# social media not doing crap lol



## letsmakethatcake (Jan 25, 2013)

Ok so i'm using a few social media outlets to advertise my product..even supply coupon codes etc. I get about 1300 likes and all it generates is 2-3 visitors to my site. Some one wanna explain this cuz im not getting it. Not enough visitors to site = no sales.


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## AtkinsonConsult (May 2, 2011)

letsmakethatcake:

First, please share the links to your social media stream. It might be helpful to review what you are doing from that perspective, your market, and even the product you mentioned.

Secondly, social media is what it sounds like. Social. It isn't like putting an ad in the newspaper and expecting results. You have to engage with people to have results. Provide them with content that they want to read, view, or enjoy. If you are simply the guy in the room yelling the same thing constantly over, and over, and over, and over, coupon, and over, and over, and over, coupon. Can you expect any different results?

Also, are the social media outlets you are using even correctly identified for your target? For example, if your target market is businesses - how many businesses actually use Facebook? That's really geared for a different market. Businesses are on LinkedIn. 

The best thing you can do for yourself is to write a marketing plan that identifies who your target market is, where they are on the social media stream, what your competition is doing to lure them, and what are some key performance indicators for your business. What will success look like for you? Define it, and work on building the path towards it. Cross link all of your social media towards that goal.

If you are interested in seeing what we do follow/connect with this stuff:

Ink to the People on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/InktothePeople
Ink to the People on Twitter - https://twitter.com/inktothepeople

My personal stuff:

Marshall Atkinson on LinkedIn - Marshall Atkinson | LinkedIn
Marshall Atkinson on Twitter - @ATkinsontshirt
Marshall Atkinson Pinterest Boards - Marshall Atkinson (atkinsontshirt) on Pinterest
Marshall Atkinson Blogs - atkinsontshirt | unofficial ramblings of Marshall Atkinson

Social media is a constant effort. However, that effort shouldn't drive you crazy. Write a plan, measure what you do, adjust, repeat. Ask people. Be social!!

Good luck,

-M


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## letsmakethatcake (Jan 25, 2013)

thanks for the response, but you aren't doing anything different then me i checked out all your stuff. Not to mention your stuff is more of a service rather then a brand. So its not the same anyway. Also posting random meme's on social media is annoying no offense, as a consumer i would want to look at products or brand related stuff, not random meme's that i can go to tumblr for.


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## AtkinsonConsult (May 2, 2011)

Letsmakethatcake:

Hey, no problem. Happy to share.

You mentioned that your social media wasn't working, but we are getting great results which is why I posted all that stuff. It drives sales, drives referrals, drives more business our way.

Whether what we are doing is annoying to you is irrelevant, as it works for us. The point I was trying to make is that you have to continually modify your approach to make it work for you. You didn't share anything about your business or your brand, so it's difficult to really give you specific advice.

Good luck with your business though.

Thanks,

-M


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## letsmakethatcake (Jan 25, 2013)

The whole point of this thread was asking why im not getting visitors to my main site , because im getting plenty of traffic to all my social media outlets.


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## 20vK (Jul 9, 2011)

Post up your social media site links or us to look at.

Do your images and posts link to your site?


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## letsmakethatcake (Jan 25, 2013)

I would love to do that, however with the amount of trolls. id rather keep my stuff to myself. Yes i have links everywhere.


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## 20vK (Jul 9, 2011)

So I don't understand - when I post a new fb status update, I post the link to my website. 

So anyone wanting to read the fb update has no choice but to click on the link and visit the original content on the website.

So either you are not posting links as status updates, or people are not interacting with your social media sites as you mentioned.


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## kimura-mma (Jul 26, 2008)

letsmakethatcake said:


> The whole point of this thread was asking why im not getting visitors to my main site , because im getting plenty of traffic to all my social media outlets.


It's impossible for anyone to give you specific feedback without seeing your website and social media pages.

Marshall gave you a very thorough answer regarding using social media for sales and marketing purposes. But you were argumentative about it, which will probably turn others off from wanting to help you. You may not always agree with people's feedback, but it's always best to just say 'thank you' and move on. Teacherprint may have chosen a tough way to say it, but perhaps the same attitude you have in this thread is the same reason your social media friends are not clicking through to your website. They are choosing not to support your brand.

