Update

Just realized that I forgot to update the blog. I will be down until the new year as I'm recovering from back surgery presently. I hope everyone has a great holiday season


Sincerely,

Roger

Corkboot

Investigate prices before you sell

Yesterday I had the pleasure to help out an old acquaintance. He was looking to sell a half load of cedar and fir logs. In our discussion he mentioned that he had an offer on the table from an individual looking to buy his 35 logs for $900. I will be honest, it stopped me in my tracks. I asked, "How many board feet do you have and what are the current lumber prices in your area?" He had no idea, but I'm sure the gentleman with the offer on the table did. I took the time to help him out and show him where to look up a good board foot calculator and a cubic metre to board foot calculator as well. With that I then recommended he check out the local lumber dealers to compare board foot prices in his area. We discussed the different size lumber that could be manufactured from his logs as well and I showed him where and how to locate the clear lumber. As it turns out, the old friend will make almost $1500.00 more if he gets the logs milled and sells the lumber himself.

Things to consider are:

1)Don't jump in and do business with the first offer put on the table, get several
offers and compare price and options.
2)Know what the local markets are allowing product to be sold for.
3)If you have the time to sell your product on your own and it makes sense, take
advantage of the opportunity around your schedule.
4)If you are not sure what your product is worth, just ask. There are people,
companies and organizations out there willing to help. If you are uncertain where
to locate people that are willing to help, ask other woodland and woodlot owners,
farmers, wood workers, wood product dealers...

Remember - take a tree, not a forest!

Follow up to last weeks topic

Over the last week several people have asked how much impact can a small purchased item from a local source truly have on a local economy? I will give you a couple of examples.

1) Portable miller - to mill a log(s)things that are needed from the local economy - gas, blades, files or filing equipment, tools, oil, welding supplies, safety equipment, advertising, depending on location vehicle (gas, maintenance), depending on type of saw will need a tractor, bobcat or loader or a labour force, first aid - training and supplies, clothing and work gear, equipment to haul logs or trucking firm to work with you, food and beverage supplies, side lumber and sawdust - how do you utilize this material so it is not wasted, mechanical requirements for your equipment, custom sawing, planning, re saw work - do you do it yourself or hire the work out?

2) Buying and selling local produce versus buying imported vegetables and fruit -has an effect on labour, equipment(from tractors to pruning shears), maintenance and repair, fuel, tools, feed if you're using animals, bags or boxes and buckets to carry items in, storage, energy and water. Are you on or off the grid? If you are off the grid, where did you purchase your supplies from? Do you run a road side booth or table at a market - things to think about tables, coolers, cash boxes, packaging, advertising supplies, awnings or tents or lumber for building material plus building supplies for home made booth or boxes, fertilizers - are they organic or chemical based, fencing, posts and vegetable sticks, ties. Do you run a green house? Is it plastic or glass? How is it heated - thermal, wood, electric or gas?

They say that for every item we purchase or sell we come in contact with 300 people directly or indirectly. Take for instance going to the market or store. What and who do we come in contact with? What do we purchase and how is our money re-spent? Is your money reintroduced into the local economy through restaurants, stores (food and clothing), for insurance, gas, oil, health care, home maintenance, home purchases, mortgages, rents, travel, taxes - to pay for military, roads, health care, government run programs, schools...?

Endless opportunities exist when buying decisions are carefully thought through. Not only for job creation but market potential. For every item listed above it makes us think about where the items are manufactured - locally, state, provincially or country wide? How and what is the item made from? Where is it from? How many people were involved in the manufacturing process? How many nuts and bolts were manufactured locally? What type of metal, compound, material is in the product? How is that milled or manufactured? Where are the machines from? Who made them and how? How many local people were involved?

For local woodland and woodlot owners potential is only limited to creativity. Income sources can come from logs, lumber and wood bi products, recreational activities, camping, birding, fishing, hunting, snowmobiling, horse back riding, ATV adventures, produce, floral, health care, herbs, meat and game products, educational adventures, B and B's, home care items....

