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What do you use to make the buttons?
I use a hand press, and some really nice quality parts
(I was actually surprised the first time they arrived, they look like store-bought pins), and for paper I use bright white
HP paper (which prints really nice, especially compared to ordinary everyday paper). I also print off of an HP printer.
All orders are sent out in bubble mailers, except for orders over 500. Those are usually boxed.
Do
alot of people place orders that big??
Most orders are for 50, 100 and 250, but I've have a couple of 1,000-pin
orders, and a handful of 500-pin orders.
I would imagine it takes a "one-person assembly line" a long
time to complete an order that big.
Actually, I've done up to five 100-pin orders in a day, and the 1,000-pin
orders take about 2 days to press. Usually my turnaround rate is 1-2 days on anything under 1,000 pins (and that's from
the time I receive the payment to the time I drop the order off at the post office).
I'm one person, but I also started
this business because I'm gonna be a mom in a few weeks, so I wanted to start something that I can do from home. So
this is pretty much the perfect job for me, it's not something I do on the side whenever I get the time, it's what I do to
pay the bills, and I'm pretty fast with the orders!
So, if people want their logo put onto pins, how would
they go about that? Do they have to use a template, or can they send you their existing logo (say in a square-shaped format)
and you do the trimming yourself?
I can do it either way. I have a template that I can send out
if someone wants to do it themselves, but I also will make the template for people at no cost, since there are a lot of bands
out there that either dont have a program like Photoshop to work on, or maybe they just aren't very good with computers.
And since I know how to do it easily, it's no problem [for me] to help out, plus I really like working with Photoshop and
things like that. I went to art school for two years, and it's always been my thing, so it's actually fun for me to
do! So I have no problem with it.
Let's say the amount of orders starts getting a little too much to handle, are you considering maybe hiring on a few more
people to share the work load? Or is this strictly your company and yours alone?
Well, probably not.
If things got really out of control, I would probably just have my boyfriend or my sister work with me. I wouldn't really
be able to "hire" people because I barely make enough money as it is, I wouldn't be able to afford to pay other people, haha.
Any plans on maybe branching out to things other than pins, say maybe patches, or T-shirts?
Actually, I have thought about making stickers, but right now I don't have the money to buy the equipment I would need.
But that's what people ask the most, if I do stickers too.
Also I get a lot of people who ask about shirts, but with
the amount of time it takes to press pins, I wouldn't have time to screen shirts too. But there is a screener from the
same town as me in Lorain, OH, and he also works off of MySpace, and he does some great shirts, so I usually just recommend
everyone to him. His link is http://www.myspace.com/gottaeatartdept.
Okay, now I know it's on your page (most of this stuff is), but if bands want
to get in touch with you, or send you their logo, etc., where and how do they do that?
All the art can be sent
to pinsbyerin@yahoo.com, or you can request a template at either my MySpace (www.myspace.com/factorykidbuttons) or at [the same email address]. Either way, I check the emails regularly.
Any last words?
Hmm, last words... All I can say is that I really like working with different bands and companies, and helping
them come up with some merch that can help them along the way. So hooray for buttons!!
Thanks,
Erin. I hope this introduces more people to your company. DIY!!!
--Sam Sinister
 
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