Anyway, based on what you have said so far, you are generating traffic to your social media outlets but failing to get click throughs to your website. What are you doing to get the traffic to the social media sites? Can you use the same marketing strategy to get consumers straight to your website instead of the social media sites? As for the social media sites, what are you communicating to them once they get there? Can they see your products? Can they click through to your website? Is this an easy process or are they losing interest before they have a chance to click through?


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## 20vK (Jul 9, 2011)

Pinterest should be the same. All source images should be from your website to drive traffic


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## lben (Jun 3, 2008)

And the whole thread so far has been people trying to help you, but without specific links so that we can see what you have, we can't offer you anything other than our own sites for you to look at. 

There is the possibility that you are advertising to the wrong crowd. There is the possibility that while people might "like" what they see they don't want to wear it. 

But without seeing what you have to offer, no one can tell you why you might not be getting sales or visitors to your website. Does your link even work? On your website do you have complete contact information such as phone, address, and email address? Those are very important because most people won't order anything without knowing that if something goes wrong they can get in contact with you easily. 

What kind of payments do you accept? How much do you charge for shipping?

If they are going to your social sites but not your website, that should tell you that they don't want to buy what you are offering or that your brand is only interesting to a small group of people. I've seen a lot of really nice artwork on shirts that I personally wouldn't get caught dead in.

What are your prices like? Maybe you have just priced yourself out of your target audience. I don't know. Without something to look at there is no way for any of us to know for sure what the problem might be.


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## letsmakethatcake (Jan 25, 2013)

kimura-mma said:


> It's impossible for anyone to give you specific feedback without seeing your website and social media pages.
> 
> Marshall gave you a very thorough answer regarding using social media for sales and marketing purposes. But you were argumentative about it, which will probably turn others off from wanting to help you. You may not always agree with people's feedback, but it's always best to just say 'thank you' and move on. Teacherprint may have chosen a tough way to say it, but perhaps the same attitude you have in this thread is the same reason your social media friends are not clicking through to your website. They are choosing not to support your brand.
> 
> Anyway, based on what you have said so far, you are generating traffic to your social media outlets but failing to get click throughs to your website. What are you doing to get the traffic to the social media sites? Can you use the same marketing strategy to get consumers straight to your website instead of the social media sites? As for the social media sites, what are you communicating to them once they get there? Can they see your products? Can they click through to your website? Is this an easy process or are they losing interest before they have a chance to click through?


Everything is connected for the most part, and they all have links that go straight to the main site. I honestly couldn't answer if they are losing interest or not as i am not the consumer. I guess my question can't be answered so easily. And by the way i wasn't being rude to anyone.. i gave my honest opinion. Sorry for not kissing *** ,but thats not my nature. i don't think i was being rude.


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## lben (Jun 3, 2008)

Not being rude? You called the people who were trying to help you trolls and said you didn't trust anyone to see your brand. That is rude.

No one is interested in stealing your art if that's what you're thinking. If you don't want professionals who do this stuff all the time to see your work, do you even show it to your customers or do you tell them it's such awesome stuff that they have to buy it to see what it looks like? Is your real name Nancy Pelosi? Sorry, I couldn't help that.

I don't really care what your stuff looks like. All I do is print simple stuff others have sent me to print for them. I'm not interested in a brand for myself. I have so much artistic talent that I have trouble drawing circles in corel with a the ellipse tool. 

If you're that paranoid about someone stealing your brand, I suggest you find something else to do for a living because should you sell something and that person likes it, he/she is liable to copy it and use it for their own purpose.


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## ericsson2416 (Aug 29, 2007)

Just as someone who stumbled onto this thread - you might not think you were rude to anyone but it came across that way. The forum is designed to help people, you seemed to be asking for help with your post, then you went on the offensive by saying what someone else was doing was annoying (they weren't saying you had to do, just showing an example). That is rude. 

I wish you luck with your brand but maybe reflect on how this all went down and how one might improve communications. Maybe your potential customers will respond positively?


