How to market your t-shirt printing business.

Your t-shirt printing business is now up and running. Now, the ultimate goal of your business is to sell as many t-shirts to as many customers possible.  You should have knowledge on how to reach out and connect with as many people in order to promote your business. Here are ways of promoting your t-shirt printing business.

1. Website. Online presence is a very big factor for businesses when everything you need can be searched and bought online. It is a must that you have website where you can use as your online store where people can buy your merchandize. You can also create blogs and write about the good qualities of your products and why they should buy from you.
2. Social Media. Social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Google +, LinkIn, etc., keep people connected and updated 24 hours a day. People use these social media to talk about anything that caught their interest. Businesses have been capitalizing on this phenomenon to their advantage by pitching advertisements about their products. You can reach out to a lot of potential customers by using these social media to promote your business.
3. Research. Are you targeting certain groups in terms of age, occupation, lifestyle, etc.? Then do some research on what are their interest in terms of fashion. You should also be updated of what is new, what is hot and what is not and what kinds of designs your target audience is looking for.  You should also keep in touch with organizations who require printing of t-shirts for certain events or cause.

The best way to promote your t-shirt printing business is to give free stuff. Yes, people love free stuff. And if it takes a free shirt to make a person your customer for life, then you are a winner. Giving away free stuff should not really be free. You should at least get something in return. The purpose of giving free stuff is to make your brand or business known to as many possible customers. Create a promotion for free stuff whereby those who participate will have to provide you their email addresses or contact numbers and agree that you can contact them for promotional purposes. That way you will be able to build customer database for future promotions and advertisements.

Clothing business has always been a billion dollar industry. Why? Because everyone wears t-shirt from infancy until old age.

T-shirt business can be a great source of financial success. It doesn’t mean, however, that success is 100% guaranteed and it happens overnight. You should be aware that T-shirt business is a very old industry where big corporations have already deep entrenched customer base. So if you want to pursue this line of business, you should be aware that you will be trading blows with the big boys in the industry.

It may seem a daunting task to new and small incoming t-shirt business but there have been lot of success stories in this industry. Everything boils down to passion, persistence and the determination to succeed.

Here are three keys to make your t-shirt business successful.

1. Quality. A satisfied customer will always be your customer. You can fool a customer once and that’s the end of it. Make a customer a fan of your t-shirt and the price will no longer matter. This is how old clothing companies increased and maintained their customers. They made their customers loyal followers.
2. Design. Why do people like to have custom made t-shirts? They want to make statement with their shirts. There are customers who provide their own design.  Most of the time, however, they will just choose from your catalogue of designs. If you have a design that captures their fancy, then you are a winner. The last thing a customer would want is to see in your catalogue a copy of t-shirt design found in retail stores.
3. Brand. A brand is much more than just a name. It speaks of what the business it was named after. So if your t-shirt business offers high quality materials and great designs, then that is what your brand stands for. If you can create a brand and associate positive characteristics with it, then you are on your way to success.

These are just the fundamental factors that would determine if you are doing your business the right way.  These three factors should already be present at the commencement of your business activities. The absence of any of these three factors will not necessarily mean your business will go under but financial success may prove difficult to achieve and business expansion may take longer or none at all.

Like any other business ventures, knowledge of the T-shirt printing business is a must if you want to succeed in this endeavor. It is also recommended that you have a hands-on experience about T-shirt printing, some fashion sense and a keen eye for artistic designs.

Here is a checklist of basic requirements to get your T-shirt printing business up and running.

1. Know your merchandize. Make your self an authority of the product that you sell. Get to know well and master your merchandize and all its types and variations if any. You should know by now that there are various types of fabrics used in clothing industry. Knowing them all is an advantage for your business.
2.  Procure your equipment. Printing used to be dominated by big businesses with deep pockets. But with the advance in technology, cheap printers were made available to individuals. You can also enter into contract with a silk screen business to do the printing for you. Make some calculations as to which method saves you money.
3.  Open supply and distribution lines. Contact suppliers and select the one who offers the best price and quality. You should also have a plan on how and where to sell your merchandize. Opening a physical store is good but online stores dramatically reduce your overhead expenses by more than half. With the popularity of online shopping, website for your merchandize is a must.
4.  Offer wide selection of designs. Know what is the fad at certain times and ride with it. But you must offer unique designs as well to keep your bases covered.
5.  Set up variety of payment methods. With your physical store, cash and credit card payments would be good. With your online store, cash payment method is obviously difficult to implement. You can replace cash payment with paypal or another form of online payment. That way, there would be less reason for not buying online.
6.  Open a shipping account. Sold merchandize online needs to be shipped quickly. You should contact various shipping companies and select the one that gives you the best service and rate.

These are some of the basic and general requirements to help you make your business take off. Of course, launching a business is just the beginning. There are other things that you need to do if you are to make your business profitable. Those business strategies will be covered in the next blog.