Custom Apparel Startups

If you are listening to this, you have a Cricut or a Silhouette, basically a cutter you got for $200-$600 at a local hobby store. You make things for yourself, for friends and family. Maybe you are even making a little money here and there, or you've opened an etsy shop. You might even be fulfilling orders almost every day. What you all have in common is taking the next step to growing yourself into a better business, or maybe you might think of it as a "real" business. What are the next steps: Make it a business - Register with the state, get a resale or tax certificate, get a email address with your business name Find Blank suppliers - stop buying from Walmart Social Pages - Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn Website..... maybe? Order online? Start quoting in writing, on a form. Sales Quote excel /google sheet / apple sheet Start invoicing the same way in writing Find a way to accept credit cards. Circle pay, Paypal Treat every customer, like a customer. even friends / family.

Welcome Christina Nicholson from https://www.mediamavenandmore.com/ First of all, let’s get the freebie here out of the way, because it’s an amazing gift from our Guest JUST for our CASPodcast listeners! It’s a course outlining her one of a kind strategy on getting free publicity for you and your business – just visit this site to register: http://www.PitchPublicityProfit.com BUT – listen to the entire podcast first. Because it’s a good one. First, we talk about how I found Christina, what that has to do with my Dad, and how I got hooked on this idea of PR. Then we’ll tell you how that relates to YOU and your business. IN your town. You’ll get some background on what makes Christina a pro at this and how she’s helped small businesses boom in the past. Then we’ll go over the 3 Simple Steps to Free Advertising Step 1: Personal Brand – become an expert Step 2: Pitching the Media Step 3: Keep Profiting off of free tv, magazine and radio spots And finally, we’ll brainstorm some custom t-shirt business free adverti

We first heard Deborah on her own podcast featuring Ford Bowers, President of SGIA – and both she and Ford provided tons of value to their listeners. So, of course we wanted to share that with YOU. Deborah runs the largest social group of Printers in the Universe (#Printerverse), hosted on LinkedIn, and has been a print customer for years. So during this episode she’s going to bring us a view from both OUTSIDE the custom apparel niche market and inside it as a consumer. This is another episode you don’t want to miss! We discuss how social relationships are one of the keys to success in the t-shirt business today and one of Deborah’s other passions Girls Who Print. Here are ALL the places where you can find Deborah online: Print Long and Prosper Deborah Corn Intergalactic Ambassador to The Printerverse https://www.printmediacentr.com/ Have You Been PEACOCKED? #ProjectPeacock Listen Long and Prosper! #PMCpodcasts https://podcasts.printmediacentr.com/ Podcasts from the Printerverse have landed! Chat Long and Pro

Great interview with Mark Biletnikoff from https://www.contract-dtg.com/ Mark got his start with direct to garment printing as a novice in 2010 and now has both a retails space and a rapidly expanding contract t-shirt printing company. During our talk, we and Mark Biletnikoff describe his biggest failures, great successes and what he’s done to grow to 12 DTG printers, 2 screen setups, embroidery, vinyl and more... Here are just a few questions Mark Answered: In your road to becoming a successful business owner, what do you think was your biggest hurdle to overcome? How do you keep customers coming back? What was your biggest order mistake, and how did you handle it? If you knew what you know now about owning a business, what would you have done differently in the beginning? How important is the quality of the garment to your sales/customer satisfaction? What are the top 3 biggest mistakes a t-shirt shop can make? What is the most ridiculous request a customer has made? How do you handle inventory? Stock? Wha

What to do when something goes WRONG Your equipment will break. You will lose the internet for 3 days You will ruin the shirts Your supplier will be out of blanks, supplies, catalogs You’re going to have a bad month.. or 3 Nothing can prevent bad things from happening. And just because you have a small business or a home based business doesn’t mean you’re immune to the effects of what happens to EVERY business. Here’s what’s happened to me before: Our $10K per day shopping cart web service provider’s server went down – customers calling – no way to process orders. Power went out in our area for several days. Lose customers? You bet. Waited 3 weeks for a shipment of blank shirts to come in – they were bad. Bad workmanship. My fault, no. My business, yes. Each of these only happened once (okay, maybe twice). Let me rephrase that – they happened more than once and continue to happen occasionally. And it does really SUCK. But there’s less panic. Less lost business. Less blood pressure intervention needed because

