Tees In A Pod: online marketing

Showing posts with label online marketing. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

The Hidden Costs of Being Independent

So, you've decided that you're going to take the plunge and dive in at the deep end and launch an independent online t-shirt shop. You've factored in the costs of getting the t-shirts themselves and the screen printing of them but there is a proverbial slap in the face waiting for you if you aren't prepared for all the hidden costs of being independent. In this blog I'll outline some of the costs I've encountered from my work with LadyUmbrella.

Packaging
Whether it is a plain white mailer, custom packaging or even some extravagent and brand orientated packaging it's going to cost some moolah. Make sure you factor the packaging costs into your budget. I would also recommend starting your research months in advance of planned launch date - it can take time to find what you want and get it delivered, especially if it is going to be custom.

Postage
Of course, it is a no brainer, you are going to have to post your goods to your cherished customer so make sure you have enough in the kitty to ensure that the 'mailman always delivers'. Like the packaging, do some research to find out postal rates for different areas that you will be shipping to. There are different factors that determine the price of postage, namely size, weight and chosen delivery type (registered, express, standard etc). Large boxes are obviously more pricey to ship, not due to their weight but the area they take up, so make sure to factor in postage costs when you are working out you're packaging. Another important thing to consider is how you are going to handle returns/exchanges - try to factor them in.

Duty, Tax, Legals
This is another vital thing to make sure you have in order. I won't even attempt to give rates of tax or duty as it is totally different depending on where you are in the world but read up on it. If the accountants hat is something that never quite fitted you ask someone who is up to speed with the ins and outs of your tax system. The one rule that holds world wide is that you don't want to fall foul of the tax man. Also, depending on where you are you may need to register yourself as a company, again like the number crunching side of things, if you're not sure what your legal obligations are ask someone who is and get it sorted. Your business is your baby and all babies need to be looked after. Make sure to budget for costs that may be incurred compliments of legal sytems and the tax man.

Online
If you're going to be an independent and sell online you have to have an online presence. You're going to need a robust shopping cart system, website and domain/hosting. There are a whole myriad of choices when it comes to the type of website you can create, shopping cart you can use and hosting/domain plans you can choose and accordingly there are a whole myriad of prices. It is possible to get "one size fits all" type websites which will help keeps costs down and some stealthy googling will help you find a hosting/domain plan to suit your budget. Generally the big bucks are spent when you get a custom made website and shopping cart - it is up to you to decide which route you want to go.

Payment Processing and Banks
Once you have all of the above established you have to decide how are you going to get money from Point A to Point B (A being their pocket with B being yours) without the big C creeping in taking a piece of the pie (C being banks and payment processors charges). It is possible to use PayPal and only incur a low % per transaction cost (I think) but the downside is that they will hold the money for a much longer period than alternatives. If you set up a merchant account at a bank which will allow you to receive credit card payments directly there will be a lenghty form filling process to go through and possibly monthly payments. Like most things in this post thus far there are a lot of options available to you so do some research. What is ideal and works for someone may not be for you so do scope it out and find out what is your sweet spot regarding payment and banks, the balance between charges incurred, features of service and payment holding period.

Finishing the T-Shirt
One of the real advantages I think of being independent is that you have complete control of your product down to the very last detail. Perhaps you want to get some woven neck labels and some hang tags or have some other ornate notion of how you want to present your t-shirt. All of these little add ons undoubtedly cost money but can also take a lot of time to source. Don't leave it until the last minute to finalise your plans for finishing the t-shirt - if you fail to prepare, prepare to fail..

The Frills
Badges, stickers, business cards, custom pens, custom paper, custom anything! All these frills can really add to how you present your t-shirt but also cause those euros (dollars) to pile up. The frills can also take a bit of time to get produced so if you want to get yourself some frills of any nature make sure to research it in a timely fashion. One company who adds a lot of value to their product is Hipstery who add 3D glasses and a variety of other interesting frills to their packagaing. Unfortunately I can't add anymore about their packaging - it's shrouded in mystery, you should just check them out and prepare to be amazed.

What Rob Says
At this stage I must sound like a broken down record player ranting on about research but it is essential if you want to be able to manage the hidden costs of being independent. Find out what your budget can handle and research the above areas. It will take time and it will be frustrating. Some items that you might want to get may not be possible due to budget constraints - think outside the box when trying to come up with unique, cost saving ways of packaging your t-shirt.

The real value of the frills and packaging is the initial "wow" factor that it gives your customers. This wow factor comes at a price but you have to try see if you can afford the extra outlay. And that is what it will be - extra outlay. Don't let the frills and packaging increase the price of the product for the customer as this will defeat the purpose.

There is a lot to think about and a lot to mull over but form a strategy for how you are going to manage the hidden costs of being independent and.....
Research!!

This post was written by Rob from LadyUmbrella ladies t-shirts.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

How To Use Twitter To Build Your Brand

Twitter is a great way to get exposure for your online brand or store and the best thing about it is all the great connections that can be made for free. When using twitter it is important that you come across as a real person and not just someone that wants to sell a product. This is easy if you enjoy people and enjoy having fun conversations on twitter. The three most important strategies to use for building your brand are using twitter search, starting the conversation to develop strong personal relationships, and be proud of your products.

