Custom Apparel Startups

Planning:We all try to brainstorm together about what videos we need or think yall want to see, sometimes we ask!We get blanks ordered and prepare artwork for the video. We have lots of equipment so we like to get artwork that is great for that process (example, embroidery = digitized logo, DigitalHeat FX = colorful graphic with negative space, sublimation = colorful photos and portraits) One common factor = LOTS OF COLORTesting:We do a test run which usually results in bloopers, we aren't making t-shirts or sublimating mugs every day or even every week, so mistakes happen. We often do new things in our videos so we don't have solid instructions to follow so trial and error happens.We also experiment with different pieces of equipment which can alter the process. example - using the galaxy press instead of the hotronix, etc.We have been saving bloopers and documenting mistakes, because ultimately they happen and any apparel decorator is going to have mistakes.Equipment:Currently using iPhone 11 proring light and softbox lightlavalier mic that has a receiver that plugs into the phoneDJI osmo gimbal BUT I have been using a tripod more often when I know I won't be moving around a lotFormat:1. 90% of the time we shoot horizontal because we use one video in a ton of different places (youtube, social, websites)2. BUT if making videos specifically for social, shoot verticalWhere our videos go:Youtube is fun for creating a channel and gaining a followingVimeo is a great place to home videos if you are adding them to your website or want to share linksWhy share a Vimeo link and not a youtube link: Once someone lands on a youtube video you have no control. They will be shown other videos and ads. So most likely they are going to start clicking around and wont be watching your video for long.Vimeo doesn't have all that going on. They have a specific video screen and you can control what pops up on screen when your video is over.Social:Upload videos directly into social, vertical is best, quick clips, eye-catching footage, shortincrease video engagement by asking question in the video post or just post something that encourages replies (opinions, need your help, what's your favorite, what do you want to see next, etc.)Editing:CamtasiaAdobe Premiere (advanced)Final cut (advanced - mac)iMovieCommon mistakes:LightingShakingPoor audioSo hopefully if you were curious about how we produce our videos we answered some of your questions and hopefully this encouraged you to start taking some videos of your work, show face, add a personality to your business.This has been Hannah Rago and Jes SantiagoAnd as Mark likes to say have a great business!Resources:Episode 118 | Social Media Skills - https://customapparelstartups.com/episode-118/Episode 137 | Marketing Playbook - https://customapparelstartups.com/episode-137/DigitalHeat FX Videos: https://digitalheatfx.com/videos/Avance Videos: https://avance-emb.com/embroidery-videos/Custom Apparel Startups Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/689272454512942

How to Start an Embroidery BusinessIn many ways, it's just like starting any other custom apparel business. Or any business at all. But we DO suggest that you look at your business backwards, or at least in a kind of reverse order from what many experts suggest.Some suggest you start with buying an embroidery machine - and that seems just wrong, though we do have some very high quality embroidery machines for sale 🙂.So here are our inverted steps to How to Start an Embroidery Business:What do you want to sell or make? - because that's where your business idea started.- Is it embroidered shirts and polos- Athletic wear and letterman's jackets- Do you want to make gifts and keepsakes- Wedding favors- Linens and specialty draperies- Custom blankets or baby accessories?- Uniforms?List the people, companies you'll be selling to - which is important, because you're going to base a lot of decisions on what you're customer will want, expect and pay for. And different people want, of course, different things.- Service company owners will want something very different from high schools- Expectant Mom's will not be keen on buying from someone that specializes in uniforms- Wedding planners may pay more or less for quality goods than someone wanting to but embroidered car matsImagine the products those people will buy, and what they'll pay for them:- What do company polos go for in your area?- How much will a hair salon pay for custom aprons?- What is the going rate for a letterman's jacket- Or a horse blanket?- Or a wedding table runner?In other words, the first 3 things you need to know are:1. What do you want to sell/make2. Who are your customers going to be3. How much will they typically pay for what you're going to doNext you'll want to do the Math to make sure you're business makes sense.You already know what your product(s) will be and how much you can charge.What will it cost you to make and sell them? Or = How much can you make?- How much does the blank item cost, wholesale? In other words, the pillowcase, table runner or polo you'll be embroidering on.- How long do think it will take you to make each one? Which leads to how many can you make per hour.Now subtract your sale price from your materials price and get your gross profit number per item.Example: If you sell something for $25 and it costs you $12 in materials to make, that's a $13 gross profit.The fun part you can do next is to figure your potential income, but multiplying that gross profit by the number of the items you can embroider in an hour. In this case, we can imagine it's 5/hour.So the potential gross profit in THIS business is $13 x 5 = $65/hour.Sales and Marketing Plan to execute the above- Word of mouth- Local outreach- Online salesAdministration Planning- Taxes- Bank accounts- Legal stuffArt Creation: http://coldesi-graphics.com- Who is the artist?- If not you, then who / where?- If you, should it be you?Supply Partners: http://colmanandcompany.com- What are you going to buy- Who are you going to buy it fromEquipment: http://avance-emb.com- What do you need to do all this?- Do you need more than just embroidery equipment?Run your numbers- Does it all work out?- What might you need to improve?- If not, go back and rework things.Do it!Resources and Links:Avance Embroidery Machines - http://avance-emb.comColDesi Graphics & Digitizing - http://coldesi-graphics.comColman and Company Wholesale Apparel - https://colmanandcompany.com/wholesale-blanks.htmlTop Shopping Cart Options for Embroidery Businesses - ColDesi: https://coldesi.com/2014/04/top-shopping-cart-options-for-embroidery-businesses/CAS Mini Cast – Marketing In Facebook Groups - Custom Apparel Startups: https://customapparelstartups.com/minicast3/Episode 29 – Make More Money Next Month – Creating Active Word of Mouth - Custom Apparel Startups: https://customapparelstartups.com/episode-29/Networking for Custom Apparel Podcast Episode Video: https://youtu.be/2kR0ro6eyfw

You mess up an order, upset a customer, make a huge mistake, how to handle them and WIN It's a good policy to just figure out what you're going to do IN ADVANCE. What will you do when you or an employee makes a mistake? Don't wait for someone to be angry or disappointed, figure it out now. Don't Panic! 1. Just like the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy - “I like the cover," he said. "Don't Panic. It's the first helpful or intelligible thing anybody's said to me all day.” 2. If you Panic you will make an irrational decision. 3. Panic will yield an emotional response and you want to make a business decision, not an emotional one. Be nice to yourself 1. You aren't stupid or a fool. You made a mistake, all humans do every day. 2. You will make another mistake tomorrow, probably later today. It's ok. Figure out a plan 1. You will have to address this mistake, what the plan? 2. What could you do? 3. Print wrong logo on shirts - you have to order new ones and reprint 4. You ordered wrong color shirts - will customer be ok with that? 5. You forgot to file your quarterly taxes - call CPA 6. Forgot to order shirts - now order will be late Contact the customer (etc) ASAP 1. Don't wait for ALL the answers (necessarily) first 2. Make sure they know and they have time to react 3. Be ready for attacks and an emotional response 4. Apologize 5. Agree to a solution Aside - How to apologize properly according to MindTools "How to apologize" which sites psychological research 1. Express Remorse (you ARE actually sorry and show it) 2. Admit Responsibility (It was your mistake or your business's mistake) 3. Make Amends (what can you do?) 4. Promise it won't happen again (you learned a lesson) Figure out the source of the problem 1. How was the mistake made? 2. Is there something you could do differently next time? 3. Can you add extra quality control? Scenarios.... What to do if? 1. What if they want to cancel their order 2. What if they want the order 100% for free 3. Should you give a discount or refund 4. Should you offer free items next time? 5. What if you cannot resolve it on the first call? Mistakes are part of business, if you handle them well, the customers you made a mistake with can become your biggest advocates. Podcasts for Reference: Episode 63: https://customapparelstartups.com/episode-63/ Episode 106: https://customapparelstartups.com/episode-106/ Episode 55: https://customapparelstartups.com/episode-55/ Products Mentioned in this Episode: Epson F2100 DTG Printer: https://coldesi.com/epson-f2100-dtg-printer/ Vapor Apparel: https://colmanandcompany.com/vapor_apparel.html

Why $75,000?Because according to the article "how much is enough" and the Princeton study they reference there, for most people $75K/year is enough to be worry free. They surveyed people at different income levels and by and large, the people that made less reported to be less happy and happiness didn't increase much at larger amounts.Depending on almost everything of course - location, family size, etc.And the $75K is also right in the middle of what is typically considered "middle class" in America.These articles are talking about top line income - and we'll do that too, but we'll also talk about how much PROFIT you'll make at various sales levels.Because I think that knowing these numbers will help you figure out your own.So - if you buy into all this - what do you have to do in the customization business to make $75K?First - we'll run a few scenarios for you - having to do with sale price, cost of goods sold, et.Most of our digital t-shirt makers make $12 or MORE for every shirt they sell. Here's how the numbers work to get you to $75,000 per year!Average profit per shirt $12.00$75,000/$12 = 6,250 shirts365 Days/6,250 = 17.12 shirts per dayor 2 week vacation and 5 day work week = 25 Shirts a dayIs making 25 shirts a day realistic?Doing it alone, it's realistic to break up 2 shirts a day into this:Production - 2 hoursSales - 2 hoursMarketing - 2 hoursPaperwork - 2 hoursHow do you get to 25 shirts a day?Marketing:Get your google / facebook / bing info set up for searchesJoin groups / clubsUp-sell customersSell through ebay / etsy (if you have good ideas)Be sure you have some niche markets to sell to90% of our custom t-shirt business customers make ALL their money through word of mouthAsk for referralsSales:Get in the car with samplesMake phone callsTalk to people / socializeAsk for businessBe sure people know what you doWear what you doPaperwork:Build into business costs to have a CPALearn how to do it yourself (if you are good at that thing)Don't let it pile upDo things legally (if not sure hire someone - build that into cost of business)Know your numbers!Production:Make your room work for youPractice makes perfectDon't give upStop chasing crazy ideas and focus on a few things you can do wellUp-sell more prints on a shirt or item, more money... less garmentsSell things that are easy to do. e.g. can coolers, mugs vs a hat with 4 locations of logos for $12Remember to get to 75k... you have to do these simple things:Leverage YOUR social network to build a business that YOU control.Work hard on sales and marketing... don't just sit thereGet production down to a scienceDo the paperwork right and know your numbers

