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!

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.

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