Learn these 12 steps and grow your home based business: Start thinking about it and treating it like a business Evaluate your profitability Look at your equipment Define and Amplify your Niche... who do you sell to now? DO more of that.. Shirts for sales teams. Dance and Cheer. no effort into anything else Dig deeper into current customers … call to ask for more business, ask what else they do/order Then expand product lines to match where you can.... koozies, bags, promotional items Create a solid referral plan - find a way for customers to refer you, ask for referrals, give out coupon codes, etc Live Social - BNI, Chamber of commerce, charity groups, church groups, sports clubs, car clubs Go online - build a web store and get your customers visiting. pick products your "niche" might buy and push to them via email / flyers / word of mouth Partner with other businesses - you don't sell signs? partner with a sign company. award company, paper printer Hire freelancers - get people to write for your w

It’s surprising that something that works so well, and has for so long, is still not a common practice for the custom apparel and promotional products business. Good Better Best pricing works. It works so well that it’s still being studied today – by the organization like the Harvard Business Review in the most recent case. And that’s what inspired this Episode of the Custom Apparel Startups Podcast. What is Good, Better, Best (GBB)? It’s a strategy to offer 3 levels of products. Each containing different features and coming at a different price. “Good” being the minimum level your brand is willing to offer, “better” being an upgrade at a marginal price increase, “best” being the highest level your customer base would be willing to spend on apparel. What are the GBB approaches? Offensive plays aimed at generating new growth and revenue Defensive plays meant to counter or forestall moves by competitors Behavioral plays that draw on principles of consumer psychology. Moves away from Binary (A or B) (1 or 0)(e.g

Join us in this episode when we discuss the world of blanks, apparel, Sanmar and more with the Apparel Geek, Monty Mims. His experience in the industry will provide you insights on how to improve your business, choose the right apparel, sell to your customers better and overall improve your expertise on custom apparel blanks. Monty is a member of Decorator Relations with Sanmar. One of his many goals is to build strong relationships with the decorated apparel community and help people like you succeed. You can contact Monty at https://apparelgeek.com/ or find him on twitter @apparelgeek or Instagram @apparelnerd.

They are relentless – ever see a kid play a video game 100 times in a night to beat it. Will swing a bat outside for hours. Practice dance moves all morning. Don’t give up on your business. Creatures of habit – every night it’s bath, brush teeth, read a book, bed. Ever try to take a kid out of routine? Get them to use a different sipping cup cause theirs is dirty. Do you have daily routines for business? Resist change, but adapt quickly – you can do the same. Be conservative in your operations but when it’s time to change. Embrace it. If they want something they ask, and ask and ask – toy, stay up late, candy. Do you do this for sales / business ? They know how to be cute – ever see a kid put on those sweet eyes and stick out bottom lip? They know how to butter up their parents to get what they want. Do you know how to put on a smile and be a good face for your business? They get over things – a kid can go from crying about a broken toy to laughing and playing in 5 minutes. They don’t hold grudges. However, a

In this episode, we have an energetic discussion with Manuel Suarez. Manuel is a marketer, an entrepreneur and a Facebook Blueprint certified expert. His passion for Facebook marketing is infectious and listening to this episode might just be the catalyst to you becoming a Facebook marketing expert. Several years ago he started a business, launching his own brand. Within a year, through his study and application of Social Media Advertising, it was a multi-million dollar company. He has helped his clients generate over half a billion views across different channels and millions of followers! We talk about: – Who should market on Facebook? – How hard is it to do? – What are some first steps to take? – How can you learn more? – How much money should you spend? – Is it right for you?