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## kimura-mma (Jul 26, 2008)

letsmakethatcake said:


> I honestly couldn't answer if they are losing interest or not as i am not the consumer.


This sentence speaks volumes. You are not doing a good enough job of identifying with your consumer. You need to know what they like. You need to know what they want. You need to know what they are willing to pay. You need to know where and when they are ready, willing and able to make a purchase. You have not identified any of that yet. I have seen your site. I get the feeling that you have developed a brand that you like, but have no idea if it is actually marketable.



letsmakethatcake said:


> Everything is connected for the most part, and they all have links that go straight to the main site.


It seems like social media is not working for you right now. If your main goal is get social media likes, then keep doing what you're doing. But if your main goal is to get sales and make money, then it's time to start a new marketing strategy. Get out from behind the computer and go out and sell. Start some grass roots marketing. You're in Brooklyn, for crying out loud. You don't need social media. Get on the streets and sell some shirts. Use social media as a supplement to offline marketing and sales. That's where your money will be made.


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## letsmakethatcake (Jan 25, 2013)

i'm just going to stop posting , its not getting me anywhere. thanks for the input.


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## mustangFWL (Feb 27, 2012)

Well for one thing.. if your brand has anything to do with "Lets make that cake" which I am going to guess it does.. a simple google search turns up nothing.. so there is problem #1... If you don't have a good SEO, you wont get many visits to your website other than direct traffic.


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## Hegemone (Oct 18, 2011)

Interesting compilation. I thought something sounded familiar. I just don't get the secrecy. Trademarked or no. Pending or no. If your afraid of your stuff getting stolen how will you ever be able to post stuff to sell it. If your afraid of being critiqued or backing up what your talking about how will you survive the harsh reality that are consumers. If your ego is so tied up in your products and concept you will likely have a rough time being flexible enough to be profitable. 

Most of the worlds best innovators and business people are incredibly humble and actively seek critical feedback as well as listen to whats going on around and see the information as data rather then attacks.

There is a fine line between conviction and stagnant.

Just my two cents. Toss them in a well and make a wish.


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## rogerlinn (Dec 16, 2012)

idk guys first he wants help but wont show us his site to get help we tried let him go get the cake lol


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## GrislyGarments (Feb 27, 2013)

rogerlinn said:


> idk guys first he wants help but wont show us his site to get help we tried let him go get the cake lol


I see what you did there!

As everyone else had said though, it sounds like you don't your audience.
Keeping your product and links hidden is only going to keep profit hidden away from you.


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## kal6150 (Jan 22, 2011)

God I love this forum. Since this person doesn't want help I'm hijacking. I was wondering if any of you know a good "basic/simple" source for social media education. I've been elected president of our Chamber of Commerce and we really need to get our whole town to cross market. Problem is the age desparity between merchants. The younger crowd really gets it,but they tend to talk above the older folks. I'm looking for a good general source of info on Facebook and Twitter, and before you ask, yes I've looked at the respective sites but I really need it even more basic. I hate to say it, but a book for these folks would be best. They could reference while working. Thanks


Sent from my SCH-I405 using T-Shirt Forums


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

kal6150 said:


> God I love this forum. Since this person doesn't want help I'm hijacking. I was wondering if any of you know a good "basic/simple" source for social media education. I've been elected president of our Chamber of Commerce and we really need to get our whole town to cross market. Problem is the age desparity between merchants. The younger crowd really gets it,but they tend to talk above the older folks. I'm looking for a good general source of info on Facebook and Twitter, and before you ask, yes I've looked at the respective sites but I really need it even more basic. I hate to say it, but a book for these folks would be best. They could reference while working. Thanks
> 
> 
> Sent from my SCH-I405 using T-Shirt Forums


You should probably start a new topic for your question instead of trying to hijack this topic 

PS. Speaking of this thread. There's no need to keep beating a dead horse here guys  If you don't want to offer help to the member, it's OK to skip this question instead of trying to tear them down because they don't want to post their website. 

Nobody has to post their website if they don't want to. There's a lot of general help that can be given that can apply to a lot of scenarios without people having to post their exact website.