Remember - take a tree not a forest!

Update for CorkBoot.com

Some of the educational links and educational material have been sent to the web designers to label and attach to the specific areas of the site. As this material comes up over the next few weeks, the rest of the links and educational material will follow weekly as I am trying not to overwhelm the web designers with too much information at one time.


Thanks for your patience

Before You Buy

When purchasing items, do you look at the labels? Do you take into account things like where the item is made, how is it made and who has manufactured the product? Do you buy locally? How does your local economy, people in your province, state or country count? How much impact can a small item have on your local economy whether the item costs one dollar or a thousand dollars? How many people are employed locally? How many spin off businesses are affected by your buying decisions? How much impact does your money have in and on your local economy when it is cycled from business to business and person to person? If we all looked at the labels and made a conscious effort to purchase local product before buying imported product how many people would be working full time or part time? If each province, state or country has five hundred thousand to a million people residing there, and we made a conscious effort to look at labels, and spend that couple of dollars from our weekly budgets on local produce and goods, it is mind boggling what effects a local $1.00 purchase has.

Remember - take a tree not a forest!

Thinking outside of the box

When you are trying to create a new market place for your products,think outside of the box. The best way to describe this action is to give you a few scenarios:
1) House flipper or investor - do you build,fix and sell or do you calculate rental or lease income over a longer duration of time to compare profit and equity?
2) Farmer - do you sell products to a buying house, or do you create an alternate market in a large town close by, or do you do both?
3) Residential construction company - do you build a subdivision to sell or do you compare lease income over a longer period of time against profits and equity from selling the homes?

All you have to do is grab a pen and paper, write down how you are currently selling your products on one side, and on the other side write down where you could sell your products. Make sure it is completely opposite to your current methods. It might seem trivial but surprisingly many good ideas can be created,used and profited from.

Remember - Take a tree not a forest!

Multiple market places to prosper from

When selling product(s) keep in mind there are many nationalities in the world, many lifestyles and characteristics. Although no two people think the same they might have similar interests. When selling items - diversify. Reach as many people in as many areas as you can handle. Be open to new ideas. If you are not maximizing your profit potential, research and develop new techniques to reach individuals and companies from other market types that may fall into your product demographics. If you are uncertain of what to try next don't sit back and waste time. Ask for help from as many people or companies as possible. Creative diversification when done properly creates many opportunities and possibilities.Remember - take a tree, not a forest!

Forest bi-products

I have spent the last while researching the positive effects forest bi products have on our society. So much information exists to help wood lot owners and individuals seeking to produce a personal income. Forests no longer need to be butchered in order to create an annual income. When you look at what is being created now with non recyclable material or material that takes many years to break down, "Can those products be supplemented with a forest bi product or low end wood product that is not being used on a mass scale currently". Yes some can. Information can be collected from many sources libraries, college and universities, forest service, doctors, pharmaceutical,survivalist (someone who can live on the vegetation from the forest) natural health care,chat groups or blogs, veterinary experts, gardening professionals, food and beverage dealers, North American Native American Bands are one of the best resources for forest bi products-for these people have been here longer than any one,market places and fairs, auction and buying stations for bi product-check with the universities or forest service or city hall in your area if you are uncertain of the locations. Have you had a brain storming session with other individuals in your group again two heads are better than one, one hundred ideas are better than ten and so on."Can you think of any product or group that has been avoided by all others?"Keep thinking and throwing ideas around as creativity creates opportunity. Remember take a tree not a forest.

