# thinking of hiring PR or online marketing firm



## mlsalters77 (Nov 7, 2008)

Hello all!

I have recently launched my T shirt band WaxGoggles after a year of grinding. I'm pretty proud of our product and especially hyped about the site (which leads to my post)

I have been soliciting blogs for review, offering coupons to their subscribers and I am using twitter but I'm now considering hiring a PR firm or an online marketing company to promote my site with a stronger push. This idea came after a friend (an entertainment attorney in NY) viewed my site. his onion was that I had a very original look and that I should take full advantage of what I had put together by using a promotional team. 

has anyone here done something like this or know any one that has?


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## AeresClothing (Sep 3, 2009)

A PR or Marketing Firm aren't gonna be able to help you.

That website needs A LOT of work. Intro music and all flash? Bleh. The store is confusing.

Everything looks aliased and distinctly "Photoshop". You're not gonna get a lot of customers. Especially at $40+ for shirts.


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## CrossYourHeart (May 6, 2009)

Wow, harsh Kyle...

Anyways, A good PR firm can help some, but at this point in your companies life I wouldn't spend the money on it. I think promoting it your self like you've doing is the best option.

And I say this as some one who worked at one of the largest Ad agencies in San Diego.


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## CrossYourHeart (May 6, 2009)

> Especially at $40+ for shirts.


Oh, and I agree. $30-$40 is VERY overpriced for a t-shirt. Even the coolest, multi-color, high quality tees sell for under $30. I personally won't pay more than $25 or so on a shirt.


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## AeresClothing (Sep 3, 2009)

CrossYourHeart said:


> Wow, harsh Kyle...


I wasn't trying to be rude or anything but good advice is not always nice. Telling him it would be a good idea to drop a ton of cash on marketing something that I seriously doubt will sell enough to earn back the money he spent on marketing, let alone a profit, would be wrong.

He needs to keep working on his website and designs until they are marketable. Then possible look into paying a team to market it.


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## Retro Campaigns (Jun 27, 2008)

It doesn't even load at all for me. All I see is "Content on this page requires a newer version of Adobe Flash Player" on a slate gray background. And I know I can't be more than one version behind.


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## chobay (Aug 4, 2009)

Retro Campaigns said:


> It doesn't even load at all for me. All I see is "Content on this page requires a newer version of Adobe Flash Player" on a slate gray background. And I know I can't be more than one version behind.


Yup, same here. If it doesn't load on my iPod touch, its not worth going to..

This site has beaten it to death that flash should not be used on an ecommerce site, but yet people insist...


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## trytobecool (Jan 21, 2009)

site really needs lot of changes...

check .
Home page title is " . " for that page. Prices can be anywhere from 15 to 25....I won't pay more for new brand. even you have a lot of Marketing budget, it won't sell much. especially when, threadless and Designbyhuman sells at 8, 10 ,15, 18 price points.


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## Airfoof (Jul 12, 2008)

Here's my two cents....put your store on your main domain, I see that the store is not flash and you won't force people hear the tunes blaring which I, as well many others, hate....

your actual store is alright..I won't comment on the pricing but the store design is simple and pretty good looking. Its still cookie cutter, but a good start. I think you are doing a good job with a common theme/branding. I have seen some real nice online stores using flash, but unless you have the $$ to do flash AND a html store, stick with html. If you want some fancy interface stuff, take a look at some AJAX libraries.

Remember, Rome wasn't built in a day! Don't be afraid to try some crazy things, but don't hurl people at them. My day job is a web developer for a very large site, and can take literally years of experimenting to get something really great.

btw...check your links to make sure they all work, there are a couple dead ones....good luck!


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## Airfoof (Jul 12, 2008)

I forgot this part, which will actually help with your question 

The site I work on for my day job, did all the designing in house for about the first 10 years of its life. Then a couple years ago, we hired an outside firm to help out and give some fresh ideas. They did you a great job! They dug into our site to learn about it and who our target audience was. They gave several comps for a new design to help with the user experience and site tree layout. The redesign based on this company was very successful.

The point I want to make though is, we been around a long time, established our audience, had our brand, and had LOTs of $ to spend. I think you are off to a good start on your own without spending lots of money. Your getting feedback from the right people(even though they are harsh). You have some great designers at your finger tips. I think you should stay the course a while to find how people like your product and how you can evolve your product. Once you get that foothold, go for it! Get those pros in to help with the rest.


