendor room. To book your seat, call Wolff at 800-888-3832. Don't wait too long though! Seating is limited to only 46! So if you want to come, sign up right away! If you choose to stay at the hotel, they've given Wolff a special room rate of $89.00 per night on a limited number of rooms. To see what the rooms look like, click here. To book a room, call 864-297-0300 and ask for the Wolff Industries Rate while these rooms are still available.


What's gonna go on? Let me tell ya...


Sharpening on Wolff Equipment
I'll be doing some indepth training on the Hira-To®, the Ookami Gold®, and the Twice as Sharp®. I'll also be showing how the Corru-Gator and Rotary Blade Sharpeners work as well. Throughout all of these seminars I'll be peppering in some shears that...well...let's just say they'll be "fun" to work on in front of a group *shuddering already*. So whether you're a newbie or a seasoned sharpener, you'll find my presentations interesting.

Clipper Blade Sharpening
As of right now, Bob Schiessl plans to be at the show to go over clipper blade sharpening with you. Bob's been at this for over 20 years and I've seen him teach people more tricks in a hour than most sharpeners could teach a person in a week.

Nipper Sharpening
Mike Borsch will show all of us how to put his nipper sharpener to work. More and more we're seeing Day Spas pop up that offer one stop shopping for beauty needs. That means more places will appreciate it if you can service nail techs as well as stylists. Come learn how.

Up Your Income with more Sales
One of Wolff's top selling sharpeners will be at the show to share some of the methods he uses to sell shears every day; three to five shear or more per day as a matter of fact and how you can do this too. He set a business goal this past year in the six figures and beat it! Whether you're looking to sell shears, or just yourself, Bruce will teach you a number of tips and trick you can take to the bank, literally.

Separate Vendor Room
For the first time since Wolff has started doing these smaller shows, we'll have all of our supporting vendors in a separate room from the seminars. So if you'd like to spend a little more time looking at some of the lines of shears we carry, or some of the other equipment Wolff sells besides our own, you can visit with the owners and representatives of those companies at your leisure. The vendors that plan to be at the show as of this writing are:

• Wolff
• Nebraska Blades
• Clipper Shack
• Kenchii Shears
  
• Shark Fin Shears
• Lucky Hare Shears
• ProLine Shears

More are signing up as I can get in touch with them. I'll be sure to update you on this in the future. This room will also be open late on Saturday night so you can play with the machines, look at products, and socialize with us.


Wolff has set the standard in this industry when it comes to sharpening shows! Everyone that's attended in the past has had nothing but praise for the quality of the education, the time and attention Wolff and it's supporting vendors give each attendee during the show, and the fun and fellowship they get to have with their fellow sharpeners. One of my favorite parts about my job at Wolff is putting together these shows. Come join me and find out what sets the Wolff Shows apart. Call me 800-888-3832 or email me at Jim@wolffind.com if you have questions. I look forward to hearing from you!

Image of Greenville at top of post provided by linkerjpatrick via Flickr.com

One Thing I Use Twitter For

Here is a link to some of the posts I put on Twitter that may interest you as a sharpener or small business person:

Tweets for Sharpeners

I use Twitter as a spring board to share small business info with friends and followers that I find on the internet. To follow me on Twitter, click here.

Image: shawnzlea

Clipper Blade Sharpeners: New Clipper Blade Test Scale

One of the fun things about this business is watching all the innovation that takes place. I've seen many a sharpener create some pretty cool tools that help them do their job better and faster. This past week, I had the chance to play with a new tool that fits this bill, Sharp Edges' new Clipper Blade Test Scale.

This new tool will allow you to test the number of pounds per square inch it takes to move the cutter on a clipper blade. Why is this important? If the tension on the cutter is too week, the blade won't cut. If the tension is too tight, the blade will wear faster, overheat, and run the clipper too hard.

