# Sales Promotion Idea for selling printing services - would this work?



## Jack Clements (Feb 27, 2008)

I own a graphic design/Screen print/promotional business with one sales rep on the street and one in-shop employee.

I'm always thinking of ways to drum up new business, and I think i may have something. I'm sure this has been done before but I wanted to know if there was anyone here who has tried something similar with good results. (or bad, I want to hear them all.) I also want to know if it seems like a pretty average price for such an order. I want to make it affordable yet profitable. at the moment I could get 5 -7 of these jobs out per day. I plan on running an ad in the paper, adding the special to the front page of our website, placing corrugated plastic signs on the street, and more...obviously the advert that I come up with will be more appealing to the consumer, but this is the gist of it.

I want to advertise a "special" as follows:

*24 Quality t-shirts (Gildan)
Full Back w/ left chest print (one color)*
*$149.99

*I guess my question is... Does this seem like a "Special" price? I deal with this so much that it's hard for me to tell what the public will think.

so what do you think? seem like a waste of time and money?

All insight is welcome.


----------



## Vitalsyne (Dec 19, 2007)

Is that for a "white shirt" or colored? If for a colored shirt that is IMO a great deal.


----------



## Jack Clements (Feb 27, 2008)

Yes any color shirt, however i don't plan on printing a base white for ink on dark garments, i will print flash print. what is IMO?


----------



## Vitalsyne (Dec 19, 2007)

IMO = In my Opinion 
IMHO = in my humble opinion
lol = laughing out loud


----------



## Jack Clements (Feb 27, 2008)

I was really expecting a lot more feedback, it would be really helpful if I could get a few more opinions..


----------



## Trimere_Ink (Jul 23, 2007)

There's no way I'd be able to print for that price, white or colors. Makes me feel like I'm really expensive now...lol. So yeah, it's a deal...but I doubt the general public would know it as they have nothing to compare it to. Perhaps listing what the Regular price is so they know how great the offer is. Stores do it all the time, so should you. Just my thoughts.


----------



## NESBOW (Sep 10, 2006)

howdy, not sure whats a good price in general but as i learned from a store owner your presentation of a special is an important start. for example they sold tic tacs for 33 cents a pack and they would just sit there. then they would run a special 3 for $1 and they would fly off the shelves. we all like specials i guess


----------



## lost1 (May 12, 2007)

I own a graphic design/Screen print/promotional business with one sales rep on the street and one in-shop employee.
So you need to cover expenses.

I'm always thinking of ways to drum up new business, and I think i may have something. I'm sure this has been done before but I wanted to know if there was anyone here who has tried something similar with good results. (or bad, I want to hear them all.) I also want to know if it seems like a pretty average price for such an order. I want to make it affordable yet profitable. 
What is your overhead?
at the moment I could get 5 -7 of these jobs out per day.
But realistically how many jobs will/do you get? 
I plan on running an ad in the paper, adding the special to the front page of our website, placing corrugated plastic signs on the street, and more...obviously the advert that I come up with will be more appealing to the consumer, but this is the gist of it.
Also adds more overhead but may bring in some work.

I want to advertise a "special" as follows:

*24 Quality t-shirts (Gildan)
Full Back w/ left chest print (one color)*
*$149.99
That's nuts, make your $$$$$, just finished another 30 6.1oz gildans at $240. Min order is 30 pcs these days for screened.

*I guess my question is... Does this seem like a "Special" price? I deal with this so much that it's hard for me to tell what the public will think.
Give the regular price in the ad. 

so what do you think? seem like a waste of time and money?
Only you know your #s and the amount of jobs & $$$ going thru your shop. I have become a believer in letting the little fishes swim away. Set the hook on the bigger fish and take some time off.

All insight is welcome.


----------



## marcelolopez (Jul 16, 2007)

I think it is so relative, where are you posting your add, where your potential customers are located, do you live in Beverly Hills or in a neighborhood like mine ?


----------



## Jack Clements (Feb 27, 2008)

we do lots of work. the idea here was to focus on volume sales rather than larger sales, giving smaller businesses that once thought t-shirts would be too expensive the opportunity to get their shirts at a reasonable price. not to mention that everyone that sees the ad isn't necessarily going to want the "special". I have a very close relationship with an apparel wholesaler, so I get shirts very cheap. I have the man power in the shop to complete a 1 color job from start(printing films) to finish(put in a box) in about 45 min. I can do a lot more than we have been, I want to kill idle time (employee idle time)...the way I see it in order for this to work I need people waiting in line... so there's never nothing to do. 

