Business Thoughts
And Other Information

Too Much Press - As incredibly efficient as The Tile Master™ is, it is still just a heat press. Its' power and efficiency is designed for high volume production needs and it really shines when sublimating ceramics. For some, it will be a dream come true. For most, it will be like buying a 18-wheeler, to go to the grocery store, and the previously mentioned DK20S or DC16 (Digital Combo) will make more sense. Volume, however, is relative. We also have folks who have gotten The Tile Master™ because their time was so limited, that anything that speeded up their work was important. You only buy a heat press once. Demands on your time go on forever.

Too Little Press - For a very few, even The Tile Master™ may not be enough press. These will probably be situations where not only will a lot of tiles be produced but also other high volume items, which take a shorter "cooking" time than tiles. Some high volume items like mousepads, shirts, plastics and metal only take 60 seconds to sublimate. With this kind of production, operator fatigue and efficiency is a concern, in an eight-hour shift. For those folks, we suggest considering the Knight 394 Shuttle Press.
Click Here, for full details.

We also encourage you to call us (Jack or John), the owners of Alpha Supply Company, at 800-908-9916, when you finish your tours. We have a national reputation for "telling it like it is". We will be happy to brainstorm with you and help you get a better focus on your specific needs and ideas, versus the abilities of the different presses and sublimation equipment. If and when you get a press and other equipment, we want it to be the right choice for you.

The Process of Sublimation - Many times, throughout your tour, we have mentioned inkjet sublimation as being the method of imprinting and everything you see on this site was produced with that method. Inkjet sublimation is not rocket science but, like anything else, understanding the basics will help you make better choices and give you the best chance to be successful.

If you don't know much about the process, we strongly urge you to visit our tutorial inkjet sublimation web site at DyeSubInks.com. We will teach you the basics of everything you need to know, about the inks, paper, printers, color management, etc., used in the process. In our plainspoken way, our advice is always, "Learn first, buy second".

Can You Make Money - You Betcha! No, we are not going to tell you that producing sublimation products is like printing money. Down South here (Nashville, Tennessee) we call those kinds of folks hucksters and hold on to our wallets real tight, when they talk.

What we are telling you is that with first-rate equipment, acquiring good skills and applying business smarts, there are a goodly number of people making very good money producing sublimated products, every day. You can too.

Before we go to the next thought, we want to share one more on this subject. We were successfully in the retail awards and gift business for 22 years. One thing that we really learned was to allow for some time to learn about new "tools of the trade". It's not that difficult, and we will be at your beck-and-call to help you technically and even with business advice, but give yourself a bit of time. It is very stressful to have orders, in-hand, and waiting for equipment to arrive that you don't even know how to use yet.

The Business of Sublimation - The inkjet sublimation process is at an excellent point in time of history, for novice and expert alike. Opportunities abound for both levels of experience, as the industry has evolved tremendously the past few years, in process and product. This trend will continue.

The quality of sublimation inks has risen dramatically, while the price of the inks has dropped like a stone (although there is still some overpriced ink out there, to say nothing of a few inks out there that we wouldn't use, if they were free). While skills must still be learned (especially graphic) the methodology of effective production has never been easier. Modestly priced clipart, reasonably priced scanners, excellent digital cameras and maybe even your own artistic skills, provide a plethora of opportunities.

The opportunities range from extra sideline income, to serious, profitable diversification of an existing business to more independence and freedom from extra income and outlets for artistic expression.

On the "blanks" supply side, it seems like manufacturers come out with new sublimatable products every month. Tiles that glow in the dark, highly scratch resistant tiles, tumbled marble tiles to produce an "Old World" look, glass tiles and literally scores of other products (not just tiles) that didn't even exist, just a few short years ago. More are on the way. While we don't sell "blanks" (we just provide everything you need to print on them), we have been doing this a long time and will provide you with excellent sources for whatever you need. When you order, ask us for our "Blanks Supplier List".

