With today's global market place marketing your new clothing brand goes way beyond launching a Facebook & Twitter page. That doesn't mean you have to pull your hair our wondering how you are going to come up with the dough to market yourself. It really just takes some creativity and bootstrapping to get the word out there. Not everything is going to work but making attempts is crucial. Some efforts simply won't do anything for you and some will generate a decent amount of exposure. Only time will really tell.
Here are some ways you can get things rolling for yourself:
1. Your Trunk: I know crazy huh? If you don't have a car that's OK but just getting out there the old fashion way and letting people know your brand exists with your mouth is a start. Once you have your legal tax id numbers you can reach women t-shirts out to the state and get a street vendor license for free and start pushing your products on sidewalks. Check with your closest city but many have designated vendor locations you can take advantage of. You just need to fill out the application to get things going.
2. Ask Store Owners: Make a list of every boutique within driving distance you wouldn't mind your brand being visible in. Make the list first so you can organize everything from locations to conversations. Go and stop in, bring a sample, strike conversation. Afterwards send a thank you letter or email to that person. If they don't respond don't beat yourself up over it. You gave it an honest attempt. If they do, pat yourself on the back and move onto the next. I know that this sounds so obvious but it takes balls to walk into a store or call a buyer and simply ask if they would carry your line. You could also put together some packages for stores you know you would like to be in and start by just sending some items first.
3. Street Team: When done right a street team can work wonders for your brand. It works best once you have been around for a little bit and the following has already started. Offer discounts and rep codes to street team members and they will get them motivated to really get moving and make some money. Give them a cut for every piece of clothing that is sold and they will keep selling for you. Eventually they could become your first employees. Eventually you will have a small army of sales people just spreading the word helping your business and brand grow.
4. Affiliate Marketing: This is usually a bit more advanced but once your business gets rolling this is a lot like having a virtual street team. I'm not going to lie to you; affiliate marketing takes time and patience to manage and grow. You have to recruit and manage all affiliates but once you get rolling the website traffic numbers can be seriously surprising.
This is just the beginning of what can be done. When you start thinking outside the box a bit you will surprise yourself with what you could come up with to market your business.
No comments:
Post a Comment