ASI 63 Arkon Mounts, specializing in mobile mounting solutions

 Welcome back to Art Supply Insiders. My name is Jeff Morrow, and today we're talking with Urim Parks. Now, Urim is from. Arkon mounts and this is a podcast. You're really gonna wanna listen to em. How you doing today? 

I'm doing great Jeff. Thank you so much for having me. It's a pleasure to speak with you. 

It's totally our pleasure.

And we had the opportunity to talk a number of weeks back when we were at the NATA Creative Vision Show and, and many of our listeners, you'll have already heard about a. Three or a four minute spot, uh, that Urim did with me back then. Urim, tell me a little bit about Arkon mounts. Did I say that right?

Arkon? 

You said it beautifully. 

So tell us a little bit about Arkon Mounts. 

Yeah, absolutely. So Arkon Mounts, what we are is we specialize in mounting solutions. Um, so mounting solutions in the tech industry for tablets, phones, and computers. We have been in the industry for 35 years. Mm-hmm. And our main industry is actually the fleet industry, meaning truck mounts.

Heavy duty phone mounts for these big Rick trucks that you see on these streets. Um, about 15 to 10 years ago, we created a line, specifically built and inspired by creators, and it's called our Creator Arkon Line. And it's a tool for capturing creative work and processes and allowing you to film overhead.

So when you talk about these mounts, you mean these are things that you actually put your cell phone on, your tablet, your video camera, and this. This is the hardware that people use in order to capture that. Is that right? 

Exactly. So for example, for creators, for artists, um, when you're painting, when you're showing or teaching a class, our mounts are allowing you to film overhead so that you can capture what you are doing without using your hands, and it allows you to make content.

I went to your website and you have a lot of these kind of mounts. It, it seems like you have something that will fit for everybody in every occasion. 

Exactly. Um, we actually, we focus on a universal aspect. Um, for exactly what you said. For anybody, any community, any industry, we are the mounting specialist.

My goodness. So if people want to see all of the things that we're talking about, uh, give them your web address. 

Sure. So it's going to be www.Arkon.com 

and that's www.arkon.Com, is that correct? Yes, sir. And you're also on, also on the social media sites and so forth. 

Yes. So our main social media outlet that we are using is Instagram.

Okay. Um, our Instagram is dedicated currently to our creators. So you will see our various communities, our products, and it's just a really great community of people joining in. And, um, Sharing their passion. 

Tell a little bit about working with the creative community. How do you guys come up with these products?

Do, do you listen to them? Do you ask questions? How does that work? 

Sure. So as mentioned, initially, we were, um, mostly in the industry level, but we have had a lot of demand from creators asking about, Hey, I wanna film my work. I want people to see my art, and I need something that's gonna hold my camera.

Hold my phone, something that's heavy duty, something I could rely on. So we're like, you know what? Let's, let's get into our meeting. Let's see what we offer and what we can make, um, in order to help our creators be able to do their passion and. And that's really what our focal point of our creator line was.

It was inspired and built for creators for, um, artists to be able to have a tool that's an off-shelf product that they can know that is heavy duty, is a product that's gonna help them and not hinder them from, from creating content. 

Now this is a pretty substantial mount as I saw them at on in your booth.

This isn't something that's inexpensive. This is something that when our artists and crafters purchase it, they can pretty well count on the fact that this is gonna handle their needs, right? 

Absolutely 100%. Um, our date goal from day one was to make life a little easier by creating solutions for mounting various devices.

Uh, we are premium mount. The whole part of our background in industrial community really, really helped our product, uh, build its its reputation up because everything that we make is solid products, um, all built for heavy duty purposes. 

Now, just kind of as a side note here, you also make mounts for cars, 

right?

Yes, sir. Yes, we 

do. Tell us a little bit about that. So they, do, they mount to the dashboard? How, how does it work in a car? 

Well, the universal aspect, again, we have mounts that are windshield mounts. We have clamps. Um, we had seat rail mounts. Even dash mounts that you drill into your dash for commercial use.

