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.
I wrote up a list of 65 t-shirt blogs a while back that I think might be helpful to this discussion.
I've looked through the rules and still can't decide if I can post the link or not so instead I'll just copy-and-paste the list, it's pretty long but I think it keeps me on the correct side of the mods. I've cut out the blogs that are corporate (which you wouldn't be able to market to), the ones which haven't been updated for ages (if no ones writing them you won't get posted there), and my own (to comply with the rules).
iloveyourtshirt - They have a regular edited blog, and a user-submitted one of tee pictures with their purchase links. (tshirt : iloveyourtshirt : t-shirt blog)
I've just started a facebook page, so no idea of how useful it is, but you dont set up a group, you can set up a business page, and people becomes fans of your company instead of friends like a normal facebook account, you get a break down of page visits, and supposably when you get to the 10 fan mark you get details on the demographic of companies fanbase
I've been writing our own blog for about 1,5 years. Besides being able to put loads of information on returns, color separations, new products, customers that we are really proud of etc. on the net, it also gets us nice returns on Google searches.
Recently I blogged on a (new) popular term just to see how well it would rank us. We came up 2nd.
although our blog is in Dutch, I am happy to write blog posts about t-shirt (or merch-related) blogs or sites that contain loads of information. I would appreciate a post in return... Our blog can be found through the link in my sig (have fun looking at the pics and wondering how our funny language would sound )
As for my top 5 marketing instruments;
1) advertising online
2) word of mouth* (note below)
3) plain good old fashion real life networking
4) our blog
5) myspace
As for the word of mouth, we always print loads of flyers and some additional items (a lanyard, a pen, whatever, as long as it has our logo on it) to ship with EVERY order or sample package. Even if 95% of the receivers throw the flyers away; at a cost of about $ 100 per 5000 flyers, the ROI is always okay.
It's always better to send a useable story. For instance; for the designers we work with I created "Designer reports", they send me a short bio and some pics of different artwork they created.
The internet as a marketing tool appears to be the focus of conversation but I like to network. I've been working 3 months on one potential customer (not full time of course). If I get the deal I stand at making well into the 6 digits for the year from them alone. But I'm not stopping there. I'm developing other relationships with owners of car dealerships and bankers (fundraisers are big here). There alot of work involved but I have no doubt that I will reap the benefits. Sure there will be wasted effort. Make 100 phones calls and only make 2 sales. Well then... make 200 phone calls to get 4! As for the Web, there's nothing wrong with a focusing all your efforts on a good website if your target customers are teens(hopefully with jobs), but I would rather branch out my efforts to all possible venues for self promotion. As well as the internet, also participate in events selling or printing shirts from a booth and fundraisers and other volunteer work. Get visible. The guy down the street when asked, "Bob's Tee's? yeah I know them. They can do your stuff real good". Provide free shirts to a good cause.... " 'STEWED PRUNES on WHEELS for the ELDERLY' shirts donated by Bob's Tees". Now your a pillar of the community. It's a proven fact that people buy products or services from companies they recognize over the one they don't, regardless of the quality of the product. It based on a perceived trust. Sales is not just "Getting the word out". Before and after sales support is important too. Show your company is caring, professional and trustworthy. I won't rule out return business and referrals. My customers trust in me and the value I provide are paramount to staying in business. I was told by people in the car industry that "Meet and Greet" is 90% of the effort to getting to the final sale. Again it's all about trust and the comfort your customer feels when dealing with you. Many people would rather pay more for a better product and knowing that they are being looked after right. Word of mouth is a powerful sales tool because it places the buyers trust in you even before they meet you or buy your product.
I'm far far far from being an expert by any means but so far I think the future looks bright. I'm here to learn how to think outside my box.
I happen to write one, but I won't link it here because that's against the rules (but it is in my signature). If you don't like mine, there are a bunch of others in my blogroll that I consider to be the best and most consistent t-shirt blogs currently. And they cater to different types of t-shirts, so make sure you look at a bunch of them. I'll pm you a link to an article I wrote about how to get a t-shirt blog to write you up.
Has anyone tried second life? I have seen news stories about this. It is 3D virtual world. I think it is like myspace and WOW mixed. I hear bands that want to promote there music have virtual concerts. i think you can also open virtual stores.
Re: The 5 best ways to market t-shirts 
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www.busyPrinting.com
