# Yo New Brands! What Do You Need Help With? I Have Answers.



## MrBrianJRoberts (Jul 20, 2014)

What's up amigos? 

I used to scour these forms over the years when I first started my brand, before all the big media features and retail wins.

They were a big help for me and in turn, I'd love to contribute back with some hard earned, battle tested advice on anything from sales to marketing, trade shows, getting media and all that good stuff. 

I'll only help with what I know, so be easy with those tax and accounting questions 

Any other soldiers: please punch in with your wisdom too. 

This is a team sport for the collective betterment of us all.


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## iggy05 (Nov 20, 2013)

I'm sure this will actually be a lot of help to a lot of people... 

My freinds and I started a brand a little over a year ago, we haven't dont much marketing to turn it into sales yet because our store part of the website is still in the work. Question is, how should i go aboit marketing the brand to get sales? More social media views? How can I possibly get my brand into boutiques and possibly bigger stores?

Feel free to check out our instagram: PureXperience that is where we do most of our connecting with fans and all that. Let me know what you think of the brand.


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## MrBrianJRoberts (Jul 20, 2014)

What's up Iggy, great question! 

For your first question on marketing: believe it or not, marketing is rarely ever the problem (although I'll give you a few basic ideas that immediately come to mind). Most times, you won't have a marketing problem but a product problem. Even the best and strongest advertising/marketing won't sell a bad product. So you need to absolutely make sure - beyond a shadow of a doubt - you have the best product you can make and make sure you're market loves it. 

Getting into boutiques and eventually, larger retailers is the fun part. Key is to slowly scale instead of rushing to the top. Here is a good outline to follow: _get one local ship -> leverage that to get into another -> then another -> after you have a track record with 3 solid local shops leverage that to getting into a larger state/regional shop -> then hit up the big national or international chains leveraging all past successes as credibility and proof your product moves_. 

Of course, you'll also want to reach out to *relevant media outlets* (trusted news outlets your customers check out) and *influencers* (celebrities potential customers in your market admire) and offer up your stuff. Be brief though. Don't give them your life story. Just a few awesome product/lifestyle images and some bullet points on why both they (the editors) and their audience would love your stuff. 

Get your product right and get to work. 

And like I always say: don't sit on this advice. Put it into action NOW!

Good luck


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## SHoyles (Jul 28, 2014)

Hi Brian!

Thank you for offering this service.

My question(s)...

1. I'm a brand new t-shirt and vest business. Designs done, printer found etc. I'm ordering 140 shirts across 8 designs in a medium and large size. Is this wise, or should I add in S and XL (aiming for a gym-goer niche, so small is unlikely).

2. I'm wondering about sales. The plan is to sell on eBay, Amazon, shopify and in-person. Typically how many shirts per month would a brand new start up sell?

I have business skills (I already run 3 other businesses), so the advice needed is in this industry specifically!

Thanks


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## lfp2014 (Jul 29, 2014)

Hi, 

I am extremely confused and have now had this issue with several suppliers. I am in talks with printing suppliers in China and other Asian regions getting quotes for my t-shirts to be produced. At first they are quoting between $4 USD and $10 USD per t-shirt which is fine, but then when I request for a sample they are quoting $70 USD per t-shirt, why is this?????


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## MrBrianJRoberts (Jul 20, 2014)

SHoyles said:


> Hi Brian!
> 
> Thank you for offering this service.
> 
> ...


Hey Steve, good questions. 

Personal experience has taught me to worry about #2 (specific sales and distribution channels) before #1 (quantities) because you don't want to end up with a garage or warehouse full of product your market isn't interested in. 

As someone with personal experience in the fitness industry: my two cents says to start with local independent gyms and health food stores. Email (good), hop on the phone (better) or head over in person (best) with digital mockups and a bulleted list of benefits as to why they would love your stuff and/or how it's different. Once you have some numbers in a few smaller stores, scale your way up to commercial gyms then larger stores (i.e., Bodybuilding.com, GNC, Popeyes Supplements [Canada], etc.)

Units sold per month can vary greatly depending upon sales and distribution. For instance, my first run of tee shirts sat in my garage for months until I ended up donating them to Goodwill. 

However, a jewelry product I just released this past January - which had a strong media, sales and distribution push on my end - moved several thousand units in a month. 

When you look at the hard data, statistically medium is the most popular size. I'd go with some smalls, larges and XL's just to be safe though. After a strong push you'll be able to see which works best and be able to multiply winners and subtract losers. 

Hope that helps! Good luck!


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## damusco (Jul 23, 2014)

@Brian,
What would you say were your 3-5 toughest learned lessons starting out?


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## MrBrianJRoberts (Jul 20, 2014)

lfp2014 said:


> Hi,
> 
> I am extremely confused and have now had this issue with several suppliers. I am in talks with printing suppliers in China and other Asian regions getting quotes for my t-shirts to be produced. At first they are quoting between $4 USD and $10 USD per t-shirt which is fine, but then when I request for a sample they are quoting $70 USD per t-shirt, why is this?????


I know this situation all too well. The fact is that manufacturers make their money on quantity not one offs. 

This is what leads them to quoting such high prices for samples, often at or well above MSRP. 

However, when you're first starting out, consider the high sample fee just the cost of doing business. 

I learned it's better that you pay $70 for one tee shirt to test the market response (intelligent risk) then gamble on a full production rollout and spend several thousand (not-so-intelligent risk) only to find out nobody wants the item you bet all your coin on. Besides, it's not so cool having a garage full of stuff nobody wants. 

This is not to say you can't find a manufacturer who won't give you an awesome price for samples. I work with one in another business of mine and get the mass production price for samples (i.e., instead of $70 for a shirt, I'd pay $4 to $10 for SAMPLES as well as mass production) But that took a lot of time, effort and vetting. 

Look at this way: the high sample cost can be a good thing. Why? It'll force you to be absolutely certain that the sample is the right one to go with.

Good luck!


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## mantya (Sep 18, 2014)

Hey! I have a simple question. How to explain why is my product so "different and fresh and better" than others? 
I really, really know that my own products are really good but still I can't understand the "USP" (Unique Selling Proposition). 
Unless you copy-paste, 80% of brands are actually doing one and same thing I think as we focus on one target market - skate scene for example. 
What opportunities or directions of argumentations do I really have? 
I know there are ways to innovate your product but I want to keep it simple as 80% of t-shirts in the world .

I'm sure that my product is good in every aspect but I don't know how to tell a story to sell or communicate with retailers. 
I don't even want to tell a story! I just want to make good product, good brand...
Can I avoid the "fairy-tale" part and let the product speak for itself?


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