Making Laser Products and Profit At the Same Time

[@stuartwalsh4974]

Thanks Steve. A really rational video offering great advice, as usual. One recurring problem with Etsy is that every time people see your product (even if you have spent time and money getting them to find you and your store), they are automatically shown your competition's products too. It's like being at a trade fair with 100 other stalls selling the same product. It is in people's nature to scroll... it only takes one click before you have lost them as they fall down the scrolling 'rabbit hole'. People should find ways to only show their products to their customers. The customer buys or they don't... you can do something about that. Fighting for business against the (often more experienced and better funded) competition is a waste of your energy. PS please relist the garden stake video, I think there will be more interest this time around.

[@SteveMakesEverything]

I agree with your Etsy assessment. If you are trying to get your business up and running it can be a huge distraction. As it turns out, I didn’t remove the garden stake video. You can find it here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ep65ZqenjJWhq80

[@owatagi]

You were right,you kinda rambled, however, your rambling benefited me more than anything else I’ve seen. I’ve had a heck of a time trying to sell my ideas but have bombed. You gave me some great ideas. Thanks.

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Glad it was helpful and sorry for rambling 😁. This is usually the kind of topic where someone will drop into my shop and we’ll sit down with a coffee and hit a ton of random points on the subject.

[@annaluzania5568]

I'm so curious about your garden stake video. Will you ever post it again? I'd love to see it. :)

[@SteveMakesEverything]

It’s our there. DRESS UP YOUR GARDEN TODAY // Make Garden Markers kzbin.info/www/bejne/ep65ZqenjJWhq80

[@landonplays1379]

Love the video, and I am thinking about starting a small laser cutting business' with a couple friends. Do you have any budget friendly recommendations for a 10w diode laser? Thanks

[@SteveMakesEverything]

There are many great 10W lasers. Check out the Longer Ray 5 or xTool D1Pro, but look at any of the lasers I have reviewed. Personally, I would recommend a 20W rather than a 10W, though. A 20W is a better balance between engraving and cutting, and you can usually find them for under $600. It will cost a couple hundred dollars more, but you will thank me later.

[@GrandmawsWorkshop]

love the ideas. Just need a machine now to make them.

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Participate in the laser giveaway I’m having and maybe you can get a laser 😁

[@e-villekings4789]

Thank you for making this video. I'm very new to this and appreciate your knowledge!

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Thanks. Hope it was helpful.

[@tymbarkoholik]

Your right Steve. On ETSY most of items have dumped prices. If calculate, amount of work to make those items is cheap priced. But lot of items are also overpriced - we need to find the sweet spot;)

[@SteveMakesEverything]

I agree for sure

[@rightpassage]

ALL your videos are VERY informative! I created a biz tips playlist. The video idea I would like your advice on is what projects to start living in a small apartment using a D1 Pro 2-in-1? I have no garage or extra space, yet. LOVE the shirt! 😁 PS Good answers!

[@SteveMakesEverything]

A few people have asked about doing laser work in an apartment. With a diode laser it’s certainly possible. Let me think about it.

[@TimRWhite]

I am planning to purchase a xTool D1, and garden stakes is the first item I thought of. There are a lot of flower and garden shops in the area.

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Keep in mind that a diode laser will only be able to cut darker colors of acrylic

[@TimRWhite]

@@SteveMakesEverything Yes I am keeping that in mind. Planning to work most with wood to start. To see how everything goes and I am learning. You see I sent almost 22 years in the military then work As a Industrial Maintenance Technician for many years after that. I am now just looking for something that I can enjoy and maybe make a little extra money. If everything works out would like to get a Thunder Laser 35 with the 100W tube.

[@SteveMakesEverything]

@@TimRWhite The Thunder is a fine laser and you won't regret the 100W of power

[@Geekspeak1270]

Having multiple products in a niche, also shows proof that there is a market . Q:Who’s buying slate coaster ? A: a shit ton of people . Not saying it’s the best business idea . But at the very least you know there is a market for this product. Great vid! Thanks 🙏.

[@SteveMakesEverything]

I am astounded by how many people make coasters (and hence how many are sold). Hard to make money on them though.