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## letsmakethatcake (Jan 25, 2013)

letsmakethatcake said:


> Ok so i'm using a few social media outlets to advertise my product..even supply coupon codes etc. I get about 1300 likes and all it generates is 2-3 visitors to my site. Some one wanna explain this cuz im not getting it. Not enough visitors to site = no sales.


.i never asked for help. I asked if anyone knew WHY or had any idea of where my problem comes from. I wasn't searching for a solution from some one .. i can find my own solution if i know what the problem is. That's what this whole thread was meant for. It's not easy for me to generalize THAT much to say that my brand is targeted towards punks .. or preps or thugs.. whatever you want to call your "niche" my brand can target ANYONE , BUT i tend to call it "street" wear only because it's easier to portray this brand with that "niche". So with that said i know what my target audience is for "streetwear" and thats who i have been reaching out too. But i have lots of other types of people who are interested in it. Nike doesn't cater to only people who play sports .. they cater to everyone.


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## ericsson2416 (Aug 29, 2007)

And yes, Nike sells to "everyone" but they do it through different mediums or channels. They have whole departments, websites, events, tweets, and ads devoted just to golf, running, hockey, and basketball. Yes, a common message but a tailored approach for different markets.


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## AtkinsonConsult (May 2, 2011)

Mike:

Since you asked and weren't insulting... Here are some great sources of material to understand social media:

Brian Solis, "The End of Business As Usual" - excellent book and really does a great job of defining why social media should be used, context, and what it means for your business. http://www.amazon.com/End-Business-..._B001KD2V1C_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1362828073&sr=1-3

Subscribe to these RSS Feeds:

Social Media Examiner - publishes daily tips about how to use every platform on social media. Social Media Examiner: Social media marketing how to, research, case studies, news and more!

Social Media Today - same deal, but different information feeds - Social media news, strategy, tools, and techniques | Social Media Today

Practical E-Commerce - more of the commercial end of things. - Resources for Online Business Owners | Practical eCommerce

Good luck,

-M


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## mustangFWL (Feb 27, 2012)

Last time I looked.. Asking "why is my page not getting views and why is that so" is the exact same thing as asking for help in trying to determine why no one likes what you are trying to sell...

Fine.. You want to know a why... Normally when people hit a Facebook page or read a twitter post and then don't go any further with looking at the posters website or what they are talking about in the post is for the following reasons...

1. They are bored with the post and have no interest, or they don't like the product 

2. There is no link to what the poster is talking about, and they don't find the product appealing enough to search for it

3. They don't like what they see, nothing catches their eye to make them look further

I'm sure there are other reasons too.. Like when you "buy" Facebook likes and twitter followers, say about 1000 for $20 bucks, for each site... All they do is "like" the page or follow you, and that is it... 

And from a post you said earlier, you are not the consumer so you don't know why... YOU HAVE TO THINK LIKE THE CONSUMER... otherwise you will not get very far in ANY type of sales...

But most likely the biggest reason no one visits your website, people just don't like your stuff...

As for your post above... What's with the cussing? No one cursed at you, no one bad mouthed you.. My post was fact.. So for you to come back like that tells ALL of us what we already came to the conclusion of...


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## kimura-mma (Jul 26, 2008)

letsmakethatcake said:


> And for all your fools who said i was looking for "help" get it straight ..i never asked for help. I asked if anyone knew WHY or had any idea of where my problem comes from. I wasn't searching for a solution from some one .. i can find my own solution if i know what the problem is. That's what this whole thread was meant for. It's not easy for me to generalize THAT much to say that my brand is targeted towards punks .. or preps or thugs.. whatever you want to call your "niche" my brand can target ANYONE , BUT i tend to call it "street" wear only because it's easier to portray this brand with that "niche". So with that said i know what my target audience is for "streetwear" and thats who i have been reaching out too. But i have lots of other types of people who are interested in it. Nike doesn't cater to only people who play sports .. they cater to everyone. Thats why i hate when people on forums come at you with such hostility when you don't give them all the details. As if they know everything , a person who knows everything wouldn't be on a forum anyway they would be out in the world hitting the jackpot because they already know everything about the trade that there is to know. So the majority of people who posted some hostile sh!t to me , you need to really look at yourself, and say am i bankin a few mil a year after all my expenses ? and if not you need to stfu and take a taste of your own medicine cuz the first d!psh!t who said some negative **** had 3 posts on this forum. Says A LOT. So for you know it alls who swear you have a "successful" business, you might reconsider the dumb sh!t you say to people. Especially when you say you are offering me "help" ...sorry but you haven't helped me in the least bit.
> 
> Moderator please close this pointless thread. Thanks


