Hi, I currently run a printing business and we have an ebay store where we sell our printed tshirts. The tshirts have funny phrases or pictures on them, you've seen the type before I'm sure. At the moment we have about 20 different designs, and looking to expand that to 50. We're looking to build an online store and I was hoping to get some advice from the experts in this forum as to what marketing I should be doing once I'm set up. (on a side note, I'm thinking of using Magento for the software) Cheers, Luke
Print up a bunch of shirts. Include your URL on the back. Distribute them locally so you can get a lot of them seen within a concentrated area. Wear your own product out in public every chance you get. See if you can sponsor local community events. Participate in relevant discussion forums. Take advantage of social networks such as twitter, facebook, myspace, etc... Start blogging about funny things that happen to you when you wear the shirts. Do people stop and ask you about them? Do you get comments? stares? questions? criticism? These could all make excellent blog posts. DEFINITELY get an autoresponder and add a subscription form to your web site. Offer free funny stuff like jokes, pictures, etc. As you build this list, you can run seasonal specials, discount offers, etc... When you go out to eat with a group of friends, make sure everyone is wearing a shirt and the shirts have your web site, That should get you started!
You could open sell your shirts on CafePress. You could also use AdWord or FaceBook ads to market to your target audience.
Take pictures of your shirts and advertise them in as many websites as you can afford. Focus on sites like collegehumor.com.