Easy! There is not "best". There's only best for you. 1. Best for your plan2. Best for your products3. Best for your budget Lets break this down by first determining: 1. What do you want to sell?2. Who do you want to sell to?3. Where do you plan to fulfill orders? Things we aren't asking yet: 1. What is your budget?2. Which technology have you 'heard' is best? what are others doing?3. What do i need to invest in besides a printer? e.g. heat press, etc Now based on the above here are the facts on printing technology DTG (like the G4 and Epson F2100) 1. Quality of print 10/10 - colors, feel, wash, etc2. Works on Light and Dark garments3. Dark shirts - cotton only, Light shirts -cotton & poly (ish)4. Full color digital prints (tons of colors)5. Essentially Fade to nothing gradients6. Prints WHITE7. Space Requirements - Printer, heat press, table and pretreat8. Production Cost - very low White Toner Transfers 1. Quality of print 8/10 - colors, feel, wash, etc2. Works on Light and Dark Garments3. Works on cotton, poly & blends (almost all)4. Full Color Digital Prints (tons of colors)5. Does not fade to nothing (hard stops)6. Prints White7. Prints on tons of hard goods8. Space Requirements - Printer, heat press, table9. Production cost - moderate Sublimation 1. Quality of Print - 9/10 - Colors, feel, Wash2. Works on light colors only3. Works on poly only4. Full Color Digital Prints (tons of colors)5. Fade to nothing gradients6. Does not print white7. Print on tons of hard goods8. Space Requirement - Printer, Heat press, Table9. Production cost - moderate / low Print & Cut System - Roland VersaStudio BN20 1. Quality of Print - 7/10 - Colors, feel, Wash2. Works on dark and light colors3. Works on cotton, poly and blends (almost all)4. Full Color Digital Prints (tons of colors)5. No Fade to nothing and generally requires a border / bleed6. Vinyl is white, so doesnt print white, but is vinyl7. Creates stickers which can be used on hard goods8. Great sign production9. Space Requirement - Printer, Heat press, Table10. Production cost - moderate Cutters 1. Quality of Print - 7/10 - Colors, feel, Wash2. Works on dark and light garments3. Works on cotton, poly & blends (almost all)4. Single colors / pallets5. Must layer to achieve multi-colors6. No fade outs, all hard stops7. Vinyl had white, but a limited # of colors (100s?)8. Can print solid color or multi-color stickers9. Glitter!10. Space Requirement - Printer, Heat press, Table11. Production cost - low to moderate So at this point in time lets chat examples Now bringing up budget: Since you know your plan and what technology you want, the budget can come into play. If you have a solid business plan and reasonable credit... they are all affordable.If you are looking to pay cash, then budget comes more into play.Is there one tech you prefer you cannot afford?Can your business plan use one technology to build to another? Now that you have an education, you should learn more. Go to https://coldesi.com/ The other options is to call a ColDesi pro and get some recommendations. When in doubt consult the experts. This podcast is inspired by a recent article post on https://coldesi.com/ called 5 Ways to Make Custom T-shirts at Home | ColDesi: https://coldesi.com/2021/01/make-custom-t-shirts-at-home/ Related Podcasts: Episode 149: https://customapparelstartups.com/episode-149/Episode 101: https://customapparelstartups.com/episode-101/Episode 136: https://customapparelstartups.com/episode-136/ Products Mentioned: G4 DTG Printer: https://dtgprintermachine.com/dtg-g4-direct-to-garment-printer/ Epson F2100 DTG Printer: https://coldesi.com/epson-f2100-dtg-printer/ Sawgrass Sublimation Printers: https://coldesi.com/2021/04/sawgrass-printers/ DigitalHeat FX White Toner Printers: https://digitalheatfx.com/compare-digital-heatfx/ Roland VersaStudio BN-20: https://colmanandcompany.com/roland-bn-20-versastudio-print-and-cut-system.html Graphtec Vinyl Cutter Bundles: https://colmanandcompany.com/cutnpress.html

In Today’s episode, we talk with Vik Patel, Director of Global Marketing for Sawgrass Inks about what sublimation is, the opportunity for business growth and why working with Sawgrass and ColDesi makes financial sense for almost any business.

We are on the cusp of a customization boom. Public places are re-opening at different speeds and events are being scheduled. These parks, festivals, sports, etc are all being scheduled. What does this mean for YOUR business? There is an opportunity for a surge in custom shirts, hats, mugs, etc. It's up to you how to evaluate that opportunity and how to benefit from it. Restaurants Sports School Camps Festivals Tradeshow premarketing for specific events How to outreach to customers so they know you are there when they are ready. Which one are you? What are the next steps? Identify opportunities in your area. What will be the next big event or series of events by you? Sports, school events, concerts, Renaissance Festivals, business openings (restaurants, paint ball, mini golf) What is your opportunity? Do you sell something that would be for these potential customers? T-shirts, Mugs, signs, etc. What risks / plans are you willing to make? There are 3 strategies to have here. A. The financially conservative approach Don't spend any time or money for an uncertain future Stay the current course Once you know 100% there is opportunity, take action then Pros - Little risk to spend money on inventory, staff or time preparing for things that may or may not happen Cons - The biggest risk is missing out on the boom. Your competition will get this business and you will ride behind their wave B. Investment of time, but little money Call on old business partners and see their plans Brainstorm ideas for the future Run numbers on budgets - marketing, sales, inventory Plan marketing campaigns Choose products & ideas Market test ideas with potential customers Pros - You are still financially conservative, but are more prepared. When the time comes to act, you will be more prepared than much of your competition. Cons - You are spending time on a what if, instead of a what is. You still can lose out on the biggest boom of the business when it hits. Someone else gets that. C. Investment of time & Money Do all of #2 above Invest in inventory that might sell out (mugs, paper, ink) Invest in equipment (Cap press, emb machine, sublimation printer) Invest time in training how to use equipment / software Prepare, Plan, Invest and be ready to strike gold when its time. Pros - When the peak hits you are going to be ready. You are most likely to get the maximum potential out of the surge. Could be a 'game changer' for your business growth Cons - There is always a what if. You can take on debt and not get the expected reward. You will need to devise a plan (what will I do with these mugs?) 2021 will present new opportunities and new challenges. There are signs that a boom is coming. How long will that last? what is the opportunity in your area/niche? What risks will you take?

As a small customization business are you poised to have your greatest year ever in 2021. In this episode, we will discuss WHY this is true and HOW to make it work for you. Trends stack the cards in your favor. What do we expect to trend in 2021: 1. Working remotely - 42% of the US workforce is working remotely now (Stanford University Study) - Many businesses will bring employees back in in 2021, but many will not. (it saves them money, they might see more efficiency, etc etc) 2. Small shopping - it's VERY cool to shop and support small businesses (59% of consumers surveyed in Salesforce’s report would rather buy from a small business than a large corporation) 3. Largest online sales ever - online sales are surging for all the obvious reasons. Its been growing year over year for 20 years and this year creating a new shift. 4. Social Media - Love it or hate it, social media is still growing and being adopted in all age ranges from kids to boomers. How do these trends specifically mean a customization business like yours will thrive? Working remotely: You CAN work remotely. Unless you have very large industrial equipment most things ColDesi sells can fit through a regular doorway and plug into a regular 110 outlet. Your staff can operate your equipment from various locations, or if you are a home-based business you might have already been working from home! There will be a new standard for looking good on camera for companies in 2021. Fine during the spring/summer of 2020 it was fine for business people to show up to video meetings in ball caps, messy bun hair or their Sunday PJs look. However, that is shifting. More businesses want their staff to look good on camera. THIS IS WHERE YOU COME IN. - Market 'uniforms' for working at home. Company logo hats, embroidered polos, logo mugs, etc. Anything that is 'on camera' is a branding tool. Even logo signs they can hang up in the background. Small Shopping: People are loving helping their community. Buying from small businesses, eating from local farms, drinking local beer, eating at locally owned restaurants. YOU ARE A LOCALLY OWNED SMALL BUSINESS. This is your time to advertise locally, get your google maps set, attend any local events, etc. Be sure to let everyone know when they buy a shirt from you, they are helping someone in their community. Build new local relationships - when you eat at a local restaurant, let them know you are a local embroidery shop. When you shop at a locally owned hardware store, let them know you make custom aprons. Build these relationships. Join local business owner groups, etc. Largest Online Sales Ever: Online sales always grow and 2021 will be a new record. SO GET ONLINE. How? Etsy, Ebay, Amazon, Facebook, your own website, forums. Make it easy for people to buy online. Sure up your remote selling capabilities. Get an app so people can pay invoices on their phone. Have a way for people to interact with you via text/DM. Clean up your email signature, re-check how your emails and pages look on mobile, ask for feedback. Social Media: Get on there in any creative way possible. Share the best work you do. Share customer testimonials. Share videos of your work. You don't need to act like an influencer, give motivational talks or make jokes. Just share what you do and what people think of you. Remember that it's not about likes, it's about when BUYERS look you up, the impression they get. Join groups - Facebook, linked in, online forums. Be active and drop your business name or links when you can (and when allowed) - Also be an expert without the need for a sale. Like, follow, and interact with others. If you sell car t-shirts, follow car people. Comment, like, and share their stuff. Eventually, this can lead to a relationship or sales. ("hey, interested in a t-shirt business partnership" "yea, I know you, we interact on my posts all the time") Special Note about Maps and GMB: Google continues to focus more and more on Local search and is expanding what Google Maps means and does as a result. 2 big new changes are: Community Feeds - like a running blog post with user comments Messaging in Maps 2021 is really a great opportunity for the small customization business. People want to feel connected to where they shop, they are navigating a world that changed quickly on them and if you help them adapt, you win.

We’re going to divide this podcast up into 2 sections today. First, we’ll talk about Contact Pages themselves, which ARE important. Then we’ll talk about Thank You Pages – often overlooked but even MORE important, we think, than ty pages. So – what’s a contact page and why do people use them? Or more importantly – why do YOUR customers use them? If you have an ecommerce site they probably use them: When they have a question about a product while shopping They are looking for something you don’t provide or they can’t find They’re looking for a deal or additional discount They also might want to discuss (complain) about a current order If you aren’t selling online, the contact form is even MORE important because: They may be shopping while you’re closed and have questions They could want to schedule a call about a BIG deal Or – they’re trying to sell YOU something – which is why having Captcha is important. You can use your contact form to do more than just capture information so you can call someone back. You can also: Build your email list Use it to help route response like: Choose the reason for your contact Question about a current order Finding out if you do ________ Question about a future order Elements of a good thank you page: Motivation – Why they should fill it out and not just click away Form itself Prequalification Directions/Location Something more – Reviews, Personal Message, Pics of happy customers, etc Thank you form are important! Never use the standard TY page. Those pages are opportunities to make a further sale! also, don’t just have a simple pop up that says “form been submitted Reinforce their decision – Thanks, you made the right choice What you want them to do next Continue shopping Look at this new product too Visit you on Social Share something Show them a video! Offer a free sample or a coupon Contact and TY pages are a huge opportunity for you to engage with the people who WANT to talk to you! Resources: Here’s our Avance Thank You Page Example: https://avance-emb.com/avance-thank-you/ DigitalHeat FX Contact Page Example: https://digitalheatfx.com/contact-us/ Good article on Contact Page options: https://www.ventureharbour.com/15-contact-form-examples-help-design-ultimate-contact-page/#:~:text=Contact%20Form%20Design%3A%2015%20Best%20Contact%20Page%20Examples,TopTal%209%20Pixpa%2010%20Yummygum%20More%20items...%20

