[morvak]

Hello everyone,

When I first started 3 years ago I wanted to get into Hot Topic and Spencer Gifts. But then something told me not to.

I'm in the process of creating a brochure to send around to various independent shops to see if they'll carry my t-shirts. I may not be the greatest illustrator or designer, but I'd like to think they aren't too bad if i may say so

Anyhoo... beyond trying to get into local shops, since my t-shirts are a mix of safe humor and being offensive, where else could I try to advertise ?

Any ideas/suggestions would be appreciated, thanks!

 

[sofakinggood]

hey morvak,

I would suggest submitting an article and picture of one of your tees to various fashion mags both online and retail and see if they put it in there mag. if they like one that might be controversial they will put in the article as they are continuously looking for articles. its also a free way of advertising and you have nothing to loose. i ve used this method sucessfully for other business ventures.

Was just on your site there and it looks pretty cool. you like the black tees, i think some of your designs might look better though on white tees with long black sleeve underneath, but that just my preference.

I was curious to know have you run into any difficulty with the Bush t shirt. not for what it says but for using his face for personal gain. i dont know if you were lucky enough or unfortunate enough (which ever way your inclined) to get that close to take the picture yourself. if you owned the photo you would have copyright of the photo but as far as im aware you would need the permission of the person in the photo before selling any article with their picture on it.

Im pretty sure George bush is'nt going to file a law suit against you, even if the rest of the tee is pretty offensive, lol. its just that i was going to design a t shirt with the face of a famous soccer player on it but was advised otherwise.

just wondering did you look into the possible legalities before designing it or was it a case of "ah he's never going to take a case anyway" love to hear your reply or indeed anyone else view.

 

[Comin'OutSwingin]

Politicians are free from restrictions. Earn away at their expense!!!!

 

[rabid]

I like the animated graphic up top.

Submitting to online magazines is a good idea. I wrote a press release and plan to send that through PRWeb, which I've heard is an option to drive traffic to your site. I'll let you know how that goes. Also, you could probably feed your items to Froogle (free) or shopping.com (not free) or something like that.

When targeting retail, I'd probably show up in person with samples and line sheets rather then dropping a brochure. It's much harder to say no face-to-face and they can see the quality of your stuff in person. Of course, I haven't done it yet so what do I know, but I don't think many would make a decision to buy without seeing the items. You probably want that first impression to be strong and have all the questions answered and all the information there for them to make their decision.

I'm still learning this stuff too.

 

[morvak]

Thanks for the input!

Yeah politicians are free game... I looked into that a while ago Anyone else in the general public, if use their image you can be liable ( famous people, or average joe/jane). Not sure how people get away with using Charlie Manson's face without getting sued for liable...

Sofakinggood - thanks for that tidbit. You say write an article to fashion magazines.. an article about the t-shirt ? Or an article that fits their magazine about fashion ?

 

[Rodney]

Politicians are free from restrictions. Earn away at their expense!!!!

Yes, politicians are fair game but it's important to remember that the photographer that took the photo owns the copyright.

That means that legally, you still need permission from the photographer (unless the photo is from the government website that is available for free use). If you just pulled the image of the net, then you could run into problems.

I think the key to finding a place to advertise is figuring out who would buy your products. Punks? Advertise in Skratch magazine. General music fans or 20-30? Try Rolling Stone. Search for funny t-shirts? Try google adwords.

Just try to be everywhere your potential customers might be

 

[sofakinggood]

Sofakinggood - thanks for that tidbit. You say write an article to fashion magazines.. an article about the t-shirt ? Or an article that fits their magazine about fashion ?

I would say write a general write up to cover the board and then for a particular sites or mags add an extra para if one of your designs fits there fashion style. you have nothing to loose by sending it in to every related fasion mag or online site as there always trying to fill the pages.

Remember to talk up your site as its a reveloution about to happen, the next big thing. use the buzz words, even talking about some of the designs as controversial will get attention and interest and its word of mouth thats the biggest advertisment. write the article as an outsider reviewing your designs and website that has just come across the next best thing since sliced bread. if they want to edit they will. best of luck.