In our professional opinion, this is also an excellent time in the marketing arena. The quality look, produced by sublimation, has been around long enough to be widely accepted and desired and the sublimatable product line continues to increase. At the same time, it is still new enough that not every Tom, Dick and Harry (or Mary, Jane and Alice, as the case may be) is offering it.

Is The Business Right For You? Wow! We couldn't answer that question without asking a lot of questions. However, we can provide some very practical suggestions, which will probably let you answer most of those questions and give you the best chance for success.

1. Realistically, what are your goals? What do you want to accomplish? Having a very clear idea of your direction will help you stay focused and provide incentive. Running around in circles is not forward progress.
   
   
2. What do you want to produce? As you are researching, it is a good idea to almost ignore what any of the equipment can do. Instead, concentrate on making sure what you select does what you need it to do. Do the research and learn.
   
   
3. Who will you sell to? How will you "get the word out"? Only in the dictionary, does "producing" come before "selling". In the real world, selling comes first. This thinking doesn't have to be complicated. Just sit down with a pencil and paper, surround yourself with some quiet, and jot down what would be your best bets. After that, you might even brainstorm with a good friend or your mate. Your list will get much longer and better, as time goes by, but you do need some basic ideas.
   
   
4. Who will you buy from and why? Price is important, but it is not everything. A good, knowledgeable vendor is like a helpful partner and worth their weight in gold. An uncaring, unknowledgeable one is not worth their salt! Anyone can sell you anything. Can (and will) they help you grow?
   
   
5. What is the ol' budget like? We don't mean can you afford to get what you need (that's simple…if you can't, don't). What we mean is can you afford to get what you need, take a little bit of time to develop your skills and build your success, day by day. It is very stressful to put oneself in the position of getting new equipment today and having to make a profit tomorrow.
   
   
6. Take one more reality check. Step back and ask yourself if what you want to do makes sense. There are no guarantees in life, but if your answer is not an unqualified "yes", you may need to rethink your ideas. Maybe you need to start smaller. We have many successful entrepreneur sublimators who actually started off putting heat transfers on T-shirts, with a $300 portable heat press and $100 worth of our professional grade, Green Line heat transfer paper. On the other hand, maybe you need to start bigger. If you know that what you will get is just barely adequate, then any success will limit having much more success. If you have too, save up a bit more and get what you really need. After all, even Bill Gates was essentially a tiny, at-home business, in the beginning.

Getting The Customer To Buy

Any novice just starting in business (much less the experienced) knows that successful selling is the key to profits. It doesn't matter if everything else is perfect. If you don't make profitable sales, you just have an interesting hobby. If you want to really be successful (profitable), burn these four immutable truths into your mind.

• "People buy from people" - Folks tend to think in terms of selling to a business, a church, an organization, a contractor, etc. That's wrong. When you are presenting, it is to a person, not a faceless organization. Look at what you are presenting, through their eyes. Always! Ask questions. Listen closely. Show them that you are really interested in them by asking questions about their answers. Listen even more closely. Make a friend. Don't forget to smile often, even over the phone (yes, people can "hear" a smile over the phone).
  
  
• "People love to buy, but hate to be sold" - There is a big difference between the two thoughts. People buy perceived benefits more than they do products. If you spend all of their time talking about yourself and your products, you are selling to them. Spend most of your time encouraging them to talk about themselves and what they want and think they need. A "want" or "need" can be based on any number of desires. When you understand their wants and needs, you are able to better present your products as supplying both. You are now on your way to creating feelings of desire that makes them want to buy.
  
  
• "People like choices" - That's not surprising. You and we do also. When only one choice is presented, there is only yes or no to discuss. You certainly don't have to give a person 50 different choices (that will often just confuse them) but always present at least two. With even two choices, you now have at least three options to discuss (the two main choices, plus any combination of the two choices). Presenting choices obviously works. Otherwise, car dealers, for example, would only offer one type of car and it would be…black.
  
