Brainstorming ways to make money with plotter/who do you market to?

[Guest gracewriter]

I've had my plotter for a month now. Seems like there are all kinds of ways to make money.  I do enjoy marketing, but where and who to market to?

Here are some things I read about or thought up

1) baseball teams - I"m not sports minded so this is not in my league, ha!

2) new business owners, go to the city and get the list of all the new owners in your county (these days you can probably search it on the net)

3) real estate agents, the more successful ones do heavy advertising out of their own pockets and don't mind paying

4) Mortgage brokers - do a local search on the internet or in the phone book

5) Layout for a tatoo parlor?  I"m doing a custom graphic for a friend who's going to take it the tatoo parlor.  I'll just be printing it on paper, no vectorizing.

6) Boats - who does the decals for the registration numbers?  Can't remember where we got ours.  Go to local boat shops on the water?  How and where would you market to this market?

7) contact local schools about the special events they have.  mine has their own olympics each year.

  Florists?  how and what would you market to this market.  Someone said they do work for florists?  Banners?  Anyone know?

9) advertise your business on your car/truck.  Does anyone ever get business of their graphics with phone number on their vehicle?

10) In my area every friday night all the classic car owners park in a local strip mall.  It's like a big party.  People have tables out with things for sale.  Someone may already be doing it but I'm thinking of making up graphics and have a table there.  It's free.  Nice.

11) Ebay, although there are 61,456 decals for sale at the moment, but could probably find a niche, just wouldn't ever want to be dependent on ebay as they can kick you off for no reason anytime they want. Diversify!

It would be great to hear from anyone else with any ideas on making money and marketing in venues I am unaware of.

Thanks!

[Guest fivestar]

  Florists?  how and what would you market to this market.  Someone said they do work for florists?  Banners?  Anyone know?

I do alot of work for a florist, she's my wife.    Actually I mostly do it for the "craft side" of our flower/craft store.  There's all kinds of things you can use a plotter for in crafts.  I make stencles for painting, vinyl decals for barn stars, in memory decals and so on, now we are starting to get into wall art decor.  I just don't have the time to do it all. 

I've also did heat applied vinyl to the ribbon that goes on the casket spray when the wife ran out of stickers.  Too expensive to do it all the time, but in a pinch it worked like a charm.

[Guest gracewriter]

The wall art looks amazing, saw some in an magazine the other day.

What kind of material do you use for stencils?  I'm hoping to be able to cut mylar wiith my pcut.

Also, what are barn stars?

[Guest fivestar]

I just use regular vinyl as stencils right now.  The wife will get an idea for a craft and ask me to make it up and cut it, I get it the way she wants it, cut it out and reverse weed it, apply it to the craft and either I or she paints it let is dry then pull the vinyl off.  Most things are one of a kind so I don't need anything that will be used over and over.

Barn stars are metal stars that people hang on their houses or garages, the amish hang them on their barns, hence the name barn stars. You can do some awesome looking things to them with vinyl.  Here's a pic of one I did, the "cheif wahoo" is vinyl.  I used to do them all the time with our local high schools names and college names, but honestly I don't have the time anymore so we don't push them much anymore.

[Guest gracewriter]

Very cool!  I like!

So there's a barn star market.  You know my maiden name was Barnes, you'd think I'd know about that.

My goodness there are all kinds of markets for vinyl and graphics.  I hope more people come to this thread, I have a feeling many of us would be greatful for ideas we can't possibly think of on our own.

Thanks!

p.s.  I was looking for a graphic of the Texas Lone Star.  I want to cut one out of wood.  If you have a graphic of that star handy I'd appreciate your sending it my way.

[Jay2703 704]

fivestar, do you make the stars or do you buy them somewhere? My wife is looking for some.

[JoeCamaro 11]

There are thousands of decals for sale on ebay, but if you look good, you will see many of them are the same trademrked stuff, brands that people like, but there is always room for original designs.

Find a niche market and sell stuff to them

Joe

[Guest fivestar]

I actually get them from http://www.amishtradercountry.com/.  They are laser cut then an amish guy bends them and I get them unpainted normally, whenever I order americana I get them already done because I cannot paint them as good as they do.  Unfortunately the last time I dealt with them they was no longer offering the americana stars because the person who painted 'em was quitting, but that has been awhile ago so maybe they have someone else doing them now.

BTW, you have to have a vendor's license to be able to buy from them as they are strickly wholesale.

[Cuttter 1]

My reply is to what I have seen as the last few orders I have received.

