Each year, thousands of students compete in robotics competitions across the country.

The most popular robotics competition, FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), was founded by the man who invented the Segway. The mission of the organization is to…

Inspire young people to be science and technology leaders, by engaging them in exciting mentor-based programs that build science, engineering and technology skills, that inspire innovation, and that foster well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication, and leadership.

When competitions near, we start getting calls and orders from robotics clubs around the country.  Trading buttons with other teams is one of the most popular social activities at the competitions.  Most teams have a custom logo and team name for the buttons.  Trading buttons is a way for competitors to interact with others and it’s also a keepsake they take with them to remember the teams they met and competed against.

Jerry McCrea/The Star-Ledger

In the photo above, a robotics team from Newton, New Jersey, makes a button with a machine we sell in preparation for their trip to the World Championships.

As the teens prepared to head for the world championship FIRST Robotics competition on Thursday, they made hundreds of maroon buttons emblazoned with their team name, the “Techno Ninjas,” they will swap in Atlanta with their competitors during the three-day event at the Georgia Dome.

Below, are photos from other competitions.

If you are a robotics team, you qualify for our organizational discount.  If you want order a complete button maker system, we can take $25 off the order.  Please email us or call us at 877-260-7422 to order and receive the discount.

We have had a lot of requests over the past few years for fabric buttons. Today, we are introducing our newest product: self-cover fabric buttons.

These buttons can be used in a variety of ways. We compiled a list of some of the best tutorials on the internet. We will also be creating some tutorials of our own in the near future.

We carry seven different sizes from size 20 to size 75. We also have two different backs to choose from – flat back or loop back. If you are not sure what size you need, we sell a sample pack. The sample pack includes buttons and assembly tools for every size.

Here is a complete list of the sizes we carry.

#20 = 1/2″
#24 = 5/8″
#30 = 3/4″
#36 = 7/8″
#45 = 1-1/8″
#60 = 1-1/2″
#75 = 1-7/8″

If you’re wondering why we refer to the buttons as size 20, take a look at our frequently asked questions page for a complete explanation.

These buttons are extremely simple to assemble. Here is a photo tutorial of the process.

We also include a fabric cutting template with each order so there’s no guessing needed.

Sick of political TV ads? Try a presidential campaign button – Des Moines Register

The Des Moines Register wrote a brief article about a retired man selling campaign buttons in Iowa leading up to the Iowa caucus.  After Iowa, the man planned to head to New Hampshire.

He was selling buttons for $5 each or three for $10.  Button Biz is located in Nebraska, but you can see Iowa from our office.  Although I didn’t make it to any Iowa caucus rallies this year, I have been to them in the past.  Four years ago, I happened to be in Denver  at the same time as the Democratic National Convention.

It was amazing to see how many button vendors were in Denver.  The $5 price is very common for people selling buttons.  And I’ve also noticed most vendors sell buttons that are 2.25″ or larger.  The 3″ and 3.5″ seem to be very popular as well.  The reason there were so many vendors was because people were buying a lot of buttons.  It was very common to see people walking around Denver with 5 or more buttons on there shirt.

Buttons that sell for $5 are extremely profitable.  If you take a look at the price per button, these vendors could potentially make $4.75 profit on a $5 button.

It may be a little too late to profit from this year’s Republican presidential primary, but there’s always the general election and the conventions.

George Clooney appeared on the cover of this week’s Parade Magazine. He is wearing several old campaign buttons – mostly from the Kennedy and McGovern presidential campaigns.

I received this email a few days back and wanted to share it with everyone.

Dear Ryan,

We received our order yesterday, everything in tact, thank you.

I want to take a moment to say, I’ve had a Badge-a-Minit for a very long time and made personailzed buttons for several years. This is what brought me, originally, to your website. Looking for parts for my Badge-a-minit.

Although, I have to say the 20% failure rate on the buttons being made, for the labor intensive process, had me ,(shall we say) less than enthusiastic to journey there again. But we have an event, and I needed to make some buttons. Enter your plastic assembly buttons…so simple, I confess I was dubious of success.

Yet, last night (after re-cutting the pieces of artwork–another issue I need to address)…I put the artwork in the disk, put the pin-back on and snapped it together. I thought sure I had “missed a step” or done something wrong, it was so easy.

I did all 50 of them last night.

No sore shoulder from pushing to the “snap” on the ring assemblies. No anxiety about “is THIS one going to work”. And, if I find a cat hair (we have cats) on top of a piece of art, after the asembly, I don’t hve to hang my head in shame and despair. I noticed that these badge assemblies come in different sizes too (so I don’t have to purchase an entirely new kit assembly to make smaller or larger badges! YAY!).

Thank you so much for your help with our order and providing such a great alternative for us.

Sincerely,

Kim Danbert (Willis)

According to a new study by Vanderbilt University, name recognition is king in politics.

Why tech-savvy political candidates still need old-fashioned yard signs – Research News @ Vanderbilt

The study is titled – “Name Recognition and Candidate Support” and it involved three laboratory experiments and a small-scale field experiment in Nashville, TN.

Here is a summary of the results…

[The study] found that individuals not only favor candidates with more familiar names, but also perceive candidates with more familiar names to be more viable. Name recognition matters in low-information races because people want to support likely winners.

The following paragraph was also included in the story…

With limited resources, campaigns must decide how much to spend on yard signs, buttons, bumper stickers and other strategies that serve to increase the public’s familiarity with the candidate’s name. Our study suggests that such efforts can pay off.

Although campaigns are getting more and more high tech, conventional campaign methods still work (and work well).  Buttons are about as conventional and old school as it gets.  Due to costs, many campaigns have turned to stickers in the past few years instead of buttons.  If name recognition is important, a voter needs to see a politicians name more than once for it to really sink in.  The problem with stickers is people throw them away, but people save buttons.  Buttons are a great tool for repeated name recognition.

If you’re a campaign, buy a button maker and make your own buttons for as little as 15 cents.

Welcome to the ButtonBiz.com Blog.

My name is Ryan Renner and I’m the owner of ButtonBiz.

Although we’ve been in business for almost 10 years, we’ve never had a company blog.  Well, today that all changes.

In the past, I’ve done some blogging over at ButtonBlogger.com.  That site has been dormant for almost two years, but I’ve never lost the blogging itch.

So, what can you expect from this blog?  This blog will be all about buttons.  Most of the posts will be tips and tricks on how to get most out of your button machine.

I’m most excited about featuring our customers on this blog.  We have some very creative customers and we’ll be showcasing their work and sharing some of their tips.

This blog is all about getting the most out of your button machine.