How important IS the Product Page on your website? If you're relying on eCommerce for your income, and are running ads to pages OR relying on organic search, they're a big part of why your business will succeed - or not. So, Marc - what IS the product page? If you are going to spend the time and money online, do your best to make it RIGHT. If you want to create a good product page, you HAVE to follow everything on this list. Here are the 10 (plus one bonus) things you should do for every product page on your website. Know your goal - When someone lands on this page, what do you want them to do? Tell them what it is - Big and Bold, then short and sweet. Explain the product in a glance. Ask them to take action - clear and obvious - buy now, call in, live chat, complete form. Offer more info for those who want it - for many people the short and sweet isn't enough... so after the above. add more text, add videos, additional images, bullet lists of features. Address their concerns - If you know your customers, or have surveyed people. let them know their concerns and how this product helped them. e.g. won't shrink, collar won't wrinkle, color won't fade, etc Live chat - most of the time you can get a live chat for free, and make it available during business hours. Even mobile apps to make it easier for you Let them call you - if they have questions, plenty of people STILL like the phone. Make it easy to find and call you. GOOD photos, videos, gifs - Be sure to have photos and/or videos... and don't make them super fuzzy or stretched out or confusing. You have a $1000 camera in your pocket, use it. Add testimonials - site reviews, quotes, pictures from customers, social comments, screenshots, etc Brag - if a famous person or brand purchased this... brag. Could be local schools, winning football team, local church, big famous brand, famous social media influencer Review, test, repeat - come back to these pages and review them. When possible test different versions of the page. Don't let them go stale.

It's time to start getting ready for 2021 - Most businesses use these last 3 months of the year (Q4) to start choosing their goals, deciding what targets they want to hit, new markets they'll text - listing out their business plans for the next year. But we know THIS is the busy season for many of you! So the best way you can start prepping for next year is to take time each day to pay attention to the slightly bigger picture of what's happening NOW in your business. So you can use that perspective and experiencing this busy season to better take advantage of the next. Here are a few things to take note of, and set aside for planning next year: 1. What's wasting your time? Every year you probably take orders for the same kinds of things that you know just take WAAAY too long to do. The way you know that is by looking at how much you're charging for everything, how long it takes you, and what it all costs in materials. But really - you probably kind of FEEL it right now anyway... Custom stockings? Table runners Halloween or Thanksgiving decorations? 2. What Customers are NOT worth it? You can really tell who your best and worst customers are when you're super busy. Are you DREADING someone's phone call? Do you already know they're going to complain? Do you end up with high return rates and low customer satisfaction consistently from one or two businesses? 3. What do you LOVE making right now? Look at all the business coming in the past 30 days - which ones do you want to do FIRST? Which kinds of activities get you excited about starting work? 4. What has made you, or IS making you, the most PROFIT? Are you pumping out left chest t-shirt logos with a DigitalHeat FX printer and making tons of money from it? Is making a big custom one off project, like a jacket or holiday decoration paying you better than anything else? What customers is keeping your mortgage money coming in because every job is so profitable for you?

During today’s MiniCast I’m going to talk about how you approach learning new things, new equipment, making new products to sell – and the lessons I learned doing home improvement this weekend. The last few weekends have been focused on home improvement – which is what happens around Halloween after your kids move out. Part 1: Assembly REQUIRED Part of those projects was assembling and installing this new entertainment center – if you’re watching the video recording you’ll see a picture. It was all unexpectedly difficult. And that made me think of all of you. First: The instructions for this RTA thing were awful. And parts weren’t labeled. My wife and are RTA PROFESSIONALS, but we still went through a solid day of “oh, that’s backwards, let’s take it all apart again”. There were no IKEA style pictures that were clear enough to help. No handy assembly videos. Noone to call and ask questions. And like I said, even though we are PROS at this, a few nudges from someone that had assembled this thing before would have saved HOURS in just getting set up. I thought of all of you out there that get a DTG Printer, Embroidery Machine on White Toner printer system like the DigitalHeat FX and: Try to set up yourself – after all, you have experience Look for advice or info on YouTube and find it – old, unqualified, etc. or find nothing Because you either didn’t buy it from us or haven’t done the training BUT I KNOW PRINTERS! BUT I HAVE AN EMBROIDERY MACHINE NOW! BUT I HAVE TO GET IT GOING THIS WEEKEND! I HAVE ORDERS TO GET OUT! Part 2: NEXT time it will be so much EASIER This entertainment center had 3 pieces – and one of them is basically a bookcase mounted about 4′ off the floor. It’s freakin’ heavy. And it’s just my wife and I doing the install. No handy rail mounts. Just 2 places to put screws to mount to the wall. While we held it up in the air with one hand and tried to screw in with the other. And I was terrified this thing would fall down in the middle of the night. Oh, and did I mention – stud was in the wrong place. So we did what anyone would do – googled heavy duty drywall screws and toggle bolts. Went to Home Depot and bought a few of each kind. We realized the space behind the wall was more shallow than most when we broke the special-heavy-duty mounting things against the inside of the exterior cinder block wall… And we failed, and failed again, and then we figured it out – you’ll have to listen to find out how we did it – but in the end it took us about 15 or 20 minutes for a pretty easy installation. And it’s the same for YOU and your business. Your new equipment and your new product or process. Listen to this short episode for more.

The basic idea from this book by Brian Tracy - Eat that Frog - Ways to Stop Procrastination Free pdf: https://www.briantracy.com/success/time-management-made-simple/op/eat-that-frog-transcription.html Brian Tracy's ABCDE Method: Make a list of all of your To Do’s. Go through the list and put one of these letters (ABCDE) by each item “A” items are your key tasks. There will be major consequences if you don’t complete these. Start on these first. A “B” item is “Should Do” but is not as important as an “A” item. There are only mild consequences to not completing these tasks. The consequences are only short-lived. “C” tasks have no consequences. They’re nice to do, but not essential. They will not contribute to your long-term success in your personal life or career. D’s need to be completed but should be given to someone else. In one word – delegate. The only time you should spend on these tasks is the amount of time it takes you to figure out someone to delegate the task to. “E” stands for eliminate. You can eliminate these tasks and there will be no consequences. The CAS Approach: What we would add is to score each task in each category by: How much you HATE doing them How good you are at doing them The "eat the frog idea" is to start with the A tasks you dread and do that first. Our idea would be to look at all the tasks and outsource what you hate doing or can't do well.

Jim Francis with https://www.bestblanks.com/ is has been getting people started in custom t-shirts and promo products business for about 150 years (maybe closer to 10 but it seems like that much) - and we've asked him on the podcast today for 2 reasons: 1: Because he's a PRO in a part of the business that we have less experience in. 2: Because Sublimation is a great technology if you want to start small and really bootstrap a custom t-shirt business. 3: Because now that BestBlanks is part of the ColDesi family - we just have to BRAG! During this episode we're going to get Jim's take on: What's hot in the sublimation business right now? In other words Jim, if you were going to start a business, what would you be SELLING? What are the Pros and Cons of Sublimation vs other technology? How much does it cost to get started, and what does that include? What can ColDesi customers ONLY get from BestBlanks right now? Sawgrass printers Hix heat presses Roland BN-20 Sublimation inks BLANKS! If you want to learn about Sublimation systems or looking to add this to your business, visit https://www.bestblanks.com/ and call Jim and his team.

If you arent making sure you are able to be found on google maps - you are 100% missing out on business! According to Brandify: 77% of people use google maps to find a local business, second place is Facebook at 38% (obviously there is overlap, some people use both) 25% of these searches are in the car. This means they might be 'in town' or 'running errands' and hoping to find someone nearby 59% of these are done at home, meaning they are seeking for nearby places Local Search Fast Facts: 78% of local, mobile searches result in an offline purchase. 86% of people find the location of a business using Google Maps. 61% of people who perform a search on a mobile phone are more likely to contact local businesses who have a mobile-friendly site. 88% of consumers view online reviews as trustworthy as a personal recommendation from a friend. 18% of local, mobile searches result in a sale within 24 hours. There has been a 900%+ growth in mobile searches using “near me” and “today/tonight” (for example “electricians near me” and “concerts near me tonight”. How to make sure you are found on maps: Fill out Google my business Fill out Bing places Fill out Facebook info Complete any free business listing you can - SBA, Chamber of Com, - Community websites, city/county, etc Google hunts and pecks to find out everything it can about local business. make it easy for them. Resources: https://macmillandesign.com/internet-basics/google-map-pack-benefits/ https://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/10322/The-Ultimate-List-50-Local-Business-Directories.aspx

Jason Fuchs https://www.sagepathfa.com/ is a Financial Advisor that specializes in small businesses - and entrepreneurs just like you. And he's here with some of the answers to questions that we get all the time.. about insurance, retirement and the personal "money" side of the customization business. People most wanted to learn about: Small business loan options - When to pay Cash, When to Borrow and When to Wait Using credit vs cash for large purchases Getting Set up right from the beginning Planning for retirement for small business Resources and recommendations from this podcast: Listen to Jim's Podcast "Dad Cents" where he talks about life - and about personal finance in small bites: https://www.sagepathfa.com/dadcents Listen to this episode: CAS Podcast Episode 137 | Marketing Playbook: https://customapparelstartups.com/episode-137/ Read this article about Financing Options: https://coldesi.com/financing-options/

Here are seven (7) things that kill business growth. Ignoring these things are certain to keep your custom t-shirt business, embroidery, sign, promo products business from being more. More sales, more profits, and more satisfying for you and your customers. 1. Bad Accounting - In other words, not knowing your numbers. All too often people think they are doing well, but they are failing slowly. 2. Ignoring Customer Feedback - Your customers will tell you what's wrong, especially if you ask them. Listen to what they say to improve your business. Often, new business owners will let pride get in the way - thinking "this is the way I do it" instead of how can I give the customer what they want. 3. No plan for Customer Service / Experience - If all you think about is sales, you will forget to think about customer service, customer experience, good processes, organized accounting, etc. 4. Focus on the Making and not the Money - making t-shirts is an art, but if you spend so much time on the art, your orders won't be profitable. Your time is worth money. 5. Making YOUR Business all about what your Competitors are Doing - People will by from you because you are different from the competition, not because you are the same. Sometimes it important to offer similar items, because they are your competition. However, they aren't you, and you aren't them. If you try to push your business into something it's not, it will fail. 6. Change for Change's Sake - You don't need a new idea every day, and a new product to sell every day. Be sure to focus on things that are working, and then look for the right time to push for a new innovation. If you are just getting your t-shirt sales going, it might not be a good idea to spend days trying to figure out how to print on dog collars because its a new idea. If the shirts are working, go for them. This also might be the same for your niche, you don't need to think of a new niche every day. 7. Hiring Mistakes - Not everyone is good at every job. Someone who isn't detail oriented or very good at math probably shouldn't be an accountant. Someone who is 5ft and 100lbs probably should have a job lifting 80lbs bags of concrete. We are all physically and mentally different in our strengths. You need to take this into account for your business. You cannot keep your nephew employed if they are doing damage to your business. You shouldn't be afraid to let someone go if they aren't a part of your success. Listen to these episodes: https://customapparelstartups.com/episode-17-know-numbers-value-customer/ https://customapparelstartups.com/episode-18-know-numbers-part-2/