1) baseball teams - I"m not sports minded so this is not in my league, ha!------[glow=red,2,300]NEITHER was I but they pay to have a nice jersey[/glow]

2) new business owners, go to the city and get the list of all the new owners in your county (these days you can probably search it on the net) ---[glow=red,2,300]PAIN in the Rear[/glow]

3) real estate agents, the more successful ones do heavy advertising out of their own pockets and don't mind paying ----[glow=red,2,300]They are all cheap[/glow]

4) Mortgage brokers - do a local search on the internet or in the phone book -----[glow=red,2,300]Don't know[/glow]

5) Layout for a tatoo parlor?  I"m doing a custom graphic for a friend who's going to take it the tatoo parlor.  I'll just be printing it on paper, no vectorizing. [glow=red,2,300]Many clients of many business' offer one thing free to the parlor and they THE CUSTOMERS will ask who did it?[/glow]

6) Boats - who does the decals for the registration numbers?  Can't remember where we got ours.  Go to local boat shops on the water?  How and where would you market to this market? [glow=red,2,300] Walmart sells them really cheap[/glow]

7) contact local schools about the special events they have.  mine has their own olympics each year. [glow=red,2,300]most Schools work off of fundraisers. [/glow] 

  Florists?  how and what would you market to this market.  Someone said they do work for florists?  Banners?  Anyone know?

9) advertise your business on your car/truck.  Does anyone ever get business of their graphics with phone number on their vehicle? [glow=red,2,300]It has worked for me, but make sure it's readable, and looks great![/glow]

10) In my area every friday night all the classic car owners park in a local strip mall.  It's like a big party.  People have tables out with things for sale.  Someone may already be doing it but I'm thinking of making up graphics and have a table there.  It's free.  Nice. [glow=red,2,300]I would like to be anywhere, where its free[/glow]

11) Ebay, although there are 61,456 decals for sale at the moment, but could probably find a niche, just wouldn't ever want to be dependent on ebay as they can kick you off for no reason anytime they want. Diversify! [glow=red,2,300]Ebay is hard to sell graphics, you got to be diff than everyone else[/glow]

[Guest Terry]

You forgot BOAT names. 

[cjb 0]

i do small signs {20inx30in}for the local flea market vendors at 20 bucks ea. one sided....i'm  already there as a vendor for nascar collectibles so its additional income.

[firemalt 10]

Has anyone thought about going to a flea market / swap meet with you cutter, and laptop? A booth may cost you $50 for the day, but I bet you could make $500 within a few hours! Having the machine on location, making the decals right there in front of people would be an attention getter.

[JoeCamaro 11]

I have thought about it. I even considered getting the 12" cutter to do that, but I stopped there and never done it. A friend of mine told me thats like giving away all my secrets to people.

Joe

[routesmith 0]

I have thought about it. I even considered getting the 12" cutter to do that, but I stopped there and never done it. A friend of mine told me thats like giving away all my secrets to people.

Joe

I agree Joe, although you could really pump out a lot of sales there, it kind of takes the mystery out of it for some people and they may ask where to get a cutter so they can do it themselves.... of course you could tell them that they are $10.000, and are only available to you.

Wayne

[vectorman 0]

shalom to all the dear pepole in this great great foroum.

aldo most of u consider my erea and when they hear about israel they probebly think of war we have some trade going aroud here and its certenly safe

to cruse araount  in sunny tel aviv and jeroshalem

so if one of u yancis is concidering a visit the beer is on me*

*for the forum members only

anyway  u forgot FASHION busnies the earn good money

they r the best try

window grafhic isnt that what we sopose to do ?

every naw and then the need SALE new collection and some flawers .the good thing is they r not one time costemers (its been proven that a good window is inceasing the sales.)

i post befor some of my original vectors exsampels and i will  shear it for free  or for some of yours good vectors.

about the flee market idea

corombo this is 4 u:

i saw in rosgilde festival-in denemark (100,000 pepole rock festival) that someone came withe his plotter and made t shirs 4 the girls(that i remember well) the plotter was in the rare side of the shope, in front he put a pail of new  dameged shirts he stocked and sold them 4 cheap so dont do it in denmark.

mostly he cut texst and then heat transfer them for pepol

its was a 7-4 dayes fest i guss that hade some infhloance for the good traffic 

so i really think festivals is wothe to try 

peace

ronen

[darkdan 3]

9) advertise your business on your car/truck.  Does anyone ever get business of their graphics with phone number on their vehicle?

This is the single most effective way to advertise.  Turn your vehicle into a rolling billboard.

[JoeCamaro 11]

I would like to get a VW Bus for that purpose. It would be nice and fun to go and deliver shirts in the stores in one of those and have it full of decals, kinda hippie.

[Guest fivestar]

I know I put something on my vehicle.

[Guest Terry]

Looks nice to, Ohio... My wife went down there for our hidden fence business we owned for 7 years. Had to go to a Pet Stop Underground Containment meeting for three days.

[Guest fivestar]

Looks nice to, Ohio... My wife went down there for our hidden fence business we owned for 7 years. Had to go to a Pet Stop Underground Containment meeting for three days.

I used to bury underground telephone line.  I hated those darned underground fences.  I was always cutting them out. 

[Guest Terry]

funny I always cut cable tv lines, I use to carry cat5 splices with me.

[bk2design 1]

and here I am trying to fix all these darn machines that keep getting wires, cables and pipes wrapped around them 

[Guest fivestar]

funny I always cut cable tv lines, I use to carry cat5 splices with me.

Oh I always cut tv cable too, but at least I knew to look for it.  Dog fences was a surpirse if the flags wasn't still there.