Well, head over to spreadshirt and open a store, create some designs, get your own domain and customize it the best way you know how. Now what? you have all these awesome products and no one buys them because no one has seen or heard of you. He started this on a shoestring budget, so he’s not likely to be on TV anytime soon and PPC ads wouldn’t do much right now. You need to do some free promotion and here are five ways you can get started.
- Create a myspace/facebook/linkedin profile for your website and add people you know. Make sure you spend some time on this. the cooler your profile looks, the more likely people are to take a closer look and see what you have to offer… especially if they don’t know you. Don’t think of your page as a place to get sales, think of it more as a way to get your name out there to the masses and get some recognition. Once you have some friends… make comments on their pages to remind them that you exist. Say things like, “I’m just showing your page some love. By the way, check out the site at ‘yourdomain.com’. We’ve got really cool clothes.” Be sure to change your comments each time so they feel like you’re a real person.
- Buy one of your own shirts in the store. Make sure it’s the funniest or most unique shirt you own and when you wear it, people will ask you about it. Let them know where you got it from. Ask your friends and family if they would buy something like this at the price you set. Give it away for free to someone in your target market. Most likely, they will be asked about it and say where they got it from. Viral marketing at its finest.
- Do something newsworthy while wearing your t-shirt. Plant some trees with a local charity, take some at-risk youth to a sporting event, and use them to write a press release in email format to reporters at your local newspaper. People love to help charities and if your donation proceeds to the charity by selling your t-shirt, you will get a huge boost in sales.
- Post on t-shirt blogs and clothing lines. Make sure your posts are relevant. Don’t just leave witty lines like “That was a great post.” Say something that gets added to the post, these are the comments that don’t get deleted and can help you establish yourself as an expert in the field.
- If it’s broken flat out, find something in your home that you’d be willing to get rid of for free. Run a promotion on your site so that the person who buys the first or tenth shirt will receive it along with their purchase. This increases customers’ need to buy because they get more value for their dollar. You may be losing something of your own, but sometimes it takes money or value to create money or value.
These are all great ways to increase traffic and brand awareness for free and they work for me just as much now as they have in the past. The most important thing to remember is not to get so caught up in learning that you forget to take action. Yes, it’s important to learn, but many times I see new entrepreneurs overwhelmed with reading and learning and never taking any real action. Action is what leads to profit, so get out there and DO something!