One thing is has become clear this year. That MOST of our new customers, and ones adding new machines to their shop, are doing a lot more than just apparel. At every tradeshow, in every industry email and magazine, even in ColDesi emails you see more and more outside the norm. Just recently we finished a video on making custom Whiskey glasses with DigitalHeat FX. And the Embroidery Grip has been selling more and more because embroiderers are embellishing more than just polos. Cutters and spangle machines are also doing a LOT more - especially for holiday items. And of course - the king of NOT printing apparel is our UV printer lineup! So during this episode we're going to look at the most popular and PROFITABLE things people in the custom apparel business are selling.. that's not actually apparel. What are some popular items you might not be selling now? Mugs Can Cookers Tumblers Backpacks Hip Packs / Fanny Packs Aprons Blankets Lunch Bags Below are some links to items with cost and estimated retail values. Example: Custom Apron: https://colmanandcompany.com/SM-A520.html Cost $5.60 Retail between $17 and $31 Example: Custom Hip Pack: https://colmanandcompany.com/SM-BG905.html Cost $4.78 Retail $15.99 Example: Coasters: https://compressuvprinter.com/mutoh-valuejet-426uf-desktop-printer-making-custom-coasters/ Stone Coasters Retail: $23 Cost $1.84 Holiday Ideas Embroidery: Custom Christmas stocking TurkeyDay and Christmas Table Runners Christmas tree skirts Holiday aprons Bags and backpacks Oven mitts Christmas ornaments DigitalHeat FX: Whisky glasses (milk?) Picture frames Christmas ornaments Spangles: Custom Christmas stocking TurkeyDay and Christmas Table Runners Christmas tree skirts Holiday aprons Bags and backpacks Oven mitts Christmas ornaments Videos and Episodes mentioned: Episode 125 | The White Toner Revolution with Randy Rickert: https://customapparelstartups.com/episode-125/ Episode 129 | UV Printing BOOM: https://customapparelstartups.com/episode-129/ Video: What is Kitting? (https://vimeo.com/456640332 ) Video: Custom Rocks Glasses ( https://vimeo.com/454736432 )

We've been actually kind of BUILDING a Marketing Playbook over the past few episodes - not on purpose. Las episode we talked about identifying your ideal customer, and recently we've done podcasts on: Ecommerce sites: https://customapparelstartups.com/episode-130/ Turnaround strategies: https://customapparelstartups.com/episode-128/ Selling Conversations: https://customapparelstartups.com/episode-127/ Winning Sales Methods: https://customapparelstartups.com/episode-124/ During this podcast we'll be talking with Kelly Lawrence about the idea of an ACTUAL Marketing Playbook - or Business Playbook. What that is and why it just might be the key to long term growth for your business. Intro Kelly Lawrence from Lawrence Innovation https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellylawrence/ What is a Marketing Playbook? Okay - let's talk about this idea of developing the playbook by company size, because they're going to be quite different depending on where you are in your business life Bootstrap - Self-funded startup Big Starters or Under $1M in sales Mid-sized businesses 1-5M Large 10M and up Customer intimacy What is your playbook? This is something you use to train your sales and marketing team to properly deliver the message of your products (even if it's just you.) Here are some steps to creating your playbook? Initial questions: What do you want to sell? Who will you sell it to? What are some guesses on why people want to buy it? What makes this product unique? Research: Ask potential customers about the product. What would they pay? How many would they buy? What problems do they have now with the product? How exciting is the product to them? Ask 10-30 people including distributors or wholesalers if you can. Write the info down and do math to make stats. e.g. 70% of people would pay $30, 90% would pay $20 Costs and profits: How much would it cost to you make it? How much to deliver it? How much to sell / advertise it? How big is the segment of people? How much money can you make a month / year / etc ? Results: Should you go to market with this product? What changed in your research? Do you have new ideas? Making the playbook: Share results of research with your team Explain the pains and frustrations of customers Explain how this product overcomes those List common objections and how to overcome them Now you are ready to deliver your new playbook to your team, or yourself! Your playbook will always be adapting and changing over time. It's not written in stone, it is a plan you should refer to and update over time.

Here's how to build a winning ad strategy for your business: Step 1 – Choose your Niche -Fitness Coaches & Personal Trainers -Local Moms from pregnancy to toddler years Step 2 – Build your Avatar Male – 25-45 – In shape, loves fitness, likes cool t-shirts, casual minded, wants to be independently wealthy. Has own business for personal training. Probably works out of a private gym and does some online coaching. Female – 20-30 – Small town mom, loves personalized things for her children, has a network of friends and family that support her and love her kids, loves to buy local, doesnt want to buy gifts from walmart but prefers something with a personal touch. Goes to local farmers markets every week, plus home parties for jewelry, apparel, etc Now you are ready to build an ad campaign. Here are some steps on how to give yourself the biggest chance for success. Why – Why would your avatar want this? Where will your avatar see it? Where will you advertise? The question really is, where will you most likely be able to reach your Avatar. Do they use facebook? Do they attend local events? Are they likely to buy online? What message will resonate? Time, Money, Image? What images will they respond to? Will they respond to a cute design picture, a picture of the item itself or something else, like a video of it being made or picture of someone wearing logo apparel? Call to Action (CTA) what will your avatar PREFER to do? What do you want them to do? Order a specific product online? Call for a consultation? Email you ideas? Email you to get ideas? BASED ON YOUR AVATAR How will you measure success of your ad/campaign? Once you have answered these questions you can move onto creating your ad campaign. So lets use the examples above. We will choose 2 completely different campaigns just as an example of how you could run these. Fitness Coaches & Personal Trainers What? You’d like to sell work out shirts to these personal trainers and also give them the opportunity to sell them to their clients for a profit. You can come up with cool designs he will like. Where? Since your customer can be both in your own town and in the next state. You might choose to go the online route. You also think your avatar might use instagram, so you will choose this as the place to advertise. Why? He already buys work out shirts. He already has clients. He wants to make more money, so selling shirts to these clients is great. Also if he has the coolest shirts in the gym, he might get more clients and sell more shirts. Local Moms from pregnancy to toddler years What? You’d like to offer everything customized for baby. clothes, hats, booties, bibs, strollers, carriers, towels, mugs, cups, stickers, etc Where? These moms always meet up at the local farmers markets, sit and drink coffee and read the local community news. Why? They love these personalized things. They also love to buy local, so they can introduce you to their family and friends to fully personalize their kiddos gear. Mentioned in the Podcast: https://coldesi-graphics.com/ How to build the ad: Fitness Coaches & Personal Trainers Have a Facebook and instagram account to use. Set up Facebook Business Manager to manage ads (yes thats how you will do Instagram) Have a website and specifically a page on the site to send these guys to from an ad. The page should have a specific call to action. If you want the shirts to be custom you can have them sign up for a free 1on1 design session. If you have designs made, then they can just order them online(maybe have a personal trainer wholesal e sign up) Have good pics and videos of your shirts and people working out in them. Write a few versions of the headline, what people will see below the insta ad. Make sure your Facebook and website are connected to track users. Set up an email flow so after people sign up/buy they get an email thanking them. Set aside money to test and run ads, expect winners and losers. Local Moms from pregnancy to toddler years Get set up to attend the local market. Have examples of your BEST work that they can envision themselves owning. Have some little stuff to sell for fun. funny mom shirts or mugs, etc. Be set up to take orders right there. Be set up to get email sign ups right there. Since they read the local news and drink coffee, put an ad there. Have the add say to visit you at the market or just call/text you directly. Offer something for free or of value in the add. This could be a coupon for logo, or $$ off, or free monogram. Or offer something worth time, like a free web consultation to plan gifts for baby shower. Have great pictures of work in the add, pay someone to design the ad. If you can run the ad before you start the market (coming soon!) Using plans like this means you will be more likely to create a successful ad. More likely to grow within your niche. AND don’t forget to have a plan set up for getting referrals. Listen to these episodes: https://customapparelstartups.com/episode-17-know-

Marketers are constantly talking about a "customer avatar", which translates into normal English as your Ideal Customer. Identifying that Ideal Customers is very similar to, and JUST as important as choosing a Niche Market, something we've devoted quite a few episodes to as well. All you're really doing here is creating an imaginary person. The one you'd most like to sell to. The one that will most respond to your products, your business and YOU. Once you've created your ideal customer - right down to their name, their neighborhood, job, kids, marital status, income, etc. you'll better know: What your website should look like What to say in your emails The important things to highlight in your services The products that most appeals to them How much they can and will spend on your products What images to use in your ads The WAY you talk to them everywhere they see, here or read about your company During this podcast you'll hear the great, real life example of a start up business that inspired Marc Vila to make this the topic, and how that is going to impact it's future.

Let's talk about making that BIG Decision like adding a new piece of equipment to your business, or moving into or out of a retail location, or moving your business to a print on demand model. 1. Look at the opportunity objectively and from several perspectives. Are you doing this because you're excited, or because it's objectively a good opportunity? How will your existing customers view this decision? 2. Develop goals. What are the results you expect from this decision - specifically? Like if you're planning on investing in a new UV printer, what revenues are you expecting? 3. Compare alternatives. Is there something more profitable I could do instead? Is there a better way to invest that time and money? Into expanding existing capabilities instead of adding new? Can I accomplish the same goal in another way? 4. Make your decision. Lot's of opportunities are lost through inaction You've thought it through and the decision is sound - you're just delaying success if you don't pull the trigger. 5. Plan your implementation. You have to make sure you take specific steps towards your goal. Each step should have a specific marker that takes you to the next one Develop a basic marketing plan Set up website and ad accounts Write articles, emails ads Launch ads, publish articles Track results for 3 weeks Use those results to plan the next articles, ads, etc. 6. Check as you go through implementation and beyond. Is this working the way it should How's my timeline Did I misjudge customer uptake? etc. The start of a big idea is the excitement and thrill of success. Proper execution and decision making is where you achieve your dreams.

