# Advertising advice



## RideOutWear (Feb 27, 2010)

i have made the move from clothing line to screen printing business. i post ads on craigslist from time to time but i wanted to know soime good advertising to do. keep in mind i am a very small out of my house business so reasonable cost also would be ideal.


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## PositiveDave (Dec 1, 2008)

Google adwords is fine and cheap for niche keywords. You have control of the budget and can view the results.


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## CheckMate (Jul 5, 2009)

try starting out with the traditional facebook, myspace, craigslist, etc.
all these free and commonly mentioned sites will be a good start since it doesnt require money.

see what type of response you get first and then you can decide on your next step


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## nosymbolrequired (Jun 29, 2009)

HI All,

How about adding yourself to local directories (online and offline) such as the yellow pages, thomson etc. Put your business and a description on google maps. 

Also, print out some flyers on your home computer and go around all the local businesses offering your services. You could also have a sample t-shirt / sweatshirt etc with you, so that they could see the quality of your work. Then if the want branded polo shirts for their company etc, they would know where locally to go. (business cards are a must). 

hope this helps.


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## RideOutWear (Feb 27, 2010)

i am actually going out next week to different businesses to try and gain clients


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## tango9984 (Jul 11, 2008)

Josh,

Do you have a LinkedIn account? It's a good way to establish a network with other business people. They always need shirts.

You can get a list of all the businesses registered in your county from your local chamber of commerce. Then you can mail them a postcard or flyer with your services.

Also, a lot of times businesses owners will have a monthly meeting through the chamber of commerce for networking purposes. Might look into going to some of those meetings.


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## RideOutWear (Feb 27, 2010)

will look into that


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## binki (Jul 16, 2006)

Well, your first problem is you are home based. That makes it really hard to pick up walk-ins. If you can have a sign or something at your house that would help as well as a showroom. 

Without that you will be hard pressed to get much without a lot of expense and legwork. 

Lakeland is not a big town so word of mouth might be your best bet. Schools, clubs, fraternal organizations all are places to start. Join you local Chamber of Commerce and go to the meetings. You can meet a lot of people that way. Go to your city council members and make sure they know you and what you do. Those guys have lots of connections. 

I don't like paid advertising unless it is targeted to someone that might want to buy. Google adwords will not do you good if people in China or even Orlando click on them. They are just too far away to give you business. 

Look around and notice who has printed shirts on that are part of organizations, companies, etc. Approach them and give them a business card.


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## RideOutWear (Feb 27, 2010)

good advice and thank you. i actually have been looking around for a store front since i own all my equipment and i have steady business coming in a store front would just increase that hopefully. where i live would be no point in putting a sign out the only person who would see it would be the mail lady. i have a very big and attention grabbing truck that i am fixing to logo up to get some advertising that way.


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## Rtfull (Sep 29, 2010)

I support the suggestions of using all the free social sites (facebook, myspace etc..) to spread you word. Even if they don't work there isn't any out-of-pocket regrets!


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## RideOutWear (Feb 27, 2010)

Yea there is no sense in not using every possible form of free advertising.

I just got my cards finished Thursday and give them out to various contacts I seen this weekend that didn't even know I did screen printing so now word of mouth will help me through my 4x4 contacts haha


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## ktbbrand (Jun 11, 2010)

A friend of mine started out the same way you did. What he did was cold call shirt companies and send in his price sheet and etc. Problem is that most of the bigger companies have contracts that last up to 2 years or longer (Stussy has a 10 year contract with a screen printing company). My advice to you is to go to your local clothing store, check out the smaller upcoming brands, and email them with your pricing.


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