Which path to take? how did you start the flow of printing orders?
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Discuss the fun task of marketing a t-shirt shop. Where to advertise, local marketing tips, word of mouth, press releases, search engine marketing, keyword advertising, magazines, etc.
Which path to take? how did you start the flow of printing orders?
Which path to take? how did you start the flow of printing orders?
Granted, I have only been at it for about a month, but I have had an ad in a very popular free newspaper, classified ad and done a couple of weeks worth of walk-in marketing to local businesses and churches. I have recieved all together a total of about 5 calls with no orders placed.
I have been currently talking to a professional web designer and decided at first to go with a professional screen printing and embroidery layout for my website. I also however, have a book full of design ideas that I'm busting at the seams to get online. I only have the money right now for one. I understand that both can take a while to get running. I was hoping to have the screen printing and embroidery going enough by now to at least call it a part time job. but like I said, no orders. My marketing tactic has been networking through friends and relatives, the walk-ins to local buisnesses, and the paid ads. Can anyone give suggestions as to how they started the flow of orders and which website that they think would be more successful? Is now a slower time of year???
__________________
Hard labor kills, make t-shirts instead.
Read it, I was in that one actually. I'm just poking into the realm of maybe someone else has all of the answers that I need and they just haven't posted yet.
Actually, I had a sit down with a brilliant friend of mine with an MBA in business and marketing tonight. He had a few things to say that I had already thought of, and a couple that I hadn't. Maybe I'll document these things for the other members with every meeting I have with him.
1. Don't be afraid to spend money, just be aware of what you're spending it on. If you aren't absolutely sure that this magazine or newspaper or phonebook, etc is going to be worth your time don't give up your money until you ARE sure. Ask around and see what everyone else is saying. (Example: I went today to speak with a sales rep with my local newspaper. They put out a phone book in addition to the phone company's yearly book. So they wanted me to buy an ad. The prices were very good, but I was still hesitant mainly because I myself use the Verizon book simply because it's not as thick. I told her to give me some time and asked 5 people, family and friends, which book they use. They unanimously said that they use the newspaper's book, and not the Verizon book, and whenever they search the yellow pages, they ALWAYS look at the ads first. Will I call her back tomorrow and buy the most expensive ad, no. Will I ask another 5 people tomorrow, you betcha, and then maybe I'll buy one. Will I buy a Verizon ad for double the price? No.
2. Don't worry about customers coming to you, go to them. Is it better to call or to visit them? Neither really. At least in my area, several people I have contacted do not use local services, they go for the best deal online. Search the same ads they are searching and get other's price quotes and make or revise your price list accordingly. I particularly live in a city where poverty is not uncommon and a lot of the people who have the money don't want to spend it. What did my friend suggest? Sit down, get comfy and grab the yellow pages until you have a customer list of at least 100 potential customers. Then, separate them into groups. Churches, schools, contractors, fire dept.'s, etc. Decide daily or weekly what group it is time to contact. When you make a contact, move them into a list of either not at all interested, or seemed interested somewhat, or people that wanted an appointment. Don't give up on anyone until you're sure that they're not willing to come to you no matter what. Don't bug them, but give them time and call back. A different day down the road may bring a much different result. The person may be in a horrible mood the first day, maybe even the second day a month later, but then when you call back in 6 months, they may be ready to listen.
3. There are 3 different categories in addition to the ones listed above; a, b, and c. A accounts are the ones that you would be on cloud nine if you got it. The order sometimes hundreds of shirts per month and with several of these, you'd be livin' large. B is the category that is also desirable but is not as frequent a buyer as A. C is the one that an account or 2 may not add up to much, but if you get 10 of these, they're just as important as an A. The moral here is, everyone can potentially be as great an attribute to your business as the next. Don't leave anyone out when making your calls.
I think that's a long enough post for now.
__________________
Hard labor kills, make t-shirts instead.
Last edited by tim3560; May 8th, 2007 at 08:36 PM.
Re: Which path to take? how did you start the flow of printing orders?
Quote:
Originally Posted by vctradingcubao
Tim, do you have a brick & mortar store? Have you considered having one?
I have definitely thought about it, especially since everyone I talk to asks "where are you located?" Unfortunately, I'm starting at the very bottom and have to raise all of the capital that I'll need to afford lease payments and store inventory. So right now I'm just focusing on getting my name out and getting the orders that I can.
__________________
Hard labor kills, make t-shirts instead.
Re: Which path to take? how did you start the flow of printing orders?
Hi Tim - I'm new to T-shirts myself but I've been in sales and marketing for over 20 years and I can tell you this - you already have the most import key to making it - you have Drive - So stay with it and best of luck to you
Re: Which path to take? how did you start the flow of printing orders?
Quote:
Originally Posted by TripleT
Hi Tim - I'm new to T-shirts myself but I've been in sales and marketing for over 20 years and I can tell you this - you already have the most import key to making it - you have Drive - So stay with it and best of luck to you
Thanks for the compliment Tom, I appreciate it. Do you do marketing for a large company or a small town/city business?? Is there something you might recommend for a new business to get there name out without a marketing budget??
__________________
Hard labor kills, make t-shirts instead.
Re: Which path to take? how did you start the flow of printing orders?
tim,
love the name, haha. but seriously, just go out and talk to people man. figure out how many small accounts would keep you in a happy place. then go talk to about 10 times that many local businesses. print some brochures or something to that effect yourself and put them in local businesses. even if you get your "happy" goal talk to those other businesses anyway. if you want 10 small accounts go talk to 100 people, even if you get 10 to buy in the first 30 that you talk to, keep talking until you talk to 100. you may end up with 15 or 20 accounts that are buying from you on a regular basis.
if you have a job besides this business talk to people there. it's probably against their code of ethics but it works. 50% of my business comes from people that come into the store i work at on a regualr basis. i dont work in the t shirt industry by the way.
anyway, those are some ideas that have worked out pretty well for me.
Re: Which path to take? how did you start the flow of printing orders?
Well, Tim, I've worked for "mom & pop's" did an IPO, worked for a Fortune 500, and had my own company - the "skeleton" of sales and marketing is always the same, then you add the "blood and guts" of the industry (T-Shirts) to come-up with your game plan (and without a game plan it will not be easy!)
You said in your last post that you do not have a marketing budget. If that means you have no money to market with, then you don't have too many options. There are some very good ideas in the Threads that Rodney mentions (Local Marketing, and then, How Long until 100 Tees/Month)
I would search the Forum and also Google "Free Marketing Ideas" I don't know what you'll find but even if you get just one good idea that's a plus.
Maybe you can find a small amount of money to put into marketing - it will be money well spent. Of course, just getting out there and talking to people will be #1. Also, Direct Marketing (by mail) is very cheap. I've read posts from several people who said something like they mailed a post card but did not get any call backs or orders - so marketing by mail does not work. Well, sending someone a post card one time will not work! That is not the strategy behind mail marketing.
Again, I would Google "Direct Marketing by Mail" to get some information on how it works (how many times you mail, how long between mailings, bulk mailing rates, etc.) It's not a magic bullet, but for several hundred $ you can cover a lot of ground - and then follow-up and close some sales.
Again, I'm new to T-Shirts, but T-Shirt Forums is a great place to learn about the Industry - so thanks to all
This is a discussion about Which path to take? how did you start the flow of printing orders? that was posted in the T-Shirt Marketing section of the forums.
Which path to take? how did you start the flow of printing orders? 
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