One of the problems people have about opening their small business is being shy about it. You have to tell everyone There is a thing where people are scared to share that they are starting (or started) a new business. This might be because: Fear of ridicule.. aka that's a bad idea. Fear of looking like a failure - next year you aren't in the business Fear of not being good enough - do work for them and they don't like it You HAVE to tell everyone. Nothing wrong with failure, nothing wrong with making mistakes and don't let naysayers control you Stop being camera shy Take videos of yourself Take videos of your work Take pictures, smile Post online Get in pictures with people Get on social media, even if you don't love it Insta, FB, Twitter, LinkedIn Will help you make money You don't have to be a pro or have 10000 followers. Get on there, post pics, thank people for replies Give potential customers a place to go to look at your work and business Good for SEO Don't be scared to fail... get back on the horse if you fall Its easier to do nothing and think 'what if' ... than it is to try hard and fail. You have to give it the 1000% effort or you won't make it If you do fail at first try again. Failure is ONLY when you give up. Not when you make mistakes or learn lessons You may start off with a bang, or slow... both are great and both suck You may start talking about your business, then 3 months later someone asks "hows it going" and it still kinda sucks. Don't feel bad about it, keep going. You may start talking about your business, then nail 3 huge clients. Now you are in the weeds, going crazy. You will get out of the weeds. Both of these scenarios have pros along with the cons. If it's slow you get to perfect your craft, business, pitch, website. If its busy you will make cash, but stress about it. Ask for referrals Part of getting out there is asking for referrals. People get scared to ask for a referral. Just get used to it though and it will be easy. If you talk about your biz and the person you are talking to might not be a customer just say "hey I am trying to grow this thing, it's new. know anyone? Getting out there is how you win. You don't go in the kitchen without getting some burns and you also don't make any food. People who succeed the best get out there. I remember one customer talking about keeping spangle samples in her purse.... then wear a t-shirt. If a person said, 'hey nice shirt'.... she would hand them a sample and a card.

The first thing to discuss about this episode is WHY you want to call people you've never met. Why make sales phone calls? They are proven to work (aka make you money) They are essentially free Why don't business make sales phone calls? Scary Feel they are intrusive Don't know what to say. How to get past these and start making calls? Realize you've done something WAY scarier, you started a business. You ARE being mildly intrusive, are 'interrupting' their day. It's OK. You HAVE good intentions. You follow the below steps and have a plan. The Set Up Decide who you are going to call. Let's say its local owned restaurants. Write your 'call plan' - I never say 'script' cause you aren't an actor. Choose the right time - is there a time that makes most sense? day? Choosing a Niche / who to call Go after the low hanging fruit first. If you are new to this, it's best if you can call places where you will likely talk to the decision maker. e.g. Call the local sandwich shop before you call the local electric company. BIG TIP ON WHO TO CALL: Find people who know people you know. "Hey, I know you are good friends with Juanita at the UPS store in your plaza. I do apparel for her, and she said you make the best sandwich in town. Call the competitors of your customers. I supply a lot of to-go food shops in town like Harrys BBQ and Taco Beast as examples. I think they look great, and I'd like to see if I can help your business too. I was driving by, and saw your pizza place. I stopped in to pick up a pizza and noticed no uniforms on staff. I do that! Making a call plan. First, what is a BAD call plan? Don't be evasive or sketchy about why you are calling. Don't just talk at people, but ask questions that engage Don't give up after 1 try. You might not catch them at a good time at first. Don't just use the phone. Follow up with emails or social when possible Things to avoid. How are you today? - it's an empty question and you DON'T want the real answer. You don't want to hear about how they are upset at their teenage son or how their dog has a bad case of ring worm. I saw a comedian talk about how a guy at the bank actually answered that question and he was annoyed. Don't jump to a question they can say 'no' to fast. "Do you need shirts?" Don't respond back rude (even if they are) Don't be distracted. Turn off Facebook, close a door, get a babysitter, etc. Do homework (when possible) Look up their social media. Find people in groups or people you interact with online Look up their reviews Are they hiring? Any big announcements? (we just re-opened, we just expanded, we just moved) The 5 key parts Who are you? Connect with them / reason WHY you called them (different than benefit below) How can you BENEFIT them? Qualify them What will you ask for? Example Call Plan: Who will you call? Local restaurants, to-go food, sandwich shops When will you call them? Weekdays, 2-4pm alt - Weekdays before 10am Who are you? I am Marc at T-Shirt Haven here. I hope your day is going well. Why are you calling? I'm because i noticed you are hiring new servers? That's a good sign for your business. It's a lot of work with training, HR stuff, uniforms. I see that you just expanded your restaurant. I love to see local restaurants succeed. I know that growth comes with pains too. I noticed your restaurant just opened up for inside and outside seating. That's exciting. How can you benefit them? Since you are hiring I gather you will have to deal with uniforms - shirts, hats, aprons, MASKS. I'm a local custom apparel shop and I can help make your staff look great. Since you are expanding, id like to improve the way your staff looks with an all new uniform style. We can really tie it all together. Since you just opened you are dealing with your staff wearing old uniforms or maybe new staff. I can help outfit them with current apparel. Like explaining how you appreciate their business now, or how you are still smiling under the mask. or get your team masks that all match and look great. What will you ask for? Id like to propose some options for a new look for your team. Can I email you some ideas? I've got some great ideas for making restaurants look more comfortable even though it feels weird right now. Can I send you some of those via email? I have a couple of mask options I can create in bulk. would you be interested in me dropping off or mailing a free sample? How about I come in for dinner on Monday night. I'll eat a meal with my business partner, introduce myself and drop off some ideas.

Here is the reasons why we see this episode caught your attention. You are a new business working on a shoestring budget You are an existing business dealing with an economic downturn / recovery and uncertainty. You are doing well, but realize you might be missing out on some ways to grow your business, or ways to reduce budgets. The good news is that ALL 5 of these things work for everyone listening. Let’s get right into it, there are ways you can really use your creativity and your time to get more business. Linked in This is a place where business owners and business people socialize. You will find that not everyone you know is on here, but there are a lot of prospects for your business here. You can join groups or directly connect with people. Your connections with people can turn into connections with other people. There are a lot of articles and videos on how to use linked in for business. You can do a lot of it for FREE. Here’s a link to our mini-cast on creating a good LinkedIn Profile: https://customapparelstartups.com/minicast2/ You can upgrade to a monthly membership for about $50-100 a month. It unlocks more features. Test it out and use it as long as you want for free, if you find it worth it… get the paid version. Really you only need to get 1 extra client every so often to pay for it. Facebook Stalking Well, this is kind of funny because we don’t literally mean looking at everyone’s profile and entire history to seek out clients,….. but kind of. So here is an example. I did a Mini podcast on this with a video lesson Marketing so if you’re going to pursue this one watch/listen to this first: https://customapparelstartups.com/minicast3/ Let’s say you are a member of a FB group. In this group, you run into a business owner who mentions something like, “My Noodle Bar has really been taking off this summer.” This could be an opportunity. You can look at this person’s profile, look at the name of their business and look their business up on Facebook. Do they have custom apparel? How long have they been in business? Are they hiring? Do they sell any ‘noodle’ swag? Once you answer some of these questions you can make your move. Maybe shoot them a DM (if group wouldn’t kick you out for that) – “Hey I noticed you have a noodle shop and you said it’s doing well. I looked at your FB page and your food looks YUMMMM. (ok… I’m hungry now) One thing I noticed was your team didn’t have matching shirts or hats. I own a local custom apparel shop and would love to chat with you about stepping up the look of your team. I can do shirts, hats, aprons and even masks” Join local groups, forums, etc. There are going to be a lot of local groups you can join online. Facebook, Linked in, NextDoor, small forums, meet-up and other social platforms. Get on these places and BE ACTIVE. Whatever it might be. Answer surveys, post pics, respond to posts. It doesn’t have to be a big deal every time. Sometimes just cheering people on or congratulations. If you can provide advice, do so. Stay away from controversial topics and just meet people. Be sure to drop hints about what you do, and when it’s appropriate… solicit business. You will find people will recommend and tag you in posts. You will find that a lot of business is there just waiting for someone to participate. Realtors and insurance people do this all the time and your business is about 100x less common than theirs. You can do it. Email collecting / sending As you are doing the above you should be growing your email list. Get an email from anyone who will give it to you. also while you are looking around, if you notice a published email on a website or profile… collect it. Episode 31 – Make More Money Next Month – Using Email for Profit is a great place to learn more about this: https://customapparelstartups.com/episode-31/ You can then shoot some cold emails, reminder emails, etc to people. You will find that most everyone will either be receptive to the emails, or ignore them (cause they were busy that day, or didn’t need your service at that time) You won’t find too many people who will be offended or bothered, people have come to accept that emails come with a degree of solicitation. You will 100% get business from emailing people. As if they have needs, show them, new things you have, ask if they want to chat custom apparel, ask if they plan to get custom apparel for upcoming season changes or events (e.g. halloween or back to school) Pick up the Phone This is free. This will get business. This is a VERY active way of selling. It will take some chutzpah. You dial all the local restaurants during a slower time of day and have a quick pitch. I liked our podcast on this topic, Episode 120 – Injecting Life into a Stagnant Business https://customapparelstartups.com/episode-120/ “hello i am XXX with your local custom t-shirt shop. I was hoping to chat with the manager about his custom apparel.” ” Hi Manager. I know a lot of local restaurants are dealing with a high turn o

In this CAS Podcast episode, Mark is talking with Mike Angel about ColDesi OnDemand.

We’ve seen a huge jump in the number of customers adopting UV printers. Why is it so? Listen to this episode and learn more!

During this episode, we’ll walk you through how to look at your business with fresh eyes. Like you were BUYING a struggling or stagnant business, not running it. This kind of “outside” perspective can reveal both personal and professional areas for potential growth and lead to a better business. The basic premise is that everything you do to make your business more attractive to a Buyer will be better for your business! First: Getting ready to “Sell” your business – because in order to really evaluate where your business is and how it’s doing, you have to pretend you’re selling: Prepare your financials – What are those? An income statement, cash flow report and balance sheet. How much money you make, what cash in and out look like every month and what you own vs what you owe. Gather 3 years of income tax filings if you’re a sole proprietor especially. But even if not – do that because of what we’ll discuss below. Figure your asset value – What does your company own, and what is that worth? Equipment, inventory, those are easy – the value of any contracts is the tough part. Research “comps” in the industry. Try and find other businesses in your niche or area that have sold recently to get an idea what it might be worth. This process should be pretty enlightening. Some of you have found out that your business literally makes NO MONEY. When you do your financials, or better yet have them done by a pro, it could turn out that you’re working your butt off just in order to pay your mortgage. Others may be shocked at the idea that on paper you’ve made a LOT of money, but as you pick through your bank accounts you can’t find any evidence of that. It still feels like your struggling.