August 29, 2008 update

We are just waiting for some educational material to arrive from a few sponsors, then all material to be placed on the site will go to the web designers.
Thanks for your patience
Rog

What is sustainable and what is not when it comes to forest products

As we all grow and expand our knowledge base now and in the future, it is going to be very tough to decipher what is and is not the best eco-friendly wood product for our personal use. Most companies now are becoming certified calling them selves sustainable, eco-friendly or green. The question comes down to, How do we truly know how sustainable or eco-friendly the product that we are trying to purchase is? Research and personal choice. If a large company is logging huge areas of timber, replanting and living up to their environmental plan and code, yes they are sustainable because the product will regenerate, yes the creeks and some wild life tree patches will be saved and so on. The small wood lot will log, but in smaller quantities creeks will be saved, wild life tree patches will be set aside and so forth and the majority of the forest floor will be left to mature and develop, that's one of the big differences. I have had a few people ask me how will I know from which source to purchase. Research how the product you wish to purchase is being logged or harvested, what's being saved and what's not. It will come down to personal choice and personal opinion, in what manner do you wish and want your wood product to be harvested . Don't worry we are going to put up as much information as we can to help clarify certain issues,with the help of other organizations and groups in the years to come at Corkboot.com. Remember take a tree not a forest !

Sid Mawson on why to use a small miller

This is another educational video from Mr. Sid Mawson on custom milling. Mr. mawson has many years of milling experience in the Duncan BC valley and he has been an invaluable resourse of knowledge and expertise for corkboot.com.

Thanks Sid

Sample video from our chain saw maintenance selection

Pull cord maintenance video. Mr. Danny Frame is a British Columbia coastal faller who is well respected in his field for knowledge and work ethic.Danny has many decades of experience in the forest industry we are more than thank full for this shared resource.

Educating the public on purchasing eco-friendly forest products

When you look at a large hillside that has been recently logged does that make you happy or sad? If it saddens you it might be time to re-educate yourself with the help of environmental organizations, wood lot owners, wood workers, custom sawyers and wood product dealers. We can all complain but do nothing to change how things are done. Or we can take a stand on how things are implemented and achieved in regards to wood coming out of the bush and produced into products. We can allow over-cutting or we can say enough; we can choose to take only what is needed, making sure the products we purchase are from a source that logs, recovers or creates products in an eco friendly manner. Or we can sit idly by and do nothing. If we choose not to change, then we have no one to blame but ourselves for some of the environmental damage that has been created. If we are truly unhappy with how things are achieved or done in society then we must stop buying the products from the companies or individuals that are not living or working in an eco-friendly manner. When I look at the large stores selling wood products I see a whole lot of people with not much of a purchasing choice in front of them. Corkboot.com wants to help re-educate the public with the help of others to show individuals and companies how to buy eco-friendly wood, calculate product cost, do cost comparisons and send wood to the appropriate wood manufacturer to construct their needed product. Our question and answer section has been designed specifically for this task when the site comes up. If you don't know how to navigate through the system, don't bypass this opportunity - just ask! Give Corkboot.com a chance. Have fun - be creative - place an add for free on our market place when it opens in a couple of weeks. Explain what you are looking for and allow the eco-friendly dealers to call you. Let them try and meet your budget and needs and leave the add running until someone contacts you - it won't take long!

Remember - take a tree, not a forest!

Some thoughts on diversifying your business....

Diversifing a business should be enjoyable and easy to accomplish.

First questions to be asked:

• What are you trying to sell,
• to whom,
• for how much
• who's not buying and what are the reasons why

If you don't know those answers start asking. Sample questions to ask customers that don't buy:

• "I am trying to better my service and business. Can you tell me how I could better my service to receive business in the future from someone like yourself?"

If you get one or two people out of four or five telling you, you are now ahead at the races.

Once you know who your customers are or could be many opportunities become available to you. Where can you best reach your target audience. Diversify through paper, radio, tv, internet, billboards. Do you have a product that can be easily sold? If so, allow other people to help sell it for you in other states, provinces or countries as representatives. You can also market your products at trade shows, market places, fairs, craft shows, home shows, logger sports, outside shopping malls with similar businesses to yours running a mini trade show, a grocery store, middle of a mall. How many computer sites have you linked your business site to (it costs nothing to very little), how many free sites have you joined as an associated business, how many blogs do you run, how many blogs have you linked to? Are you involved in associations affiliated to your business? Are you involved in clubs like rotary or the lions? How many marketplaces are you on? Lastly, do the individuals that you want to purchase your product truly understand the craftsmanship in your product, do they know the advantages to the purchase, do they truly understand what they are getting for their money? If not, show them and as many people as humanly possible. How many people, groups or companies are out there that are not related to your business, but need product and have buying power?

