Imagine having your own garage machine shop and successfully funding 11 Kickstarter campaigns. If you’re Brad Martin who runs Tactical Keychains (TK), that’s a reality. His latest project is the Ti-MQR (Titanium Magnetic Quick Release), hitting funding of $1000 within hours and pushing toward the $100k mark with time to spare.
Brad does 100% of the work himself, from design and manufacturing, to email and shipping. The Ti-MQR was a design that came out of his previous project, the Titanium Utility Knife Keychain, which needed a quick release so it could be ready at a moment’s notice. It’s an ingenious design, unlike what you might think of a quick-release mechanism. Instead of a twist and lock action, a magnet is used on each part of the keychain. Together, they’re strong enough to hold your cache of keys. Separate, you can hang them on any metal surface for storage or quick access. The Ti-MQR is also a 1/4″ shorter than his previous TK-MQR and comes with stronger magnets.
Here is a little insight into the manufacturing process of the Ti-MQR.
https://youtu.be/Z5pueJCTJRU
Now, what does it take to launch, manage, and fulfill 11 successful Kickstarter campaigns? There a few things that stand out about all of the TK projects.
- Focus on specific product
All of the TK projects are keychains. More specifically, keychains made from titanium. That’s a pretty tight niche, but shows how powerful having a particular product focus can be. - Simple, yet practical
The products seem simple yes? A can opener, a keyholder, magnets… but there’s a lot to the process. Beyond that, they’re all very practical, useful products. - Show how it’s used
This goes a long way toward showing the practicality of a seemingly simple product, as many of his designs have more than one application. - Show how it’s made
Easy for Brad. He steps out in the garage and points a video camera at his CNC machines. Still, this gives an appreciation for the thought and time that goes into the product. - Keep people updated
Brad is a master at this. He keeps backers updated, shares videos and let’s everyone know when products have shipped. - Grow your fanbase
Along with keeping backers updated, he keeps his social media followers updated. Plus, with nearly 12k followers on Instagram and 5600+ subscribers on Youtube, he’s building a customer list for future products.
If you’re interested in manufacturing, the production process and what it takes to pull off successful , one-man Kickstarter campaigns, follow Brad on Instagram and definitely subscribe to the Tactical Keychains Youtube channel. Oh, and don’t forget to pick up a few quick release Ti-MQR keychains