Being the owner of a Custom Apparel company means that every person you meet is your next potential customer. You don’t want to be consumed with turning every conversation into a sales pitch, but you should be likable and know when you should try to make the move for a sale. Step 1 – just be a good conversationalist List of things that make a good conversationalist: Be friendly – Talk to people, be nice, be a pleasant person, inviting, warm. Not talking about YOU all the time – You have great stories, but let someone share their stories too. Actually listen to people – Hear their stories and comment / give feedback. they will notice. Find commonality and expand on that – If you hear them bring up they love sports, books, writing, playing Call of Duty… talk about that with them. The more enthusiastic they are about it, the longer the convo can go. Stay away from controversy – Politics, religion, current events (unless they bring it up and you agree) e.g. don’t insult a losing sports team if you don’t know they are fans. Don’t boast about loving or hating the Mayor unless they bring that up first. Smile and be open – Don’t cross arms and look down. Smile, look at them, nod head. Talk in terms of their interest – If you don’t appear to have anything in common yet, let them talk about their interests. e.g. they mention boating… you know nothing about boats…. ask them about it. “Oh yea, ya know I’ve always wanted to own a boat. What do you like about it? what should I know before I buy one? etc. Be positive – No one wants to talk to negative nancy… find happy and positive things to discuss. Find silver linings. You will build better relationships, therefore you will build better business relationships. You may notice in conversation this person is a potential sale for you, in one way or another. You will want to take the conversation to a probing / information gathering conversation. Questions you want to get answered for people who are prospects. Who are they? What do they do, what do they like, a glimpse of their personality. Are they a potential customer or connector? Are they in your niche? do they make decisions that could lead to a sale? can they intro you to someone? What’s their contact info? Business card, social media, phone number, email. What will you remember them by? If you meet a lot of people, you can lose the details. think of specific things about them you can bring up later. What do you have in common? Both like baseball, both cook, both collect Dungeons and Dragons swag. How will you be in touch again? Establish some method. ill email you, ill send you those pics from Facebook, ill see you at the next event. Overall being a better conversationalist will make you a better business person in the long run. TIP! Conversation Starters: - What’s your connection to the event? - What’s keeping you busy when you’re not at events like this or at work? - How did you come to be in your line of work? - How did you hear about this event?

The idea for this podcast came up just recently - because of a disastrous detail. One of my clients has me managing their Google Ads account, which I've been doing for about 6 months. When I first did the analysis on their ads and budget I noticed there were SEVERAL other account managers. I didn't think anything of it at the time. It turns out that they had left admin access turned on for a few previous ads managers. AND one of them had left THEIR CREDIT CARD attached to the account. So 2 Hidden Expenses there: The company was paying for someone else's ads about $500 a month for 10 months. The company that didn't notice they were getting FREE ADS has to pony up a big lump sum Here are just a few expenses that I've personally missed over the years that have cost me serious money - and a checklist of the most common things for YOU to check to makes sure you're not wasting your profits on nickles, dimes, and dollars: Domains - remember that www.thisisanamazingidea.com url/domain name you bought? No? Well, it could be costing you $30-$300 per year depending. If you started a store or have a GoDaddy or Bluehost account start clicking and checking. Monthly software charges - this e-store fee, that cool plugin, a CRM software you've never really used. Did you try out a DecoNetwork store? How about a "free trial" you never canceled? Overpaying for services - do you have an internet or mobile plan that’s above your company's needs? Are you overpaying for something you can easily do yourself? You might be paying a service company for your printer/copier. Are you using enough to warrant a service? Would investing in your own printer/toner be better over time? Do you pay an office site cleaning crew like everyone else in your office complex? Do you need them? Poor inventory management - how often are you paying next day or second day air to ship paper, ink, apparel? Can this be managed better with better inventory tracking Not buying in bulk or TOO much in bulk should be managing a good inventory rollover. There are a lot of books and theories about what is good. but if you can buy in bulk and not have excess inventory, do it. e.g. liters of ink vs small bottles. Switch Providers for phones/internet/insurance - The best deals on these local services are often to those who switch. Contract up on the internet? Call the competition Stop tripping on pennies - Remember with all of this, it's about finding hidden expenses, not wasting time on pennies. A cone of threat is like 6-8 dollars, if you save 50 cents... you are saving less than a penny per logo. Unless you are doing a million of those, they won't add up. Instead, spend your time on managing thread inventory or investing in tools to prevent mistakes. Saving every inch of vinyl? don't waste too much time on making it work, your time is most valuable.

In this mini-cast episode, Mark from ColDesi is talking about the idea of Horizontal Marketing. Listen to this episode and learn how your business can benefit from using Horizontal Marketing.

During episode of the CAS Podcast we have a special guest, one that represents a product that has basically revolutionized the custom t-shirt and promotional products business – let’s welcome Randy Rickert from Okidata, the Pope of White Toner Printing. Randy has worked in the printing industry since the 80s. His resume includes running Mutoh and being in charge of OKIData Sales in the USA. Listen in to learn a little more about the OKI White Toner Printer Revolution.

Everyone out there can shoot a basketball into a hoop. You really don't even need to be taught how to do it. You could hand someone who's never seen a basketball or a hoop and say... get the ball in there. They will eventually get the ball in. In fact, they may get it the first time, or the first 3 times. How would they go up against someone who's played every weekend for 20 years though? How would they go up against a high school student who goes to practice every day? This is just like selling! You don't need to be taught how to sell a t-shirt. Anyone who starts a t-shirt shop might get their first sale easily, they might get their first three sales easily. How would they go against someone who has had an embroidery side business for 10 years? How would they go against someone who has been practicing and refining a sales method for custom apparel? If you want to be the best at anything, you have to practice and refine. This episode is about building a framework for your sales method Where to start The first thing to understand is that sales isn't about being the most aggressive, or selling ice to an Eskimo. There is some ethics to being a good salesperson. I would personally define the best salesperson as a master of qualifying the right prospects and lining them up with the ideal solution you can offer" In other words, you want to spend your time talking to the right people and getting them the custom apparel that meets their needs. Rapport In writing this, I didn't think Rapport belonged in this spot, but it has to be mentioned here. Everything you do from here out with prospects needs to involve building a rapport. If people don't like you, they probably won't buy from you. It doesn't matter how good your product or price is. You have to build relationships with your customers, you have to be friendly, listen, smile, and be likable. You can study books and books about rapport building. If you don't think this is your strong point, learn more about it. Qualifying Prospects We've talked about this a lot in the past but your time is your most valuable asset. You want to spend your time talking to people that will turn into sales for your business. If you continue to engage with prospects that won't turn into sales... you aren't setting yourself up for success. Here is how you can qualify prospects. Use the B.A.N.T method: Budget - How much do they want to spend on custom apparel? How much CAN they spend on custom apparel? How flexible is this budget? Authority - is the person you are talking to going to make the final decision? If not, who is? Can you talk to that person too? Need - what is their need for this custom apparel? Is it more a need or a want? Is it mandatory or optional? Timeframe - when do they want this custom apparel? You have to be able to answer these questions before you move on. Otherwise, you will be chasing customers who aren't going to turn into sales. Once you have qualified a customer, you can easily make a decision on how to proceed. It's always going to be grey, never black and white. What if a prospect seems ideal for you... but they aren't buying for another year. Do you ignore them? Probably not. Do you give them great customer service? Sure. Do you let them monopolize too much of your time with details? Probably shouldn't. You will develop your own filters to determine how to act based on BANT. Practice makes perfect. Qualification to Action Having a framework of the sales process is one thing most 'sales gurus' will agree on. What these steps are vary from one expert to the next. They do all have some common themes. Here is one set that i find to be useful for a custom apparel business: Identify Prospects - This means having a keen eye for noticing a potential prospect. This could be by cold call door knocking, answering an inbound phone call or meeting someone at a ball park. Build Rapport / Trust - This is the first step of helping them take down any defensive barriers to being open to conversation. Qualify - BANT - At this stage, you are essentially deciding if you are moving forward and how than will pan out. Select / Recommend Products - This is where you decide what products you have to offer that will best suit this customer's BANT. Then you present these options to your customer and explain the reasoning behind each choice (BANT). Good, Better, Best strategy is great here. Overcome Objections / Clarify - At this point, your prospect will have either objections or questions (or both!). If you do your best to predict what some of these might be, you can better answer them. Tip: if you don't have the answer right away, it's ok to let them know you will get back with them later. Close / Ask for Business - Once you have gotten past the questions and objections, they should be ready to commit. It's important to ask for that business. You can literally just do that, "It seems like we have covered everything. We would love to earn your business. Can we start your o

All businesses are not the same. They each have their own individual personality and goals. Although every business & person is completely unique, we can categorize them. These categories can help us understand a few things: Where are you now? Where do you want to be in the future? What are your strengths now? How to sell against each category? In this episode, we will talk about each of these businesses/people and how knowing this information will help you succeed. The Pure Hobbyist Definition: This person makes t-shirts for fun. They wouldn't even consider it a business. They often aren't charging anything and just doing stuff for presents. If they do a favor, they usually just charge for supplies and do the labor for free. Pros: It's just for fun! That's it. They like to do it. Cons: This hobby costs money. It's not 'cheap' to make custom apparel. So if you are concerned with a hobbyist 'taking away your business' - remember it's not sustainable. Its a money pit, not a money generator. Also, they simply cannot do orders of any size in a reasonable amount of time. How to deal with them: Be their friend! You should connect with every hobbyist you can, they are a source of referral business more than someone who will take your business. The Side Hustler Definition: This business is usually still just one person (maybe 2.) The owner has a full time job and is doing this business to earn extra income on their time off. Usually, this business is run off-hours... nights/weekends. Pros: These businesses have a low cost of ownership. They often don't have a ton of costs...... No rent, No Employees,etc. The profits of this business go right into the pocket of the owner. If you are a Side Huster you can often compete by offering REALLY personalized customer service and you can operate at a lower margin due to low overhead. Your business is most likely all referral and through relationships you already have. Cons: Since this business is a second job and operated by one person, it's volatile. Side Hustlers might get a promotion at work, and spend less time 'hustling'. If you are a Side Hustler you should have a plan. Do you want to ride this as an up and down hustle? Do you want to take it to the next level? How to Deal with Them? Much like the hobbyist, the side hustler should be your friend. If they get an order for 100 shirts, they will need a pro to help them out. If you are selling against a side hustler, your best bet is to sell above what they can. Offer more unique items, better art services or more options. The Mom & Pop Definition: This is a two person shop, typically it's a married couple. It also might be two best friends or a couple of cousins. This shop is usually small, and might still be home/garage based. Its typically full time for one or both of the owners. Pros: Mom & Pop shops offer the best customer service. They build personal relationships and have many repeat customers. They are also experts in their field. They know people, they know the business. They have moved past being a Side Hustler and are now true professionals. Cons: Mom and Pop shops still don't always operate as a traditional 'business.' They probably don't have a true marketing budget and don't often have a staff. Since they haven't upgraded to the next level, they have limitations. How to deal with them? I'm going to give the same answer as the other two... be their friends. They build amazing relationships with fellow decorators. If you are a bigger or smaller business than you, you will find you can get business from them. Especially partner with Mom & Pop shops that do things you DON'T do. The Small but Fierce Definition: This is the next level up after Mom and Pop. Now, this business might still only be just Mom and Pop running it... but its got UPGRADES. This business now operates with a true PROFIT in mind. It has monthly and annual budgets. It makes decisions not on personal finances but on business plans. This is a nice place to be! Pros: This business is run by truly seasoned professionals. They know how to sell, how to deal with competition, how to be profitable. They have probably dealt with numerous upturns and downturns in business. They know how to weather a storm. Cons: Since this is more of a 'true' business, it loses flexibility. They have certain suppliers they work with, they do things within a certain method. It's harder to move a ship that is set in its ways. If you are a smaller shop then them, you should be looking at providing a more personalized experience. You are willing to be flexible where they cannot. If you are about the same size, its going to be all about the sales experience and quality of work. You have to be the best to beat them! How to deal with them? Be friendly, but REALLY watch them close. They can easily jump in and grow quickly if they put their mind to it. If you are larger than them, you can win with a sturdy sales team. If you are smaller than them, you can win with t

Leah Calvert has been in the custom apparel industry for over 20 years. Her business, 918 Design Company, works with gymnastics, cheer and schools. Their focus is on spirit wear – t-shirts, bags, etc. Her business has gone from a huge focus on live events to working from home. What has she done and how can this inspire you? This short but information packed interview with Mark Stephenson and Leah Calvert is a great listen for business inspiration.