This thread has taken a wrong turn. But I'm going to try again to explain something and I hope you are able to take this constructively.

The impression I get is that you have created a brand (lifestyle, culture, etc) that truly means something to you. And you (metaphorically) want to stand on every street corner and tell the world about it. And you want your brand to be influential enough to build a following so you can sell your shirts.

But instead of standing on real street corners, you have chosen to use social media as your platform. Social media can be a great way to communicate with potential customers. But it can also be "fool's gold" in terms of understanding the true marketability of your brand and profitability of your business.

It's easy for people to be something they are not on social media. Maybe you are a big company, in a big office with a hundred employees, high end graphic designers and a warehouse full of inventory ready to be shipped to major retail chains. Or maybe you are a 20 year old kid with a couple boxes of shirts in a tiny one bedroom apartment. No one knows. But the same goes for consumers. Maybe they like and follow you on social media because they truly intend to spend their money on your shirts. Or maybe they click the like and follow buttons because it's free and easy to do so, even though they have no intention of ever buying your shirts. Again, no one knows.

Ok, back to the street corner...
One of the biggest misconceptions in "branding" is that people think their brand is about THEM. It's not. Branding is not what you tell people about your brand. The true essence of branding is how consumers perceive value in your brand. Branding is about the consumer. So if you're going to (metaphorically) stand on a street corner and tell the world about your brand, you need to identify, think about, understand and connect with your audience. Don't just tell people what you're selling. Ask people how they view your brand. Ask them what they want. Be flexible enough to change what you're doing so that it meets their expectations and needs. Be a brand that people want.

Here is a great slideshow on branding:
The Brand Gap

As you mentioned, your brand appeals to multiple niches. That's fine. But it means you have to do that much more market research to understand exactly what the needs are of each niche consumer and target each one with a concise marketing strategy. What does that all mean? Start standing on REAL street corners and start connecting with REAL customers. Look into selling your shirts at events, concerts, etc.

At the end of the day, the true road map to success lies in distribution. You need to make your products available at a time and place when consumers are ready, willing and able to make a purchase. Are you doing that?

You need to analyze the facts. Likes and follows don't make you money. Sales make you money. You are either selling shirts or you're not. If your social media-to-sales conversion rate is too low, it's time to think about alternative marketing and distribution strategies.

I hope this helps (Not saying you need help, just hoping you can find some value in a different perspective).


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## rosijohnson79 (Apr 8, 2012)

Atkinson Consult,

Thanks, for the info, I registered right away with the different websites you posted. 
Letsmakethatcake,
Have you tried Hearst Magazine? You can advertise your brand in any of the magazines, of course you have to pay. I have thought about it, but when they told me how much it costs it is too expensive for me.


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## letsmakethatcake (Jan 25, 2013)

kimura-mma said:


