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.
So I've got my site up and running, and im conventrating on marketing, but im not getting sales, i wonder if im doing something wrong on the site but im not sure what it is? I had good feedback but im just not getting the sales. Any comments or advice would be helpful.
Try some type of sale, promotion to make your visitors think that now is the time to buy or they'll miss out on something. If there's no difference in ordering today or tomorrow, why rush?.?.
So I've got my site up and running, and im conventrating on marketing, but im not getting sales, i wonder if im doing something wrong on the site but im not sure what it is? I had good feedback but im just not getting the sales. Any comments or advice would be helpful.
Cheers,
Billy
I have two quick thoughts. Re-shoot your pictures, so they are crystal clear. Add some copy to the pages. It will help.
Pictures are important but well crafted words add to desirability. If you are a bit hungry, a picture of a steak can make you hungrier. However, if you can also smell the steak there is a good chance you might even drool a bit.
Think of words as the sizzle or smell.
The best book that I can recommend is “Web Copy That Sells” by Maria Veloso.
So I've got my site up and running, and im conventrating on marketing, but im not getting sales, i wonder if im doing something wrong on the site but im not sure what it is? I had good feedback but im just not getting the sales. Any comments or advice would be helpful.
Cheers,
Billy
You can also add more designs...I had a friend one time in the business who told me, "you have to have at least 12 really good designs."
The more designs you have, the better.
There is a guy who used cafepress and affiliates and has 250,000 designs to choose from....
Try having a myspace account for your business and with a link to your website.....it's free and a good place to draw people to your website.
And remember, what market are you targeting when designing.
Try to have links on other people's websites as much as possible, I call it, "trading links" . Linking is so essential in driving people to your site.
Another thing to consider is the PayPal thing. I know people don't need a PayPal account to use this, but you'd be surprised at how many people might turn away from a PayPal shopping cart because they don't have an account and assume they need one. I would mention that somewhre on your site.
Also, if you haven't already, start using Google Analytics to track visitors. Not only can you see where they are coming from, but you can see where they are exiting your site. If everyone seems to exit from your home page, then you may want to consider a re-design. If they are exiting from product pages, it could be the PayPal thing that's causing a barrier for potential customers. It's all about tweaking things and constantly trying new things. There is no magic bullet...just trial and error.
Thanks everyone for your comments, they are really helpful i take them all on board, im interested to know what your views are on my pricing (product and P&P) cheers,
I like your site and designs. Make sure you are targeting the right market with your advertising and SEO. If you are getting hits , but they are not the market interested in that stye, you will not see sales. Make sure to use keywords and metatags that also target your niche. Good Luck!
Hi Billyboy, try describing your product something like 100% heavy/light/medium-weight cotton. Also, it's a good thing to put the dimensions of the sizes. All that will help even more.
another thing you can consider is instead of just having a picture of the design, you could have an actual person wearing the design...What i would suggest you do is bring some of your shirts to your local pub and bring your camera...Find some of the hottest females/males in the place and ask them if they would be your model for you....It should cost nothing more then a shirt and most "younger" people would just think it was cool to be a tshirt model...
You could even have alittle more fun and hold a model search down at your local pub...Most pub owners will also do that for nothing...Don't pay the models any money...Its just unnessary...You could probably find a release for them to sign somewhere on the net...The more people you have do this, the better...What will happen is these people modeling your shirts will tell all their friends to check out your site to see them...They will actually be advertising your site for nothing..
another thing you can consider is instead of just having a picture of the design, you could have an actual person wearing the design...What i would suggest you do is bring some of your shirts to your local pub and bring your camera...Find some of the hottest females/males in the place and ask them if they would be your model for you....It should cost nothing more then a shirt and most "younger" people would just think it was cool to be a tshirt model...
You could even have alittle more fun and hold a model search down at your local pub...Most pub owners will also do that for nothing...Don't pay the models any money...Its just unnessary...You could probably find a release for them to sign somewhere on the net...The more people you have do this, the better...What will happen is these people modeling your shirts will tell all their friends to check out your site to see them...They will actually be advertising your site for nothing..
another thing you can consider is instead of just having a picture of the design, you could have an actual person wearing the design...What i would suggest you do is bring some of your shirts to your local pub and bring your camera...Find some of the hottest females/males in the place and ask them if they would be your model for you....It should cost nothing more then a shirt and most "younger" people would just think it was cool to be a tshirt model...
You could even have alittle more fun and hold a model search down at your local pub...Most pub owners will also do that for nothing...Don't pay the models any money...Its just unnessary...You could probably find a release for them to sign somewhere on the net...The more people you have do this, the better...What will happen is these people modeling your shirts will tell all their friends to check out your site to see them...They will actually be advertising your site for nothing..
I am having the same problem with my site, hits but very few sales. I think it's the idea that they need a paypal account also.
But I love the idea about having local kids wear the product. I am going to use that strategy.
Also if you don't want to physically go to a pub looking for people to wear your shirt. You can easily get the same publicity just by using myspace...What you can do is scan myspace for some really popular people...Shoot for some in the 18 year old range with the hopes that they are still in high school...Don't just look at the friends list but look at what types of people write to them and how often...
Then all you have to do is get in touch with them and ask them if they want to be a tshirt model for you company...They will probably jump at the chance...They can take the pictures themselves...If you find some that belong to many forums, even better...You might even be able to get them to put your signature or an avatar of your company in their postings...A nerdy type of kid that can't stay off the computer and vistits many gaming sites would be perfect for getting people to visit a tshirt site...I've searched many gaming sites and the amount of kids who visit those things is just mind boggling...
Thanks everyone for your comments, they are really helpful i take them all on board, im interested to know what your views are on my pricing (product and P&P) cheers,
Billy
Just be really really careful who you get to do your shopping cart.
A woman told me she lost thousands of dollare an a shopping cart service because of robot email spams and she had to pay .35 cents for each one and almost lost all her business.
Go with a reputable company to do your shopping cart.
Do you know where your hits are coming from? I find that hits from forums don't usually convert into sales, but hits from t-shirt blogs, ranking sites, etc, have a better chance of becoming a sale.
Do you know where your hits are coming from? I find that hits from forums don't usually convert into sales, but hits from t-shirt blogs, ranking sites, etc, have a better chance of becoming a sale.
Howdy and Happy Holidays!
There are companies which will give you the info you are looking for a price, like where the hits are coming from. I forget the name of one of them, but they send me advertising all the time.
Just google some words relating to what you are looking for and you find a company...they may want $9.00 and up for what info you wish.
It just takes time to drive people to your site and creativity.
You can also pay a company to get your site to show up in the top on some search engines.
It takes about three months but it doesn't include google and yahoo, they say eventually from more people hitting your site, it will get up higher in good ad yahoo.
There is more good advice on some of the other threads to help.
Hits but not sales! 
