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.