As sharpeners, many of us use small cooking or postal weight scales to test the poundage on clipper blades. Sharp Edges' new tool will change that though. Take a look at how this nifty tool works in the video below. During the video I mention that there's a 10% discount offered on this product until the end of February 2010. You have to mention that you saw the Blade Scale on Jim Sharp to get the discount though! So be sure to tell them you saw this here! Sharp Edges number is 217-422-0911. Let me know what you think.


If you have trouble viewing this video or if it's not showing through in your email, click here.

Be sure to visit Sharp Edges and Hamaguri USA online! Here are the links:
http://www.sharpedgesinil.com
http://www.hamaguriusa.com

If you're in the market for any of the Wolff  sharpening machines, be sure to give me a call before you buy. I know all the best places to buy at the best price! Call 864-381-8697 or email me at otenews@gmail.com.

A New Hira-To Video!

I mentioned back in August that I was working with my web designer on a new site for the Wolff Hira-To Scissors Sharpening System. We are just putting the finishing touches on it now and getting ready to load a really cool video that will play on the front page that advertises this awesome unit! I've already put the video on YouTube and wanted to embed it here as well. Hope you like it. Let me know what you think.

Interview with Randy the Sharpener

I had a great time at the Wolff Show! Unfortunately only two sharpeners had their mobile rigs at this get together and I only got outside to interview one of them. Randy is the owner of Ultimate Sharpening in California and he has outfitted a wide body ambulance to sharpen out of. Here's a short video showing off his rig:



There will be a full write up of the Wolff Show in the November Issue of On The Edge.

Are You Hearing No Enough?

As sharpeners we hear the word "no" all the time. Let's face it, the sharpening business is a business filled with hardcore sales/cold calling, especially when we first start out. Hearing "no" can be depressing and drain all the life out of your day, but it doesn't have to. Take a look at this video I shot a couple of months ago that talks about the book, Go for No; one of my favorite sales books. View the video now, then read on:



Go for No really is a great book. It will help you see the value of going after "no" and will show that if you willing to hear this word enough times, you'll be able to achieve every goal or quota you’ve ever dreamed of.

Here is a link to the Go for No website where you can find the book: http://www.goforno.com/

Here is Andrea's Twitter Profile: http://twitter.com/GoforNo

And last, but not least, is the video I mentioned:

KAI Shears

Last night I received an e-mail from a potential customer. She was requesting a catalog and I told her we'd have one out to her the next day. I also took a moment to ask how she found out about the KAI Shears. This is what she wrote:

While working on a local volunteer project, several of the women were using your scissors and I was very impressed. They couldn't say enough about them and they even let me try theirs (as long as I was very careful). I loved them!

The project we are working on is a plantation home that is being turned into a private counseling home for young girls that are facing eating disorders and teen pregnancy. It is being turned into a designer home with donations and workroom ladies from several states have come to make headboards, curtains, and recover furniture. The website is www.aplacetobreakfree.com

Awesomeness! Great to hear the KAI shears made such a good impression, and glad to see them being put to such good use.

If you'd like to find out more about Wolff's KAI Shears, one of the choice lines for window covering professionals; then click here. The KIA Shears are all hand honed and tested before they leave Wolff, and guaranteed to cut better than any other shear you've ever used. The two most popular lines of KIA Shears are the 5000 series line and the 7000 series line. The 5000 series line of KIA Shears are Wolff's standard industrial shears. They are an excellent shear, reasonablily priced, and have been a staple in all kinds of industrial and fabric applications for years.

The 7000 series line of KAI Shears are Wolff's premium line! These shears are increadible, and I'd put them up against any other shear on the market and expect them to win any cut test hands down! They are one of the hardest, longest lasting, best cutting shears in the world. All I have to do is put one in a clients hand and they buy them on the spot!

If you are not selling industrial shears now, consider carrying the KIA line of shears. They would make an excellent addition to your service because they're easy to sell, and a pleasure to sharpen. Let me know if you have any questions.