  
• "Always think of yourself as a professional" - Once you have gotten your supplies in, set up your equipment, practiced a bit, made some samples and are ready to present your products, you are a professional. Always think of yourself in that manner! Yes, you will be "copper penny new" the first day but that doesn't matter. Each day you will just become a more experienced professional. Folks respond to a friendly, professional attitude by subconsciously raising the perceived value of a professional's products, services and advice. Never be afraid that you won't look professional if you can't answer all questions. It won't. We are known as the "goto" company, in helping folks build their sublimation business. However, we get stumped almost every week, by some new question. We just admit we don't know the answer. Of course, as momma used to say, we "don't let our coattails touch us" until we find the answer and call back.
  

Our Final Thoughts, Finally

Whew! If you have gotten this far, you have spent a lot of time in reading and research but this should help us both.

We try to build relationships, not just sell products. Customers who really want to learn are the ones we can help the most. You, on the other hand, have to make the decisions and the more facts you have, the better your decisions will be.

Is there a rapidly growing market for decorated tiles, tile murals and other ceramics? Yes. There is opportunity for both at-home entrepreneurs and for well-established organizations.

Professional artists, film photographers, digital camera enthusiasts, sketch and graphic artists as well as businesses who just scan others work are all finding profitable niches. The art is what sells. The art presented on a ceramic medium, adds perceived value.

The efficiency of The Tile Master™ provides a great advantage to the retailer, by letting them get through quicker, so they can profitable do something else. It provides a great advantage to the wholesaler, by providing maximum productivity.

As we said before, however, The Tile Master™ will imprint anything that needs a heat press to get the job done and there are a lot of sublimatable products. A partial list includes: Aprons, Beverage Insulators, Canvas, Dolls, Emblems, FR Plastics, Flags, Hats, Jackets, Jewelry, License Plates, Metal, Mouse Pads, Pennants, Puzzles, Ribbons, Shirts, Tote Bags and Visors, just to name a few.

Your interest may be towards doing just some tiles and more towards the many other products. This is why we suggested that you also consider the DK20S and Digital Combo heat press, that we showed you earlier in your tour.

Even then, you never know. After The Tile Master™ was designed and built, we laughed, when it dawned on us that the heat press was also perfect for another particular type of job. We included a couple of pictures under our signature below, to show you what we mean.

We have a lot of other information resources to help you learn.

The Next page provides complete information and pricing on ten different "Package Deals" and options, to help you begin.

This site is one of 12 tutorial, information-rich sites that we provide to help you with your research and knowledge. Click on "Links" (the next to the last button, at the top left of any page) and go to our web map and description page, to navigate.

We also are happy to send you free sublimation samples and a subscription to our free, monthly sublimation business newsletter, "Toner Times". Click Here for details. It's free.

You are also welcome to contact us.

We wish you the very best of good health, happiness and prosperity in 2004.

Cordially,
Jack Franklin & Roy Hinkle

Could this be the
The Uniform King?

The below pictures are why we laughed after we named our press and then realized what else we had.

The design of The Tile Master™ was to meet specific engineering and manufacturing objectives.

As we were admiring the first prototype, a sublimation customer casually mentioned that because of the undercut (17.5") on the bottom, anything would easily slide onto the platen.

A light bulb went off, in our minds.

Although clumsy and inefficient, there is a method that can be used to allow sublimating both sides of a shirt.

Other types of imprinting on both sides of a shirt can cause operators fits (or are almost impossible).

Heat transfers in particular (especially on dark colored shirts) and even much vinyl letter lettering can cause enough problems, to not make it worthwhile to try.

Using the heat press as "The Uniform King", no sweat, no fuss and no problem. Just do one side of the shirt, pull it off, turn it over, pull it back on and then do the other side.

This business is so creative that we have not a doubt in our minds that our customers will discover a dozen uses for the press that we didn't think off. That's one of the things that make this business so interesting.

To get a better understanding of
tile sublimation startup costs and options,
we have detailed information on the Next Page