DustyNewt: Past, Present and Future
DustyNewt: Past, Present and Future
Blogging about finding peace while working at home from my tilty little workshop.
Beginnings are Hard
I am Scott. My shop name DustyNewt derives from the sociable lizards that abound in my 100 year-old workshop here in Central Florida. They love hanging out on my workbench with me, and are curious about the tools and materials that make the dust that they forage in, keeping my shop’s bug population at a minimum. There are so many varieties of lizards on our property that I just refer to them all as “newts”, although real newts are rarely seen, except out by the fish pond. My workshop is only 17 steps from my back door, hence the name of this blog, my 17 Step Commute.
Coming to the realization that I will never be monetarily rich was the impetus into learning to be happy with what I have and what I am able to do with my hands and a little patience.
This shed has seen a multitude of uses. Just since we have lived here, it has been a garage, a candle factory, a waterbed factory, a garden shed, a cabinet shop, a sign shop, a warehouse, and now a chopstick and keychain factory. It has survived the tropical storms, hurricanes and tornados that have assaulted it over the past century. One day it will be rebuilt, but until then it is a happy place to work.
A Bit of Background
As a teen in Florida (1979-80), I worked cutting wooden patterns and finishing signs for my aunt, Judith Bond. Judy freehand carved redwood signs with a router at local tourist attractions like Circus World and Sea World as well as fairs and mall shows. She was a patient and enterprising teacher and I became quite proficient with a 12 inch Craftsman bandsaw. Using her saw, I came up with a freehand letter style that proved popular with friends and family, so I started selling them on the side with her blessing. Judy encouraged me to be creative and develop my skills as she grew her own, becoming a renowned poet and entrepreneur, publishing her poems on her worldwide product “Books of Love”.
My wooden names quickly became a primary source of income and I was able to make a small investment on some used tools and started setting up booths on my own at craft shows and other locations. I met my future wife Julie Hodges, an extraordinary candle carver, while working the summer in the Black Hills of South Dakota in 1982.
By 1984 I was carving small oak wood name keychains in addition to the larger names. Julie and I traveled the country together booking mall shows, fairs and theme parks until 1989 when we became road weary and settled down to our home in Central Florida. Ours were crafts that required new audiences and foot traffic to succeed. So, I set my woodworking aside and for the next 18 years I worked various local jobs as cook, signmaker, cabinetmaker and line operator at a local paper mill. It was at this last job that I became aware of the opportunities that the internet had opened up for individual sellers.
I found Etsy in 2007 and added my first listings in 2008. My personalized woodstuffs were immediately welcomed and Etsy is still my primary sales outlet. While building this side hustle, I kept at the paper mill job to pay the bills until health demands dictated that I leave in 2011. By then, I was able to support us with my online business and a part-time job as a tool monger at Sears until 2013, when corporate greed started the crumbling of the century old department store. I then went full time with my woodwork online and have grown with it to this day. More on quitting my “day job” in a future blog…
Simple is Best
After all the false starts and probes into the online world, I have simplified my business down to my single Etsy shop to sell from and a DustyNewt Facebook “page” for keeping in touch with clients, showcasing new products and showing daily “Sneak Peeks” of my output. Etsy will bring plenty of traffic if you have a good product and follow basic tagging and SEO strategies. Concentrating efforts on these details has enabled me to spend more time in the workshop, doing what brings me peace. I also have a Facebook Group for fun and inspiration called “Peace in Wood” that showcases how others find peace in their woodworking and the beauty of woods. I continue to dabble with Instagram and the new Threads, and will likely fall for the next great thing that all the cool kids use. But remember… kids don’t usually have the money to spend on stuff.
Why This Blog?
My intentions on writing this blog are to share what I have learned with others who seek to be their own boss and find peace working from home. It has not been an overnight process. I am new at this blog writing and hope to get better as I progress. These writings are meant to give a little insight into how we enjoy it and hopefully give you some ideas and encouragement on your journey.
Whatever your gig is (woodworking, pottery, fabrics, baseball cards, candles, etc.), I hope to provide you with a few tips and stories that you may find useful or entertaining (hopefully both). Please subscribe and let me know how you are faring in your work-from-home journey. We can learn from each other.
What This Blog is NOT About
I do not intend this blog to be a woodworking tutorial, although I am an accomplished woodworker/cabinetmaker and I may include a few how-I-do-things videos and photo articles. Working with wood is a matter of skill levels, knowledge of materials and techniques. There are numerous ways of doing what I do, as there are countless opinions on which is the “right” way to do them.
Woodworking is inherently dangerous and any procedure without proper safety precautions and knowledge is foolish. Power and hand tools are a lot like politicians, whether they are sharp or dull, they do not have consciences. They know no difference between lumber and flesh. Woods have spirits that may not appreciate how they are handled and reshaped.
Therefore, I do not recommend you follow my workshop practices (when I post them). They work for me, but may not for you. Go with what you know to safely create your own products and techniques. There are a myriad how-to videos online that can help you achieve your desired outcomes safely. Practice truly does make perfect. I have carved tens of thousand chopsticks and uncountable name keychains. My digits know the way and have the “don’t-do-that” marks to prove it.
Likewise, I am not a web marketing guru. I am a late bloomer “Boomer” that had little use for the internet until 2006. Any advice I give about online sales venues or social marketing is to be taken with due suspicion. When in doubt, it is nice to have a 12 year old around to explain things to you.
Like woodworking how-tos, there are thousands of tutorials for you to learn online marketing strategies like “Search Engine Optimization” (SEO), photography, videography, and website building to grow your presence online. But beware! Like news media, just because it is online doesn’t make it true or appropriate to your situation. I have made a lot of mistakes and wasted money and time building websites, following promises, gimmicks and glitz of numerous internet “pros”. After dozens of false starts and trials, I have determined that simple is best for me, favoring only what I need to sell my woodstuffs online.
Having said all this, you’re going to do what you will, finding out what works best for you and your products. Go for it. Mistakes are the way we learn. Don’t fear them. Shake them off and go forward with it! Hindsight is invaluable in making decisions for your future. Enjoying your hustle is your primary goal, along with having it pay for itself (hopefully with a modest profit). Again, this lifestyle is not likely to make you rich. Safety and caution should always be at your forefront, whether in the workshop or on the internet.
Helping Each Other
This attempt at writing is new to me. I am trying to follow directions and properly present my ideas in an orderly manner to help others attain a sense of well-being and satisfaction while building a home business.
I hope to get better at it. If you spot any mistakes, broken links or have tips on how to make it better, please subscribe and let me know. If you like what you read and wish to encourage me with a paid subscription. I thank you and I hope to please.