If you are planning to start an online store, this episode is a must listen. Don't make the fatal mistakes so many others do. This episode is your step-by-step guide filled with tips and tricks. Should you go online? If you plan to sell designs/styles that will be replicated. If you plan to sell for fashion/entertainment. If you can sell one-offs and 'extras' - company orders big order of polos and include info to "go online and buy the hoodie, jacket, sweater, etc" to all staff. Basic Steps to Opening an Online (E-commerce) Store: Research your shopping cart platform (DIY or full custom development?) Pick your Website URL (Listen to Episode 73 about trademarks) Make a plan and set a launch date Pick your online products (consider inventory) Take quality images of a product Write great product descriptions and details Set up emails for @url Get the right security to take credit cards Set up a merchant (credit card charging) account Pick a shipping plan/providing Test before you launch Plan to chan

Have you ever put together furniture from Ikea or Walmart? Not following the directions... and ended up having to take off 10 pieces because you missed a vital step? It's a classic human behavior... we DONT read instructions. Subaru of America Inc. has been struggling with this problem since it noticed consumer complaints about vehicle quality beginning to rise a few years ago. "We scratched our heads trying to figure out why," said Joseph Barstys, manager of customer relationships. "As we further explored why, we realized it wasn't so much that things didn't work but that customers didn't know how to work" their vehicle. In fact, it turned out, 1 in 5 calls to the Subaru call center involved a question answered in the owner's manual. Tony Sweers, the product quality engineer for Canon Information Technology Services, noted: "It appears that when a lot of people see that an 800 number is available, they find it much easier to call than to sit down and read the manual." A poll by

How a small business can get the most out of content marketing: Use it to drive search to your website / FB page / Google Page, etc searching on google for Tampa t-shirt companies, embroidery, etc.... various pages that show up are FB pages. Be sure yours has images, videos, and written content. Give you credibility. Yelp and google business pages are also going to come up on the top. Write a great description of yourself. if you have a website be sure to have posts, pages, etc that will help Google know you are a local business and what you do. E.g. embroidery, t-shirt printing in Tampa, Florida. etc. Content builds trust. when you have pics, videos, articles, etc. it shows you care about your business and what you create. People need to trust you to provide the custom apparel they need. can also be proofs that you do great work. Impress people who are browsing you online. Reviews can be great content marketing too not only asking your customers to leave good reviews but also commenting when peopl

Taking good pictures and video is essential to creating good content for your website, eCommerce store or social media. In this episode, we will dive into how to create great looking (and sounding) content, without having to be a professional. Tips: Use a good Camera. If you want to invest you can get a great DSLR for video and pics for under $500, however, don't underestimate the power of your smartphone, it can take amazing pictures. ( we do both!) Use good lighting. You can purchase lighting from Amazon or used on Ebay. Some directional lighting. avoid heavy shadows or TOO much light. (also phone / camera has light / exposure settings) Use a tripod - Your hand's aren't as still as you think they are, use a tripod it will help. also can get a mini tripod for a phone for under $20 Consider the background - generally white or light color background is preferred. Ironed sheet, big white paper. also consider scenes .... park, beach, wood table, trees, people Clean everything. The product, clean camera

Businesscopyrightscustom apparel businesscustom t-shirt businesslawpodcasttrademarks This Episode  Mark Stephenson & Marc Vila Seth Gardenswartz  customapparelstartups.com  CAS Podcast  ColDesi You Will Learn The difference between trademarks and copy rights How you can tell if your design is probably in violation Penalties possible violating someone else’s intellectual property rights Whether or not do-it-yourself solutions will do Resources & Links Blackgarden Law Article: Finding a T-Shirt Artist Custom Apparel Startups Facebook Group Leasing Equipment Show Notes THIS is the podcast that you have all been waiting for.. finally the answers to SO MANY questions that take place on the Custom Apparel Startups Facebook Group, on Forums all over the internet and that we get asked from our customers every day: ·        If I change the artwork by 10% I’m fine, right? ·        Should I trademark my brand name? ·        What’s the difference between a trademark and copyright? ·        How much trou

