Summary
Do you remember buying pin buttons during your teen years, tying them up on your bag, and flaunting them like a boss? I remember doing this with the badges of “High School Musical” and “Camp Rock.” Good old Disney times!
Credits: Crocs(Pinterest)
Growing up these designs got replaced with “Google” and “Kpop” badges!
One thing is certain: pin buttons are here to stay unlike Windows phones. They are not going out of fashion.
The market demand for selling buttons started way back in the 16th century when pin buttons debuted in American politics. People used to wear them to show which political candidates they supported. Fast forward to today, pin button business is targeted across various fields like:
- Political campaigning
- Fundraising events
- Promoting businesses
- In entertainment industry
- Welcoming new family members
- Wedding seasons and more!
So, if you are thinking of starting a business for selling buttons online, let me tell you that the scope is wide. This guide will help you know how to get started, step by step guide to sell buttons online.
Find your target audience
Any business needs a specific target audience, which is its first step. Consider yourself: Will you sell buttons directly to customers or collaborate with companies, i.e., whether you want to cater to the B2B or B2C audience or both with a marketplace?
You can select either one of them or go with both of them. In my opinion, it is better to start selling buttons online with B2C and later target your business for the B2B segment. This will allow you to extend your button-making business and sell pin buttons that your customers love. Another major reason behind knowing your target audience is, it gives you more clarity on the type of product you want to create, understands customers’ requirements, and market trends.
Types of materials required
When wondering how to make button badges, it is important to know that they are available in various sizes. With different shapes and designs, each requires a different material. Multiple things go into making and selling pin buttons. Most pin buttons are made with metal materials, acrylic paints, white clays, a hot glue gun, fabric scraps for cotton pin buttons, wooden materials to make wooden badges, and more.
The materials you use depend on the pin buttons you plan to sell. So, first define which shape and size of pin buttons you want to sell. Depending on this, get materials, create designs, and sell buttons online.
Decide budget
Having a budget constraint is a must. Determining your budget is important as it will help you create a roadmap for which vertical requires more attention and money. Additionally, it helps your investors and partners be on the same page. Apart from this, you can even plan strategically for the next quarter or a year.
Plenty of things go when starting a button-making business. From licensing, logistics, vendor management, and more. Let’s see each of them in brief:
Registration and licensing:
Starting any new business requires registering it and getting the required licenses. To do this, contact the necessary officials’ department in your state or city and complete the paperwork.
Logistics and vendor management
The main aim of selling buttons online is that customers can order them from the ease of their home and get them easily delivered. And to provide this facility it is important to connect with logistics and vendor management companies. Connect and sign the deal with the right vendors. They will help you to deliver your pin buttons to customers timely.
Whether you sell buttons online or offline, each has its own rules and regulations. So, make sure you have all the required licenses and that your business is registered.
Searching for a technical partner to sell button business online? See how PrintXpand can make your store different from others with a product designer tool.
Everything you will need to sell buttons online
Today, there are various options for selling pin buttons online. For example, you can create your own Instagram or Facebook store and start selling. It’s free, and no major capital is required. However, these platforms tend to get major algorithm updates, and competition is getting tougher. Overall, it is not your domain, and hence, it doesn’t give you much control over things.
As a solution, set up your own website that you can create per your requirements and preferences. Design, colors, buying funnels, everything can be created as you need. Here’s how:
Select a platform
More than a thousand online platforms help you build your store for a button-making business online. Platforms like Shopify, Magento, Joomla, Drupal, etc. help you build an eStore; each has its merits and drawbacks. And with multiple options available, it is very obvious to get confused. Hence, choosing the right development platform that caters to your needs is important in such cases. For example, Shopify offers everything you need if you have a limited budget. However, Magento could be your choice for a fully functional website with a little more investment.
Finalize primary features
Every e-store has a certain set of features that make it unique and more likely to be used. Depending on your business model, define a set of features you want for your business and implement them. You can include some basic features like sign-in options, add-to-cart, wish lists, multiple payment options, multiple language support, etc. All these features are very basic modules that your application needs.
Choose development partner
There are multiple ways to develop an eStore, be it freelancers or tech partners. I would personally recommend you reach out to tech companies like us, which help create websites and eStores for selling buttons.
We have an experience of over 8+ years and expertise, which can solve your issues faster. Developing one website requires teams from different departments, which makes it easy to collaborate and create. We have the expertise you need to have a stellar website. At Brush Your Ideas, we have a team of experts that work closely on developing your eStore. We could help you manage your web development project as your tech partner. For information, we can also have a one-to-one conversation. You can first go through the product designer tool below to learn more about the tool.
Don’t Forget the USP: Selling Custom Pin Buttons
Every business has its unique selling point to attract customers, retain them, and sell buttons or any other products. Similarly, you, too will need a USP to get more customers. Today there are thousands of stores offering the products you are already considering starting your business in. Well, that’s okay, but having something that sets your store apart from others is important.
Especially with products like pin buttons, everyone has their own choices. Some want pretty designs based on their aesthetics; some companies like to create ones based on their business.
So rather than work on those designs, why don’t you let your customers design and prepare their products before ordering?