Marshall has 30 years of direct industry experience including running his own custom apparel businesses, working for fulfillment software vendors and doing boots on the ground consulting for shops all over the United States. During this podcast, Marshall shares his experience in many areas, but in particular on the impact of creating a business plan, following that plan, improving plan and sales processes and more.

5 ways to inject life into a stagnant business: Get some bling transfers Opposite Marketing Month - Methods Opposite Marketing Month - Markets Call 10 Customers and Ask what you're missing out on Back to Business Basics What are the basics? Put your selling shoes back on - chances are if a business is stagnant you might not be hitting the pavement and selling. Call old leads and lost deals. Take a hard look inside - face some hard truths on what you do wrong. How is your processes? Is your business space a mess? How is your art? final products? Re-look at your pricing model - are you too low? do you make a profit so you have money to re-invest?

A CRM is a Customer Relationship Management software. It’s designed to help you organize your customers, track interactions and even more complex items like creating invoices and setting reminders to follow up. A CRM can also help you create business automation. For example, if you mark a customer as someone to follow up with in 6 months, you can have an email automatically go out in six months and a reminder pop up in your calendar to call them. Why have a CRM (should you have one)? – If your customer database isn’t organized you will lose / forget things – You can make notes about this customer: They are really cheap / They are really high end driven They prefer phone calls over emails They don’t like polyester shirts – Save quotes in CRM – Set reminders to follow up – 1 place to keep names of contacts, emails, phones, websites – Instant access to database from any computer or mobile device YOU MUST COMMIT TO USING IT AS YOUR COMMUNICATIONS HUB TO BE SUCCESSFUL! Picking a CRM – 2020 Pics ZOHO CRM PROS – Free up to 10 users – Tons of built in features – Lots of reporting tools – Built in email marketing tools CONS – Tons of add-ons can add up – Support isn’t hand holding, you will have to learn the system well HubSpot CRM PROS – Free Version available with tons of features – Excellent email and website integration – Easy to use interface CONS – Really can get costly when you add more features – Hard to leave hubspot once your website, email, etc integrated Freshsales CRM PROS – Lots of built in integrations: Phone calling Emailing Live Chat Marketing – Easy to use interface CONS – Try for free, but don’t get access to integrations – No reports in Free Plan – Less Popular = Less help online SalesForce PROS – Tons of advanced features – Biggest and baddest in CRM industry – Extremely customizable CONS – Big learning curve (be tech savvy) – Pricey to start and grow Apptivo CRM PROS – Affordable – Very customize-able for small business – 24 hour support – Built in apps (email marketing, quotes, invoices) CONS – Integrations all take a developer – Less popular means less help online (hopefully they have good support) IF NETWORKING IS IMPORTANT TO YOUR BUSINESS, THEN SO IS CRM! There are many more than this, but this is a short list we have compiled from reading online and personal experience. It’s up to your business to decide! Other things to consider: – Do you have current systems you want to connect to your CRM? Quickbooks or other accounting? Will the one you pick connect? How much work is that? Do you have a website with live chat and forms? What will you need to convert or connect those? – Is your business 100% ecommerce? Do you need a CRM or is your ecom system enough? – Try their free trials in the real world with a few customers. The way it looks, feels and interacts will help you decide what’s good for you. – Try their mobile app, do you like it? – Attempt to use their support (test them out with questions) is it good? – Talk to other business owners and see what they use This is a perfect convo starter at a meet up like a chamber of commerce meeting or SBA or BNI

You can really bring out your best in social media, but you can also bring your business down. Making you look WORSE! Here is step 1 to nailing stellar social media skills! Social Channels Facebook YOU have a profile YOUR BUSINESS has a page and your BUSINESS PAGE has a group YOUR PROFILE Posts on the group and is the face of the group. Profiles One human face should be associated with the profile. Groups types of groups Open: Anyone can view the group, its members, and their posts. Closed: Anyone can view the group and its members, but only members can see group posts. Secret: Only members can see the group or any of its information. Pages Your Business Instagram Twitter LinkedIn Purpose of Posts Show activity Sell online Photos galleries, organization -Gain followers Posts should persuade people to share and spread the word Benefits Branding Recognition Social Proof - if you only have 5 followers, people might think less of you Business Information opening closing hours sales summary of business Engagement ask questions, polls, opinions, decisions Best practices frequency photos/videos engaging tagging page shares Social Calendar How to Create a template Google sheets, calendar apps, asana, somewhere where you can type out a text draft ahead of time Schedule Directly through FB Hootsuite Loomly Buffer How often General rule, once a day. Go from there. Things to remember Even though it is social media and more casual - professionalism is important! spellcheck fact check if you are advertising you are going to a market, make sure dates,days are correct Quality content No Potato quality photos videos should be easy to watch / understandable audio Check your Inbox, respond to customers! If people PM you, reply If people tag you, like/reply back Set up auto-responder if appropriate in FB messenger Engage in comments If people leave a review - thank them (good and bad reviews need replies) Any comments on your photos, posts, etc should be replied to somehow

1. Perfect basic online presence Google my business, bing, facebook (technical set up) 2. Perfect your ecom or online showroom (if have one) Images Nothing broken Technically correct and optimized (https, ssl, etc) Emails / auto responders set up Google analytics HIRE SOMEONE (that you aren't related to) 3. Physical Marketing Collateral Business cards Brochures Samples! - if you don't have some, get some this means, have sample shirts or hats or something you are willing to give away and a show of what you can do and a freebie. Signage if you to shows "Uniform" yourself and any staff (upgrade them if they stink) 4. Prepare to test ad strategies (2020 might be all testing for you) Divide up cash Facebook / google local New show / bigger booth Local ads (schools, youth sports, sponsorship, chamber of commerce, meet up) (which one of these would work best for me) Pick at least 3 different things to test 5. Invest in new products Try new products to introduce. (this isn't just a new shirt style) Get a cutter / vinyl Contract out t-shirt printing - DTG printing, wholesale toner transfers Caps (if you don't do them - get a press) Embroidery or t-shirt printing (if you don't do them wholesale or invest in equipment) 6. Make your delivery as best it can be Branded boxes Tags Hang tags Packing slips Freebees

It’s 2020. You are still in business. You made it. What’s next? How will you do better? Do More of what works Spend more on what works Do new things 1. Look at your 2019 review. And determine how to spend more time replicating that. Can you go to more events? Can you meet more people? Join more groups? Ask for more referrals? Go on more sales calls? The big question: do you have the time and/or will to do this? 2. If you had paid ads... spending more. If you paid to attend 2 markets, can you pay to go to more? Can you pay for more space at a market? Can you pay someone to go for you? Or hire someone to go with you? If word of mouth works, then you can get promotional items, or wrap your car. The money investment logically pays off cause you know it works. 3. It is a bit of both... spend time and money. This is a new area of opportunity for your business. Are you too new in the business to know what works for you? You have to start somewhere, be sure to track results. Have you tried other things but looking to expand to something new? Ideas... Local markets trade show events - get a booth at an event to sell apparel, or sell your custom apparel services Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc ads Google search ads Waze / Google / Apple Maps Advertise at local schools/parks Get out and sell - get in the car and visit local businesses to introduce Join groups - meetup.com, chamber of commerce, SBA, BNI, etc.

How do you determine if you had a good year and plan for the next one? There are some simple metrics that are normally used to determine a businesses success like: Did revenue grow compared to previous years Your expenses and revenue are growing at a healthy rate together You have a mix of new and repeat customers You have profits in the bank Profit margins are high and healthy for the business These are all very important and you have to spend time looking into them consistently. However, let's look into some really specific information and how we can turn that into success for the next year(s) to come. What were the best jobs you had? Most profitable Most enjoyable Most sustainable What can you do next year to get more work like this? How did you get that customer? Can they refer you to others? Do the jobs you thought of above all have some common elements? A certain niche, obtained a certain way, certain method Did these jobs only come from certain customers? Who were your best customers? Profitable Effortless You like them Referred you to other customers Take a look at their profile and determine if you can find people more like them. What marketing got them? Are they in a market you can specifically target? Can you write up something to help identify future customers like this to make sure you get their business? What did you enjoy doing most? Part of the health of your business is more than money, it's about living your dream. Did you love selling more than the production? Look to hire someone to do production Did you hate the selling but love the embroidery? Look for someone to help you sell or do more marketing to get inbound sales What skill did you master the most? If you learned something that you are proud of... take note. Is this a skill to can continue to take to the next level? Is there something you'd like to learn just as well in 2020? Create a list of these skills and prioritize them What sales / marketing tactics worked? Did you buy an add in a school paper and got a lot of calls? Did you go knocking on doors and drum up a lot of business? Did improving your Google My Business and Bling Places and Facebook pages help get calls? Was most of your business from referrals? You have to take a look at which one of these did the best for your business and consider how you go deeper into these. Look at your 80/20 rule Generally speaking, its said 20% of your customers bring in 80% of your income. Take a look at your numbers and see how that added up for your year. Do you have a handful of big accounts that bring in most of the revenue? If this is the case look at how you can possibly get deeper into those customers or how you can find more customers that match that profile. The best way to make your business better each year is to not only dive into the numbers like how we started this podcast but look into yourself and your customers. Use this to figure out what's in store for you next year.

