Dr. Don's Buttons buttonsonline.com "Your online source for button parts, and button-making machines."   You can place an order for button parts or any of our button machines using our SECURE ONLINE ORDER PAGE by clicking here or if you prefer, you can us toll-free at (800) 243-8293     If you would like to see just how easy it is to make a photo button using the Model 300 SX and the AC-1 circle cutter, click here to watch a video clip.

Dr. Don's Buttons / buttonsonline.com presents:   If you're not currently making photo buttons, you're missing the boat on a fantastic business opportunity! I say this for three reasons. First of all, making photo buttons is incredibly easy (at least it is if you're making them with our Model 300 SX button machine). To make a photo button with the Model 300 SX, you simply take the photograph, cut it to size with the circle cutter that comes with the Model 300 SX, place the button parts into the machine, pull the handle down twice, and just as fast as that, you have a high-quality photo button! The Model 300 SX allows you to make a photo button, start to finish, in 15-20 seconds! (If you'd like to see a video clip of photo button being made with the Model 300 SX, click here). Second, making photo buttons can be an extremely profitable venture! Photo buttons typically sell for $5.00 or $6.00 each, while the parts you need to make a photo button cost as little as 15 cents each! (In a moment I'll tell you about a 15¢ item you can use to give your photo buttons the look of expensive jewelry. And with the addition of this item, turn the photo buttons you create into something you can easily sell for $5 - $8.00 each). And finally, making photo buttons is a business just about anyone can afford. The Model 300 SX Button-making Kit, which includes everything you need to start your own photo button business, sells for only $429.95. And that includes the cost of shipping by UPS ground! No, that wasn't a typo... only $429.95! These are high quality photo buttons that people are willing to wait weeks for when they order them from a sports photographer or from a photo lab. But with your own photo button machine, you can literally make photo buttons while customers wait! Can you think of any other business where you can make that kind of profit without any specialized training, and do so for an investment of just over $400?   Wondering what types of photographs make good photo buttons? Just about any subject matter that people love in the form of a photograph, they will cherish as a photo button. Here's a good example. A number of years ago, back before ever making my first button, I dated a woman who had two boys, and both boys played soccer. A sports photographer in the area photographed all the players on the team and later offered the parents the opportunity to purchase both photographs and photo buttons. My girlfriend purchased both. She placed the photographs in her photo album but pinned the photo buttons to the visor of her automobile. And then, whenever she was driving to work, she had her boys' smiling faces to help keep her company. What parent or grandparent could resist such a delightful keepsake? They can't... and that's my point!   If you decide to start making photo buttons there are many ways you can market them. You could do as that enterprising photographer did, and take the photographs yourself and turn them into photo buttons... or you could offer your services to photographers, schools, photo labs, print shops, copy centers, booster clubs, day care centers, church groups, etc,. The possibilities are endless. You could even approach photo labs in your area, have them mail you any photographs they'd like made into photo buttons, create the photo buttons, and then mail them back. Or you might take an afternoon each week and make the rounds to the photo labs in your area. If you made a few samples for them right there on the spot, they might be impressed enough to have you come back and do them on a regular basis. (You might even provide a sign that says "Photo Buttons Made Here" to help build their photo button business... and yours! You might even contact photographers in your area and let them know that you make photo buttons. They could then bring you the photographs they want made into photo buttons, you could make them, and you both could earn a profit. Another way to make photo buttons, using today's modern technology , is by using a digital camera to create the photos for your photo buttons... and do so right on the spot! Doing photo buttons in that manner can be very profitable. That's because you don't have to pay for film or for expensive photo processing. And people just love not having to wait for something they want. * * * * * * * * * So what do you need to start making photo buttons? First of all, you will need a good quality button machine. Even though Badge-A-Minit offers an inexpensive 3" button machine, there are plenty of reasons why this machine isn't well suited for the job of making photo buttons. All buttons are created by means of a pressing action... the various button parts are actually pressed together. When working with photo paper, which is considerably thicker and stiffer than the 20-24lb copy paper that is typically used in button-making, both you and your machine will need to be able to generate more crimping power, or the button will not stay together. If you read the operating instructions for any of the Badge-A-Minit machines, you'll discover that they require you to use a "work-around" if you want to make buttons using photo-weight paper. That work-around is to cut the photograph to the size of the "face" of the button, so the machine doesn't have to wrap the photographic material all the way around the button. By doing this, however, you end up with a finished product that is less desireable because your photo image then stops at the edge of the button, instead of making a natural transition around to where the back of the button begins. The silver edge of the side of the button will also show. And you may not be able to "trap" your photo exactly in the center of the button, which would leave your photographic image "off-center". But the Model 300 SX can easily generate the crimping force necessary to make photo buttons using photo-weight paper. That's due to both its design and the fact that the dies of the Model 300 SX are made of solid steel. Steel is much better material for transferring mechanical force than is plastic. That's why carpenters use hammers made of steel -- not plastic, which is exactly what the assembly rings on the inexpensive Badge-A-Minit machines are made of.   The Model 300 SX Button Machine The AC-1 circle cutter The crimping power generated by the Model 300 SX is second to none, so even when you are working with standard photo-weight paper, you never have to resort to the previously described work-around that owners of Badge-A-Minit machines must do for each and every photo button they make. Nor do you or your customers have to settle for inferior-quality photo buttons. The Model 300 SX also works well with standard computer printed materials, such as those you would print from an inkjet or laser printer. As described earlier, the first step in the process of creating a photo button is to cut the photograph into a circle. (Trust me, scissors aren't what you want to use to do the job). The Model 300 SX Button-making Kit comes with the AC-1 circle cutter, which is the BEST hand-held circle cutter on the market today. The AC-1 is a high-quality cutting instrument and is made of steel. It is fully adjustable and can make the necessary cuts for any size button, ranging from 1" to 3-1/2". With the Model 300 SX, the AC-1 circle cutter, and just a little bit of practice, you will be able to make professional-quality photo buttons, from start to finish, in 15-20 seconds! (If you'd like to see a video clip of photo button being made with our Model 300 SX button machine, just click here). The Model 300 SX is versatile. When you have it you can make pin-back buttons, adhesive-back buttons, magnetic-back butons, mirror-back butotns, and key-chain buttons! Earlier I mentioned that I would tell you about a 15¢ item that can give your photo buttons the look of expensive jewelry. That item is called a "Photo Enhancement Ring". Look closely at the photo button I made of my grandmother, Marva, from a photo taken on her 90th birthday, and you can see what a photo enhancement ring looks like. Photo enhancement rings really add an exquisite look to photo buttons! While I spent most of this article talking about making photo buttons, the Model 300 SX also makes "standard" printed buttons. That is, the kind you see used in political campaigns, grocery stores, and restaurants. If you'd like to learn more about making those types of buttons, click here. If you're interested in earning additional income for your family or adding a new profit center to an existing business, there just isn't an easier or less complicated way to do it than by making photo buttons. I hope that I have helped you gain a better understanding of what a great business making photo buttons can be. But if you have any questions, or if you would like to order one of our button machines, please feel free to give me a call.     If you'd like to order now, using our SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM simply click here   We Gladly Accept Purchase Orders from Schools, Hospitals, and Government Agencies     (800) 243-8293 or (623) 869-8233 www.buttonsonline.com Our mailing address is: Dr. Don's Buttons 3906 W. Morrow Drive Glendale, Arizona 85308   drdon@buttonsonline.com