Color Buttons
Yourself...
one
of the best ways I know of
to make money with buttons.
I'm
always on the lookout for unique button-making ideas to share
with our customers that will help them turn button-making into
profitable, money-making ventures.
This
morning I came up with an idea and I feel that this one could
end up being one of the best ideas I've ever had.
While
enjoying my morning bagel, I remembered a story my parents had
told me about an enterprising button-maker who set up a table
outside the San Diego Zoo.
At
his table, this gentleman had a number of different rubber stamps
and different colored inks, as well as a stack of blank, pre-cut
background papers.
His
customers, who were lined up patiently awaiting their turn, were
able to create their own colorful designs using the background
papers and the rubber stamps he supplied. And when his customers
were finished customizing their designs, the gentleman then made
a button using the designs they themselves had created.
If
memory serves me, my parents said he sold his buttons for $1.00
each.
I
liked the concept, but wondered about the practicality of using
rubber stamps to create artwork for buttons.
Then
it struck me!
If
someone wanted to earn money making buttons, they could do as
this gentlemen had done and set up a table at fairs, or flea
markets, or carnivals, or school functions, or church socials,
or in a mall, or... wherever children and their parents happen
to be.
But
instead of (or in addition to) using rubber stamps to create
the artwork for the buttons, why not have pre-printed black and
white images on the table and allow your customers to use crayons,
colored pencils, or colored markers to color their own designs?
Are
you still with me? I hope so, because it gets better!
I've
always felt, and I'm sure that those of you who already do buttons,
recognize, that there is something magical about making a button.
People who haven't seen buttons being made before are mystified
by watching it take place before their eyes.
But
what if they could actually make the button themselves?
Wow!
You get the idea!!
If
you have purchased one of our machines (the Model 225 or Model 300SX, you already know
how easy they are to use (easy enough that most eight year olds
can operate them). So why not allow the kids (who are old enough)
and their parents make the buttons themselves?
There
are lots of things that get me excited about this concept:
The
kids (and their parents) get to color their own designs and even
make their own buttons.
The
cost of the designs they are coloring would cost well under a
penny a piece.
The
limit to how many people you could actually serve at the same
time is limited only by the size of your table, or the number
of colored markers you have available.
And
if you sell the buttons for $1.00 each, your profit would be
about 88¢ per button.
Making
buttons in this fashion, how many could you actually produce
in an hour's time?
One
hundred?
One
hundred and fifty?
Two
hundred?
I
don't know the answer, but even if you were only able to made
fifty buttons an hour, your profit (using this scenario) would
still work out to be $44.00 an hour!
Last
night I created a number of different black and white button
designs (two of which are shown above) that I will be happy to
share with you.
The
designs are scaled to the correct size and have a cutting circle
guide around them, so all you need to do is make as many photocopies
as you feel you'll need from the Master Design sheets that we
send you.
If
you run out of designs, just make more copies.
It's
as simple as that!
This
concept works especially well prior to most holidays or during
any special event.
I
would be interested in hearing from any of you who give this
idea a try. If you would, you could even share your experiences,
as to what seems to work best and what doesn't seem to work as
well.
Thanks,
good luck, and happy button-making to you!
Sincerely,
Dr.
Don
