Ten Marketing Tips for Success

1. Tell People What You Do

It might seem an obvious thing to do, but you’d be surprised at how many people don’t know what services you offer if you don’t tell them. It all starts with a simple sign in your door or window. Have it say, "For Custom Shirts - Stop Here," "We Do Custom Lettering" "Custom Lettering While You Wait," "We Print Anything: Your Kid’s Name, Your Business Name, Your Dog’s Name, on Shirts and Caps," or better yet, put your message on a shirt using Cooper letters (because they are easy to read) and hang it in the window.

2. Have Your Staff Wear Decorated Shirts

Your employees are living mannequins for your garments. As an alternative to plain uniform-type shirts with a name on the pocket, allow them to get creative and design their own shirts to wear. Let them customize popular stock transfers with lettering and cut custom designs from Flock and Film heat transfer materials. Encourage them to take current events themes and trends into consideration.

Another way to inspire your customers is to use idea-filled catalogues or collections that contain hundreds of sayings and suggestions for every occasion. Feature many different lettering styles for fleece wear, T-shirts and uniforms. Customers enjoy being able to point to a garment and say, "I’ll take that, but in a different color." This way they feel creative, even if they needed a little help. Take pictures of some of the better shirts created in your store and post them where other customers can see them.

3. Ask for the Sale

Make it a policy to see that everyone who buys a shirt or cap is reminded that your store offers custom imprinting services. Just like the order takers at some fast food chains are trained to ask, "Would you like fries with that?" you can get your employees in the habit of saying: "Would you like to personalize this gift?" or, "I could add your grandson’s name to that shirt while you wait." Usually, getting the sale is as simple as asking for it!

4. Add Dates to Custom Shirts

When creating custom shirts for an annual event such as a fair or company function, always incorporate the date of the event into the design. This not only makes the garment a true memento of the occasion, it also means they’ll have to come back for a new one each year! Keep the details on file to remind the customer of their order the next year.

5. Add Your Business Logo to Shirts

Do you want to increase repeat business and improve your chances of receiving positive word-of-mouth advertising? Then make sure that people who wear your garments know where to find you. The wearer is not always the purchaser. The shirt may have been a gift or purchased by a coach.

Always put your company logo on the shirts or uniforms you make, along with a hang tag that describes washing instructions, your guarantee, and your address and phone number so people can contact you. An easy way to do this is to use your business card as a hang tag. Every item that leaves your premises is an ad for your products and services, and yes, you guessed it, it’s free.

6. How to Increase Two Color Sales

Here’s another thing your employees should automatically suggest on all sales. Have them say, "How about trying that in a two-color look?" Remind the customer that all the professional athletes wear two color numbers and letters. Displaying garments with two-color lettering is also very important. Let customers see what a difference it makes. Selling two colors instead of one is an easy way to double your profit on the sale.

7. Create a Player Sign-Up Sheet

Make team sales easier for everyone involved. Take the hassle out of collecting each player’s uniform size, number and the proper spelling for their name by providing a sign-up sheet for the uniform buyer. Leave a space for a signature okaying the entire order.

8. Be Your Own Walking Billboard

Wear custom-lettered and  decorated garments everywhere you go and carry a supply of business cards. Everyone you meet is a potential customer! Wear it on the school run, to the deli, at your club, at game on Saturday, or on vacation. You will be surprised how many people you don’t know will walk up to you and ask about your printed shirt and how they can get one. Make sure people know the shirt is custom. In a pinch you could say, “This is a one-of-a-kind custom printed shirt,” on the shirt itself!

9. Take the Show on the Road

Put your merchandise on rolling racks or tables and bring your heat seal machine out where everyone can see it. Get a stall at the local fair and have different product areas for the different services you offer, such as: team lettering, custom transfers, custom gifts and custom caps. Try to create a market-like atmosphere using tables with a wide variety of low priced items on them.

Attend the local school festival - the average school has hundreds of children whose parents work for a living! Donate a percentage of your earnings to the school's funds. You may not make a fortune that day but you will have just marketed your company to hundreds of future prospects.

10. Print Your Own Money

Print up your own vouchers and give your customers a $1 voucher for every $20 (or other suitable arrangement) they spend in your shop. Shoppers can redeem the voucher for prizes or use them toward future purchases. Consider putting a limit on the number of vouchers someone can use for one purchase and make sure you have a counterfeit-proof system. Number each voucher ahead of time and ask for the customer’s postal code for reference.