Importance Of Effective Marketing Strategies For A Wood Marketing Company
Steve Larosiliere
April 24, 2024
“Just go for it, you know, and don’t be scared. This is your livelihood, and this is your business. Make it work.”
Hello, and welcome to Building a Furniture Brand with Ethan Abramson, the show that talks about the business behind the furniture business. In this episode, Ethan sits down with Tom Hamilton, owner of the furniture business Citizen Wood Company.
Tom has journeyed through the furniture industry. Starting as a refurbishing company under a different name, he learned the bones of how to build furniture by bringing old pieces back to life. That led to him giving life to his own designs, rebranding his company to what it is today; Learning the craft, learning the business, learning what it takes to be successful in this industry.
Tom is humble in what he has learned; he doesn’t push his path on anyone. But we can all learn from what he has to say and how he has grown his business into what it is today. Follow along as they talk about changing your company image, how to grow your online presence, why you should choose your own path, and much more.
“I was in the optical industry for about ten years, so I did a lot of retail, and I worked on the lab side of things. You know, I’ve made glasses for a long time, all the way up until about three years ago when I went full time in my business. It initially started because I got the urge to do something new. I was kind of sick of that industry.
Believe it or not, I started as a different company. I started refurbishing furniture back in 2016 as a side hustle to my job. So basically, I would buy a piece of junk furniture off Facebook marketplace, repaint it, re-stain it, sand it back down to raw, get it back up to 220, throw my stains and paints and whatnot on there. Then I would repost it for, let’s say, $100 more.”
Tom’s refurbishing side business did well for him, and before he knew it, he began to get inquiries about doing small builds. Although that hadn’t crossed his mind when he started his business, he knew he loved doing the work and chose to dive into the work. Unfortunately, Tom lived in a condo at the time, but one of his best friends owned a small one-car garage where he could do his work.
That first customer wanted a headboard, so Tom went to Home Depot, bought some tools and lumber, and then took to YouTube. Tom describes himself as YouTube Certified, and despite the massive scale of the project his customer commissioned, he did an excellent job on the project, and word of mouth began to spread his talents.
After the success of his initial build, Tom posted online stating that he would be making headboards for interested people, and the inquiries poured in faster than he thought possible. Alongside headboards, he found himself creating a lot of small furniture. Realizing he had a company suddenly, Tom named his business Urban Wood Arizona to make things feel more legitimate.
However, Tom didn’t want only to build headboards, so he began taking on smaller odd jobs to diversify his capabilities. It wasn’t much later that Tom realized the potential of his fledgling business and decided he could make some changes to his day job to allow him to spread his wings with his new furniture company.
“I was still in the optical industry in the lab at this time. So I was making glasses full time, and then I realized, ‘Hey, man, this, this, this could be something,’ and I realized I was good at it. So I jumped with it and did it until I was comfortable saying, ‘Hey, maybe I can start working half a week in the optical and then doing half a week with my business.’
I was already thinking of rebranding by this time, and I wanted to get an actual name and get my LLC. All the way up until about three years ago, I did half, and half, and then I finally said, ‘You know what, if I’m going to do this, I’m going to dive in headfirst.’ I did, and luckily I’ve made it three years full time, and I’m hoping I can do another 40 if I can.
That’s how I got into woodworking, and it’s an absolute passion of mine. It’s fun not to go into the corporate world every day, clock in, clock out, do the same exact thing. With a woodworking business, you get to create something from the ground up. So your clients are excited. When you’re in optical, people don’t want to spend money on that, whereas this is a treat for them, so I try to make it fun for them.”
Tom has built his business using inspiration and information from many different places and people. His company is unique because what worked for him will not always work for everyone else. However, there are always common lines, tips, and techniques that will apply across the board, which he has offered to share with listeners!
“Just have a vision of what you want to be and where you want to be. Ask yourself where you want to start especially. If you’re going to start doing butcher boards, start there and if you’re going to expand from there, go for it. If you want to jump right into live-edge tables, go for it, but make sure that you are passionate enough to do it because it is a lot of work.
You’re going to go through the ups and downs of the business; you’re going to go through so many emotions that go into a business. So just be prepared. If you decide to do furniture full-time and take that leap, make sure that the business is there and make sure that you’re putting out quality products when you do get there.
If there’s something wrong in 10 months and the client doesn’t like it, go fix it. Again, you’re building that relationship; it’s not just, ‘Here’s the money, cool, we’ll see you later.’ Keep that relationship. Sometimes I’ll randomly go in and just check in on my clients. I did a table for a guy in Los Angeles, he was remodeling a home, and he got the table. He actually came and picked it up from me here in Arizona and drove it back.
And I just checked in, I said, ‘How did it travel back? Were there any issues?’ And also, ‘Could you send me a picture when your house is done because that’s content for me.’ I can’t be in LA to take the pictures. What I’m getting at with that is that I still have that relationship, and I’m still checking in on them.”
Website: https://citizenwoodco.com
Instagram: @citizenwoodco
