# Marketing Tip



## Hunger002 (Jan 7, 2019)

New small local silkscreen Company with limited resources, looking for tips and advice on how to advertise and the best methods. 

thanks 

Eric


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## LancerFlorida (Mar 20, 2018)

You are asking how to market your company without spending. You CAN'T.
You are going to spend SOMETHING, and the categories are: Money, Time, Relationships.
Most folks will say that what they have the most of is TIME. So, let's spend TIME.
Ahhh, but there's another component that falls into, "What are you willing to do?"
Be aware, the 'time' you choose to spend is the time you won't be putting ink on shirts.
My suggestion is to take your limited resources and make some shirts that are AWESOME, and take them for a walk where there are LOTs of eyeballs. The "call to action' on the shirt is what will bring those customers to you.
Now you need to decide if those customers are coming to your basement, garage, website or storefront. YEP, that means you will need to spend more limited resources to get their money.
My suggestion to folks who are broke is to focus on messages that are controversial. That means messages of the topics they are are already in their conversations.
Suggestions that have stirred interest in the past:
"They ruined my rainbow."
"I scored! You can too." 
Remember, just like a comedian on the stage, it need not be true but only get the response you want which is 'give me your money."
There are many options available to you. However 'Limited resources' is insufficient information for a real actionable plan.


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## keithandprints (Jan 7, 2019)

Hi Eric

Seeing that you have limited resources, you may want to try using social media platforms to market your products. They are free to use and can let your voice be heard. The down side is, you won't be the only one using these platforms. There are established brands and newcomers who are constantly posting to promote their businesses.

For starters you can use Instagram to capture the attention of potential customers. The way Instagram works is simple. If I like your t shirt, I press the like button and if there is enough interest, I enquire about how I can get them. This is why the visual appeal of the photos you post is especially important here. You want to grab the attention of people so they should not be "just another t shirt" photo.

You can also highlight the strengths of your brand, be it in service or product quality, in the captions accompanying the photos. Lastly, post regularly and do not go easy on #hashtags. Use as many as you want which you feel can help you get noticed. The whole process will take awhile so be patient. This is but one of the few platforms that you can use for free. I hope this can help you kickstart something!


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## webtrekker (Jan 28, 2018)

Sorry, but if you want cheap, fast reults, then the only way I know if is to get off your *** and drag yourself and your products into the real world.

Visit local businesses, do events, markets, craft fairs,...... anything that doesn't involve sitting at home typing into a dumb computer and hoping for miracles. 

Good luck! 🙂


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## into the T (Aug 22, 2015)

webtrekker said:


> Sorry, but if you want cheap, fast reults, then the only way I know if is to get off your *** and drag yourself and your products into the real world.
> 
> Visit local businesses, do events, markets, craft fairs,...... anything that doesn't involve sitting at home typing into a dumb computer and hoping for miracles.
> 
> Good luck! 🙂


that is the best advice, simply get out there

be unique in your offerings, have a very good quality and tested product

be cordial and personable at all times

you can't compete with the large shops, so don't even try
'you' are the difference between you and the impersonal large shops
do not act desperate, know yourself, your art, and the quality
you will get jobs if you price fairly and start local
there are still many people that would rather pay $2 more for a tee from a local, 
than have to order from outside
if your town/city is saturated with tee decorators,
hit up the next town over

from lancer's post,
i'm still trying to figure out how to spend 'relationships',
i've got no time, i've got no money, but i've got tons of relationships i can spend on advertising
siblings/friends/parents, they all have to go,
and they are all at rock-bottom prices for a limited time


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## Tist (Jan 11, 2019)

INSTAGRAM. It's FREE to start but may need to spend some money if you want to promote your posts.


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## alexpk (Mar 14, 2019)

I think Google Business is the best for local business. You can try it, its free


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## into the T (Aug 22, 2015)

alexpk said:


> I think Google Business is the best for local business. You can try it, its free


why?

how does this help local customers find you?

it is a trap to get you to foolishly spend on google adwords,
or is google in the altruism business?

funny that when the interwebs first started you could search for 'grommets salina, kansas',
and actually get grommet manufacturers/resellers in salina kansas
now you get pages of whoever paid the most for those keywords,
it could be taiwanese steel fabricators

troublemaker marketing


> Google Adwords is the pinnacle of noob mistakes: spending money you don’t have on clicks that don’t go anywhere. Don’t get me wrong, if you’re selling high-end furniture to a small niche, you can afford a few hundred dollars in clicks before making a sale. But if you sell $20 Rolex knock-offs made by an 8 year-old Taiwanese factory worker, you may want to re-think your Adwords campaign (and your business, for that matter).


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## Ink Sauce (Feb 18, 2019)

Hunger002 said:


> New small local silkscreen Company with limited resources, looking for tips and advice on how to advertise and the best methods.
> 
> thanks
> 
> Eric


There's not a ton of specific details to go on here, but as a new, small screen printer – I'm not sure I'd focus on advertising.

You'll definitely want to setup a website for your shop as soon as you can, and claim your Google My Business listing, so that you'll hopefully start showing up in local search when someone searches "shirt printing yourcity" or "screen printing yourcity". 

But if you have limited resources (ie money) then spending what you do have on advertising through Facebook, Google Ads, etc might not best the idea.

Social media marketing, SEO, and other strategies might not cost you anything, but those are slow plays. Meaning that it will take time to build a following, get your site ranked higher in search engine results.

*You need sales.*
Lack of sales is most often what kills small businesses, not knowing where to advertise or how to do marketing.

If I were in your position, I'd try 2 things.

*1. Follow up with all your current customers. * Make sure they were happy with the last job you did for them. If so, explain that you get most of your business through word of mouth and ask them for a referral.

*2. Find 10 target customers in your area and reach out directly*
Take an hour or so and find local businesses you'd like to be your customers. 

I say businesses because they will likely have the most ability to pay and the willingness to pay, when compared to individuals.

Visit their website and really research them. Come up with 3 ideas about how you can help their business with your t-shirts. Don't focus on how to sell them shirts - but instead - focus on providing value to them.

Maybe your awesome design skills will help them collect more money for their fundraiser. Or matching polos will make that contractor look more professional so he can win more jobs.

Then reach out to them directly via phone, email, or dropping by.

If you're interested,
I've got a few more quick tips on growing sales over on our site.


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## lucycarter (Jun 17, 2019)

Hello,

If you have a website, then you can do SEO and SMO of your website. It will greatly help in market your business online. Various social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest are good way to market your brand and increase your reach among your targeted clients and customers. 

Moreover if you are looking to target locally then use flyers, business cards, newspaper advertising to promote your brand. It will cost some money but these are very useful methods. Also, you can attend various trade shows and events and distribute free giveaways to your targeted clients. It will surely help you get good leads.


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## seacookie (Apr 29, 2015)

into the T said:


> why?
> funny that when the interwebs first started you could search for 'grommets salina, kansas',
> and actually get grommet manufacturers/resellers in salina kansas
> now you get pages of whoever paid the most for those keywords,
> it could be taiwanese steel fabricators



try with this
https://duckduckgo.com/


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## TABOB (Feb 13, 2018)

lucycarter said:


> Hello,
> If you have a website, then you can do SEO and SMO of your website. It will greatly help in market your business online.


That's just BS web agencies are telling people, when trying to up-sell air. There best, fastest, and most effective SEO is Adwords advertising. The best, fastest, and most effective SMO is social media ads. However, even with paid ads, you still need a desireable product, and to know what you are doing.... Otherwise you will just be burning money. 

The same applies for flyers, newspaper ads... etc.


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