[@robc4277]

We really appreciate and enjoy watching your videos. So much information. I noticed that you mentioned you're in Canada. Could you do a video about materiel suppliers in Canada?

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Not much content for a video, but I usually buy things like Acrylic and 3mm plywoods from Trotec Canada (www.engraving-supplies.ca). For materials like plywoods, your local hardwood store is your friend. For more obscure materials, such as leather, stop in to a local shoe repair place - they usually have lots of scraps that they will often give you for free.

[@Obsidian456]

Great video thank you. My etsy store sells a couple of things a week (on a good week), so it's really not sustainable as a living wage. I also have a website but that doesn't see much action either. I think your right and I've been thinking about approaching businesses and seeing if they want anything making. I think that business's would also be better to deal with than the general public who seem to want everything for nothing and only buy one thing at a time generally. Your video has inspired me to take your approach though so thank you.

[@SteveMakesEverything]

If you choose to focus on business customers you gain a huge advantage in that your customers can be local, so you can start building actual customer relationships. You do need to work a bit harder on your marketing plans but that’s the subject for another video

[@numbaeight]

Very good advice @steve thanx 👏👏

[@SteveMakesEverything]

My pleasure!

[@illmerica322]

Hey Steve not sure if you'll see this but have you ever tried free sample cold calling... Just sending companies samples. With a small message and contact information? If not what are your thoughts if you have did it work?

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Anything you think might work for your business is worth a try. I haven’t done this myself because I generally don’t build things in volume. Almost everything I do is custom, so cold calling really wouldn’t work for me, but if you are making something like engraved hotel room key tags or mugs with someone’s logo, then sending a sample might work to drum up some business. I wouldn’t expect more than a 2-3% hit rate on these though.

[@imagineengine]

Thanks for making this video and I too have an Etsy shop and get so frustrated with it. I feel like everyone is so desperate to make sales on there they are practically giving their stuff away. I honestly don't see how some are making any money at all or very very little. I love to make personalized stuff but find it hard because you can only waste so much product making sample pieces with random names because it gets expensive. And if you make up a bunch of Smith, Jones, or Brown signs such as monogram plaques we'll say, then if someone doesn't come along with those last names then your stuck with them. So how does one go about making personalized stuff to advertise with or use as samples without having to invest in a lot of material that can't be sold?

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Hmm, this is a great comment, and sounds like a great topic for a new business video. I'll definitely put this on my list and get to it ASAP. Regarding your specific question, though, if you carefully examine photos of personalized items on Etsy, you will notice that the engraving often doesn't look quite right. This is because they are typically using Photoshop or some other image editor to doctor photos to apply personalization.

[@imagineengine]

@@SteveMakesEverything Thanks for responding Steve. I did not know they photoshopped personalization but I was actually talking about like when setting up at an event. I recently did this and had a monogramed plaque, and some monogramed coasters of my own monogram that I took for display purposes to show what I could do. I was hoping to get some orders to personalize some stuff but did not. I was thinking I needed some more examples but was reluctant to make up a bunch of stuff and tie my money up in items I probably would never sell unless I ran across someone with the names I had applied to the item.

[@SteveMakesEverything]

@@imagineengine This is really the cost of doing business if you do craft shows unfortunately. You need to be able to show people what you can do.

[@jackhelm9852]

I would really love to see your plant stake video. I have looked at doing something like it but was not sure how the best was to treat or finish the stake to survive the elements. If you have not already put it back up, please do.

[@SteveMakesEverything]

It’s in the backlog. I posted a link in another comment here, but you can just look through my videos and find it too

[@pipjarvis9776]

Good video Steve thanks

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Thanks!

[@chrismonson3581]

I like the idea of etching glasses for wineries, bars, etc. What is a reasonable fee if they provide the glasses? Have to make it worth while to do but also can’t be very high if they are going to have you do dozens of glasses.

