Are you interested in starting a business that combines your love of crafting with the opportunity to make some serious cash?
If so, then you might be surprised to learn that selling custom-made buttons can quickly become an incredibly lucrative and fun career.
Especially, if you have an eye for design and know how to make corporate lingo and branded products pop. You can turn a profit in no time.
Of course, starting your own business takes a lot of dedication and hard work. Above all, however, it takes some seriously great ideas. When you’re ready to start making custom buttons and pins, be sure to read this post.
In it, we’re giving away some of our best and most inspirational ideas for how to make money by making buttons.
1. Design For Companies
This is one of the most effective ways that you can turn your hobby for custom made buttons into a full-fledged business.
By attracting corporate clients and creating promotional products, you can help them to sell a new product or increase their overall brand awareness.
When you’re working with these clients, try and create a design that encourages the people who spot them on employees and brand representatives to ask questions.
For example, instead of just printing the company’s name. Try printing their logo without any accompanying text to pique the interest of people who see it. Or, pick a singular, branded word that best describes the company.
Encourage the employees and team members to take a picture of them all wearing the buttons and upload it to corporate social media accounts. Make sure you also advise that they pick up a few extra hundred of your custom made buttons to send out to clients as gifts.
Remember, your buttons can help to generate tons of branded buzz!
Make that a major selling point when pitching to high-volume clients.
2. Attend A Political Rally
No matter which side you’re on, it’s impossible to deny that there’s been a serious rise in political conversations and activities lately.
And while this might create some serious stress in your personal life, it’s awesome news for your custom made buttons business.
Look up protests, rallies, political meetings, and even speeches given by politicians that are coming up in your area. Then, create buttons with the faces of politicians, logos, phrases, and even colors that you know will appeal to the base.
Then, do as they do and take to the streets!
Walk through the crowds selling your buttons. We know you’ll be surprised by just how quickly you’re able to turn a major profit.
3. Pick A Favorite Phrase
There are lots of custom designers focus on creating custom-made buttons that only show images. You can try to be creative by including text and phrases on your pins.
You can be as sassy as you want to be, or you can pick inspirational quotes from some of your favorite leaders. You can even select a shorter line from popular novels like the Harry Potter series, or a catchphrase from your favorite television show.
Essentially, the sky is the limit when it comes to the phrases you want to put on your buttons!
4. Create Customized Gifts
If you’ve ever had to shop for someone a little bit difficult on your list, you know how much you appreciate a business that makes it easier for you.
However, there are only so many subscription boxes or gift certificates that people can buy before they become old hat.
Luckily, your custom made buttons business is there to save the day.
You can offer to create bespoke pins and buttons that will make the perfect gift for even the pickiest of people. You can also take a lot of the stress of buying a meaningful present for a special someone off of someone who isn’t exactly the word’s biggest romantic.
The wedding/proposal industry will be your best friend here.
Create buttons for bridesmaids to wear during a bachelorette weekend. Make pins that the bride and groom can include in guests’ gift bags that are printed with the wedding date.
You can even create pins for the mother of the bride to rock on the big day.
5. Gravitate Towards Smaller Subcultures
Do you have a hobby that you just can’t seem to get enough of? Are you willing to pay pretty much anything to get your hands on a new product or release relating to it?
Are you into specific scenes, like a Gothic subculture, the punk world, or other alternative lifestyles?
If so (and even if you aren’t) you should definitely be making pins that cater to these people. You might be shocked by just how big of orders people are willing to place to when they see themselves represented (for once!)
This isn’t just about the type of music you listen to or how you dress, however.
It’s also a way for you to show your shop’s support of these subcultures.
For example, you can create gay pride pins around the time of an annual Pride Parade in your town. You can even decide to dedicate a portion of your proceeds from the sales to a gay housing nonprofit or another LGTBQ-friendly cause.
We can guarantee that your good deeds will be reflected in the number of sales you see! Plus, you’ll feel awesome about yourself in the process.
6. Tap Into Fandoms
A favorite television show. A specific actor or celebrity. A musician. An awesome cult movie that makes you smile every time you watch it.
These are all things that often end up having huge fan bases, AKA fandoms. Though they mainly exist on the Internet, trust us when we tell you that these hardcore fans are all too happy to represent what they love about their fashion choices.
You can make buttons with a celebrity’s face on it. You can print buttons with a line from a science fiction TV show. You can even select song lyrics or drawings that only people within the fandom will recognize.
7. Make “Ask Me Now” Pins
Another awesome idea for custom made buttons that also act as conversation starters?
Buttons that encourage others to ask the person wearing them a certain question. This is great for both corporate clients, as well as funny icebreakers or even celebrations.
For example, let’s say a person is working independently, selling natural weight loss supplements to clients. You could offer to create custom-made buttons for them that say something like, “I lost 40 pounds without changing my diet. Ask me how I did it!”
Or, if you want to do a more tongue-in-cheek option, you could create a button for a party reading, “It’s my birthday!” Ask me how old I am!”
If you’re interested in selling multiple buttons at once, you could even create an icebreaker kit of different questions. Each guest will have a custom made button printed with a different question.
Then, everyone will go around playing “getting to know you” games and answering the questions on one another’s buttons until the party is in full swing!
8. Create Other Small SWAG Products
Once you’ve started getting the hang of creating custom-made buttons?
It’s time to start thinking about all the ways you could potentially expand your business!
Especially if you’re interested in creating products for corporate clients, we suggest leaning into the exciting — and lucrative — world of promotional products.
In addition to designing buttons that advertise upcoming sales or show off a company’s logo or brand name? You can also start creating custom tee-shirts, fridge magnet buttons, and even water bottles and hair clips.
Other popular promotional products include mouse pads, pens, clipboards, tote bags, and even hats and visors. Especially when the companies you’ve built relationships see the overall quality of the custom made buttons you’ve created?
We can guarantee that they’ll want to order more products from you — and they may even pass your name onto other companies who also need pins, buttons, and more.
Ready To Make More Money Selling Custom Made Buttons?
We hope that this post has given you some serious inspiration when it comes to the best ways to create custom-made buttons.
We’ve tried to include ideas that appeal to as wide of a market as possible. From the tiniest fandoms with a surprising amount of cash to big political movements, you have a lot to work with!
Of course, it will take time to grow your button business into the titan of the industry we know it can be!
Are you looking for more awesome business advice? Need more ideas about how to bring a little creativity into the corporate world?
We’ve got you covered.
Check out our website for access to the best in life and business hacks, and watch your profits and productivity soar.