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 don't know how these guys manage to get featured on TV, but the owner talks about a drastic spike in business sales after their debut. The news segment also features the FlexiJet printer.
I think you have a good chance if you just contact of one your local news correspondents. I have a friend who was a correspondent for a local news station and she was always actively looking for new stories.
I emailed my local newspaper about my buisness being local. They had a guy come out and do a big article on it the next day. Now granted I dont live in a huge town but it did generate a large number of hits just for that day. Not really much for sales but free publicity never hurts.
Well you guys are lucky if you can get int he local news for free. Here our newspaper has a business section with right ups about local businesses. After doing some asking around I found out that you pay for this. It's a packaged deal that you get so many ads in the paper and 3-4 stories with a video for the newspaper webisite during the following six months.So more or less it's a 6 month marketing campaign. A few local owners have said it's worth it just for the publicity - especially if you are new in town.
One thing that being in a band has tought me is that if you make a big enough event out of something, the news will ALWAYS cover it. They may hold the footage for a slow news time but, they need stories to stay in business. Keep in mind that there are alternative newspapers who are dying to find more cutting edge stories. If your main local paper is passing on it or you can't get the local fox affiliate to look at you, you can probably get the attention of alternate newspapers (like the City Pages or Pulse here in Minneapolis) You'd be suprised how many people look at these too. They are often distributed for free and have far more hip writers who may genuinely be interested instead of just showing the minimum professional interest in you and your stuff. Sometimes, having a better writer on your side is more valuable than having a big one. Also, sending out a press release that says "Hello, I'm here" is worthless. There has to be a story there. Now is the time to play up that story you tell your buyers about how you are community based and started out with nothing... People eat that up (if it's true)
Brentonchad, I don't know what part of Kansas you're in but, Kansas City papers are hard sells. They never wrote up my band once even on a tour where we got write ups in some "Impossible" New York or LA papers. But Lawrence is another story.