[@SteveMakesEverything]

That's probably a regional question and would also depend a lot on the volume. Obviously someone who wants 500 glasses/month gets a better deal than someone buying 100/year. Basically determine how long it takes to engrave a single glass (including setup and clean-up) and charge what you want to earn on an hourly basis. As long as you are profitable then you're on the right path. Note that to get the initial business you may want/need to take a slight loss until your customer is convinced you are the person they want to commit to. Finally, you might want to convince the customer that you can supply the glass, especially if you have multiple customers. You can probably get a deal since you'll be buying a lot more than any single customer.

[@dougcharles5004]

Your art is what sells the laser just another medium

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Agreed, though I don’t consider myself an artist. I’m more functional than artistic I think

[@dougcharles5004]

@@SteveMakesEverything yes but art is a veritable, you might look at my art and totally not like it but there’s those that do. You have to discover your artistic ability and work to perfect it, everyone has some level of artistic skill. I’m looking at laser engraving and trying to make up my mind, I like your Chanel it’s informative and easy to understand.

[@SteveMakesEverything]

@@dougcharles5004 Thanks! Maybe (hopefully) my art lies in creating understanding 😀

[@dougcharles5004]

@@SteveMakesEverything I think you are doing very good job 👍

[@SteveMakesEverything]

@@dougcharles5004 Thanks!😀

[@Parksmith-]

Excellent video! Thanks

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Thanks! Hope it helps.

[@chrisciraldo4935]

Steve can you make a material video for the longer b1 I’m struggling to find power and speed settings that work I. Wasted so much material running test and seem like I’m going backwards

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Which material?

[@chrisciraldo4935]

@@SteveMakesEverything I’m struggling hard with bamboo with the longer B1 its almost to powerful where it engraved in instead of a dark top layer burn best I can get is a brown color where my other laser made it black but it was only a 5w with 1.6w output so i understand I had a toy and now own a tool

[@SteveMakesEverything]

@@chrisciraldo4935 Hopefully my next video will help with this.

[@christianp3674]

“Signs, signs, everywhere signs!”

[@SteveMakesEverything]

😀

[@Terry_Genereaux]

We just had a craft show and I made 4 set of 16 garden stakes and sold 2 and a lot of great comments…

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Nice. They are seasonal, but people seem to like them. Try to get them into a garden center - they seem to be an impulse buy item

[@NLGeebee]

Great motto on you shirt 😂 I see two problems with making money. Firstly when you think you have a good idea to make something, in the global marketplace someone else probably had had the same idea before you. So you have to have a really great idea and be one of the the first to make actual money. On the positive side: this also works with problems you encounter: somebody else probable made a video about it. So blaming the market for not making any money is ignorant. Your product, or marketing strategy, is just not as good as you think it is. Secondly the amount of time it takes. Mass production on a 40W laser in your cave will probably not be a viable way to go, so the answer is personalization. You see that on Etsy. And, like you stated, that takes even more extra time. So basically what goes for production, also goes for selling. Mass is not the option, personalization is. Don’t make something and wait for customers to find you, find clients and find out what you can make for them.

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Exactly! Product personalization is something people will pay for. But a world where you can build something and people will just show up to buy it, doesn't exist - this requires some serious marketing effort. You touch on an interesting point that I've also been thinking about: Some KZbin videos will convince you that just owning a laser is enough to garner lots of money (and I have probably been unintentionally guilty of this as well) . I've been thinking of doing a video to refute this a bit by discussing some of the additional tools I have that help diversify my product work a bit. After all a woodworker who owns only a saw isn't going to make a living wage - same for any of us who just own a laser. I think there is a place for mass-market efforts, but it is easier to focus on building a brand first, and then leverage that to sell in volume.

[@gameonuk9169]

Awesome and insightful, Some great tips thankyou Steve. If you don't mind may I ask you about etching glasses, beer glasses etc. Just recently got a rotation tool and looking forward to using it but I'm stumped alittle on how you do beer glasses etc with handles. Any insight would be massively appreciated, and if you've covered this already, I apologise, just point me in the right direction. Thanks again Steve. 👌👍

[@SteveMakesEverything]

If you want to engrave glasses with handles you will realistically need a rotary with a chuck rather than rollers

[@gameonuk9169]

@@SteveMakesEverything yep that's what I have, just struggling to know how to put a design where I want it taking the handle into consideration. I'm probably being dumb Steve and missing something. But truly value your opinion. Thanks Steve. 👍👍

[@SteveMakesEverything]

@@gameonuk9169 Well mugs usually have the graphic facing away from you when the mug is held in your right hand , so you want the sight line to be parallel to the handle, If you want to support we left-handers you can of course put your logo on both side of the mugs.

