# How to market a t-shirt website?



## Stevekiser12 (Jan 26, 2011)

Simple question yet i have no clue to what the answer is. HOW DO YOU MARKET YOUR WEBSITE?? and how do you get sales? i see crap shirts out here that sell like crazy and i dont hear really any negative comments about my shirts yet they arent selling!! help pleasee


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## JohnBee (Nov 28, 2010)

stick your website address behind your car (cutout vinyl).... and on the sides... just "www.myt-shirtwebsite.com" under it to say "we print on t-shirts".....

i don't have it yet on my car but i plan to do it.


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## frightrags (Feb 26, 2007)

There are many different ways to market your website. What types of shirts do you sell? Are you selling in a niche market? Here are a few ways you can get going rather quickly:

*1. GOOGLE ADWORDS*
A quick way to get traffic to your site is Google AdWords. This is buy purchasing advertising on Google, so your link shows up in the paid advertisements. If you are selling to a specific group of people, then try and do some research on what words might they search to find your site. 

For instance, if you sell shirts with eagles on them, people who want eagle shirts would search for "eagle shirts", "eagle t-shirts", or even "shirts with eagles on them". Something like that. You can then purchase ad space for those specific keywords and set up a daily budget (so you don't overspend) and focus on writing ads that will appear at the top of those searches. You only get charged when people click, and you can trck who purchases shirts from those clicks so you can see if they convert. If you spend $10/day on advertising, but are making $30 in sales from that advertising, it's working.

*2. KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER - THEN GO TALK TO THEM*
Again, since I don't know what kind of shirts you are selling, I am going to stick to the eagle theme for now. If there are people who buy eagle shirts, then they obviously have an interest in the subject. So where do these people hang out? My guess is forums and groups online that talk about birds, maybe even patriotism, etc. Go find them and talk to them. 

And no, don't go push your wares... If you're selling eagle shirts, then you should be able to talk about them. So go start conversations, get to know those people. Once you become a valued and respected member of the community, then you can at least offer the link to your site to have them check it out.

*3. GET THEIR PERMISSION*
Also, be sure to set up a form on your site for people to enter their email address so you can send them newsletters. You can even offer a coupon code just for signing up as a benefit to them. Set up a few emails to send to them after they have signed up. Again, not to push your shirts, but to talk to them. Tell them how you started, and why you decided to put up your site. After all, I assume you have a passion for what you are doing...so share it with them. Ask for their opinions, what they'd like to see. Just talk...and more importantly, listen to them. 

Here's the thing...this all takes time. And lots of it. I believe it was Seth Godin who said "It takes 5 years to become an overnight success". If you want to build a site that will last, then you need to do it by getting out there and talking to your potential customers. If you haven't already, I highly recommend taking some time to craft a customer avatar. This is essentially a profile of your best customer, the person most apt to want what you're selling. Who is he/she? What is his/her name? How old? Where do they work? How much money do they make? What are their hobbies? What is their typical day like? This all might sound superficial, but it's really important and goes a long way to figuring out just who you're trying to market to. Once you craft this vision - do it on paper, and be as specific as you possibly can - then you will have a starting point. 

Again, it just takes lots of time. There is no magic bullet or quick fix here. The sites that are the most successful have tirelessly worked night and day to build their brand. Speaking from experience, I took my company from just me in a spare room, to now having two full time employees (beside myself) and a 2200 sq ft warehouse and office. I'm living proof of the old adage "If I can do it, anyone can". But it took 7 years to get to this point... But if you never lose sight, then you will get there.


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## jimbodean (Jan 2, 2011)

What is the name of your website?

The best advice I can give would be to start networking like crazy on every forum, social network sites and Youtube.

Good Luck!!!


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## Dermy (Jan 25, 2011)

jimbodean said:


> What is the name of your website?
> 
> The best advice I can give would be to start networking like crazy on every forum, social network sites and Youtube.
> 
> Good Luck!!!


Networking is key..make your shirts hot property pretend you are selling like crazy tag lines like "GET TEHM BEFORE THY ARE GONE" usually help.

Blogs send t-shirts to big blogs to get reviewed like hideyourarms.com or tshirtmag.com


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

Have you read (and better yet implemented) the tips posted at the top of this marketing section of the forum: http://www.t-shirtforums.com/t-shirt-marketing/t20419.html

That should give you a great start to marketing your t-shirt website.


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## Bbamseattle (Feb 9, 2011)

You can take a look at our website- b-bam.com

We market it in lots of the local papers, but since we're doing more corporate work, we've been making catalogs and sending blind "info-packs" with customized objects in them.


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## EnMartian (Feb 14, 2008)

What are your analytics? From where are your site visitors coming to your site? Are they people who would be likely to buy what you have to sell? What pages are they entering the site on, and what pages see the most exits? Are you getting people who put items in their cart and then don't finish checking out? 

Answers to these sorts of questions can help you pinpoint where there might be issues with your site or stumbling blocks for those who might want to make a purchase. If you don't have analytics set up on your site, you should.


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## Stevekiser12 (Jan 26, 2011)

EnMartian said:


> What are your analytics? From where are your site visitors coming to your site? Are they people who would be likely to buy what you have to sell? What pages are they entering the site on, and what pages see the most exits? Are you getting people who put items in their cart and then don't finish checking out?
> 
> Answers to these sorts of questions can help you pinpoint where there might be issues with your site or stumbling blocks for those who might want to make a purchase. If you don't have analytics set up on your site, you should.




how do u find out the analytics? i have google analytics but i have no clue how to read it


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## Extrememgmt (Oct 22, 2007)

I create T-shirts for a particular niche, namely gamers, sci-fi and anime fans. I sell them at appropriate conventions as well as a website that sells other merchandise that appeals to that market. I am setting up an affiliate program so I can approach high traffic sites and offer them a percentage of sales.

The more targeted your market is the better. Even tho it might be a smaller group of people, they are easier to target online.


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