Les Jones

Guns > Gunsmith Hilton Yam's Custom 1911 Pistols

(I'm cross-posting this to the guns and e-commerce categories because this is such a good example of an effective Web site for selling services.)

So somewhere down on my wish list of guns is a 1911 (a Colt .45 autoloading pistol or clone thereof). Gunsmith Hilton Yam customizes 1911s, and he'll even build one from scratch if that's what you want.

Marketing services via the Web is much, much harder than marketing products. In most cases you're selling something that's not entirely tangible, that isn't commoditized, and that can't be compared on a one to one basis with someone else's offering. Without being a pushy salesman type, Yam is incredibly effective at promoting his services by demonstrating his own expertise and craftsmanship.

What I really like is the way he demonstrates his knowledge of the 1911 platform by sharing that knowledge. After reading his articles I knew more about 1911s, but I also know more about the work that goes in to customizing them, and what his likes and dislikes are. For instance, Yam is a traditionalist. He only builds all-steel, full-sized guns, and he doesn't do competition gun features like compensators. To secure the grips he prefers flathead screws to torx and other fancy fasteners, because a Leatherman has a flathead screwdriver but not a torx tool.

Finishes? Like Henry Ford, he'll give you any color you want as long as it's black (specifically, Parkerized matte black). Even with those limitations he has a waiting list, and he's too busy to do basic gunsmithing tasks - he does full customization projects only.

For Yam's line of work, that kind of clear communication is a much better sales technique than overly-slick Web pages and pushy! sales! lingo! He already has more work than he can handle. One of the goals he accomplishes with his site is to fend off people who want the kind of gun he isn't interested in building.

High points of his site are recommended first 1911s, recommended base guns for customization, best components and customizations, and finishes.

His picture gallery has some outstanding photos of his work.