# advertising advice



## Guest (May 19, 2010)

we're an upstart clothing company and need advice on how to promote our company we've, mostly advertised through our myspace and twitter directing traffic to our own website, any suggestions? check our gear @www.lacausarifa.bigcartel.com


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## frightrags (Feb 26, 2007)

This may not be what you want to hear, but I'll post it anyway....

I don't think advertising (at least, in the traditional sense) is where you need to focus your time/energy right now. When I went to your link, all I saw was a large logo masthead and a few shirts for sale. WHat is your brand about? Why should I purchase your shirts?

These are blunt, tough questions...but you NEED to answer them. I did a little more digging and found your MySpace and saw that you are trying to convey your love of Los Angeles through your clothes. Ok, that's a good start....but you need to EXPRESS your love for LA on more than just t-shirts.

Here are some simple steps that cost little to no money and can be started TODAY:

1. START A BLOG : This cannot be underestimated. People buy products from people - not companies. Start by posting something you love about LA. Is it the culture? Go take some pics and post them along with your thoughts about them and how they represent the city you love. Your voice is unique...use it. Then do it again tomorrow...and every day after that.

2. CAPTURE EMAIL ADDRESSES : Put a newsletter sign up form on your website so that people can enter their email addresses. Make fields for First Name, Last Name, and Email Address. Capture these emails and send relevant information to them on a regular basis. Strike up conversations with them - after all, they want to hear from you if they signed up. Ask them what THEY like about LA. Ask them what THEY would want on a shirt that represents LA. This is speaking directly to your target market. 
For this you can use a number of resources:
- VerticalResponse
- ConstantContact
- AWeber
and many more...

3. GOOGLE ADWORDS : If you do want to invest in advertising, try out Google AdWords. You can find keywords that relate to you (i.e. LA fashion, etc) and see what kind of traffic they get, how much per click, etc. Then you can develop short ads and run them on a set budget to see how they perform. 

I really cannot overstate the need for you to provide more than just some shirts on your main website. Brands aren't built on products. Products only support the brand. The real essence of the brand is your worldview - and how it resonates with others with a similar worldview. But you must be willing to put yourself out there and communicate with those people - which is why a blog and email list is important. 

Find the people that think like you and talk to them about they want. Then create it for them.


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## lincolnapparel (Nov 21, 2009)

I find that simple local marketing, like handing out business cards, posting flyers in public places, and wearing my T-shirts as much as possible draws a lot of attention to my line. Since your T-shirts are focused towards a specific locality (LA in this case) I'd highly recommend marketing locally (in addition to the above ideas).

There are lots of T-shirt companies on the Internet all using the same marketing channels like Google, Myspace, and Twitter. It is easy to get lost in the noise on the Internet. Marketing locally means you don't have to deal with this noise.


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## oddMarie (Feb 17, 2010)

This is excellent advice; thanks for posting. We just launched our online T-shirt business two weeks ago, and we're trying to focus on the message as much (if not more) than the products.


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## junosama (May 15, 2009)

I am a big fan of SEO for driving targeted traffic, but starting a blog and promoting posts via social media is also a great idea.


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## TeesForChange (Jan 17, 2007)

i agree that SEO is a great way to start. also, you can start selling at your local craft fairs to build some awareness. and you can also do giveaways with bloggers that target the same market as yours.


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## DJapparel (May 29, 2010)

Seo, and just general traffic to your site is great since online is a market that has such a large audience.


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## Guest (May 30, 2010)

yeah thanks everybody for the advice, i appreciate your knowledge.


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## homeonline (Feb 26, 2010)

hajoser said:


> we're an upstart clothing company and need advice on how to promote our company we've, mostly advertised through our myspace and twitter directing traffic to our own website, any suggestions? check our gear @www.lacausarifa.bigcartel.com


Social bookmarking sites like digg, delicious, mixx and stubmleupon are good source of traffic. If its not enough, then participate on other techniques like article submission, blog commenting, press release and classified ads.


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## Twanabee (Sep 14, 2009)

Sign up for Linkedin. Join networking groups in your area. They have monthly meeting to do exactly what we need, local business. Works great for me.


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## dmfelder (Oct 25, 2008)

One of our primary offerings is print on demand internet shirt fulfillment services. We have helped develop a lot of brands--both successful and unsuccessful. Our best advice would be to put together a detailed business plan, pick a "less competitive" market, and focus your effort on finding a way to reach your target audience.

Our most successful clients chase topical and/or trendy subject matter, and are very agile. They have found creative ways to reach customers through social networking, sponsorships, industry publications, and affiliate programs. Keywords are also very important. Don't try to attract customers with "funny tees;" rather, try something less obvious like "funny college humor tees." Your competition will decrease from 1000s to 100s. 

Finally, the last thing you probably want to do is start an aggressive pay-per-click option if you have a small budget. It will help sustain business but it's doubtful it will grow it.

Best wishes.


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