I agree that the price seems incredibly low, as does the quantity, but I think that giving people the opportunity to get shirts at a more reasonable price will open the doors for future business(we do more than shirts).

and I'm not in Beverly Hills, I'm in Surfside Beach,SC near myrtle beach. there are lots of print shops around....and I am not one of the "bigger" ones. There's lots of competition, but I don't think anyone would want to touch this... we do larger jobs as well, this is not about making money from the special, we're trying to earn clients.

and Lost1, 

Realistically, we sell about 5-6 jobs per week, smaller orders of usually 4-6dz. and larger orders of 12-50dz. with these jobs there is usually more time involved in getting art ready, printing films, burning screens etc..., so this is just an Idea to fill the gaps. I feel that realistically I'm not going to land 5-7 sales per day, but I think its possible because of the deal that they're getting and the extent of the advertisement. could be wrong.. I will definitely let you know..


----------



## Vitalsyne (Dec 19, 2007)

so I get shirts very cheap, $.50 - $2.00/shirt. I have the man power in the shop to complete a 1 color job from start(printing films) to finish(put in a box) in about 45 min.

I will send you my work for those prices!


----------



## knifemaker3 (Sep 8, 2006)

In reality all you will be getting is one time customers. Any time I have run special sales I might get an order from somebody, but they have never come back once the price is back to normal. And the ones who did call again the 1st thing they asked was "can I get these at the same price you sold me the last ones at?" When told "No, that was a special sales price and the sale is over." if you at least get a thank you before they hang up your lucky.

I have since not ran a special sale just to drum up more business. It is only short term cash and nothing else. You are better off spending your time trying to capture clients who will not only make you money short term, but will be loyal and stay with you no matter what.

Anyway, that has been my experience. Hope this helps.


----------



## martinwoods (Jul 20, 2006)

NESBOW said:


> howdy, not sure whats a good price in general but as i learned from a store owner your presentation of a special is an important start. for example they sold tic tacs for 33 cents a pack and they would just sit there. then they would run a special 3 for $1 and they would fly off the shelves. we all like specials i guess


Yea they are paying more for buying three, kroger does that all the time with milk and other items. I can't believe people can't figure out they are paying more for less.

That sounds like a great deal on the shirts to me because I would not print them for that price, but that's just me.


----------



## billm75 (Feb 15, 2007)

I don't do screen printing, just vinyl and plastisol transfers. For 24 shirts with full back and left chest logo....wow. I can't touch your price on that one either. I have just myself as an employee here, and no overhead whatsoever. I get the gildans at a good price, probably not as good as you do, but still. Even at a buck a shirt my cost, I would have to charge closer to $200 - $250 for that job at a bare minimum to make it worth my time. I have my per hour rate set to make at least $40-$50/hour and can't allow myself to go below that or I'll never reach my goals.


----------



## tshirt0mania (May 27, 2008)

Jack - For that price and that quantity, it's a seriously good deal. 
Min. quantities are usually set quite high, which is what stops a lot of small groups/companies etc. from printing anything at all. In a way, you'd be making your business more accessible. And from there, people may start enquiring about larger orders.

I'm not involved in the t-shirt business in any way (I'm just a t-shirt fanatic). This is from my experience in running F&B businesses:

One of the restaurants I worked for was about to launch a catering arm from their already successful dine-in biz. 
Much like you, we put out "Special price" ads for hen parties, wedding solemnisations and the like. Out of 10 enquiries, 1 was for a wedding party and about 5 were for product launch events and "office opening" parties. 

This went on for about a year, and we always said yes to the non-wedding market who wanted special prices too. At the end of the day, it was no loss to us and word spread that we were one of the few caterers in town who were willing to cater to such parties (or any party for that matter) for a good price. 

I'm not sure if this will work for t-shirts as it did for this restaurant. I don't think the "special price" itself was the main deciding factor.. perhaps they liked the food, perhaps we had the set-up & equipment they were looking for, perhaps we were situated in a nearby location etc etc. It could be any combination of factors. But what the Special price ads did was to draw some attention and curiosity.

I agree with lost1, give your regular price in the ad. But target a certain group for your Special Price, maybe students/ small businesses/ soccer mums etc.... because it will draw some curiosity (sets you apart from all the other generic special price ads)

e.g. "Special price for ___(insert target market here)_____" ... 

That would make the ad more focused. You may get a handful of callers who're not from the supposed target group asking if they too can get the special price. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, so just say "Yeah why not!" . I say do it as long as it's no loss to you.

Hope this helps


----------

