[HardTimesIndeed]

Hi All -

I have been working on this t-shirt site for months here and there - and there are a few things I have to fix - but it has a Paypal gateway (for now), and a couple of things aesthetically that I have to fix. 2 issues:

I would like a blog. Then I realized that all those t-shirt sites with blogs usually have several people working on it - and this company is just 2 people - with full plates. Is Twitter or Facebook a suitable substitute for full-on blogging in the beginning while we figure out how big we can make the brand?

I also don't have the funds to go all out with models just yet. I have the Arsenal life like t-shirts - where you can put a design on the shirt to give an example. Do you think a site suffers because it doesn't look like a lot of other t-shirt sites that look like they have more funds behind them (with models, exotic locations, etc...)?

 

[Gorillawhite]

Maybe i'm blind, but I didn't see a link posted.

 

[TopseyCret]

If your trying to launch a brand, every social asset is necessary. When starting out you should be focusing on driving traffic to your website. If you have a static website people will have no reason to keep checking back to your site. When you have Twitter, Fb and Myspace you lure people back to your site through shortened article summaries. If they like what they have read they will click that external link that will take them directly to your website. So yes, blogging is key.

Everyone has their own perspective on how to run a blog, some people have enough to talk about to publish three posts a day, others once a week. Some people also like the idea of a blog post schedule, so that their followers know when to regularly check back. What ever you do make sure your blogging.

For the models you don't need any money at all, just find your more attractive friends and use them. If your really strapped for cash a quality digital camera with work. Try to make the flicks a professional as possible.

Using the models is great because your potential customer will have a better understanding of how you shirts actually fit.

 

[EnMartian]

Without seeing the site or pictures of the shirts, it's hard to know how well those elements work or don't work.

In regards to a blog, only you can make the final decision as to whether or not having a blog is a good thing for your business. If you can update it at least once a week, and have the time to write posts that have some meat to them, and aren't just a link to a video or a picture of your latest t-shirt, then it might be worth doing. You should keep in mind that merely having a blog won't do you any good, it also has to be promoted. You can't just put the blog up and then expect loads of traffic to come to your site. You have to provide new content and you have to let people know the blog is there.

That, of course, is where Twitter and Facebook come in. I'm not sure I would consider, and this is my own opinion, Twitter and Facebook adequate substitutes for a blog. Blogging lets you get more in depth about your company and your products, and it lets you build a picture of your company over time, since old posts are easily accessed. Twitter and Facebook posts are more fleeting and are shorter, so there isn't as much time to express your personality. It can be done, but you have to develop followers who stick with you over time.

The ideal mixture seems to be to use all three. Have a blog which you use for longer posts about your products and your company, and build your brand there. Use Facebook and Twitter to extend the brand to new consumers and to back up what you say on your blog about the brand.

 

[SoloStampede]

I would definitely go with having a blog on your sites. You can help bring traffic to your site by replacing your blogs comments system, with a facebook social comment plugin. So when your visitors comment on any of your posts, their comments will show up on their facebook profile. Which would allow their friends to see the comment on their profile. Thus potentially exposing your site to more viewers.

 

[collectiveChange]

1) craigs list is a big help with the models/photographer. You won't find less expensive places.
2) A blog is crucial but needs to be interesting don't just write to fill it, write to say something and engage your audiance.
3) My company Avidya Collective Change is all done by me ALONE. From top to bottom, I just had a webmaster code it for me. Don't limit yourself
4) To succeed you have to live and die for your brand otherwise, you'll be stuck in limbo.