So it's really a various amount of products. 

Wow. You they even go into cup holders, right? 

Yes, sir. Those are definitely one of our popular items as well. 

So what do you find as the main objection for artists and designers and creative types that aren't recording themselves? 

Um, well see. That's where our product comes perfectly in hand with people that are not filming themselves because there's three, um, objectives and three.

Problems that a lot of creators might come across. And number one is lack of knowledge. Mm-hmm. Um, lack of confidence and lack of judgment. All three will, um, relate to themselves. So in terms of people that are not filming themselves, a lot of times it's because they're scared, right? Or they don't know how to film themselves.

They don't know where to get. Started for, um, so what we focus on is, uh, fostering the creative community. That's really important to us because the amount of talent and passionate professionals that are out there that are not showcasing their work is almost unreal. It's crazy the amount of people that are, um, professionals not using that resource.

Right. Right. Um, so, In terms of people that are not filming it, our product allows 'em to learn because it's, it's a community that we're focusing on. So our community will help each other, how to use the product, what resources they can use to film the content. And from A to z, we, we help this community grow and, and get out of their comfort zone and try something new.

If, if you do have a, a new artist out there that really would like to. Try something new, but they're afraid, uh, how do you have them contact you directly? Do you have them go to a blog? Do you have videos? H how do they start? 

Yeah, so what we do is we're trying to, um, be more active on social media. So direct reach out is definitely something that we love and appreciate.

Um, our team is here to help and assist, but we have monthly live sessions on our Instagram. Our Instagram is Arkon Mounts where this is a time where creators that have questions, um, that are curious about the product, can interact with our team directly. And we answer the questions on this live sessions.

And, um, this is a great time for all the commu all of our communities to join together and just talk and, um, answer questions and talk about topics that a lot of them have questions on. 

So let's begin with, let say I'm a brand new, uh, artist or creator and I want to just, I've got myself an iPhone or, you know, one of the Galaxy phones and stuff.

What, what would I start with? How would I even know? Cause I look at your website, there's a lot of stuff. Me as a beginner, where would I go on your website to find out what are options for me as a beginner? 

Sure. Um, so let's say, so as a creator, we have one tab that's for video creation, uhhuh. All of our Arkon products are universal, so that means.

Any phone, any tablet will fit on any of our products. Oh, wow, really? Yes. So that's what we really, really strive on. So you don't have a lot of choices to make because anything will work for you in our Creator CRE collection. Um, so if you have, you know, an iPhone or an Android, it doesn't matter because it will fit on all of our products.

Wow. So I just, I'm, I'm actually on your website right now and I, I just clicked on the mixed media artists. It, it, it kind of seems to me if I'm a crafter or if I'm a a, a relatively new artist or if I'm, you know, uh, an artist that's been around for a long time and wanna start getting into this genre, is that kind of the tab I would click on to get started?

Yes, sir. Um, one thing that we do is we focus on core products. Um, so if you looking at the website where you mentioned, and as you see, a lot of the items look similar, correct? Yeah. Yes, they do. So they're all utilizing the same core product, but all for different needs. Um, so for example, our best seller is the Remarkable Creator's mouth.

This one is using the same pro stand that all of our bundles come in, but this one has a ring light, a tablet holder that is on there, and um, so that's gonna be one option. If you just want the phone holder and don't need to utilize the tablet holder ring light, there's the second option to the right, which is just a pro phone or camera stand.

Let me give our audience a little bit of a visual here. So you said your most, uh, popular one was this remarkable creator phone. And tablets stand with ring light, which is kind of a bundle. So what I see here is I see the arm that C that goes straight up and then comes down. You put your phone on that, and then there's a holder a little bit lower that you put a tablet on.

Is that what I'm, what I'm seeing? Yes, correct. And when you say ring light, what is a ring light? 

So a ring light is a product that ours clips onto any phone, any tablet, any computer, and it will allow you to get that optimal lighting when you are filming overhead. Um, so if you know for creators or artists that are trying to showcase a work, you could use the lighting you have, but if you have a ring light that's on there, it's gonna give you the best light.