Pricing is an EMOTIONAL thing for most small business owners. It's tied up with how you feel about money. About how much money it's okay for you to make. About feeling bad when you think you're charging too much. About your pride when you ARE charging too much, but need to make a change. The Impact of Pricing: I've told this story before. About the customer and the $8 DFX Shirts, but I'm going to tell it again because it should terrify you. Pricing too high is tricky as well. With price testing you may find that you make MORE money in the end by charging less for specific items. In the rest of this podcast we're going to explore price testing strategies the let the market tell YOU how much you should be charging. And taking all the emotions out of it. (or at least as much as you'll let it) 1. The "Tipping Point" Method - Raise your prices incrementally until you see your customer leave. 2. New Product Change Tactic - As you bring in new blanks, new products or new designs you introduce them at higher prices and leave your older ones as is. A slower tipping point method. 3. Use discounts and offers on your website to measure the impact of lower prices. 4. Show different prices to different users and measure the relative performance. 5. Create different versions of your products and offer them at different prices to see which performs better. 6. Use an email or call list to sell at different prices and measure conversion rates. Here are some ways to increase pricing strategically: Adjust discounts on volume - If you normally provide your first discount at 12 shirts, bump it to 15. If the next tier is 30, bump to 50. Add value extras - increase your price but add more value and low cost value-add extras. Include wash instruction cards for every shirt, put every shirt in a bag, offer a discount for a size exchange. e.g. 25% off size exchange if someone wants a different size. up to 3. etc. Raise Fees - if you charge no 'set up fee' add a modest one for certain orders. If you charge a $20 fee, make it $30. Increase cost for higher perceived value - sell glitter or digital full color and increase price much more than the basic. Then push this offering. Even though your cost might be relatively the same the product seems more valuable. Timed price increases - You may want to increase pricing by 20% but get backlash from customers. Start with 5% and make it a goal to increase 20% over X months. Offer faster delivery at a higher price - Some companies offer a 'rush' fee. Instead, you could offer a standard delivery that is long, and offer 'priority' for a modest fee. e.g. free for 14 days, $20 for priority 7 days, $80 rush for 3 days

Writing will captivate the attention of your customers and win you sales. You got into this business to be the best at what you do. You mastered the art of production, you’ve worked on your sales process, you are even doing your best to get found online. Putting together great copy (writing) will show the world the true custom apparel professional you are. When will you need to write? ALWAYS. EVERYWHERE. Website copy Sales emails Promotional emails Social posts Business descriptions (google, FB, etc) Text messages Print ads Store signage Job Bids Why does it matter? People cannot pay attention to everything. Your brain filters out 99+% of everything you see. How many people read all of your website, or all of an article, or your entire quote? Almost none. People need to get their attention captured and HELD. If someone is searching online for a t-shirt printer or sifting through quotes they got on a job, great writing will help you win more than the competition. They stop on your page, they stay on your website, they keep looking back at your proposal. Here are some great tips for putting together a great copy. Help them see the vision. Simply stating that you make great custom t-shirts and embroidery isn’t enough. These are just abstract thoughts, you don’t see anything. Incorporate detailed descriptions, personal stories, experiences of past customers. When someone reads what you’ve written…. they should be able to close their eyes and see something. For example: Our embroidery shop opened in 2018 and we have been satisfying customers all over the area. Our great reviews show that we are the #1 choice for your custom hats, shirts, jackets and more. not bad… but… You want great looking custom apparel. We understand embroidery is more than just a logo on a polo shirt. Your team wants to show up on the field looking amazing, your business wants to impress its clients and your mom deserves an amazing looking handbag. Our embroidery business started in 2018 with a vision to put a smile on every customers face (and our reviews show it!) Make it personal. When your customers read an email from you, they want to feel they are important. Don’t just copy/paste and email…. write a message for them whenever possible. For example: GET A FREE Shirt – Buy 4 get 1 free on all printed logos or a free hat with every 10 embroidery shirts. not bad but. Hi Carl, It was great to do business with you this past summer, thank you again. I want to let you know about a year-end special we have: Get a Free Shirt – Buy 4 get 1 free on all printed logos or a free hat with every 10 embroidery shirts. Capture attention! STOP. IMPORTANT. FREE. BIG. Use words to capture attention. This is huge for email subject lines, headlines of ads, social posts. You don’t get a second chance often. if someone is scrolling through facebook they will most likely miss your post. If they are reading emails, they will probably skip over yours. You have to put yourself in their shoes… what will capture their attention. Example: T-shirt we made for the local Busy Bee Breakfast House not bad but… Holy Pancakes and Bacon check out this awesome shirt we made for the Busy Bee Breakfast House. Follow good formatting You should create a standard format you use for everything you write. In categories. Social posts Emails Online Ads Print Ads Website Articles This format aligns with how you write, your brand and your business personality. This could be a good time to start some continuing education. Take a course for writing online, watch videos, go to blogs, pay attention to what big brands are doing. Ultimately writing great copy is just a big win for you. Too many small business owners just throw something together and don’t ever look at it again. You can beat them every time if you pay attention to your words and always improve how you write.

Your customers have a great idea for a shirt, or a blanket or a cap. You might even agree its a great idea, but it’s just not possible. Maybe it is possible, but not with your equipment or skills. How do you still win? How does your customer still get what they want? You can still win, your customer can still win… you just have to work it out. We are here to help! Your customer asks for something that CAN’T be done. – They want 5 hats with embroidery on the bill for under $10 each. You aren't getting that anywhere in the world. – They want a DTG print that glows in the dark neon pink on a moisture wick t-shirt. This is probably the simplest one to solve. You know they cannot go anywhere else and get this. You know they won’t find it for a price they are willing to pay. Explain to them why, let them understand. If you explain in a way that shows how much of an expert you are they will be excited to have asked you. They will know they didn't waste their time chasing something that doesn't exist. I agree that embroidery on the bill of a cap looks very cool, but these are actually done pre-construction. They actually sew on fabric, then turn it into a cap later. The issue is that getting this done comes with a pretty steep minimum order. I realize you only want 5 caps, so let's find an alternative solution. Your customer asks for something your equipment cannot do. – I want an all over print on this long sleeve fishing shirt. – I want embroidered caps (you don’t have an embroidery machine yet) This is a case where you don’t want to send your customer away, but they have very specific desires. You have 4 choices. 1. Send them away (nope! not an option) You don’t want to just send them walking. Part of the relationship you are building is that of a trusted adviser. The minute you say “no” and don’t offer a solution means you might not be their #1 ‘go to’ person. At minimum if you have no clue what to say go with, ” Actually I want to look into that a little bit, can you give me a day? I may just have a GREAT option for you” 2. Talk to them about things you CAN do instead You’ve got to take a shot at just offering what you CAN do for them. This could just be an alternative though, they may like your idea better. “Actually I know you mentioned embroidered hats, but a lot of my customers have been doing heat press caps with a vinyl material I use. The designs come out really clean and they are a really sharp modern look. Want to chat more about this idea? 3. Outsource the job You should be building relationships with local decorators. Screen printers, embroiderers, sign shops, award shops, etc. The more you have the more of a resource you will be Have a wholesale and pricing table that you can quote and charge. Remember these should be profitable! Quote as usual, be sure to build in time for delivery. Don’t over promise. 4. Refer out the job If none of the 3 above can work based on your customer or business, be sure to refer out the business to someone very specific. Also they should know you sent them. You can do a conference call or a group text or CC on an email. Your customer asks for something you won’t do – I want this bible passage on a shirt (its 350 words and will need to be .25 inch font and you cut vinyl) – I want a digital transfer print that’s a full 11×17 block square image – I want an embroidery job on a moisture wick t-shirt that’s 12″x12″ filled This is where it can get tough. CAN you do it? Technically yes. Will it look good? Meh, maybe not Can you charge what you want? No, they dont want a $150 t-shirt This is your time to be the expert and explain to them why it isnt a good idea. You can explain how the method you decorate apparel wouldnt look good this way. You can explain how in general this isn’t best practice for decorating a shirt. Be the expert and offer good solutions (maybe the solution is outsourcing). For example: The bible passage example, they might want 100 shirts which means it could be a good candidate for screen printing. Outsource it. The digital transfer won’t feel or wash well. Figure out a way to alter the art to make it work out. (stripes, remove colors, etc) The embroidery job can be turned into a transfer or vinyl or dtg job. Your customer asks for something you can’t do. OUCH. You know that this CAN be done, you just haven't learned or perfected the art. I would like to get caps embroidered (but you haven’t taken training or practiced on caps) I would like to get a logo made and put on a shirt (but you arent a graphic artist) This is a time when you might think. ‘ok I will buckle down and learn this. Then I can fulfill the job’ – PLEASE be careful doing this. You might not realize how long it could take you to master this art. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. Some people pick up graphic arts easily, others struggle. If you haven’t done it before, you don't know how hard it might be (for you). NOTE: Don’t just go to facebook and ask if XYZ is easy. The 3-4 people prob

Mark S. : This is Mark B. from Contract-DTG. If you didn’t hear him before on Episode 86 then make sure to listen to it here: https://customapparelstartups.com/episode-86/ Mark is the owner of 3 different custom t-shirt businesses that do everything from large contract work – with orders of 1,000 DTG printer pretty common (http://contract-dtg.com), all the way to the typical 1-6 shirts that many smaller shops do (http://fat-tees.com). During this episode we’re going to ask Mark to walk us through 3 questions that many growing custom t-shirt businesses have: #1: How do you know when it’s time to REPLACE a piece of equipment? You’ll hear how Mark tracks escalating maintenance, part availability and more to figure out when it makes sense to say goodbye to a current piece of hardware. #2: When should you change or upgrade to a BETTER system? Hear his story about how he decided to go to replace a perfectly good manual screen print press with an automatic and how you might apply that same logic to what’s next. #3: How do you evaluate NEW equipment? Mark has a busy shop and he is a VERY technical, hands on equipment owner, so various manufacturers have asked him to test drive their new products. Learn what he looks for and see what makes sense for your business. [Hint: it includes speed, quality and consumables cost]

In this CAS Mini-Cast we are going to show you how to design an email using the Mailchimp.

In this CAS Mini-Cast we are going to talk about the anatomy of email and how to structure powerful email using the Mailchimp. Mailchimp is a marketing automation platform and an email marketing service. It’s perfect for businesses of all sizes. You can start using it for free and upgrade as your business grows. The greatest part about the Mailchimp is that it’s easy to use for beginners.

Facebook groups can be very powerful if you want to increase sales for your business… but they are completely different compared to Facebook pages. Groups are about community, participation, conversations and less about selling. But it doesn’t mean you can’t sell. Here’s how to do it: Join your niche groups. Introduce yourself Add value to the group/community by helping people. Selling is done by helping people. This way they will learn more about you and how you can help them.

If you are a custom apparel business looking for local or national business and you are doing word of mouth marketing then you should consider using LinkedIn. Here’re some tips to improve your LinkedIn profile: Change the background image that represents what you do. Use a picture of yourself and not a logo. Use the tagline area to pitch your services. Use about section to pitch your company and explain exactly what is it that you offer. Highlight your past experiences and education. Ask people to recommend you and endorse your current skills. -Join the groups and start a conversation with other people. Look at LinkedIn as a mini website and an opportunity to market yourself and get new business.