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.
Yep, that's called an affiliate program. There are companies that can manage it for you or there is software you can install on your site to handle the tracking.
... and that's my only marketing tool. I get 90% of my sales through affiliates. Unfortunately affiliate links are not permitted on MySpace.
#1 word to mouth is the best advertising with results ie sales not just hits
#2 events = going to events that have a large target market like concerts carnivals etc and setting up booths or sponsoring them etc.
#3 Facebook = we were recently featured in the wall street journal for using facebook if you google rootsgear you should see the link to the article ... check out the website too comments are always appreciated.
We use one too. It says " I Support Rutes Clothing ". We have a trackable link that shows how many clicks and sales that it generates, we can also attach a coupon to the link.
That is awesome. Did you creat the trackable link yourself? Do you manage the information in a database yourself? I would like to do something like that, but I am not sure where to begin.
My marketing plan is basic and simple as my funds don't allow for any kind of media blitz.
I'm trying to get listed with some tshirt blogs/directories.
I've given away a bunch of shirts in return for word of mouth advertising
That's pretty much it, call it a "soft-opening" as I've just now launched my retail site today. It will, however, get more involved as I get more samples created and published and a few sales start coming in.
That is awesome. Did you creat the trackable link yourself? Do you manage the information in a database yourself? I would like to do something like that, but I am not sure where to begin.
Actually, there is a feature included in our hosting, we're using Yahoo Small Buss. Solutions and I'm pretty sure there's something available like that elsewhere. Another cool feature we use a lot is that you can track coupon sales. We use it to see which coupon code name works the best.
1). Clothing Company Website (That includes myspace)
2). Give out Free Items (Clothes, etc)
3). Merge with a movie production company and a record label (They will work wonders)
4). Get alot of fylers (5000 or more) and give you friends and tell them to spread the word.
5). Stay Original and Unique. (Price is also a big factor)
In my case, having a good location for a brick&mortar retail store is the best (#1) form of marketing. People can see see the business (what you can do), and they can physically inspect the products. Next to that (#2) is the way you talk to customers, and the way you handle their orders, requests, delivery time, etc. I consider these 2 as my major marketing efforts. You automatically generate word of mouth (#3) by being good at these 2 points. All the the other marketing efforts are secondary, but of course, they help as well.
#4. Having a website, blogs, etc., and a nice business card (where you write the answers to customers inquiries)
#5. Wrapping our vehicles with vinyl stickers promoting the business
#6. Giving away shirts during Christmas, etc.; stickers, button pins with every purchase, etc.
Facebook is pretty good it allows you to build a product page and that way you can put as much about your product as you want. Also you can put up pics, videos, and all that stuff. It also provides you with statistics on visits everyday. From there you can network with others on facebook, I set mine up and it is working pretty well so far
Re: The 5 best ways to market t-shirts 