Really. So with the ring light, do I need other lighting or does it depend on your situation? And I'm not sure how I would know as a beginner if I needed just a ring light or more. 

Nope. Um, you don't need any additional lighting. That's why the remarkable is our bestseller is because everything that you need to start from a beginner to a pro is in this bundle.

Wow. And and they also come in. Different colors, is that 

right? Yes, they do. They come in pink and they come in our beautiful teal color And black obviously. Right, and black. Yes, correct. 

You know, when I'm looking at this, all of a sudden, once I study it, it's not as overwhelming to me. As when I first looked at it, I first looked at it and it's like, oh my goodness, there's all of these products.

What the heck do I do? But after your explanation, it's just different colors doing the same thing. And then I see, you know, like on, on page three you've got some replacement parts or things that you can just buy on its own. Like you've got a little tiny tripod that you can put on a, on a desk or something like that.

Yes, sir. Exactly. Um, one thing that. We also focus on is interchangeability. So once you purchase amount from us, you can use different bases and different clamps with what you already have. So you don't need to purchase a whole new product because you will see that a lot of our products, again, are using the same core component.

Now, one of the other things that I see on here is I saw a thing called live streaming. Uh, can, can you explain what is live streaming? Yeah, 

absolutely. So live streaming, the word live, um, it allows you to go live on your social media platforms such as Instagram. There's Facebook Lives, TikTok lives, and this is a time where it is in real time.

So you're on your phone in real time and, um, your community, your followers can jump into this video and they can interact with you in real time. So every movement, any word you say, it's gonna be captured in real time. You're gonna be able to communicate with your following at the real time. 

I, I've heard a lot of people like doing this.

Yeah. With, with social media getting stronger and stronger. I, I've seen some of our artists are walking around at these shows and live streaming from the show, 

right? Yes, exactly. Um, so why a lot of people will opt to livestream is because it allows you to be more personable to your community instead of everything being edited and filmed prior or beforehand on live.

Your community can ask questions that are direct, um, that are personable, that are more, um, leaning to get to know you or, or just interact directly with, um, with the creator and their community. 

Which of the, of your, uh, mounts would you use? Let's say you're walking, we were walking around the show at NATA and we wanted to livestream and use one of your.

Products. Do you have a product that I would carry in my hand and walk around to film? 

Yeah, absolutely. So on the live streaming mount section, the first page, if you go all the way down, the last product, which is the phone tripod mount and l e d, ring light bundle. 

So tell, tell us a little bit about that.

What, what exactly does that look like? Give them a visual. 

Yeah, of course. So our tripod, it has three legs from the bottom going up, um, and then it holds a phone holder. That phone holder again, is universal. Any phone can fit on that. And then, um, it has a leveler so that you can make sure that you're getting the right angles.

And then it also includes a ring light that you can just pop on your phone. Then now you have a phone, um, tripod that has the legs there. The legs are fully flexible, so you can walk around holding the legs of the tripod. You can put the tripod on a table. It's really gonna be adaptable to what you want.

My goodness. You have a lot of, I'm looking at all the mounts here, and there's wreath, wreath, maker mounts. Mm-hmm. What is a wreath maker mount? 

Um, a wreath maker. So wreath are, is, um, during Christmas time on the, when people on their doors, they have a little. Christmas decoration, the little tree, um, circular product.

That's, that's what are is. And um, you know, you'll be shocked how many crafters are wreath makers. I 

wouldn't be shocked. I'll see what my wife brings home and I see all of them at these different shows. But I'm looking here and, and it's, you've got. Mounts for bikes, mounts for boats, mounts for golly, ev everything.

You, you, you've got floor stands, makeup. Why would a makeup artist need one of these mounts? 

Sure. Um. The makeup artist community loves our mounts because they make videos doing tutorials of makeup. How do you apply your eyeshadow? How do you apply your makeup techniques to apply them? So to do that, you need a good phone holder or a camera holder.