Integrating a product designer tool with your website will allow customers to show their creativity. Using the tool, customers can create designs of their choice and place an order right from there. Here’s how the interface looks like:
With the readymade templates, clipart designs, and text formatting, it becomes easy for customers to design the products. The interface is simple; even a naive can prepare products in minutes and order.
Having good options for colors and designs is important when customizing pin buttons. With that, customization becomes more creative and easier.
When choosing an online button design software, remember that it can help you create buttons for websites, apps, or presentations. You can effortlessly customize your buttons’ size, color, shape, and text to your liking.
Generally, this software offers a user-friendly interface, enabling users to explore drag-and-drop functions easily. Frequently, they offer pre-designed templates and a range of icons. Moreover, it allows you to easily export your buttons in different formats to incorporate them into your projects.
Overall, online button design software makes it easier to create professional buttons without the necessity of having advanced design skills.
Why is it the solution to go for?
- It helps businesses connect with customers personally
- Customers can show their creativity
- The exclusive custom designs can help increase sales
- It lets customers connect emotionally with products
Just imagine, your customers come to your store and create their own custom designs with this tool. This is helping businesses to grow their customer base and provide better customer service.
Printing Methods & Infrastructure Setup
Managing the production and distribution of pin buttons can be time-consuming and complicated. That’s where end-to-end web-to-print solutions come in.
This solution can help you to manage your print operation entirely online. With web-to-print solutions, you can easily create and manage their eStore, handle order processing and fulfillment, and even automate your production processes.
At PrintXpand, we offer customized web-to-print solutions that can help your pin button business create and manage its eStores with ease. Some of the key features of our solutions include:
- A user-friendly design tool to create custom pin button designs
- Real-time inventory management to avoid stockouts and improve customer satisfaction
- Automated production processes to save time and money while improving product quality
- Multi-store support for businesses with multiple locations or brand names
- Responsive design for seamless user experience on any device
- Quote management to easily generate and manage customer quotes
- User management to control access and permissions for employees and customers
- Artwork approval to ensure that only high-quality designs are used for production
- Third-party integration to connect with other software and systems for seamless workflows
- Tailor-made website design to match your brand and enhance your online presence.
Take the first step towards building your custom pin button business today! With our expert assistance and tailored solutions, you’ll be on your way to success in no time!
Once you receive an order from your web store, our solutions automatically process the order and assign jobs. This eliminates manual data entry and frees up your time for other tasks as you’ll receive a print-ready file you just need to print them on the buttons.
There are majorly two types of printing methods used in the button business i.e. inkjet printing and laser printing. Each of them has its merits and demerits.
Inkjet Printing:
Inkjet printers are high-resolution. That is mainly based on the type of material the company is using, so make sure to use graphics or presentation paper. This type of ink does not spread or remain thick. The cost of an inkjet printer is affordable, but ink and paper are a bit costly.
The disadvantage is that it is a bit slower than laser printers. You will also need to let the prints dry fully, or else the button will start rusting.
Laser Printing:
For this, Laser Printers is a go-to solution for the printing button business. It is expensive compared to an inkjet printer. The major benefit of having laser printers is that their quality does not depend on the paper, saving you money in the long run. Apart from this, remember to have buttons placed perfectly, or else they will likely fall inside the machine. And this may hamper the overall results of your good design.
You can either invest in any laser printers for your business or partner with any printing business. Make further decisions only depending on your requirements.
Marketing strategies
Taking your business online is not the only thing you need to do once you start, you need to market it to make it well for more sales. There are various marketing strategies for your button-making business. As you are taking your business online, it is important to strengthen your marketing strategies. You can market your business online in multiple ways like influencer marketing, endorsement deals, collaborations with influencers/brands, uploading your products on other sites, social media marketing, and more.
Let’s see some of them in brief:
- Digital marketing:
Digital marketing includes SEO and PPC techniques. SEO is an organic method of ranking your content on Google, whereas PPC is a bidding method of ranking your website. Both have pros and cons. If you are looking for instant growth and rank on Google, then PPC is your answer. However, organic marketing gives you great results in the long run.
Conversely, if you are looking to increase organic traffic to your website, SEO is your solution.
- Social Media Marketing:
Social Media platforms are the perfect place to stay in touch with your customers directly. Here, using different third-party tools, you can promote your business to users. Using the right advertising tools, you can narrow down your users’ searches, understand their needs, and promote targeted customers.
- Collaborating with influencers:
This is the new way companies have started promoting their products. Companies are contacting social media influencers to promote their products and services. This new approach is winning over companies at a much lower cost and helping them target their audience efficiently.
Out of all these marketing strategies, define which one you wish to use, why, and how you can start it. Answering these questions will help you plan and execute your marketing strategies.
Wrapping up:
To start selling pin buttons, it is clear that you need a solid plan and a stellar website with a USP of customization. Not to mention, the market has a huge scope. These pin buttons have been ruling for decades and will continue to do so. Starting to sell buttons online can be challenging, but with the right tech partner, you can.
At PrintXpand, we are helping our clients set up their eStore from scratch and serve their customers better with our product design tool. With over a decade of experience in the industry, we make sure to make your business remarkable among your competitors. Our product designer tool is our flagship product helping businesses to get the best for their customers. We have helped many companies set up their web to print stores from scratch and business successfully. To know more about it, you can get in touch with us and we will guide you throughout the journey!
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