Remember, take a tree not a forest!

Update for Corkboot.com

Just a quick update for everyone, I talked to the web designers yesterday they are presently working on and almost finished with the forum section. Then the wood wanted/wood for sale areas for each state/province and outside North America areas will be constructed. The majority of content will go up over the next two weeks I had a meeting with the video and arts departments two days ago and they should be finished in another few days.
The entire site should be up by the first or second week of September.

I hope everyone is having a good summer!

Rog

Creating Vision

People have asked, "How do I see, what drives me to be creative?". Life, I usually say! Look around - what do you see compared to what I see? Take for instance a couple of scenarios. If I gave you some images to place into your brain what would come to mind?
1)Pile of sand
2)Wooden chair
Place the images one at a time into your brain and really think about the item for 20 seconds. What appears?
1) Pile of sand - what did you think of? A beach, dune buggy or motor cross racing, sun set, summer, bottle of wine and a companion with an endless conversation.
2)Wooden chair - tree, wood working plant, custom made furniture, department store, mill cutting tree into lumber.

How I see is sort of like this. Take the pile of sand - I see a concrete plant or highway crew working and making us safe. I see the sand in the concrete side walks, foundations, planters, new and old buildings. I see the manufacturing plants that make the equipment that make the concrete products, the workers, the bolts, conveyors, belts, paint and metal. I wonder how these items are made and from what, by who and for how much and yes I think of the beach and fun also.
The wooden chair - I think size, shape, colors, textures, styles, smell of the wood. I see the worker sanding and bending the corners, the tools, the hand made seats and spindles, the family using the chair around the table, the custom made chair being passed down from generation to generation, the wood stains, selection of wood type, re usage of lumber from an old train trestle or barn, the old wood worker passing down his techniques to the young person, the hand tools shaping the wood into a true craft form rather than power tools forming a production line item.
Opportunities exist all around us; some good some bad. I do not believe in the word "can't" when I am researching and implementing new ideas. I use the words "keep trying". I figure there is always a solution to a problem you just have to look and be receptive to thought changing ideas. I always wonder how things are made and from what, who uses the product and for what reason, who else can use the product. I always put a cost analysis on things, I do things if they make sense, if it is not financially viable I don't give up, I keep looking for the right answer. I incorporate as many people around me as possible as two heads are better than one, a hundred ideas are better than ten and so on. I keep smiling as I work through the opening of corkboot.com. People will soon realize that small to medium sized forestry and wood working, wood lot owners combined with individuals looking to further enhance their sustainable life styles actually have a larger role and impact on the world's economy and ecosystem than most would tend to realize or believe. Remember - take a tree not a forest.

An endless opportunity for knowledge

Forestry, wood products, wood working and environmental issues, they all create an endless learning opportunity. I always enjoy learning something new.Not a day goes by where I have not been able to read, watch or listen to someone teaching a new subject. So many topics to cover on a vast array of subjects make the above careers unbelievable when you explore deeper and really research and inspire yourself to grasp what is being taught. My father told me a few years ago to listen closely to everyone, as everyone we encounter in life, whether young or old, can teach us something new. For they have learned something from someone that we have never come in contact with. Simple things like talking to the environmental groups and listening closely to how they understand and know the land and the issues surrounding them, to the back yard craftsman who knows a special way to configure certain cutting patterns or has remedies for homemade finishes for his wood products past down from his forefathers that make his products shine like the morning sun, or the young lad in the bush who is colour blind but is able to see the shape and texture and defect patterns in the solid and rotten wood before him. Endless opportunities exist and it creates a very special place when they are combined.Welcome to corkboot.com. Remember take a tree not a Forest.