Yeah, I, I'm looking at another one here. I see this quite a bit, the, uh, overhead camera. Mount and it looks like you attach your video camera to that, or is that just your phone? How does that 

work? So what's great about our products is we include everything. Um, so all of our bundles that you see that again, are using the core products, they come with a phone holder and a camera holder.

Um, the Arkon overhead camera mount, that's gonna be for professionals using D S L R cameras. Uh, which are just the bigger standard camera, um, the ones that weigh about three to five pounds. Um, so that's gonna be a more heavy duty purpose, but definitely all of our mouths, they're universal and able to be used in different, uh, industries.

Wow. 

Stamping and music mounts and professional broadcaster mounts and it just goes on and on. Motorcycle mounts really. 

Yes sir. We are the one stop shop for mounting solutions and that's why a lot of our customers really, truly, um, are interested in us because they can find a different category, a mouth for any industry.

If you have a car, if you have a boat, if you wanna have a YouTube page, if you wanna be an artist, it really is. So, um, great to find a company that allows you to have such a broad re realm of communities. 

Boy sure does. So what do you see as Arkons future for supporting creatives and content creators?

Yeah. Well, number one is we want to not only help the communities with, or the creative communities in filming and showcasing and putting their work out there, but we want to support, we want to support, we wanna foster the creative community, um, to, to just put their passion out there. Again, I, I mentioned that there's.

So many talented people out there, and they're, they're waiting to showcase their work. You know, during Covid is when we really blew up, um, because people lost their jobs, right? And they needed to lean on a side hustle, a small business that they can do from home and make a living off of to pay their bills.

So in order to. Have a small business in order to sell your work, in order to showcase and teach classes, you need something that's gonna be able to help you capture those, um, videos and capture those moments and, and build your small business and advertise, you know, social media is where it's at today.

You know, TikTok, Instagrams, all of these different outlets are where our current society is moving towards and we're adapting. Well, it sounds 

like you, you, you need to, because the, the market changes so quick, and I think it's kind of comforting to know that as you know, the apples and the Galaxy phones change.

You are changing with them and keeping one step ahead so that. When our customers go and purchase your product, they can feel comfortable that it's going to fit what's going on out 

there, right? Yes, sir. So you're, you're absolutely right. Technology changes, but we don't, and we fit all devices. And another great thing about us is that we are leaning towards right now, lifetime warranty on.

All of our products. Um, we, we are at two years right now, but we are going to be changing that within the next couple of months to lifetime. 

Wow. That's a big deal. 

Yes it is. And uh, that just shows the quality of our product. Um, this is not a product that you have to worry about it breaking or it's shattering because if it does, which it won't, you'll be covered under lifetime.

We will replace that product. We are located in the usa. We ship out from the usa. Um, so in terms of quality, we're top-notch in terms of universal. Stability. We are also top-notch. Yeah. And that's what we focus on. Just good products, good quality, and supporting our creators. 

When our audience wants to go and purchase your products, do they go to a retailer?

Do they go to Amazon? Do they buy it directly from you? Where do you suggest they go? So 

we do have distributors, however, our main source of, um, sale sales is coming through our personal website, ww.rcon.com. Um, why? Because all of the, uh, orders are directly with us, so we are going to be handling all orders with our internal team.

But we do also sell on Amazon. And Amazon has been amazing because a lot of creators use that outlet for different products. Mm-hmm. So us being within that realm of their outreach, you know, if they're already on Amazon shopping for, for, you know, supplies or, or discovering new products, we're there as well.

Thi this has been so much. Fun. And as you bring out new products in the future, we would love to have you come back and talk about those new products and if there have been changes and so forth, I would, would, would you come back sometime in the future? 

Of course. I would love to be back and have a conversation and talk and just, um, yeah, discuss great new things with you.

Thank you so much Urim. We really appreciate you being on today. 

Show. Thank you so much for having me, Jeff. I, I really appreciate it and I hope this was insightful and informal and, uh, great. Just a great time. You 

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