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Low cost T-shirt Makreting

Jason5yuanJason5yuan subscriber Posts: 3
edited December 2006 in Marketing
I have been pulling my hair out to think about free marketing/low cost marketing ideas for a while.  I have been posting my site to forums, directories, related blogs, and yahoo answers.  (not in a spamming way.  Everybody hates spammers)  So whats next?I just opened my Cafepress shop selling T shirts, mugs, and bags with my store logo and some really nice ancient wood block press prints.  Most of the items have no markup or very low (a dollar).  First I am going to get all my friends buy a T shirt.  Then I can market the cafepress shop itself.  I am hoping this will create some word of mouth marketing when people are walking around in the T shirts.  I just started the shop, so I will see how effective this is and report back.  If you are interested in open your cafepress shop to promote your business, you can sign up hereDon`t forget to put "galleriapangea" as your referer if you do sign up.  Thanks! My cafepress shopMain shop with handmade artworks

Comments

  • rajinenterprisesrajinenterprises subscriber Posts: 3
    Jason,
    Good luck to you! You may want to also find shops in your local area that you can place your items in under consignment.
     
    jamie
  • Jason5yuanJason5yuan subscriber Posts: 3
    Thanks Jamie.  My goal is not to make money with the T shirt sales, but to promote my brand name for galleria pangea.  I think the best part about using cafepress is that there is no cost for me at all.  (Of course if I want to buy some shirts and do a giveaway thats a different story.)  I can reach potential customers with my T shirts, and i am offering a $5 discount for my main store if they buy the t shirt.  I don`t know how productive this will be yet. It will be an interesting experiment.       
  • rajinenterprisesrajinenterprises subscriber Posts: 3
    Jason,
    I understand about the marketing aspect of having the T-Shirts and not wanting to make money from them. The consignment aspect I was referring too was with the items within Galleria Pangea. I hope this helps and good luck!
     
    jamie
  • turkishturkish subscriber Posts: 5
    one thing that i do is wear a button that just says "TheiFoofShop," everywhere i go. (Sunday in the grocery store is big business) I get so many questions and guess what... i give them a short pitch with a smile and close with a business card giving a certain percentage off, the web address and the shop title with a smaller link at the bottom to another accessory shop of mine that compliments the products. The button has to stand out... no dark colors... and you have to wear it. ( I also pass buttons out to all of my customers -- for now) and the business cards were free...I have a friend of mine wearing it on his favorite hat, so when he wears his hat people automatically thinks that he`s odd but can`t help but to ask about the button... The pitch is the killer and the card is the closer... i can honestly say in the beginning of one of my other shops this method basically made the shop and helped with getting ranked  in the search engines...hope this helps...
  • Jason5yuanJason5yuan subscriber Posts: 3
    Thank you Turkish.  I hope my experiment will work out well for me.  
  • Ben101Ben101 subscriber Posts: 6
    Hi Jason,
    I actually do a lot of t-shirt marketing related business myself being a screen printer. And I think your designs might be a little too complicated, resulting in a high price. The most effective marketing t-shirts I have done are the one generally with a creative and memorable design (usually single colored) on a bright  t-shirt. That way the price is usually just around 5 dollars per shirt and you can reach out to more customers.
    Some business I worked with in the past actually handed out their shirts and contact information for free with orders.
    Just some ideas there, message me if you need any additional help.
    Good Luck
    Ben
     
  • adampurcelladampurcell subscriber Posts: 0
    Find some INFLUENTUAL people and get them wearing your t-shirts. Send
    them to TV hosts, sports people etc.... Send them not as a "promotion", but
    as a gift from your business to them.

    We have used this kind of method very successfully in the past, finding that
    some people shy away from it if they feel you want them to promote it, but
    hey, everyone loves to get a gift!
  • Jason5yuanJason5yuan subscriber Posts: 3
    Does sending gifts to celebrities really work?  I always wonder about that.  I want to send a gift to Conan, he is my favorite.  (I don`t think his audiences are my target customers though.)  Where can I find their addresses?  I will be interested in sending a few pair of earrings to female celebrities.   
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