[@gameonuk9169]

@@SteveMakesEverything thanks Steve, appreciate it, I am actually ambidextrous, I mess up stuff with both hands. But seriously I would love to see a video on the way you do glasses with handles. If that's something you may consider one day I'll be taking a front seat. Thanks again Steve. Awesome as always. 👌👍

[@SteveMakesEverything]

@@gameonuk9169 As it happens I think I'm going to do another rotary video so maybe I can work this in

[@jf6720]

Garden stakes sounds like a great idea! Do you put some kind of finish on them to weatherproof them or are they just disposable each year?

[@SteveMakesEverything]

I make most of mine out of acrylic so they will last for a few years at least. Wooden stake will be cheaper but will either last for a year or require some additional finish if you want them to last. A good marine-type lacquer will give stake extended life.

[@MarkManSC]

@@SteveMakesEverything Thanks for this video. Acrylic isn't cheap so how do you price it to make it worth your time? It seems like it would be a lot of engraving and cut time when considering the number of finished pieces.

[@SteveMakesEverything]

@@MarkManSC This is an excellent question and I've been planning to do a business video to elaborate more on pricing, but ironically business has been getting in the way. But here's the gist... For the acrylic, I bill by the square inch, which in this case works out to about $0.20 per stake. I cut a full acrylic sheet of these at once to minimize my time and laser running costs, and my labor is mostly just me picking up the cut parts and boxing them. Then I add margin to ensure that the business can grow. The manufacturing cost of these is less than $1, so if I sell them for $2 each or 3 for $5 I can make pretty decent money for minimal effort.

[@SteveMakesEverything]

@@MarkManSC Sorry for the delay - I thought I answered this but KZbin thought otherwise. Anyway, I plan to do an update video on pricing but here's the gist. I calculate acrylic by the square inch and for a garden stake there are a few square inches, which works out to about $0.20. I make a full sheet of them at a time to eliminate any labor on my part (except to load the sheet and unlock and box the parts). This also means that a single stake takes under a minute to make. So, in the end, a stake costs less than $1 to make and if I sell them for $2/each or 3 for $5 I have a pretty solid margin.

[@MarkManSC]

@@SteveMakesEverything Thank you for both answers, Steve. Your time and insight is appreciated. Cheers!

[@nwmi493]

hi, do you have a video on how to price items? I find what I feel is a fair asking price is not fair to the buyer. it's Hard to gauge what a fair price is for any lasereditem. Am I the only one that feels this way?

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Guilt is a terrible weapon customers will use against you. I did a video on estimation not too long ago that should help give you an idea. It’s most focused on custom projects but you can use the formula there to give you an idea. If you are making items in volume you can drop the margins a bit.

[@rhysmassengill8758]

Might be kind of a dumb question for you, but if you were to get a laser engraver with the proper ventilation and enclosure for it, would I be able to leave it unattended in my garage while I work on other things inside? I would really like to get one of these but if I need to be present at all times it’s running I’m not sure it’s for me. I just can’t spend hours a day attending to it just to monitor it. Maybe I could install a smoke detector like you have? Please let me know your thoughts on this, thanks!

[@SteveMakesEverything]

I think you probably know how I'm going to answer this😉. The short answer is definitely no. Keep in mind you are playing with what is essentially a beam of fire and usually working with combustable materials like wood. While most lasers do have some sort of fire detection, they will require fire to actually be taking place to set them off, so don't rely on those. I will tell you that eventually you will have a fire to deal with even if you are watching the laser, and this can spread quickly. I will say that I don't hover over my lasers while they are cutting or engraving, but I certainly don't leave my shop and while I might be busy with a different project while I wait for a job to complete I make frequent visits to ensure that my laser isn't trying to burn down my workshop.