> This thread has taken a wrong turn. But I'm going to try again to explain something and I hope you are able to take this constructively.
> 
> The impression I get is that you have created a brand (lifestyle, culture, etc) that truly means something to you. And you (metaphorically) want to stand on every street corner and tell the world about it. And you want your brand to be influential enough to build a following so you can sell your shirts.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the reply , i get what you're saying. I truely do , when i originally started this "brand" i had a partner .. her role was to do the marketing and sales.. and mine end was the creative and production part. Granted i am not a business man or a marketing guru and i get get that. I was fine with that , since i have a really bad back injury which stops me from doing a lot of the things that i NEED to be doing. I had to get rid of my partner because she was causing me nothing but grief and i had to take it into my own hands to do everything. which isn't easy BUT .. for the most part its working out.. just much much slower then it should. I never paid for facebook likes or anything like that.. everything that i got, was from people who actually liked what i was offering. I've had a few chances to give freebies away to "semi-celebs" as i like to call them.. basically people who have a following of at least 100k followers on a social media outlet. I didn't want to do it that route because i wanted people to like my product because they just like it...a lot do. BUT again ..since my product sells as e-commerce i need people to actually visit the site first to purchase it. I've had plenty of people come up to me and say i like that shirt where can i get it.. and i would give them a card. But not in every case there is a follow through. I'm starting to think that i would need to get some famous people to wear my stuff, honestly i think its the best marketing. i have a friend who owns a clothing line ( not mentioning names) who has a line for less than 2 years. And he blew up really big only because he has alot of celeb clients, quality wise though ? my stuff is way way better. Thats why the marketing is important and i understand that without anyone's 2 cents. I'm just saying that it has to be something else , because i did my homework and i see how successful brands engage with their consumers. And for the most part i do the same thing. I might end up going with the "sex sells" approach, get a lot of pretty girls to just wear it. that seems to work.


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## Hegemone (Oct 18, 2011)

I think my post had lots of good general information that offered solid insights, not help, but opinions and suggestions. The poor tone of the thread comes from the source here. Not the very helpful members of the forums. Who have very carefully controlled their tone. As some one else stated every thread started ends with some being treated rudely. 

I think a lot of people might be afraid to even offer vague insights because they could be helping some one build a brand around something hate, vulgarity, or racism. I am pretty sure that's where most forum members are coming from.

All I know is if you're not proud enough of your brand to want to show everyone and do some serious bragging then there are issues here that not even the best social media people won't be able to help. EVERYONE is a potential customer. 

And trolls or no you can control what shows up on your Facebook feed so do assume the members here are going to take the time to troll you. Again my guess is that negative reactions are coming from some where and your projecting them here. That kind of stuff can only serve to hold you down and will manifest itself on your social media content as well.

Frankly I think we are seeing the end of the true payday that was social media now that it is being mined for ad revenue and corporatized. Where fb used to be the hip and now kids the biggest user market is the late adopters. If your depending on social media then I think your missing many aspects of a well rounded attack on building a brand.

My two cents. Toss them in a well and make a wish.


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## kimura-mma (Jul 26, 2008)

letsmakethatcake said:


> her role was to do the marketing and sales.. and mine end was the creative and production part. Granted i am not a business man or a marketing guru and i get get that.
> 
> I had to get rid of my partner because she was causing me nothing but grief and i had to take it into my own hands to do everything.


If you don't mind me asking, what grief was she causing? Did you not see eye-to-eye on the direction of the brand?

The reason I ask is because you split ways with the person who was responsible (and presumably experienced) in the areas of marketing and sales of your brand. And now it seems like those areas are your biggest challenges. Perhaps there is more validity to her point of view? Maybe there are some lessons to be learned if you re-think the differences you had with her.

Believe me, I've made plenty of mistakes over the years. The trick is learning from them. If you ignore mistakes, you will be doomed to repeat them.



letsmakethatcake said:


> everything that i got, was from people who actually liked what i was offering.


And what are you basing that on? Social media likes, follows and comments? That's exactly the fool's gold I'm talking about. You have to stop basing your brand's marketability on social media. Sales are the only thing matters. Unless someone buys a shirt from you, assume they are lying to you about everything else. If you take away all the social media stuff and go based on sales, how many people actually like what you're offering?

You're not the first to fall into this trap. This thread from a few years ago was legendary:
http://www.t-shirtforums.com/general-t-shirt-selling-discussion/t104860.html



letsmakethatcake said:


> I'm starting to think that i would need to get some famous people to wear my stuff, honestly i think its the best marketing.


Yes, getting a celebrity following can be very effective marketing. If you can make it happen, do it.



letsmakethatcake said:


> i have a friend who owns a clothing line ( not mentioning names) who has a line for less than 2 years. And he blew up really big only because he has alot of celeb clients, quality wise though ? my stuff is way way better. Thats why the marketing is important and i understand that without anyone's 2 cents.


