Whether you’re a jewelry maker, bath bomb enthusiast, artist, or any other kind of handmade seller imaginable, it’s no secret that finding new ways to market and diversify your brand keeps your shop relevant and profitable each and every year. In fact, this is exactly what the Handmade Seller magazine is all about; helping brands expand and think outside of the box to earn their well-deserved spot in the entrepreneurial limelight.
Finding new and unique ways to stand out such as pyrography is our way of helping handmade sellers achieve their goals and push beyond their limits as brands and creatives. This is why we’ve compiled twelve of the most unique and effective ways to incorporate various forms of pyrography into shop branding and packaging below. With these new and exciting ideas, there’s no doubt that your brand will stand out in the crowd and make a lasting impression moving forward.
1. Wood Tags & Branding Iron Tags
Although it may seem incredibly involved at first glance, creating your own branding iron is actually relatively easy and will allow you to make your own wood-burned and branded tags for any of your products. This adds a whole new meaning to custom and bespoke and sets your brand apart from the rest that either don’t have branding at all or rely on printed tags and fliers for promotional use.
If your logo is simple, you can even make your own branding iron to stamp on each tag! To get started, simply check out this guide to making your own branding iron on MakeZine today.
2. Thank You Tokens
Serving as yet another unique and highly impactful way to thank your customers while spending very little on supplies, thank you tokens can be roughly the size of a quarter, come attached to any of your print materials for shipping, and simply show your clients that you care. Above is an example of a thank you token ‘attached’ to a packaging postcard showing the size of these wooden tokens and their simplicity as well. You can easily make these on your own using a soldering iron and can even get a ‘Thank You’ branding iron done as discussed above for rapid production likewise. To get the tokens themselves, simply turn to Amazon where 100 of these heart-shaped tokens are only $9.99.
3. Personalized Key Chains
Personalized keychains are yet another incredibly cheap way to create extra income for your shop and also gain clients you may not have attracted otherwise. To make your own keychains, you can absolutely use a laser cutting machine for precision like the keychains shown above use. However, even the simplest of keychains can easily sell when they are custom-made or follow trends that are popular at the moment. For instance, when Bernie Sanders wore his iconic mittens to the inauguration in January, there were all kinds of custom pieces of merch that popped up online ranging from shirts and similar mittens all the way to postcards, wrapping paper, and of course, keychains as well (Amazon has 10 blank keychains for $9.99).
This is why it is highly important when offering simplistic custom products like keychains that you pay attention to the latest trends online. After all, while these small products may not make you a millionaire, they help your shop get seen by individuals that may not have seen what you offer otherwise and function as a great marketing tactic.
4. Custom Engravings on Products
This option is great for handmade sellers already making wood products like bowls, cutting boards, furniture, or jewelry boxes. Being able to offer custom engravings such as initials, quotes, small designs, or astrological signs makes your products even more unique and also helps your clients to feel particularly special. Specific engravings like astrological signs also help you show up in more Etsy searches.
The best way to do these custom engravings is to either stick with the traditional iron or to invest in a more professional wood burning tool such as a Razertip that comes with all the accessories you need to engrave anything.
5. Branded SWAG
As we previously discussed in our article, How To Send Samples and Get More Press for Your Etsy Shop, being able to stand out in a giant online marketplace like Etsy is essential to the success of any handmade seller. Branding all of your products increases brand-recognition, helping your customers to always remember who you are, what you sell, and keep them coming back for more. For your branded SWAG, you can choose to burn your logo onto wooden sunglasses or wooden business cards like the ones below. No matter what you choose, these awesome pieces of branded advertising are sure to impress and gain publicity for your shop in no time.
6. Wooded Business Cards
According to Adobe, “about 80% of all the business cards that are passed out are thrown away within the first week.” This has less to do with the business itself and far more to do with the lack of appeal of the card, however. So, what does this mean for handmade sellers specifically? Well, it’s simple—your business card’s design could quite literally help you not just gain, but retain clients if done in a unique and effective manner.
This is where wood-burned business cards come into play. As shown below by Cards of Wood, all designs and wood types are available and you don’t even have to do it yourself. While you can always get a branding iron and do it on your own, there are countless companies out there that offer these cards in bulk with all kinds of design options and color choices for actual print elements as well. Not to mention the fact that, with a wooden business card that’s just as unique and handmade as your products, you are sure to acquire more interest and longer card retention from events.
7. Low Cost, High Return Products
Although the terminology of ‘low-cost, high returns’ is mostly used in financial investments, you must start thinking of your business and your products in the same way if you want to see actual results from your efforts. For example, you can use materials found in your own backyard to engrave designs on and sell them.
8. Engraved QR Codes to Your Online Shop
QR codes are a great way for Etsy sellers to quickly take people directly to their shops. Trying to direct people to your Etsy shop can be difficult since the URL is long, but with a QR code, you can send them right to your products. Here’s an awesome QR code engraving tutorial can help you do it yourself, or you can add a QR code to the wooden business cards that you order!
9. Birthday & Astrology Signs
One of the first things any handmade seller should ask their clients is when their birthday is. The reason for this is that it gives you the chance to send them a custom birthday newsletter with a birthday discount inside, allows you to send them direct mail around their birthday, and also gives you the chance to send these clever little tokens in your packaging, too.
These tokens are a great way to show your clients that you care about them personally and also encourage them to purchase from you again as well. It may not seem like much, but these small additions make a big impact on your customer retention rates. Or, you can sell these on Etsy!
10. Event Signage
Whether you’re headed to a local event, bazaar, or business convention, being able to stand out in the crowd is crucial. For less established handmade sellers shops, the difference signage alone could make for consumer intrigue is immense. According to GDS Architectural Signage Solutions, about 68% of consumers believe that a business’ signage reflects the quality of their products, 67% of consumers said they purchased a business’ products because a sign caught their eye, and almost 60% of businesses reported that changing or enhancing their signage had a positive impact on sales, number of transitions, and profits. Pyrography is a great way to create your own sign without having to invest hundreds in ordering a custom one!
