If you are looking for a new business idea, you can try making enamel pins. It is relatively simple, cheap, and who doesn't love cute and simple accessories? You can mix enamel pins with almost anything, and you always look good to go.
Making enamel pins is also not as difficult as you think. You can find a lot of information on the internet about how to make enamel pins, such as this article.
Since you want to make money, you not only have to know how to make enamel pins, you also have to know how to sell them.
Once again, the internet is your friend here where you can find ways to sell enamel pins, one of which is by opening an online shop.
Without further ado, let's take a look at how to make enamel pins and sell them online!
How to Make Enamel Pins
1. Decide on a Niche
The first step on how to make enamel pins, or any product in general, is to have a target market. Or, to put it more generally, you need to have a niche.
What is a niche?
A niche is a focus or part of the market that can be identified based on its unique attributes or characteristics. For example, in photography, you can find a variety of niches; nature photography, lifestyle photography, product photography, and others.
Why do you need a niche for making enamel pins?
Because without having a clear niche, you won't have a clear product design. Without having a focus, you will only produce products without unique value that appeal to anyone.
The thing you have to understand about product design is that you can't make everyone happy; you can only make some people happy. Therefore, you must have a focus and study the market that you have chosen.
So, how do you find a niche?
You can search from around you. Are you part of a community? You may have a hobby, and you can start there to find a niche for your product.
You can also search actively. You can use community forums, such as Reddit, where you can find many communities easily.
Then, you can also take advantage of trend tracking applications, such as Google Trends. You can easily find out what things people are looking for on the internet by using similar applications.
Okay, you've found a niche, but is it the right niche?
Not all niches are equal. There are several things that you should pay attention to when you are determining a niche, such as:
- Is the niche active? You have to make sure that the niche you choose still has lots of people who are still passionate about it. If your chosen niche is quiet, who will you sell your enamel pins to?
- Is the niche huge? The more people who are interested in the niche you choose, the more people that will become your potential customers.
- Is the niche unique? You have to make sure that the niche you choose is a niche that can be identified easily by their unique traits or attributes. The more unique, the better niche.
- Does your niche last? You know, of course, that there are some things that pop up quickly and then disappear, replaced by other things the next day. You definitely want to choose a niche that will last a long time.
After you have successfully chosen the right niche, now you can start looking for ideas and start making enamel pins.
2. Design Your Own Enamel Pins
At this stage, you may be thinking, how do you make an enamel pin without any design skills? Fortunately, you have many options on this one.
With the development of the internet, you can easily find tutorials on how to make enamel pins as well as software and applications for making them.
You can, for example, use Photoshop, or GIMP, if you want free software to design your own enamel pin. You can also find great quality images that you can use for free on the internet.
However, if for example you don't have time to design your own enamel pin, you can use freelance design services.
Just like the tutorial on how to make enamel pins, you can easily hire people who offer services to make enamel pin designs for you.
Websites like Fiverr or Upwork are places where you can find people to make your enamel pins designs.
However you choose to design your enamel pins, there are a few things to look out for in your enamel pin design.
First of all, you want to make sure that your enamel pin design is a solid color or one color.
Second, because the enamel pin size is generally small, you don't want to use images, text, or other objects that are too small or rely on details.
3. Manufacture Your Enamel Pins
You have come to the final step in how to make enamel pins. You already have a target market and an amazing design. What else should you do? Make your product come true.
Whether you are a new entrepreneur or an experienced one, the product creation process can seem challenging. You must research and contact the manufacturer, supplier of goods, and then determine the distributor.
However, if you already have an idea of what will be going through, you can at least prepare yourself better.
Here are the things you should do when producing your enamel pins:
• Choosing a Soft or Hard Enamel Pin
Enamel pins come in two variations: soft and hard. Each type is has its pros and cons
The soft type is generally the most popular type for those of you who are just starting out making enamel pins. This type can display many colors and has attractive color choices.
This type can also reveal more detail and people can feel the texture of your pins. If you want to make enamel pins that are colorful and look attractive, you will want to use this type.
But, as the name suggests, these pins don't last long enough, and because people can feel the texture firsthand, you can often accidentally leave scratch marks.
On the other hand, the hard enamel pin type has stronger durability. However, this comes with a higher price tag as well as limited options in the coloring process.
You also can't feel the texture of the hard enamel pins right away. But, if you are concerned with durability, this type of course you want to make enamel pins of this type.
• Choosing a Manufacturer
The internet has once again made it easier for you to create enamel pins. You can find enamel pin manufacturers easily on the internet.
To choose the right manufacturer, there are several criteria that you can apply:
- Does the manufacturer have free samples? Free samples are a great way to check the quality of the manufacturer you choose. If a manufacturer doesn't offer free samples, you can safely assume that the manufacturer is not of a high quality.
- Does the manufacturer have a discount for bulk purchases? You definitely want to produce a large quantity of your enamel pins. Generally, the manufacturer will give you a special price if you order a certain quantity.
- Can these producers help you in the shipping or distribution process? There are several manufacturers that offer this service free of charge. You certainly want this service to help you run your business.
If you have found the right enamel pin manufacturer, you can immediately begin the process of producing your enamel pins.
Congratulations! You have successfully followed all the steps on how to make enamel pins.
Once you have successfully made your enamel pins, it is time to sell them.
4. Sell Your Custom Enamel Pins with Strikingly
Image taken from Strikingly website
Strikingly is a website builder that can help you open an amazing online store.
You don't need in-depth website building knowledge to create an online store with Strikingly. You just have to choose a ready-to-use online shop template from Strikingly, and you can start owning your own online store.
Image taken from Strikingly website
You will also get features that can build your online store to grow.
For example, your online shop can accept payments from various sources, both offline and online. At Strikingly, your online shop can accept online payment methods, such as Paypal, WeChat, and Alipay.
Apart from that, your online shop can accept up to hundreds of currencies. This certainly helps you to reach more customers in various parts of the world.
Image taken from Strikingly product
Next, you can also easily arrange your custom enamel pin shipping. You can arrange shipping costs as well as shipping taxes directly from your online shop.
Image taken from Strikingly product
For customer service, you can use the Live Chat feature from Strikingly. This feature can help you serve customers who are visiting your website.
Image taken from Strikingly product
You can also integrate this feature with your desktop and mobile. You will get a notification every time a customer asks through this Live Chat feature.
Finally, you can share the latest news about your custom enamel pin business by using the newsletter feature from Strikingly. You can send up to 2,000 emails to your customers directly from your website.
That's the step-by-step on how to make enamel pins and sell them online.
You can make enamel pins easily. What you need is a target market and things that make them interested in buying a product. Then, you can create your own custom enamel pin design using Photoshop or GIMP.
If you don't feel very confident in your design skills, you can easily find people who can do it for you.
If you already have a design, you are ready to make your product come true. You can find many manufacturers who can help you to manufacture your custom enamel pins.
Once you have successfully followed the steps on how to make enamel pins, you are ready to open your online shop with Strikingly.
Strikingly offers the convenience of opening an online store as well as features that can help your business grow.
So what are you waiting for? Create your own custom enamel pin online store now with Strikingly!