Gadgeteer success stories

ARTICLE – This month (August 2024), The Gadgeteer officially turns 27 years old. Since I started the site in 1997, it’s given back so much to me. I’ve made lifelong friends, had fun playing with (I mean testing) thousands of gadgets, and benefited from it as a supplement to my income. During the last 27 years, The Gadgeteer has also given back to others. I had regular Gadgeteer Giveaway Days while working at Cummins Inc. My family and friends have also received freebies and hand-me-down gadgets. But I’m most proud that The Gadgeteer has played a tiny part in helping others start new careers and businesses. Here are a few of those stories.

Paul Peterson and Midwest PCB Designs

Back in the 1990s, before wireless home computing, Smartphones, and Bluetooth, there was an innovative handheld computing device called the Palm Pilot Personal Digital Assistant (aka PDA). Julie (aka the Gadgeteer) reviewed many  Palm PDA models and its competitors back then. She also foresaw the need for PDA peripherals needing some means of upward compatibility with Palm’s new PDA models so she asked a couple of coworkers at Cummins who were moonlighting on the side through their small company called Midwest PCB Designs Inc. Within a couple of months they were able to develop and test a working prototype of a standard Palm PDA serial adapter the called ‘the Bridge‘.

Over the next eight years, Julie’s idea led to the sale of tens of thousands of these little Bridge adapter gadgets and provided a much-needed boost in Midwest PCB Designs revenues and fun and exciting business interactions with Palm Inc. and other tech companies. As an early adopter of Paypal for business transactions Midwest PCB Designs was also able to offer an online or “internet” sales model as well.  Many thanks to the Gadgeteer for her great idea and for her positive feedback and promotion of the Bridge adapter products all those years ago!

Judie Stanford of Geardiary.com (Gadgeteer writer 2000 – 2006)

Those of you who have been loyal Gadgeteer readers for the past 27 years will no doubt remember when Judie came aboard as my writing partner. Until then, it was a one-woman show, which can be a little lonely.

Judie and I had a lot of fun going to tech events like CES and COMDEX (does anyone still remember that one?) during the six years that she was writing on the site. We even went to Scotland together, which was an epic trip.

In 2006, Judie left to start her own site, Geardiary.com, which is just excellent. There are so few independent sites like ours, so please be sure to visit Geardiary now and often!

Mike Dixon (Gadgeteer writer 2018 – present)

I was a full-time software developer for 23 years before I started my 3D printing business in 2022. I had been writing reviews for The-Gadgeteer for a few years before I finally got a chance to review a 3D printer in 2021.

I was hooked from my first print. I’ve always liked to build and invent things, and the ability to 3D print the things I thought up was life-changing. I quickly learned quite a bit and became proficient at designing and printing many different items. 3D printing was a lot like software development, I thought up ways to solve problems and then built the solution.

By the summer of 2022, I had reviewed four printers and I began making some camera tripod mounts and started an Etsy store. In the first few months, I sold about a dozen items. In late September 2022, I started making accessories for the xTool M1 laser engraver (a review item). That’s when things really started taking off. I worked from home for my software job, so running the side hustle was pretty easy.

In January of 2023, without warning, my software development job was eliminated in a company buyout. 25 years of working for the same company was gone without notice. By this time I was making enough with the 3D printing to get by (combined with my wife’s income) and my side hustle turned into a full-time job.

I continued designing and making more products. I purchased more printers to keep up with the demand and by June 2023 I was making more with my Etsy store and client projects than I did with the software company. Between printing parts and doing reviews, I work 12 to 14 hours a day, and I love it. I have 720 sq ft of office space in my basement that is quickly becoming full of gadgets!

I now have over forty items in my Etsy store and have had over 8,000 sales. I have 13 printers and four laser engravers (with two more on the way). I’ve lost track of how many parts I have printed, but it’s 10’s of thousands of individual prints.

Many things have contributed to my success, but my experience writing reviews for The-Gadgeteer has been a major part of it, and without The-Gadgeteer, I would not be where I am now.

Visit Mike’s Etsy store here. Use discount code GADGETEER for 10% off.

Matt Gregersen (Gadgeteer writer 2020 – present)

I’ve been 3D printing for several years now after reviewing several 3D printers for The Gadgeteer. I follow many talented 3D designers and have delighted friends and family with unique and fun gifts. After being told for the umpteenth time that I should sell the stuff I’m printing, I decided to give it a try! Within a month, I had to buy two additional printers as orders started rolling in, and I just bought my fourth after another wave of orders strained my little print farm.