Creating a resource base from which to work from

It is possible to promote our business or look for business, as we all know, in many ways. When you scroll through the Internet on a given topic, read the articles, the thing I see would be the the power of knowledge that has not been linked. You have a lot of businesses and individuals sharing knowledge on the given topic but wouldn't it be nice if you could combine that resource to learn and grow and expand your business or personnel potential to a fuller extent. Look up an association that has similar associations in other states, provinces or countries and all of them have creativity, knowledge, loads of education, failure and success stories. Combine techniques and knowledge on the success and failures of the organizations or groups, what I mean is there are so many people sharing and educating throughout the world that it would be impossible for us or our businesses to grasp knowledge on every topic on a given subject. It would be like studying for a high school or college exam getting 90% plus which is good but what happens to the other 10%. If we allow the 10% to go by without researching what had been missed or forgotten every time we wrote an exam and missed being perfect by the 10%, the knowledge base lost would add up very quickly. For the rednecks(blue collar worker) that are saying "yeah but I'm not in school what does this have to do with me?" put it in terms of someone just having shared some knowledge with you but you only allowed 70-80% of the knowledge to sink in. What happened to the rest and what did you miss? Corkboot.com wants to combine this knowledge and allow everyone an opportunity to grow and expand and showcase their talents. Some people have said to me in the past few weeks that if I share my knowledge I will lose some of my business. The world is a very big place, look at your area of origin, how many cities are in your state, province or county? How many people reside there? How many businesses unrelated to yours operate there? How many government or municipal offices, schools, malls? The list goes on! How many people do we need to purchase our products for us to be truly happy and content? The world is a place of endless opportunity and wisdom. Share a little, gain a lot. Remember, take a tree not a forest.

Sustainability

Sustainability means a lot of things to so many people in regards to forestry. Logging large settings 20,000 plus metres or hundreds of thousands of board feet at one time, replanting the area and having it regenerate to a partial forest 30-50 years or more from now is not exactly the kind of sustainability we had in mind. Corkboot's idea of sustainability is working an area, selecting the right tree(s) whether healthy, over mature, or diseased, then working the logs into the appropriate project and allowing the rest of the forest to develop and mature properly. Some may argue that a substantial living can't be obtained with this kind of philosophy and this is where Corkboot will help with the help of others. Together we all can educate each other. Not one person knows everything and I know I don't, but when you put hardworking forestry, wood product and wood working professionals together with the help and expertise of some of the environmental groups magic can happen. When you allow yourself to explore new opportunities, markets that were not there previous can suddenly appear. Times are changing, we all have to be receptive to change or change will leave us behind. Remember take a tree not a forest.

Custom milling options

This is a clip from some of our up coming educational videos that we will be posting on our site

Remember take a tree not a forest

Take a tree not a forest

Corkboot is being created to help re educate the small to medium sized forestry, wood product, wood working professional, as well the public on how we utilize trees for business and personal use.
Most wood products purchased for our traditional buying needs are purchased from large stores and manufacturing dealers who in turn have usually purchase most of if not all of their wood from forestry giants. Purchasing a wood product should be as simple as going to a wood lot, picking a tree or part of, having it delivered to a sawyer to mill, having the wood delivered to a wood working professional to create the product. Sounds complicated but its not. The difference between shopping at a retail store and a small wood product dealer is time. If you know you need cabinets, flooring, decking, lumber etc. all you do is contact the small operator 1-2 weeks a head of time and the process would take care of its self, to make the process even simpler put a wood product needed add on the market place at corkboot.com for free then wait for a response, believe me it will not take long.
The beautiful thing is the cost will probably be 15-20% cheaper than dealing with a large store. Everything can be checked IE: contractor references, better business bureau to alevate concerns one might have.
In United states, Canada, and Europe wood lot and private land owners control 10-20% of the forest resource if not more, it is more than sufficient to cover the needs of most home owners, home renovators, builders and wood product professionals.
By re directing product buying power to the small to medium sized industry where the effects on the environment are considerably less we help change the environment that much quicker.
Remember when you need a wood product "take a tree not a forest".