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## mlsalters77 (Nov 7, 2008)

oops, you caught me with my pants down! lol.
Thanks for the criticism (even the harsh stuff) after taking the weekend to research and crunch numbers I've decided it would be more cost effective to purchase ad space on sites that I know my target consumers frequent. There are some bugs to work out on the site so thanks, especially for the comment about viewing on iphone. As far as price...nah, we're only going up from there. Like I said, I have a target market. Being a new brand, its true that people can be skeptical but the response I've gotten with pre-orders thus far confirms that we are on the right path. I'm not selling generic phrase Tee's on crappy beefy T shirts. and we haven't even listed our limited edition shirts yet ( which have serialized Certificates and are much more pricey. these are insane! from the concept, to the art, to the packaging! "smile") We're in the early stages, even with all that we have done but by the time we go live in October I think it will be clear that we're not just pushing 10 dollar shirts. This forum has helped me every step of the way so I would be nuts to not consider different opinions.

Thanks.


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## AeresClothing (Sep 3, 2009)

You should honestly get your ego in check.

You honestly believe this is worth $40+









You can clearly see where you tried to remove the image from a white background, it looks terrible and it's like that on all occurrences of your "mascot" throughout the site.
If you can't spend the amount of time it takes to create a decent looking graphic, why would any spend $40 to wear it?

It's amateur, bro.

$30 for a shirt with a bevel and embossed font? Please.


And this ain't flamin'. This is real talk.


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## mlsalters77 (Nov 7, 2008)

AeresClothing said:


> And this ain't flamin'. This is real talk.


I used to post rhymes on an MC forum a while back befor I came to work in iraq and there was this one cat who just for some reason saw it as his place to be an ***! It was ok though because I am truly a much bigger asshole than any jerk that would go to my site take the time to lift one of my images (after I thanked him for his weak little criticism) and post some crap like this. first, that image was never, ever on a white back ground. You seem as if you know a little about CS4, each part of the main body of the image has three layers, that mosaic tile being the base on the head and feet. I'm sorry all shirts are currently post in mock form because we have something special planed for item presentation that will go into effect on the night before the store becomes live. I could go into 20 different ways my shirts are worth what there sold for (each being a bullet from the attributes of our overall product) but I wont fam, because I know that when some cat says, "its not hate, its real talk" yea, you cant do anything for that cat but show by doing. Dude, I've already pre-sold a gang of those shirts. enough to make it available in two more colors and pay for advertising. if you don't like the shirt, don't show the *** of your ego. Just don't buy it. this is america...( just felt like saying that! lol) by the by, your site has been up for awhile you "Should" be doing good whats your prob....oh, your one of those cats selling generic phrase Tees on beefy shirts. Sorry, didn't mean to hurt your feelings fam. much success to you.

Sorry for the out burst T-shirtforrum.


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## AeresClothing (Sep 3, 2009)

lol mosaic tiles

Doesn't hurt my feelings any, I'm not using "beefy shirts". American Apparel. AlStyle and Bella for discount and girly fits.

Don't be mad.


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## CrossYourHeart (May 6, 2009)

> I could go into 20 different ways my shirts are worth what there sold for


Okay I'm not going to comment on the design. But I would really, really like to know the reasons for a $40+ shirt.

Not judging, you can charge what ever you want, I'm seriously just curious how these designs deserve that price.


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## inktoink (Sep 4, 2009)

The site is not that bad. I would remove the music....Everyone always turns it off anyway. The designs are cool, if you can get forty dollars for a shirt , go for it. 

I dont think your questions was about the price of your products.... I would agree with you , your better off spending money in ads then with a firm


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## withindustries (Aug 2, 2007)

a tshirt is a tshirt is a tshirt... 

Why is a prada tshirt $400? who cares... it is and they sell! i dont think that $40 is crazy at all and if they are being sold then all the better...

some "artistic" people are too critical and cheap

as for your question, dont waste your money... ive already wasted some of ours and though we got exposure, we didnt recieve any increase in orders... perhaps take the $ and print some promo shirts to give away...

mikey

ps... truely dont stress over what ppl think about your price... establish your brand and price point... some of the ppl here may NOT be your customer and thats cool...

peace


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## mlsalters77 (Nov 7, 2008)

No worries here,

Dude, the Louis Vuitton store in Stuttgart had a shirt selling for about $649.00 bucks! What’s crazier, I was in line behind a woman who paid for it! If you read Kapferer and Bastien's "The Luxury Strategy" it states clearly that the brand's identity stipulates price not the buyer or the competition. But again, it really depends on your target market. I have a vision for the overall future of what I'm doing. True, it has to grow; but can’t I base any aspect of my company on what anybody else is doing. I don’t think anyone should. When I went to the withindustries site, the first thing that jumped out at me was the positivity. Whether I like their shirts, there prices or store setup, that alone made me want to follow their brand. Their doing their thing and I doubt that they sit up and say "well, I can’t charge this or that" because of what someone else is charging. That’s a movement. (Dude, I am long winded.lol)


and nah, I'm not gonna do the PR thing.


