The online DIY community continues to prosper because companies invent, produce, and distribute useful products, information, and resources that save users time, money, and frustration. Via social media networks, such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, and more, companies cater to knowledge-thirsty DIYers with instructions, advice, how-to’s, and shortcuts designed specifically for them.
When you combine easy to find company advice with affordable, quality DIY products, the results are astounding – DIYers are empowered to learn and help themselves. Fortunately, this continuous DIY movement is right in line with a slowly changing paradigm shift in consumer purchase behaviors.
Previously, in the 1950’s, hardware products were built to last a lifetime, and they could be fixed, if necessary. These tools could be bequeathed and handed down to children and grandchildren. However, in the last decade or so, many products do not have the same quality and often break easily. We have become a disposable society. When products break, they are discarded and a new tool is purchased to replace the one disposed of. The empowering news is that DIYers no longer share the same “new is always best” philosophy. From television shows, such as Flea Market Flip which turns old relics into refurbished furniture, to renewable energy projects, society is now focused on both individual and environmental well being.
Green thinking is in. We recycle and upcycle rather than so easily trash unused items at landfills. We embrace “save the ocean” campaigns and look for ways to do more with less. We can no longer mindlessly throw out useful items just because they may need a minor fix or are old. We are now a community who can reinvent, re-engineer, and reuse. Additionally, higher quality products are also produced now and are made to last for longer periods of time. At Zircon, we have embraced this quality philosophy since our inception – with some customers who rely upon their original StudSensor stud finder from yesteryear – and still works!
It’s great how our perception of the environment is reverting back to simpler times. Or maybe we can call this evolution? Whatever the correct terminology, the DIY community is now empowered to want lasting, quality products and to also repair items as needed by using the online resources available to them 24/7. To be successful, manufacturers must also comply with the new tentaments of DIY satisfaction. Quality. Sustainability. Progress. Or should I say, DIY progress is everlasting!
Read “Tools for Nostalgia” for more insights. For more information, make sure to follow us on Twitter or like us on Facebook.
