Tta

[charlie1]

Hi guys / gals,

Was looking in to becoming a member of the TTA. From what i understand, it costs around £200 plus you get 2m liability cover, a free ad din yellow pages, and pbviously all the support!

Is the 200 quid an anual fee or one off?
....Tempted!

[Dave]

It is an annual fee and you do not get an advert in yellow pages..

The Tile Association Code of Conduct

[Phil Hobson]

As Dave above, you do get quite a lot of up to date technical info etc. it is also tax deductable

[furness tiles]

i'm looking at joining this, as their is nobody else in our area that is a member. does it generate any extra work for anyone?

[Bri]

I'm not a tta member but, if I may, will give my opinion on a similar organisation. I joined the guild of master craftsmen 15 months ago and the annual fee was £450, the benefits are good if you use them, I didn't so I only stayed for 12 months. I'm a firm believer in reputation and having evidence of your work and testimonials, if you have all these a logo on your paper work/van is irrelevant, I'm not going to say that these associations are a con, but what I will say is that if you provide a supreme service with excellent quality, you have no reason to be part of, or ever need the services of these types of organisation. Just my opinion, but I do speak from experience.

[suave]

I'm not a tta member but, if I may, will give my opinion on a similar organisation. I joined the guild of master craftsmen 15 months ago and the annual fee was £450, the benefits are good if you use them, I didn't so I only stayed for 12 months. I'm a firm believer in reputation and having evidence of your work and testimonials, if you have all these a logo on your paper work/van is irrelevant, I'm not going to say that these associations are a con, but what I will say is that if you provide a supreme service with excellent quality, you have no reason to be part of, or ever need the services of these types of organisation. Just my opinion, but I do speak from experience.

bob on m8,everything in lifes a con,al say it for ya

[jay]

I'm not a tta member but, if I may, will give my opinion on a similar organisation. I joined the guild of master craftsmen 15 months ago and the annual fee was £450, the benefits are good if you use them, I didn't so I only stayed for 12 months. I'm a firm believer in reputation and having evidence of your work and testimonials, if you have all these a logo on your paper work/van is irrelevant, I'm not going to say that these associations are a con, but what I will say is that if you provide a supreme service with excellent quality, you have no reason to be part of, or ever need the services of these types of organisation. Just my opinion, but I do speak from experience.

So were does that leave Tile Forum

[TF Ed]

I think i know where bri is coming from.

We all agree that a customers rave recommendation has the most impact on another persons influence BUT if you are going to be part of a 'Trade related organisation', then you need to go with the one that has the most 'recogniton & respect' in that field and the TTA has that in our trade..

Different customers/clients look for different reasurrances when they choose a tiler. Larger companies who are looking for tilers, see the TTA as a good trade standard, therefore, they would be inclined to email/call a tiler with this logo, rather than one without. (This is assuming that there was no prior recommendation)

you need a varied balance in this day and age. Media, Trade organisations, Internet presence and personal advertising, in other words, you have to appeal to a larger audience to keep the work flow, especially in a recession like now.
imho A couple of hundred pounds a year isnt that much when you consider the positive benefits, tax deductable and PLI.

The point i am making is..'If you are going to use something, use the best in its class..that includes trade organisations, media AND Tilersforums.co.uk

[Bri]

The forum is a free way of getting yourself noticed and also making others aware of your work/knowledge, I can't say whether the tta is a good organisation or not as I haven't been a member, I do think that the best combination of advertising is a good website combined with good presence on this forum and other social networks. Granted the tta and the GOMC are different in the way that one is tiling specific and the other is across a wide range of trades but, I was just trying to say that there are so many ways to get yourself noticed without having to fork out big lumps of cash year after year.

[Bri]

Just to add, I also think the GOMC is not what it once was, too easy to get into but anyway, I've drifted off topic a bit as this is about the tta!

[Dave]

The TTA isn't easy to get into , and IMO it's just what this industry is about and needs.
I am a member.


Sent from my iPhone

[Dan]

I think the moment a customer calls a tiler and says 'are you in TTA' then they've done enough marketing consumer-wise and it would be worth it.

But otherwise, you are sticking the sticker on your own van, and you are advertising them. They should pay you for that.

Obviously comes with other benefits and whatnot but you tend to be able to get most of them FOC anyway.

Just not worth it in my eyes to be honest.

Just my opinion.

[widler]

Ive been trading since 95, been in the trade since 86, i have never heard anyone on any costomer or any tradesmen i know have ever mentioned any oganisasion like these, infact ive seen vans with ' member of mastercraftsman this and that' and they used to work in factorys, they are only masters of baiting.
Personally i wouldent waste my money, just do a good job and your work should speak for itself


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I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=53.799609,-2.261471

[Ken Bruty]

I was going to join the TTA, but at the time I was a member of the Chamber of Commerce, UKTC, Trading Standards approved scheme, and I was forking out so much money and not getting any return for it, so I cancelled all of them and looked into the TTA, but they wanted so much info about you, I just couldn't be bothered to do it all over again, so I just rely on my work and website to do the talking, and so far it seems to be working

[Dan]

I think you all have to ask yourself What do I want this for?


If the answer is to get business from it then you have to mainly do your own marketing to push the fact your in TTA, such as including their logo on all paperwork, your website, internet listings of yours, and so on. Then push that to your customers and hope that between you all you educate customers who enquire with you enough to NOT want a tiler who doesn't wear that badge.

They DO vet the tilers business. But not the tiler and quality of work per se.

If it's because of the other benefits, checkout the likes of FSB which has hundreds of thousands of members so their buying power is akin to Tesco in the world of business. They do have some decent benefits.

Of course, if you're into Golf, you're laughing. It's a joke that they spend cash on Golf days when you guys are struggling for work. In my eyes, they should cease all 'entertainment' and 'award days' and spend that cash on marketing themselves to the consumer who needs to be calling them or checking their website for TTA approved tilers.

From what I can tell, they're a bit archaic and wont change until they have a younger generation of people running it. It's been like that for years.

Again, just my personal opinion.

[Marble Life Ltd]

I am not a member of the TTA but I would be if I was full time tiling. It is not always about what you get out of an organisation but sometimes what you put into it. The joining fees are reasonable you get your liability and you get cheaper van insurance amongst other things and the fee is offsettable. We are members of the Stone Federation and the FSB and I don't play golf. Some organizations are worth being a member of even if you don't use the badges on your van or the logo on your paperwork and the TTA is one of them.

Kev

[Dave]

A lot don't realise that you also get up to date technical publications that are FREE to TTA members.. these are really important publications to tilers.

These publications are not cheap if you had to buy them.. for me.. it is a good thing imo..

[charlie1]

I would really like to become a member and plan on doing so at end of year when I go for it full time. IMO, its a great thing, gives your business credibility and puts you ahead of the rest!

[Phil Hobson]

Although I sit on the fixer training committee, I am not biased, as Dave has said you can get some very informative info on the latest technical developments etc. I think everyone should make up their own minds about TTA.

My own feelings on TTA are, we need someone to regulate our industry. My personal view is that if we can bring back some true skill to this trade ( through real training, colleges etc) then I will be happy to give my time (free of charge) and continue to be a member of the TTA fixer training committee.

Having said that, I may be asked to resign, as I can't always make the meetings, (work commitments) I have had to send my apologies, for the next meeting, yet again.