How and where did your friend's line blow up? Was he selling online? Offline at events? His own store? Or through other reputable retail stores?

Success doesn't just happen. There are reasons for it. You need to identify those reasons to see if they are viable for your business.

Celebrity clients will beat a quality shirt each and every time. If you have high quality shirts, that's great. But most consumers need to experience that quality first hand to really appreciate it. They need to feel it. They need to try it on. So it takes more than marketing to educate the consumer on the quality of your product. You need better distribution.



letsmakethatcake said:


> I'm just saying that it has to be something else , because i did my homework and i see how successful brands engage with their consumers. And for the most part i do the same thing.


You're doing the same thing, minus the successful brand part.

It's another very common misconception that startup brands can achieve success by doing the same things that successful brands do.

Every day, someone new comes along trying to be the next Johnny Cupcakes. So they go out and (on a limited budget) use high end blanks, waterbased discharge ink, custom hang tags, custom neck labels, custom hem tags, custom packaging and give away buttons and stickers. The end result may be a great product, but they are no closer to being Johnny Cupcakes. Why? Because despite copying all the bells and whistles that successful brands have, no one knows who they are. And more importantly, bloated production costs have completely priced them out of the market or severely minimized their profit margins. Either way, the startup brand is not generating the cash flow needed to build and sustain their business.

Startup brands need to be who they are. Don't copy what successful brands are doing now. Copy what they did back when they were startups. That's the inspiration you need. The grassroots type of marketing and distribution that will help you grow from startup to successful brand.


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## letsmakethatcake (Jan 25, 2013)

kimura-mma said:


> If you don't mind me asking, what grief was she causing? Did you not see eye-to-eye on the direction of the brand?
> 
> The reason I ask is because you split ways with the person who was responsible (and presumably experienced) in the areas of marketing and sales of your brand. And now it seems like those areas are your biggest challenges. Perhaps there is more validity to her point of view? Maybe there are some lessons to be learned if you re-think the differences you had with her.
> 
> ...


As far as my Ex partner, she contributed NOTHING literally .. she couldn't get an appointment with our accountant for 5 months, until i asked her what the hell is going on here? i got on the phone.. we got our appointment the same day. I don't wanna sit and rag on the past but believe me when i tell you it was a mistake getting her involved. When i say people like it.. its people who actually seen the shirt.. got to touch it , and see it in person. People from my neighborhood people that i know etc. 

And i'm not trying to be johnny cupcakes , personally i'm not a fan of his line , he's got a cool story etc etc. But the whole cupcake thing i just don't get it. Im just Making stuff that i would want to wear that was the point. Before i got serious about making a brand i made a batch of shirts with lower end shirts and i thought i wouldn't wanna buy this. So i used good quality Blanks...but all the other little aspects like hem tags and hang tags are really simple and not high cost compared to the stuff that say johnny cupcakes would do. I throw in stickers with my shirts too .. for a few cents more i don't think it's a big loss to give the consumer a little freebie , everyone loves freebies. 

My friend was just fortunate enough to know a bunch of celebrities when he started and that really boosted this line. literally in months i think its one of the best marketing ways of geting your brand out there.


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## kimura-mma (Jul 26, 2008)

letsmakethatcake said:


> And i'm not trying to be johnny cupcakes


Johnny Cupcakes was just an example. Put whatever brand you want in it's place (LRG, The Hundreds, Crooks & Castles, etc) and the point is still valid.



letsmakethatcake said:


> My friend was just fortunate enough to know a bunch of celebrities when he started and that really boosted this line. literally in months i think its one of the best marketing ways of geting your brand out there.


The fortunate part isn't knowing celebrities. You won't make money by celebs wearing your shirts. Where you make money is taking advantage of that exposure and converting it into sales. You conveniently ignored my questions about your friend's clothing line. How does he get sales? What are his distribution channels? That's the important part.


