You've probably seen them around here and there, especially if you're into either crafting and DIY stuff, or any of a huge number of TV and comic book fandoms.
They're little enamel lapel pins.
And they're experiencing a surge in popularity. People collect them, and usually, it's related to a specific niche.
They're pretty easy to start making, too.
The design part is up to you. If you're artistically inclined, you're ahead of the game.
Some people hire a designer instead. It varies.
So think of it kind of like shrinky dinks. You need a design first.
Getting enamel pins made is a breeze, too. There are a bunch of different companies out there that can manufacture the pins themselves.
First, you need the right niche.
In their comprehensive blog post on enamel pins, Shopify offers some helpful strategies for finding a community of passionate niche fans who'd be into pin collection.
How to Find a Niche for Your Enamel Pin Business
Let’s take a look at how to discover niche audiences and determine if they’re a good fit for your business.
When it comes to niches, there are two basic ways to find an audience: Choose a niche that you care about or find a niche that you either already understand or can easily learn to understand.
All it takes is a bit of market research to find a passionate, engaged audience that will be perfect for your brand.
Using Your Own Niche Communities
If you’re already an active member of a niche community, creating a business that caters to their values is a straightforward process.
Remember: A niche can be any community with a specific, definable set of interests.
Not sure which niches you belong to? Take a look at your interests and think about the communities that surround them.
Do you have any hobbies? What are your favorite TV shows, movies, or books?
What are the things that you’re crazy about?
Discovering New Niche Communities
Targeting your own community can be a rewarding strategy, but sometimes it’s better to find new niche audiences with fresh opportunities instead.
To see what active niches are out there, there are a few different methods:
– Reddit:
Using tools like Reddit List, you can discover the most active communities on Reddit.
Reddit is a meeting place and message board for some of the world’s largest subcultures which makes researching and validating niche audiences simple.
– KW Finder:
Another way to evaluate demand and interest is by using KW Finder to find out how often people are googling terms related to your target niche.
– Google Trends:
You can also use Google Trends for a more generic overview of global search volume.
While Google Trends isn’t as in-depth as the other two options, it can help you quickly determine the viability of a niche.
Determining Whether a Niche Community Is a Good Fit
Once you’ve done some research and found a set of niche communities that could work for your business, it’s time to determine whether they’re good fits for creating a successful, sustainable product.
Here’s a simple framework for evaluating a niche’s potential:
– Is it a unique niche?
Your niche should have defining traits that set it apart from larger, more mainstream audiences.
A set of unique traits will make your niche easier to target.
– Is it a sustainable niche?
If you’re planning on building a successful business, your target audience should be more than a flash-in-the-pan fad.
You’ll want to find a niche that has the potential to stick around for a long time.
– Is it an active niche?
Without an active community, marketing to a niche can be a major challenge.
If your niche has lots of engaged members, it will be much easier to build an audience that will rally behind your business.
– Is it a scaleable niche?
While you might start out targeting a single, small subset of the population with your products, if you’re successful, you’ll want to expand.
If you think that targeting your niche will not limit your business’ potential in the future, it’s a good fit.
– Are there influencers in your niche?
If your niche has major players that are popular social media influencers, marketing to your audience will be considerably easier.
Are there certain members with large followings on Instagram or Pinterest?
Even just a few big influencers can go a long way.
Finding a Manufacturer for Your Enamel Pins
There are many companies in North America, Europe and Asia that offer enamel pin manufacturing.
A quick Google search for enamel pin manufacturers can turn up lots of different results.
Here’s a quick look at a few options:
Alternatively, you can use Alibaba to track down a reliable manufacturer overseas.
You can get more details about how to make and sell enamel pins over at the Shopify blog.
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