Proactive vs Reactive

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to speak at a Pecha Kucha in Greenville. This is a speaking format where each speaker gets a total of 20 slides for 20 seconds each and they have to time their presentation to fit. It was much hard to do than I though it would be. (There is a video of my presentation at the bottom of this post if you're interested. My topic was Business Networking.)

One of my friends, Olivier Blanchard, was speaking as well. While there, I gave him one of my Wolff KAI 5220's to take home to his wife as a gift. This is what he said about them on Twitter.com:


Okay...so he was one number off. Shortly after, he received this note from one of Fiskars friendly Fisk-a-teers:


He then wrote back and said:


To which she replied:


To which I responded:

and:


Well, I waited and waited. Two weeks to be exact, and guess what, no shears. So I made good on my promise and bought a Fiskars Razor Edged Shear, sent it to Olivier with some testing cloth, and then put this on Twitter:


So far no reply from either, but I've heard that a third party that helps Fiskars with some of their online marketing has taken it upon himself to see that some shears are sent.

So why am I writing this to you? To show how important it is to DO what you SAY you are going to do! Now don't get me wrong. I think Fiskars is an excellent company and they have a dynamite selection of craft shears. The Fiskars Razor Edged shears I sent Olivier are, in my opinion, a fine set of shears that cuts well with a good edge life. The problem here is that Fiskars didn't follow through and now they are in the reactive mode instead of the proactive sphere!

When you tell a potential customer (or promoter in Olivier's case) that you are going to do something, DO IT!!! Being proactive feels great! Being reactive feels awful! I'll let you know how things shake out after Olivier compares the two shears on his blog.




Fiskars is a Registered Trademark of Fiskars Brands, Inc.
Wolff is a Registered Trademark of Wolff Industries, Inc.
KAI is a Registered Trademark of KAI International

Speaking at Social Media Club Spartanburg

This past week I had the opportunity to speak at the Social Media Club in Spartanburg. I've been using Social Media for some time now as a tool to help me market both myself and Wolff Industries. If you're willing to invest a little time to learn more about SM, I think you'll find it to be a powerful medium for your business as well.

This form of communication is the way of the future. It's become a sounding board for what's hot and what not, and it's an incredible word-of-mouth tool that continues to grow in popularity and strength every month. Do you know what Social Media is? Do you know what kind of effect it could have in you business? Take a look at what I had to say! If you have any questions or would like to learn more just drop me an e-mail.

Service Awesomeness!

One of the things I try to pound into the heads of my students is service is everything, especially in this business. Getting our customers to trust us, see that we're reliable, and stand behind what we do is a must!

Here recently, I had the chance to benefit from this kind of service from Spartan Copy, the copy machine sales and service center I use. I had bought a new copier from them for the newsletter I do for professional sharpeners called On The Edge. When I went to hook this new unit up to my computer, I couldn't get the driver to load properly on my computer or ledger size paper to print. I called them after hours, left a message telling them my problem, and hoped they'd be available to help the next day.

I got a call at 7:50am while on my way to work. The tech told me he would meet me that afternoon and he fixed my problems. Great example of quick, thoughtful service!

Now I had no doubt that Spartan Copy would handle things this way, I've used them for years and the confidence I have in them is why I continue to buy from them when I need new equipment and pay for their service contract. Instilling THIS kind of confidence in your customers about you and your business should be a daily goal. Confidence is king in a service business!

NBTSG National Beauty Tool Sharpeners Guild

**note** This is a reprint of the an article I wrote for the July Issue of On The Edge. It is rare that I ever mix these two mediums together, but I put a lot of though into this write up promoting Larry Brooks' new show and I wanted to share it here too. On The Edge is a subscription newsletter that I publish for the sharpening community. If you're interested in subscribing, or if you'd like to find out more about this newsletter; just e-mail me at Jim@wolffind.com. **note**


I’ve been trying to figure out how I was going to promote this show over the past few days. I have a number of documents from Larry at Sharp Edges that are all well written and loaded with information, but I think I’m going to shy away from all that material and just tell you why I’m going.