When marketing on twitter you need to use twitter search. Why? By using twitter search you can find people that are interested in keywords that relate to your online store, thus giving you a targeted list of followers. For example, if you have a Zazzle shop that sells funny t shirts you may want to search for Zazzle, tshirts, funny tshirts etc. Make sure to search for similar stores that sell products similar to yours as well. If you sell graphic tshirts you may want to follow those who are fans of Redbubble or Threadless as an example. When you follow those that are interested in your products or services you need to remember it is a numbers game. Some people are not going to follow you back or will take longer to follow you back. Make sure to give someone a week to return your follow and if it takes longer than that, probably better to unfollow. You can unfollow 200 people in a day, but is not recommend, for that is too many people to unfollow at once in one day.

Secondly, if someone does follow your brand acknowledge them and introduce yourself. It can really go a long way if you @reply someone and thank them for following you. If they reply back, start a conversation about their interests. You should be able to comment on their bio or something on their blog to show them that you took the time to check out their profile. This helps in two ways. First, for those that respond you are likely to make a new friend. People like people who are interested in them. If you expand your conversation you can make a very strong friend or ally. You can develop great friendships and networking relationships with people on twitter that can open new doors even if you never sell them anything from your online store. Making connections with people on twitter is the most valuable thing you can do. Remember, that when marketing on twitter, people buy from those that they know and those that they like. Your number one goal should be coming across as a likable person so being a social butterfly and keeping things light works great on twitter. If your fellow tweeps are thinking of you as a person you are doing it right, if they think of you as a brand you are doing it wrong.

The third thing you need to do on twitter to build your brand is to be proud of your products or merchandise that you are selling. If you make a sale share it with the world and provide hashtags with it so that others who have interests in your product can find it. If someone on twitter buys from you personally @reply them and thank them for buying from you. Follow up with them later to make sure that they are still thrilled with your product and services, to let them know that you care about their opinion. Following up on a sale can lead to that person being a delighted returning customer who brags about your online store or shop to all their friends. The 90/10 rule on twitter is a great way to remember how much to tweet about your own products on twitter. 90 percent of the time you should be engaging with your twitter friends about conversations that have nothing to do with your online store. Talk about movies, sports, or any other common interests you and your new twitter friends have. 10 percent of the time brag about your store, cause hey there is nothing wrong with being proud of all the hard work you did to put the store together and create the products. If you have made friends on twitter they are going to want to share your great news by sometimes even retweeting your accomplishments. The possibilities on twitter are really endless when you can engage your followers and treat them as people and not customers.

Twitter is one of the best ways to market if you learn how to use it effectively and the best thing is, it's free! If you know what to search for on twitter, who to befriend and network with, and what time is appropriate to brag about your products or services, it is almost a guarantee you will succeed on twitter. You can make connections and friendships that are way more important than selling someone an item. Twitter really is all about connections and if you are a light hearted social butterfly who treats people as friends and not customers their really is no limit as to what you can accomplish.

Tim Fox
Soge Shirts, Funny Tees

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Why You Need Your Own Domain!

When setting up an online shop, many people wonder if they should use a print on demand site, like Cafepress or Zazzle or if they should get their own domain name. In this article, we will examine the pros and cons of staying on your store domain, versus transferring your store domain over to your very own website. In other words, we will look at whether to stay on a third party site like Zazzle versus transferring your site over to your very own domain such as billsfunnytshirts.com.

The number one drawback to getting your own domain, is the cost of registering the name and paying for the hosting. Although there is a cost to owning your own domain, doing it this way can be a very profitable investment. Research which registration and hosting service is the least expensive and do a comparison to find the one that bests suits what you are looking to spend. An example of such services is hostgator.com. When starting an online shop, it is best to map out your goals for your shop. If your goal is to make some extra cash from a hobby through your online store, then maybe you should keep your domain on a third party site. If you want to make a decent amount of money and are passionate about setting up an online shop, you need to get your own domain whether using a print on demand site or a screenprinter. Another choice, is to use one of the free blogging services such as Blogger or Wordpress to create a store to eliminate the cost but still having the benefit of good solid search engine optimization and the ability to build links.

The best reason for getting your own domain is that you can play by your own rules and are not limited by the regulations of third party sites. Having your own domain is also viewed by the search engines as much more favorable and will boost your search engine rankings within Google, Yahoo, and Bing. Over time, if your domain has been established for two years and your domain is not expiring any time soon, you will get a further boosting in the search engines for being a trusted site. The longer your site has been around and the longer it will be owned by you, the better it is in the search engines eyes.

Another reason you want your online shop to be on your own domain is to build links. If you build links to your Cafepress and Zazzle shops, you will get a boost in the rankings, but Cafepress and Zazzle will still have the final ownership of that site. By building links to your own domain you are in complete control. You can choose a strong keyword in the title of your domain for a keyword that you want to be found for when customers are using searching online. For example, if you want to rank for "graphic tshirts" you might want a domain like billsgraphictees.com or something to that affect. You also get to control how your site is built when you own your own domain. You can make your layout of the site look nicer for customers, as well as control all the titles and keywords on your pages. Building lots of pages, if you have a store with a lot of items, is a great idea to help build an online presence and get you more noticed by the search engines. You can add your own blog to your site to keep your customers informed of any news that you have, as well as offer great content for the search engines. Basically, when you own your own domain you make the rules for what you want to do with your store. When you are using a third party domain you can't add a blog, press release, or an article that mentions your wonderful site. If you want flexibility and to be noticed, owning your own domain is the way to go.

Timothy Fox, Soge shirts, funny t shirts