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.
Well, you could start with the ones I mentioned in your other thread
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- does your website answer every possible question the shopper could have (sizing chart, company contact info, company history, phone number to call in case of order issues, how to order, payment methods accepted?, coupon codes, secure, privacy policy, etc, etc)
That might spur some other questions for you as you start to think like a customer. What questions would you want answered?
do i need a phone number cause as of now we dont have one...
I would. What I'm doing is I have an Asterisk PABX system set up at home, and I've purchased an additional DID number for it (only $2AUD /month). 99% of the time, that will probably go to voicemail and I'll call the customer back, but it is still better than nothing and one day soon hopefully it will be "manned" more full time.
What I'm doing is I have an Asterisk PABX system set up at home, and I've purchased an additional DID number for it (only $2AUD /month).
Interesting. A PABX isn't the kind of thing normally just lieing around at home (although I guess you may well be able to get one from a police auction, office clearance, etc.), would that be expensive to source? Or is the whole setup surprisingly affordable?
so you all put a contact number on your website? I was planning on having a business number put on business cards but not directly on the website. I guess I was thinking that customers can write an e-mail if they have any questions/comments/concerns and I could get back to them within 24 hours... But the business number would be for other businesses to contact me.
nolawi - Why not just surf other T-shirt sites and steal from their FAQ sections? All the questions are pretty much the same, anyway. That's what I plan on doing because there is no use in re-inventing the wheel...
I guess I was thinking that customers can write an e-mail if they have any questions/comments/concerns and I could get back to them within 24 hours... But the business number would be for other businesses to contact me.
It's one of the "rules" of good ecommerce. It helps to give your customer confidence that they can get a hold of you if there is a problem.
Email really isn't that reliable these days with all the overzealus spam filters and some people are just "phone people". It may not get used 95% of the time, but having it on the site can help the person shopping your site decide to make a purchase.
Interesting ... In ABW they talk about NOT wanting phone numbers on any site that is going to offer an Affiliate program (I removed my number after that discussion because I need the extra sales that my affiliate program generates) what do you think about that (they are afraid that the customer will call in the order and then they will not get thier credit for sending in the customer)
In ABW they talk about NOT wanting phone numbers on any site that is going to offer an Affiliate program (I removed my number after that discussion because I need the extra sales that my affiliate program generates) what do you think about that (they are afraid that the customer will call in the order and then they will not get thier credit for sending in the customer)
I think handling affiliate concerns is second to handling end customer concerns.
Especially for t-shirt companies just starting out, it is important to impress the customer first and make sure they want to buy at your site (a phone number helps this out).
As far as a phone number being considered an affiliate "leak", that's a whole different discussion As you probably read at ABW, if it comes down to it, there are ways of handling a phone number and still track affiliate sales.
I wouldn't take a phone number of a site because of potential affiliate sales though. Those customers that the affiliate sends could also be lost to you as customers if no phone number is on the site. In the end, it's always about the end customer.
You need to make it clear what the "theme" of your shirts are. Right on the first page. Using a tag line or something.
ie) Bernos - "T-Shirts with Ethiopian Inspirations" Just a lame example, but the shopper should see right off the bat what your shirt designs are all about. - Since you do have a very specific target market.
Interesting. A PABX isn't the kind of thing normally just lieing around at home (although I guess you may well be able to get one from a police auction, office clearance, etc.), would that be expensive to source? Or is the whole setup surprisingly affordable?
Solmu - Asterisk@Home (the VoIP PABX, now called TrixBox) I use, is itself free and only cost me an old PC I had lying around. The only other hardware cost was to tie in my PSTN line (an at the time $200 piece of equipment) and a weekend's worth of time.
Believe it or not, I had this whole system set up just for home use - I had previously been using VoIP just with an ATA and then heard about Asterisk and decided it would be a neat project. Which is good now because as I said, I can tie in an extra DID for just $2/month and then route that where I like - one of the cool things about it is that, for example my home number:
- Between 7:30am and 8:30pm, rings all the phones in my house and goes to voicemail if there is no answer
- Between 8:30pm and 7:30am, tells the user "It's rest time at our household" and offers the option to press 1 if it's urgent enough to wake us (then rings the phones) otherwise goes to voicemail and they can leave a message.
So the sequence I'm planning for my new DID is:
- Between 9am - 5pm local time, if I've marked myself "available" for business calls (e.g the twins are not screaming!), ring the phones, otherwise go to a message stating the phones aren't manned right now and to please leave a message, etc.
- Between 5pm - 9am and on weekends, go to a message saying it is outside business hours, etc. and please leave a message.
The provider I use (OzTell) offer a service called WebPABX, which I think is $6.95/month (including a couple of DIDs and some other bits), and I'm told that that is able to do all of the above, without setting up your own Asterisk box (and probably more reliable, as in my set up , if I lose my 'net connection, power goes out, etc. the phone is dead).
Man, I have taken the thread off track. Sorry If you want to discuss further maybe I should make a new thread?
Don't make these things so difficult. All of the major online shirt sites have already done the work for you.
Go through the t-shirt hells, the cafepresses, your favorite t-shirt site and look at their FAQs. Compare what information they all make sure to answer. Model your FAQ after this.
Example FAQs that need to be answered? 
Christian Gnomes
If you want to discuss further maybe I should make a new thread?
