5 Weapon Makers Who Have
Become Successful Because of Social Media
Starting a business is a
huge step, and having the correct people see your products is key. This can be
extraordinarily difficult when you’re dealing with a very niche market. One
such market is the gunsmithing and knife making market. These are both very specific
products for a very small number of people. Because the market for these
specialty items and services is so small, it is crucial that you market to the
right people. This is where social media comes in. Social media like Facebook
and Instagram are great places to reach people who would be interested in such
services. On these sites, you can promote your business and show off your
products at little to no cost to you.
The EZ Rack
A friend of mine created the EZ Rack, a small
device that can be attached to the back of Glock brand pistols to allow for
easier or one-handed manipulation of the slide. The main way that he went about
marketing his product, aside from going to gun shows and physically showing it
to people, was on his Instagram page (https://www.instagram.com/ez_rack/).
On Instagram and Facebook, he is able to successfully market for both his
product, the EZ Rack, and his gun shop, APB Arms.
Uintah
Precision, The UPR-10
Another example of someone successfully using social media
to market their product, is my friends at Uintah Precision. Uintah Precision
are the creators of the UPR-10, an AR-10 upper than seamlessly transforms a
standard, semi-automatic AR-10 rifle chambered in .308 Winchester, into a
highly precise bolt action rifle for long distances in a variety of calibers.
This is done by simply unpinning and removing the semi-automatic upper and
pinning on their custom-made bolt action upper. On their Instagram page (https://www.instagram.com/uintah_precision/)
they’ve been able to market their product and gain the attention of many in the
firearms industry.
Walter Sorrells
Another
niche market that is difficult to market towards in that of custom made knives.
Custom knives can bring in upwards of $1000 if made by a quality knife maker
with a well known name and a reputation for making quality blades. One great
example of a knife maker using social
media to promote and advertise for his business is Walter Sorrells.
Walter is a professional knife maker who also runs a very successful YouTube
channel (https://www.youtube.com/user/slappybuckshot
). On his YouTube channel he teaches the art of knife making to both aspiring
knife makers and professionals alike.
Walter Sorrells teaches his viewers how to make knives
using little to no power tools, using only tools that most people will have
access to. This isn’t all that he does, however, he also advertises for his own
custom knife business, where he sells his own professionally made blades.
Walter also uses Facebook and Instagram to advertise and market his business,
however his biggest following is on his YouTube channel.
Alec Steele
Another
knife maker worth noting is Alec Steele, a young blacksmith from the United
Kingdom. Though he doesn’t sell his product online like Walter Sorrells does,
he still uses his YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/user/alectheblacksmith
) to promote his forge in the United Kingdom, sell merchandise, and advertise
for his blacksmithing classes that he teaches. Alec draws in an audience of
over 669 thousand subscribers by making beautiful blades that are both works of
art, and functional blades; as well as doing very challenging builds that even
the most experienced blacksmiths would struggle with.
Eli Orzechowski, ZNA
Productions
Perhaps
my favorite blade maker is Eli Orzechowski, or more widely known as ZNA
Productions on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/user/nonlethalbychoice
). Though Eli doesn’t have a knife making business, he makes his living off of
entertaining and teaching others about weapon making using very unconventional
means; as well as a merchandise shop. Eli has nearly 1.1 million subscribers on
YouTube and has accumulated a rather large following from making these videos
teaching about blade making, among other things.
Accumulating a following for your business on social
media, though being one of if not the best medium for promoting, is still no
easy task. One popular way to gain followers and spread awareness of your
business is known as the “follow for follow” method, in which you follow every likeminded
page of Instagram for example, with hopes that they will in turn follow you
back, causing them to see all of your posts and become aware to your business.
I personally have found and purchased products from companies because they’ve
followed me on Instagram, and after viewing their page, I have decided to
follow them back. One downside to this method is that it can make the consumer
feel as if they’re not special if you are just following everyone with hopes to
spread your business. I personally will ignore these follow for follow pages if
I go to their page and they are following thousands of pages with very few
followers.
To establish a reputable business on social media, you
have to provide a quality product.
Social media is a great place for anyone who has a bad experience with
your business to tell about it and spread it to many people very quickly. If
social media is your main medium for advertising, you must be especially
careful and be sure to provide quality service for your consumers.