[@timothyjenkins7789]

Like the T-shirt

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Thanks. Not surprising that I made it myself😀

[@smeg8557]

HI I was wondering if you can help me? Im looking for a CO2 laser but not sure what to go with, made some wood bottle openers in the past with a dremel, but it was way to time consuming, im out of my house and have a budget of about 2k, like the sign idea but dont know what to do! Thank You :)

[@SteveMakesEverything]

$2k is a pretty small budget for a CO2 laser, though you could get a diode laser like the 10W XTool D1 for half of that. This would do basic wood cutting and engraving. If you want to do signs though be aware that a diode laser can’t really do much to clear acrylic, so edge lit signs are probably a non-starter. A good CO2 laser is something like an FSL Muse or a Glowforge but these will be quite a bit more. You can get a cheap K40 CO2 laser but I wouldn’t really recommend on of these.

[@smeg8557]

@@SteveMakesEverything thank you I am looking at the xtool now I do see that they have A 20 white laser module available I was watching one of their videos and they said just buy a 5 W machine and upgrade the laser but I don’t know if that’s the same quality machine but I think I’m going to take your advice

[@SteveMakesEverything]

@@smeg8557 Definitely if you plan to upgrade to 20W anyway, then buy the 5W version. The laser module just pops on with a thumbscrew so you could upgrade in 2 minutes

[@thehillbillyhermit7681]

How does one engrave cups, glasses and tumblers in "bulk" vs one at a time? Seems that one 40+order would tie up a laser for a few days

[@SteveMakesEverything]

You could make yourself a long rotary, but realistically you are doing these one at a time. Yes this would tie up a laser for sure if you were doing lots. My Muse 3D is mostly reserved for this task

[@thehillbillyhermit7681]

@@SteveMakesEverything thanks Steve, much appreciated!

[@SteveMakesEverything]

@@thehillbillyhermit7681 Happy to help

[@gaiustacitus4242]

Building great things isn't enough. I've worked on products that were more than a decade ahead of their time. While our older product was far superior and sold for a lower price, there just wasn't a large enough market for it at the time. Don't build what you think is great (unless you have millions of dollars of other people's money to fund your marketing). Instead, perform some research and find out what people are actually buying and build something similar for sale in your local market. I recommend a local market because I've looked at making products and shipping them, but the only companies making any real money off of your efforts will be third parties who supply your materials and handle your sales and distribution.

[@SteveMakesEverything]

You can certainly use the local market path and make money; however, contrary to your claim, I don't do any markets and only sell online worldwide, and I think I'm doing OK. I think the objective here is to pick something that works for you and use it.

[@gaiustacitus4242]

@@SteveMakesEverything You're right, Steve. It's all about finding a market that you can service.

[@SteveMakesEverything]

@@gaiustacitus4242 Absolutely. Shipping to the world requires a lot more time and attention. A local market is a quick hit for some revenue on volume products.

[@gaiustacitus4242]

@@SteveMakesEverything What I don't like about marketing through companies like Amazon and Etsy is the large cut they take, and then there is the cost of shipping to remote customers. This results in rather low margins. It is fairly easy to make a 60% gross profit on local sales, but difficult to do the same when shipping to remote destinations (unless you're a very large business that receives an 85% discount off the standard commercial shipping rates).

[@SteveMakesEverything]

@@gaiustacitus4242 Yes, services like Etsy are expensive; however, looking at this from another angle, you are basically paying for marketing and sales departments for your business. While I have a few listings on Etsy, I use it more for visibility. I don't make too many volume items, so I tend to sell custom work through my website. This has the added bonus of losing less money to middlemen but significantly reduces exposure if that's all you do.

[@coulterjb22]

That was a great list thank you! The little garden stakes/signs were interesting. I would think they would get those from some mass-produced supplier.

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Well I'm not sure it's a big enough market to engage the manufacturing power of China, plus there are just too many variations to attract mass production. So it may be a market that is off the radar for the most part. I also do a lot of custom variations of names and use many different materials.

[@coulterjb22]

@@SteveMakesEverything I like the idea. Ive started hunting down different stakes for a sales call later= thanks!