Let’s Start with Larry Brooks
Those of you that have known me over the years know that I have been friends with Larry for a long time. We’ve spent many hours together trading ideas and techniques and we’ve collaborated together a number of times to work to help all of you in your businesses.

In my opinion, Larry is one of the finest examples of a professional sharpener in the industry. He has proven himself in three ways.

1. He has grown Sharp Edges into one of the most successful mobile sharpening business in the country. This business now supports not just he and his wife Linda, but their son Dennis and his family too.
2. I hear more complements about how well he trains and the time and attention he gives his students than I do about any of the other sharpening trainers in the industry. He has turned out a lot of successful pupils!
3. He has stuck his neck out to show he’s a great sharpener over-and-over again. Larry has been an active participant in the NSSG for years now. He started out as a entrant in the certification and over time, proved himself with his consistently high scores and eventually became a judge.

Let’s Look at the Plan for the New Guild
Larry has been talking about doing something like this for some time now. He mentioned to me a few years back that he thought there should be a Guild that would encompass the sharpening industry as a whole instead of just one aspect of it. While he has enjoyed his time with the NSSG and supports it, he thought it was time to push forward with this vision and make it a reality. He will do this with this show if we as sharpeners support him.

The Certification
Larry has created a certification process for the NBTSG that will allow you to increase your skills through both training and testing. The 2009 certification categories are Beauty Shears/ Thinners and Clipper Blade Sharpening. There will also be a discussion about including Nail Tech Tools in next years line up. If you participate in this certification you will achieve one of four potential Guild Membership Levels:
Guild Member Apprentice: This is a sharpener that tested but did not score high enough in the test to meet the requirements in their chosen field for full Guild Membership.
Guild Member: This is a sharpener that scored high enough on the test to achieve status in their chosen field.
Master Sharpener Guild Member: This is a sharpener that scored high enough on the test to achieve a title of Master Sharpener in the Guild in their chosen field.
Grand Master Sharpener Guild Member: This is a sharpener that has achieved Master Sharpener status in all the fields offered.

The test is graded on a point system based on the quality of work in a predetermined list of steps in the sharpening process. These shears and clipper blades will be judged by Larry Brooks, Dennis Brooks, and Craig Cazier. I can personally vouch for each of these men and feel they are more than qualified to judge for this certification. It is also planned that Bob or Bobby Huffman will help judge the clipper blades and a number of other industry leaders, like myself, will assist in the overall judging process.

The Show Itself
Many of you have expressed that you’d like to see the old-style Wolff show come back where you can view a number of seminars and visit with industry vendors. This show will have all of the best parts of the Wolff Show. There will be seminars on the latest equipment in all the different aspects of the sharpening industry. There will also be a vendor room that will be open during the entire show, so if there’s a seminar you’re not particularly interested in you can visit the vendors in the Vendor Room and learn as much there as in any of the seminars.

Finally Trust
I’d like to end this with one more word about how I personally feel about Larry. I trust him. And quite frankly, this is the highest complement I can pay a fellow sharpener, supplier, and trainer. When Larry attaches his name to something, he gives himself to it 120%. I strongly suggest you consider attending this show. I think it has the potential to become a powerful tool to help you, as a sharpener, grow in this industry and set yourself above your competition.

The dates for the show are August 30th, 31st, and September 1st. The cost to attend is just $175.00. The cost to participate in the shear or clipper blade certification is $120.00 for each. There will also be a fun getaway during the off hours; Larry has set up a dinner cruise. If you’d like to attend, the cost is just $40 per person. Call 217-853-6256 or visit www.nbtsg.com to find out more or to sign up for the show.

I will be attending along with David Wolff and Bill Pierce. All three of us are looking forward to spending some time with you and helping you as you continue to expand your knowledge in what I think is one of the best businesses in the world. Please consider coming if you can. Larry has never disappointed me. I know this show will be a great success. Get in on the ground floor of this new Guild and help support the new NBTSG.