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## OhioSucksTees (Jul 26, 2009)

Looks like you spent a lot of time on your website, but I am still not that big of a fan. Even with high speed internet, it took WAY too long to load your homepage. If I were a customer, I would have clicked off before it loaded fully.

I know that my site isn't ANYTHING special, but it works for me right now.

What annoys people the most about website design? 

Pop up ads (93%)
Being required to install extra software to view site content (89%)
Dead links (86%)
Confusing navigation (84%)
Required registration to access content (83%)
Slow-loading pages (83%)
Ineffective site search tools (80%)

Also, lose the music... it's annoying.


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## mlsalters77 (Nov 7, 2008)

I think this post should be moved to the web design tread. LMAO!


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## HRClothes (Jan 19, 2009)

But also those Expensive Brands have there t-shirts Made, They are not American Apperal, or Gildan shirts. That is why there stuff is so expensive. Until you have a factory making your shirts for you. There is a Store Called Buckle and they have stuff for $100-$200 But the reason is because its embroidered and screen printed. They took Time to do all of that to each of them. I hate when people jack up there prices when they need to be $20. See Tapout is an Experienced Brand thats why they sell there stuff for what they do and I have seen there stuff for $25. I am starting my own brand as we speak cause im disabled and need something to do, but Im selling mine for $15 and I am buying screen printing equipment, t shirts myself, to make them. And I am still donating some to charity. So think about your price and explain why u have ur prices so expensive!


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## inktoink (Sep 4, 2009)

This is getting crazy. All the guy asked was if anyone has used a marketing firm. He didnt ask what we thought of his website , what we thouht of his pricing


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## withindustries (Aug 2, 2007)

ABsolutly right...


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## mlsalters77 (Nov 7, 2008)

...this post was never about any of this, guys. but because we seem to have struck a nerve... (only for the forum would I type this much.lol)

I’m not going to give up all my goods guys but I will share a little bit:
The shirts listed our store are the first of our on running shirts. These are printed on high end shirts. They’re pricy but the feel and fit is exactly what we want. Our limited and commissioned (these are non profit) are printed on shirts cut and sewn to our specification. (Again, very pricy but this is important for the market that we are geared toward) our packaging on average costs us between 5 to 6 bucks (except our limited editions, these see specialized packaging based around the synopsis of the shirt. We spend what we have to accomplish what I envision for the final product.) Our limited pieces are run in very low numbers and are traceable. 

 Both my wife and I are prior Army. I have been working as a defense contractor for the past 5 years. I’m in Iraq now for the second time and I work outside of the wire along with our soldiers. So you can guess where the profits will go from our commissioned shirts (we’re in the process of setting up the non profit portion of our business. The Ladybella side of our commissioned work will also go to causes specific to women.) These are just some of the things that make up what we are doing. 

There are a lot of different business directions here in this forum. I personally am gearing my brand toward the luxury market. We’ve got our handbag line in the prototyping phase and god willing this time next year we will be launching our full clothing line. The market I’ve chosen is not an easy or inexpensive market. I’ve been blessed. Financially I’m pretty straight so I can afford to go in the direction I have chosen and I damn sure have done my home work. And just like everybody else here, when I get stumped I know where to go for answers and opinion (PLENTY OF OPINIONS!LOL) so all you guys with your words of encouragement…and not so encouraging encouragement, its all good, I’m grateful for all because its cool to get perspective and I’m confident in my planning. Now, I think I’ve met the price thing head on so that’s going to bed now…oh, and the music stays. Period! That’s what flash controls are for. Cowboy the [email protected]#$% up and hit the off button. (C’mon, I couldn’t stay humble for the entire post. That would be compromising my identity.lol)

(But we are doing an HTML page for iphones and slower browsers.)


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## withindustries (Aug 2, 2007)

Beautiful!

Cheers


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## jkruse (Oct 10, 2008)

You can go out and be a success. ****, some of my family and friends laughed when I put out my first shirts and didn't think I would make any money. You just can't listen to that.

You should at least hear what people are trying to say though.

This man is an attorney and really has no idea what will be a success in the clothing industry.

I really would suggest on spending your money on your products, designs, and making an awesome website. A PR team will just get more people to see your stuff and if this is what they're seeing you won't make many sales.

We all have egos, but open your ears. This is me being honest, you don't have the traffic, you don't have the product, your website is bad, and you need to completely rethink your strategy to make this all work. Now that's real talk.


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