[@lasermania6194]

hola un gusto conocerte y has abierto mi cabeza un abrazo desde Uruguay y si podemos entendernos te consultare a pesar de la distancias y los medios que ambos manejamos...

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Pasé esto a través del traductor de Google. Encantado de conocerte también.

[@DrgnSlyr]

I have noticed there are a lot of 'imports' that have flooded Etsy at dirt cheap prices. I suspect they are made in some Third World country where the makers are paid 2-3 dollars a day.

[@SteveMakesEverything]

I have seen the same, which is one of the reasons I personally don't really emphasize Etsy in my business model and generally limit my efforts on volume sales. What frustrates me most about this practice though is the outright claim that these products are handmade, implying that the seller made it themselves. I wouldn't consider myself a craftsman or artist, but I do believe there is value in things that are truly handmade (by my own hands). For example, I've been working on a chessboard off-and-on for a couple weeks with hours of effort and attention to detail. I know that someone could easily source and sell one from off-shore for less than $100 while I would end up charging $300-400. As makers we can't possibly compete on volume, but what we can do build-in is uniqueness and pride. It makes my day when a customer asks for something special and then requests to destroy the design after. What they are saying is "I want to be the only person who ever owns this and I'm willing to pay for that exclusivity". These people are a dream to work with, though sometimes you have to work with "interests" requirements.

[@DrgnSlyr]

@@SteveMakesEverything 100% agree. I spent years in manufacturing. Very repetitive. I have little interest in grinding out the same product over and over for an extended time. Batching for a small business is okay from time to time, but I prefer commission work.

[@SteveMakesEverything]

@@DrgnSlyr I have way more fun do custom work as well.

[@Checkitfirst]

What do you make your garden snakes out of

[@SteveMakesEverything]

I can use wood or acrylic. I usually choose the latter since it's a bit more durable.

[@Checkitfirst]

@@SteveMakesEverything Latter??

[@SteveMakesEverything]

@@Checkitfirst I should never do anything in a rush. I meant I usually use acrylic.

[@Checkitfirst]

@@SteveMakesEverything I just looked at mine lol I meant stakes not snakes😂

[@Dan-nr3om]

Im literally trying to start advertising as we speak. I want to avoid etsy at all cost. Thinking marketplace instagram and local

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Etsy is a definitely a shark infested water, and I don't sell much there, but I have gotten lots of leads from there. Also Instagram and Facebook send quite a few people my way (not FB Marketplace though - that's too much like a yard sale and people want everything for free).

[@atelierelehandmade]

15min and nothing to see :))

[@SteveMakesEverything]

This is really a video about the business rather than making specific items. You can find project videos for most of this in the video backlog as well. If there is something you specifically want to see, though, just let me know.

[@danielcoykendall3123]

Very condescending and negative vibe from this video. You should make videos as if it’s someone’s first video they have watched of yours. Because it’s a big turnoff when you feel the person doesn’t want to be there

[@SteveMakesEverything]

No condescension intended of course, and if I didn’t want to be here to help people, then I would be golfing 😁. While this video isn’t intended for everyone, this is an area where many creators struggle. The concept of product lines and sales planning is usually pretty foreign to people who possess a creative spirit.

[@Kevin-wu7ok]

I didn't find this condescending, not even a negative vibe. I think many users want you to deliver the Holy Grail. Do you think you can etch the Holy Grail, maybe? 😁

[@SteveMakesEverything]

@@Kevin-wu7ok Thanks Kevin. And if I could provide the Hold Grail, we'd all be rich 😀 Simply put, getting a business started and certainly to make it successful requires a ton of work, and sadly there is no secret recipe because ever business is different. But I'll continue to try. Maybe I need to do a video talking about all the things I've screwed up (er, learned) in my own career. The list is long.

[@mtx-7197]

Totally disagree, Steve is perhaps tired, but condescending? Not at all.

[@thomasmanson1119]

I love your shirt Steve! Tom KC3QAC

[@SteveMakesEverything]

😁 I made this for myself. I took a bit of heat for this shirt, but it’s a relic from my working life and is a reference to junior software engineers who always want answers rather than trying things - and hence learning things