If you want to start a metal stamping business then this is the video for you.
I'm sharing a how to stand out in a competitive market where you can source your materials
and the challenges you need to watch out for. Hi,
my name is Mei Pak.
And I help makers artists
and designers make a consistent income from selling their handmade products online.
So today I'm going to talk about how to get your metal stamping business started
metal stamping is the art of imprinting pre-made letters
or designs called stamps onto a piece of metal using a hammer.
You can definitely get so creative with this
but primarily metal stamping is used to make jewelry or small keepsake items.
So there are a lot Advantages to a metal stamping business and here's why you want to start one.
What I love most about metal stamping is that it's a great craft to get into of your creative,
but don't have what I would call “traditional artistic skills” like drawing
or illustrating or painting like with me.
I cannot draw to save my life.
Okay, and with so many stamps available you have unlimited options for your designs.
And of course, if you'd like to go this route, you can have custom metal stamps design.
For you which would increase your design possibilities even more now,
if you're looking to learn metal stamping techniques Beaducation.
It has a great playlist that will give you a ton of information.
So personalization is also a huge draw
for people and metal stamping is a great way to offer customers a personalized product without
having to design an item totally from scratch every single time.
For example stamping the name Alex on a bracelet takes the same amount of time
as The name Jean and yet those two customers would be equally delighted by their personalized items.
So if you compare this to creating a custom dress design or a personalized portrait,
which can take dozens of hours to make then it is pretty clear
that metal stamping is not only fast to
do but also appeals to people's love and the trend of personalized products.
So there are a lot of ticked checkboxes here that a metal stamping business has
While there are a lot of great advantages you also have some challenges to look
out for the biggest challenge was starting a metal stamping
business is The Upfront cost of your tools
and materials to do metal stamping at a professional quality level.
You need at minimum a set of metal stamps specifically designed Hammer bench blocks and hole punch.
However, your business likely won't be successful.
If you just had one font and one decorative stamp,
right so you can expect to invest in a Kinds of library of stamps
as your testing out different styles,
which can quickly add up. I absolutely love this video from make
it Kate who is a metal stamper in this video.
She tells you everything she's learned about selecting tools
and what she wishes she had known when she got started.
So you'll definitely want to watch this if you're serious about getting started the key takeaways
though from Kate is that it's essential to invest in quality tools
or a holster metal stamping results will look sloppy and you ooh also waste a lot of raw material.
So waist is a huge challenge for metal stamping.
Like if you're stamping the bracelet with the saying not all who wander are lost
and you miss stamp the S now the whole bracelets wrecked and you can't use it.
This is different from a craft like knitting where you can just unraveled last few stitches.
So developing your Technique
and aiming for a Flawless execution is going to be crucial the last challenge I want to
mention is that metal stamping is a Crowded Marketplace.
So it's going to be crucial that you distinguish yourself from your competitors,
which this video will help you do now let's talk about the
products that you're going to stop in your shop.
Now remember that you need to make sure that your shop is offering
products that people are excited about buying otherwise,
you won't make a lot of sales and in a crowded space like metal stamping.
It's essential that your shop has a direction
and a focus that resonates with people
and this should be unique to you
and your shop so you've got to take Take some time here to figure this out.
Okay, you can start by thinking about the
tools and materials that you're most attracted to working with does creating custom ring dishes
as bridal party gifts appeal to you
or maybe having a limited number of stamps
and making dog tags is a product line that you're personally drawn
to or inspirational bracelets for people that want to live a healthy lifestyle.
This is where the real research and Discovery work happens.
So get on Etsy and check out what They're metal stamping shops are offering now.
I'm not advocating for you to copy other people's work.
Okay, this is just research to see what is trending right now.
And what people are excited about you want to look not only at other metal stampers,
but also look at what's trending more generally.
Are you seeing a lot of dog collars then maybe that bolsters your confidence in making dog tags,
right? Are you seeing lots of Knitters purchasing custom wooden tags for their finished products?
Well, then maybe you could stand out by offering in a metal version etsy's my go-to
for doing this kind of research because so much of the information is public next.
You need to think about what kind of Special Sauce you can add to
your pots to really make them stand out.
Like do you offer amazing gift wrapping
or maybe all of your products have a steampunk theme to them or maybe every piece of jewelry.
You create has heart shaped hole punches,
you know, it doesn't have to be some new invention that no one else is doing.
It just needs to be your own unique spin to it.
So you don't have to get too complicated with this.
Okay. Remember simple is best next.
I want to talk about pricing for the nitty-gritty on how to price your products.
You'll want to check out my pricing video right here.
But one of the things that you need to consider with this type of business is how much time it
takes you to make the whole product including adding on chains
and polishing and not just the stamping time.
Okay. I see too many business owners not factoring this in which leads them to undercharging
for their products.
Another important factor is what the market can bear.
So the way that you can find this out is by hopping back onto Etsy
and figuring out what other shops are charging
for products that are similar to yours the more specific that you can get here the better
but just keep in mind as you're doing NC research most shops on Etsy are undercharging.