My next challenge to overcome was the worry of harmful fumes (especially VOCs – volatile organic compounds), which a high quality air sensor picks up each time I start a printer in my office. I moved everything to a closet and ran a duct to the outside of our house, dropping the in-house VOC level to lower than it was before I started 3D printing. If you’re printing things at home, make sure you have ventilation; even “safe” filaments like PLA make my air sensor spike, especially if the room has the door closed.

I love that the fun designs I’ve picked out to start with have already resulted in all 5 star reviews, especially from people giving them as gifts. My goal is to continue to expand the catalogue with decor items and toys that delight customers and/or their gift recipients. I’m prepping larger batches of popular items to list on Amazon as well in between Etsy orders, and hope to design some of my own things someday (so far I’m better at the business logistics and fine-tuning of the printers to get best results versus actually creating new designs to share with the world). 

This has been a nice side hustle since I quit my day job last year to be a full time parent to our new toddler. Naps, nights, and weekends are now often spent fulfilling Etsy orders and printing new designs to add to my store. The income coming in so far has already paid off the printers, and can start to build up the kid’s college fund from here on out!

My Etsy Site (15% Gadgeteer Discount with this link): Furlock Bones 3D Printing (if you must ask, Furlock Bones is the name of my dog)

Molesia Perry (wife of Julian Perry Gadgeteer writer 2018 – present)

Last year, after my husband built me an outdoor garden with several 8×2 beds and a beautiful Arbor, I decided to start my own YouTube channel (Lifestyle by Molesia) and Instagram channel. I aimed to demonstrate that gardening can be easy, enjoyable, and accessible for everyone—even those who claim to have a black thumb. I wanted to prove that growing some or all of your produce is both achievable and simple. However, as I explored easy outdoor gardening, the gardening niche was oversaturated with content and mine did not stand out. That is when I turned my attention to indoor gardening, and that is where The Gadgeteer comes into the picture.

My husband, who writes and reviews for The Gadgeteer, got a countertop hydroponic system to review. That is when I discovered my passion for hydroponics. I started reviewing one system after another, sharing the process and results on my channel. Not only did I fall in love with indoor gardening, but my channel also saw a big boost in views. Those hydroponic videos are now the most popular and, honestly, the most fun for me to make. Thanks to The Gadgeteer and my husband’s reviews, I have been able to try and review gardening systems and accessories that I would not have otherwise had access to experience.

Patrick Henderson (Gadgeteer writer 2016 – present)

In October 2022 (link to review) and again in July 2023 (link to review), my brother Bill Henderson and myself reviewed two laser etching machines from Atezr. When we were using the first machine from Atezr, the P20, I could see immediately the money-making potential of laser etchers in general. Since getting the more powerful newer generation Atezr L2 machine, the services I could offer really opened up. Since 2022, I’ve been able to bring in, on average, about $200 a month of extra income with these two lasers. Over the nearly two years of doing this, two categories of services have emerged. Custom branding for businesses, and things to sell on Facebook Marketplace. Some of the things I was able to make for local businesses are: service awards, hats with laser engraved patches, etched whiskey glasses, coasters, pocket knives, and custom notebook covers. I have sold several things on Facebook Marketplace, such as Christmas ornaments, Santa cookie trays, 3D decorations, Halloween lazy susans, Star Trek and Lord of the Rings themed items, custom wood, slate and cork coasters, wooden cooking utensils, trays, and cutting boards, and several other things. It’s a good source of some extra income.

Bill Henderson (Gadgeteer writer 2010 – present)

In the 10+ years I’ve been reviewing tech gadgets, many of them have been incorporated into my “day job”. As a designer for a children’s publishing company, I rely on a lot of tech for my daily tasks. We’re talking monitors, furniture, data storage, and even audio (my true love).

My work needs have evolved as new and better products become available. If I look back only 5 years, much of what I use has changed. In my remodeled backyard studio building (it was flooded during Hurricane Ian in 2022), I’ve upgraded many “gadgets” as needs arise. Here is a list of what I use daily:

• FlexiSpot Odin 4-Leg Standing Desk
• X-Chair X2 K-Sport Mgmt Chair
• Huion Kamvas Pro 24 (4K) pen display
• Huion Kamvas 24 Plus Pen Display
• Kamvas Pro 19 (4K) Pen Display (review coming soon)
• TerraMaster D6-320 6-bay external hard disk enclosure
• TerraMaster D8 Hybrid Hard drive enclosure
• Vitrazza Glass Office Chair Mat
• AnkerWork B600 Video Bar webcam
• Shinola Bookshelf Speakers

As you may guess, I rely on much of what I review. Without this tech, my job could be much less efficient. 

Final thoughts

Things have changed a lot since the day I first started The Gadgeteer, and I’m looking forward to seeing what changes will happen in the next decade or two. Here’s hoping that there will be even more success stories and that all of you reading this article will be here to read about them.