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## letsmakethatcake (Jan 25, 2013)

kimura-mma said:


> Johnny Cupcakes was just an example. Put whatever brand you want in it's place (LRG, The Hundreds, Crooks & Castles, etc) and the point is still valid.
> 
> 
> The fortunate part isn't knowing celebrities. You won't make money by celebs wearing your shirts. Where you make money is taking advantage of that exposure and converting it into sales. You conveniently ignored my questions about your friend's clothing line. How does he get sales? What are his distribution channels? That's the important part.


i didn't ignore anything , i just didn't add it.
He has an e-commerce website and he has a small shop that he wants to close down. He told me theres no point of having it since 99% of his sales are from his website
And he uses facebook/instagram/and twitter ...thats it.


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## gruntstyle (Aug 11, 2009)

Check out our Facebook Page. We get al lot of business from Facebook. 

Facebook.com/gruntstyle

Sent from my SGH-T889 using T-Shirt Forums


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## letsmakethatcake (Jan 25, 2013)

gruntstyle said:


> Check out our Facebook Page. We get al lot of business from Facebook.
> 
> Facebook.com/gruntstyle
> 
> Sent from my SGH-T889 using T-Shirt Forums


Well with 65 k followers i would hope that you had a lot of business. Good stuff nevertheless


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## gruntstyle (Aug 11, 2009)

letsmakethatcake said:


> Well with 65 k followers i would hope that you had a lot of business. Good stuff nevertheless


Absolutely true... so the obvious goal would be get more fans. The more fans, the more business. We had about 12K fans only about 7 months ago. About 6k a year ago.


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## AtkinsonConsult (May 2, 2011)

Tim:

As usual you provide some excellent content and advice. Thanks for the SlideShare "The Brand Gap" that was excellent.

I'll just close in saying that if you want success with your social media you have to go where your audience is. Is it Facebook? Is it Twitter? Is it LinkedIn? Instagram? Pinterest? Google+? It also might be all, none, or ever changing.

What works best for me is engaging people on the platforms I invest my time in. 

Thanks,

-M


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## NonSequiturTees (Oct 19, 2012)

Thank you Tim, for all the awesome/helpful information.


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## rahjova (Oct 20, 2010)

kimura-mma said:


> It's another very common misconception that startup brands can achieve success by doing the same things that successful brands do.
> 
> Every day, someone new comes along trying to be the next Johnny Cupcakes. So they go out and (on a limited budget) use high end blanks, waterbased discharge ink, custom hang tags, custom neck labels, custom hem tags, custom packaging and give away buttons and stickers. The end result may be a great product, but they are no closer to being Johnny Cupcakes. Why? Because despite copying all the bells and whistles that successful brands have, no one knows who they are. And more importantly, bloated production costs have completely priced them out of the market or severely minimized their profit margins. Either way, the startup brand is not generating the cash flow needed to build and sustain their business.
> 
> Startup brands need to be who they are. Don't copy what successful brands are doing now. Copy what they did back when they were startups. That's the inspiration you need. The grassroots type of marketing and distribution that will help you grow from startup to successful brand.


this here is great! Practical advice that I myself need to keep in mind! Thanks Kimura for putting things back into perspective. 


Sent from my iPad using the T-ShirtForums app


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## plastisol (Feb 9, 2013)

gruntstyle said:


> Check out our Facebook Page. We get al lot of business from Facebook.
> 
> Facebook.com/gruntstyle
> 
> Sent from my SGH-T889 using T-Shirt Forums


Awesome bro 65k likes, can you share some experience on what helped you reach that number? Seo, adwords, facebook ads? Is your site traffic strictly facebook? Thanks!


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## gruntstyle (Aug 11, 2009)

It takes a lot of work. I'm on FB all day. You have to be very responsive to people who chat on there. Like people's comments that you like and respond to people quickly. It's a lot of work, but it's worth every second. Think of your FB page as a place where your fans like to hang out. They expect you to be there. 

Post a lot of content. You'll lose a few fans doing this but your growth will be greater than your lost. Make things 'sharable'. The more shares the more likely someone who isn't a fan will see it and then you have a shot of them clicking on that 'like' button.

NO SEO or facebook ads will help you that much, you much go out and earn your fans. Create original content that people want to share. If someone else has something that you want to share, share it from them, don't be rude.

The more fans you have the faster you will grow.


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