Businesscustom apparel businessCustom T-ShirtMarketingpodcast This Episode  Mark Stephenson & Marc Vila Mike Michalowicz  customapparelstartups.com  CAS Podcast  ColDesi Why you’re thinking about your business and your income wrong The most important thing your accountant cannot tell you about your business The 3 Bank Accounts you HAVE to open What taking the Profit First approach can do for your business Resources & Links Mike Michalowiscz Website Buy the Profit First Book ColDesi Learning Center Leasing Equipment Show Notes Profit First is the first real innovation in the financial approach to small business since QuickBooks. That software may put accounting tools at your fingertips, it does nothing for helping you manage and really UNDERSTAND the money side of your business. We talk to people all the time about starting their custom t-shirt business. Occasionally we have hard conversations with people RUNNING them too. Conversations like: I’m not making any money selling shirts I can’t co

custom apparel businessCustom T-ShirtDTGMarketingpodcast This Episode  Mark Stephenson & Marc Vila Brett Wiebel and Mark Momborquette  customapparelstartups.com  CAS Podcast  ColDesi You Will Learn How a Fingernail Decorator fits into the birth of Direct to Garment Printing What the Inventor’s Mindset is and can mean to your business The history behind how this small business got BIG What the future holds for BelQuette Technologies Resources & Links Colman and Company BelQuette Inks Page BelQuette DTG Printer Press Release Digital Garment Printer FAQ ColDesi YouTube Show Notes Belquette DTG Printers have been a staple in the direct to garment printing industry from the very beginning of digital garment printing. But this episode isn’t about digital direct to garment printing – it’s about small business success and the Inventor’s Mindset. During this podcast you’ll hear Brett Wiebel and Mark Momborquette, the founders of BelQuette DTG Printers tell their story. Watch more podcasts here A story

custom apparel businesscustomer serviceeventsMarketingshowsStartup Business This Episode  Mark Stephenson & Marc Vila  customapparelstartups.com  CAS Podcast  ColDesi You Will Learn   What you can do BEFORE you get to the event to ensure success The secret to selling at events even if no customer show up The best way to handle 2 or more people at your booth What are tchotkes Why Mark S hates them so much Resources & Links Colman and Company Blog Success Stories ColDesi Learning Center Leasing Equipment In this episode of the CAS Podcast, learn 10 tips to get the most out of events and shows that will help you acquire new customer for your custom apparel business. These are simple yet effective techniques you can apply before, during and after events that are critically important to ensure success in the custom apparel business. Show Notes Premarketing This is a great way to bring people to meet you and pull some business in advance. Get them to commit to visiting you, picking up their order t

business tipscustomer serviceMarketingpodcastsalesStartup Business This Episode  Mark Stephenson & Marc Vila  customapparelstartups.com  CAS Podcast  ColDesi You Will Learn Why giving someone a small gift can make a big difference in your revenues What Apple and Samsung have to do with the Custom T-Shirt Business How come you’re attracted to long lines When Name Dropping can Mean picking up more sales Resources & Links Colman and Company Blog Success Stories ColDesi Learning Center Leasing Equipment The Science of Upselling – The Best Ways to Talk to Your Customers During this podcast we’ll get into Part III of our trilogy on Up-Selling, a vitally important skill in growing your business. The idea that you can service the same number of customers but make more money at the end of the month? Golden. SHOW NOTES: During this podcast we’ll get into Part III of our trilogy on Up-Selling, a vitally important skill in growing your business. The idea that you can service the same number of customers

This Episode  Mark Stephenson & Marc Vila  customapparelstartups.com  CAS Podcast  ColDesi You Will Learn How giving away product can make you more money, not less How ColDesi’s “Bundling” strategy came about and how you can apply that to your business What questions you can ask you customer that no one else ever does, than can double your business from an existing account What it’s like to hear Mark and Marc talk in an echo chamber Resources & Links Marc Vila mentioned “Principals of Persuasion” by Rober Cialdini We discussed the 2X Business Bundle (Stitch & Cut) Colman and Company Blog Success Stories ColDesi Learning Center Leasing Equipment The WORST statistic we could find, and there are a lot of them available, says that selling to an existing customer is 68% less expensive to selling to a new one. New customers don’t know what you do, what is available, what they want, how to talk about what they want AND what they can expect to pay. Current customers will buy more and pay more. Yo