So take what you see with a grain of salt
and if you've done your research
or maybe even experiment in your own shop
and you suspect You won't be able to sell your basic bracelets
for the money that you need to make it worth it.
Then it might be time to go back to the drawing board and brainstorm new product options.
Okay, so let's move on to supplies.
So I see a lot of businesses buying their supplies at retail prices,
which means they go to the craft store
and buy their supplies at the same price everyone else pays
or waiting until a big box store has a discount coupon before you buy your new fond of it stamps.
This is a very hard way to run a successful business
when you purchase an item from a retail store like Michaels
or Joanne's you're usually paying 50% more than you would if you purchase them at wholesale
or bulk prices.
So if you're purchasing a significant quantities of metal blanks
and chains you should be able to purchase it wholesale to save a lot of money
impress art is a leader in metal stamping supplies,
and they have an artisan program which gives you discounts.
Depending on the quantity you purchase so for large quantities,
it is worth trying to get as close to the source as possible.
Ali Baba is the site that allows you to connect directly to factories in China,
which allows you to purchase large quantities of materials,
like chains and findings at very low prices,
but be aware though that they aren't always truthful about the metal content of the pieces
and you will need to order very large quantities to make it work
for you and I think it's important to mention.
- quality here your supply chain is the starting point of everything.
You'll make you'll find that the cost difference between a run-of-the-mill blank
and a really standout unique one aren't too far apart in price in smaller quantities
and a customer might happily pay more for a distinctive piece of jewelry.
And you're doing the same stamping work
for each so think carefully about your quality and the pricing When selecting your supplies,
you may find that the path that works best for you is Finding the lowest price materials,
but you might had to add see
and purchase blanks from another small business that gives your
business that special sauce that it's looking for.
Okay. So now that you have the supply chain in line,
it's time to start thinking about marketing your business.
If you want to hear me go on forever about how much more awesome your own website is compared to
Etsy then you'll want to pop over to this video right here,
but in short Etsy is fine and can even be a good place to start if you don't care.
Are to ever make your business a full-time income,
but you should have your sights set on launching your own site.
If you want it to financially support you you also want to make sure that you have a collection of
product photos that you can use in your marketing materials.
Don't forget to include some lifestyle photos that show your products in a
real-world setting like someone wearing your necklace
or your trinket dish sitting on a coffee table
because these photos are great for social media and they also help the customer picture.
Item in real life in their real life.
If you're struggling over your logo head on over to somewhere like creative Market
or Fiber on these sites.
You can get either a template to use yourself
or have someone else use a template to make you a logo
and they're surprisingly custom looking and usually modern and on Trend.
I actually have a video here where I've tested out several different fiber logo designers
so you can check out the results and what you might get by working with a fiber.
Designer now once you have all of that set up it's time to start marketing your business.
So influencer marketing and media outreach is especially effective
when it comes to Lifestyle products like Jewelry and Gifts and accessories.
It's one thing right to see a picture of a nice necklace
but it's a whole other thing to see that necklace on a person you admire
or look up to or displayed on the pages of a magazine that you love reading if you
can get someone who has a really big audience I'm
and I'm I'm like tens of thousands
and upwards of people to wear
and promote your products on a platform like Instagram
or YouTube or on their own website chances are high that their
followers will become your loyal customers
as well.
But how you get influencers and movers and shakers to work with you for free,
especially when you're just starting out right and don't you have to pay money to get featured?
Well, that's why I suggest working with micro influencers
or just be very very specific
and be very highly targeted with influencers that you reach out to
so micro influencers are people who have only a few thousand
but very highly engaged followers
and they're still on the rise or they're people who have huge audiences,
but who don't get pitched jewelry very often.
So influencers are always looking
for interesting content ideas for Their audience and cool products to share with their followers,
right? So by sending them a free product,
you know, they'll love and I think them with like an exclusive discount coupon.
They can share with their fans. You're actually giving them valuable content
for Their audience which in turn allows them to grow.
So sure you'll need to cover the cost of making and shipping them your jewelry or your gift item.
But even if a single person buys your product you have made your money back.
Also, don't forget that influencers are friends with other influencers.
So getting your products out, there is always going to be better
than just keeping your products at home where
no one's going to see It that's how I got my jewelry on the TV show Parks
and Recreation where Amy Poehler wore one of my necklaces
it was because my jewelry was featured on a small bloggers website.
I didn't even know that that happened
and the wardrobe stylist of the TV show happened to be a reader of that site
and found my work on there.
So you could end up on bigger influencers Radars just from
the mere act of putting yourself out there
and it is totally a myth that you have to pay to play.
I've gotten featured in dozens of influencers
and blogs websites and magazines
and YouTube channels and they've only ever
paid for it once influencer and media outreach is so powerful.
It's how I started and established a consistent income for all of my businesses.
If you want to learn more about how to do this.
I have a free Workshop you can watch that. I'll link in the description box below this video.
I'll show you how I send my emails to influencers what I say and that entire process.