Smittees.com

Every day, it appears that more and more t-shirt manufacturers spring up online. Those sites that have already gained some notoriety reap the rewards of years of work, but what about the little guys? What about the sites that just started up and need to find their own niche?

For those people, I present:

Top Five Ways to Make Me Buy Your Shirts

1) Originality

Everyone seems to be making graphic tees with sayings from the hottest new movie or TV show. I could be “McLovin” or “Frank the Tank” on any given night, but is that really all you have to offer? If so, you might be limiting your audience right off the bat. Not everyone is into funny shirts, some people want cool designs as well.

If you find a way to make that original, people will buy it.

2) Familiarity

Okay, so this contradicts the message I just stated, but this was more Tracy’s idea than mine, so let’s run with it. If it’s a silly thing that evokes certain memories from our childhood, you might just have a quick sell. Also, Tracy is a sucker for Goonies references, so make a few of those and gain her hard earned cash.

3) Comfort

Make your clothes on the comfiest fabrics (I won’t lie, but I am a sucker for American Apparel’s basic t-shirt) and people will own them. If you buy the cheapest shirts, and print your stuff on the cheapest shirts, you won’t sell as many as if you put the designs on some rad material. Why? Who the hell wears an uncomfortable t-shirt that isn’t very cool?

Your dad. Dad isn’t the target audience, is he? If so, mission accomplished. If not, back to drawing board.

4) Radosity

I know that doesn’t seem like a real word (and it probably isn’t), but bear with me. Is your stuff “rad?” Do your friends all like the stuff because they are your friends? If that is true, your material is not rad. Rad is an extension of awesome, so if you really think that your stuff is awesome, hope that you have good taste. Really, the only way to find that out is to experiment, so design a ton of shirts and poll people you meet or work with about the ideas. That will give you a cross-section of the consumer you are looking to attract.

5) Affordability

I will go on record that I do not like paying forty dollars for a t-shirt. Some people like to make that kind of sacrifice, but I live in New York and my day job doesn’t pay super well at the moment. If it costs 4 hours of my life to wear the “hottest new threads,” I can’t justify the purchase. Find the middle ground that allows the value of the purchase to seem “worth it” and you will soon be rolling in the dough. If you don’t, you might be rolling in leftover graphic tees that you couldn’t move, and that sounds very wasteful.