Impressions - Digital Decorator 2018 - 22

tinct advantage over other shops competing for business.
Now that you have cemented your shop as the local, quick-turn,
low-volume, custom-printed apparel provider, start focusing on your
niche markets. Are your kids involved in cheerleading or soccer
clubs? Do you go to local car or dog shows? What are your hobbies?
What are the networks or communities in which you are involved?
Exploit your services in industries in which you have connections. For schools, for example, try printing a few shirts pro bono for
parents who go to kids' sport games. This is fine to do because your
overhead is so low. Spreading the word in your communities by giving away custom products you create is one of the best ways to get
people excited about what you can do.
What about kids' or adults' birthday parties? Make something fun
and do a giveaway; your business will be the talk of the party.
Outside of your known niche markets, think about all the businesses and people you don't know that could use your services.
Again, printing samples via DTG can be done at a low cost. Find
businesses in your area that could use printed shirts, and stop by with
a sample and pricing.
You would be surprised how many companies are looking for services but hate the search process. Eliminate the pain by providing a
sample, pricing and additional options, and deliver it to their doorstep. You'll both be happy with the results.

In marketing, they say it is less expensive to keep customers than
find new ones. The aforementioned advice informs you how to
capture new customers with a limited budget. But what about

working within the industry to capture the customer base that
already is actively buying your services?
I'm not advocating taking customers from your competitors.
Rather, I'm advocating supporting your competitors by offering
services they don't or can't perform.
Most screen-printing shops have minimums and charge by the
color, so that a five-color job is more expensive than a one-color
job. They also charge for screens, films and art as a way of covering
cost and preserving profit margins. The problem is that it can be
complicated, the customer doesn't understand and he often just
wants a few shirts.
Why not "partner" with your competitors? When a screen
printer's customer wants only five shirts with a picture of little
Johnny on it for his birthday party, he probably would rather turn
down the job. But you can develop a relationship that's mutually
beneficial for him to send the customer to you.
Set up contract pricing so the screen printer can charge the
customer and pay you the arranged margins. Or, he can send the
customer directly to you and you can send the screen printer the
arranged margins.
Either way, the customer wins because he gets what he wants
at a fair price, and you and your partner profit. Industry partnerships can be incredibly lucrative and an easy way to work within
an existing customer base.
Another approach is to take your printer to events for on-site
printing and selling. Portable DTG machines are available on
the market. If you go to wrestling events, air shows, cheerleading
events, car shows, track events, dog shows - you name it - there
likely is a need for custom shirts.

Low-volume, full-custom, quickturn apparel is in high demand and
it never has been easier to produce
with a DTG printer.

22 * Fall 2018

Impressions - Digital Decorator 2018

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