Let's "Ramble"........No, not "Rumble"!

     One of the hardest things for me when it comes to writing on my blog is subject matter.  It's not the lack of subject matter, but trying to decide what I would like to write about next.   Too many thoughts race through my head at times!

     If there is one thing that is pretty common with most woodworkers is; we have a tendency to have some strong opinions about things pertaining to woodworking.  Like our favorite brand of tool, the best way to do a certain technique, what's the best wood to work with, what's the best finish and the best way to apply it.  All you have to do is ask the question and before you know it, you're sorry you even asked.  Well, maybe not all the time, but I've been part of a number of woodworking clubs, woodworking forums, groups of woodworking professionals, classes and I find a lot of "strong" opinions coming from a lot of woodworkers (myself included).

     So I've decided this year when writing in my blog, no matter what the subject, I would like to tone it down a little and get off the high horse and not come across that It's my way or it's the wrong way, but instead make it more "food for thought". 
     I try not to jam my opinions down your throat, but I am passionate about my woodworking so I'm sure it's comes across that way now and then.  I try to remember back when I first started woodworking and the difficulty I had and how I learned with time what worked best for me, not just because some other woodworker said that was the only way it should be done, but actually trying different things and settling on what was best for me, my skill level and the tools I had to work with.

     A few topics I get pretty passionate about is; pricing your work, selling your work, marketing, being professional and quality work.   I made my living from woodworking for over 25 years and one thing I've noticed, the topics I just mentioned had more to do with whether a woodworker would have a successful business than his woodworking skills alone, what type tools he had, what building techniques he used, what lumber was his favorite to work with or his favorite brand of stain or finish. 

     I never felt sorry for the woodworker that built crap and tried ripping off the customers and failed in business.  They deserve to fail in my book.......But it always makes me sad when I see a very talented woodworker that builds beautiful projects and tries so hard to be fair to the customer only to fail because they don't know how to market themselves, how to price their work or have the confidence to sell their work for a fair a profitable price.

     These are areas that I feel I can help the beginning woodworker as much as trying to teach him the best way to build a drawer or what table saw he should buy. So I will probably spend a lot of my time covering those topics this year and may even revisit them from time to time.  Trust me, I won't be writing just about that, I do have a few projects I would like to do this year, so will try to keep you posted on those also, but for now, I've Rambled on enough