MY COMPLETE BLUEPRINT FOR CREATING THE T-SHIRT YOUR CLIENT LOVES TO WEAR AND CAN'T WAIT TO SHOW OFF.

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Esmond Lloyd
5 years ago
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1 MY COMPLETE BLUEPRINT FOR CREATING THE T-SHIRT YOUR CLIENT LOVES TO WEAR AND CAN'T WAIT TO SHOW OFF. INTRODUCTION: Hi, my name is Erin Ludden and I help companies using branded T-shirts stop throwing money away on shirts that go straight to the rag pile and start making the shirts their customers LOVE to wear and can't wait to show off to their like minded friends. The crazy thing is, many business people don't even realize their brand new shirts are getting donated before they are worn. Not any more! I ve been helping people just like you make tens of thousands of T-shirts and have fixed issues that other custom shirt companies said were not possible or just didn't bother to address. My proven system has helped me to basically create miracles and now I m going to share this Blueprint with you. The biggest thing you ll learn by reading this is how to transform your promotional tees into customer favorites that get worn all the time, get your business in front of your target audience and build your company's brand so you make more money. Of course, after you read this you re going to get a ton of great information, but most of our customers just don t have the time or expertise to execute what I ve taught you. If that sounds like you then I urge you to contact me for a free consultation. We guarantee to get you the results you need in the fastest amount of time possible. We can be reached by phone at (949) or by at erin@flitexsports.com. Mention that you read this report and we ll automatically give you 10% off your first order. Thanks for taking action and investing in yourself with this Blueprint and I hope to meet you soon. 1

2 STEP 1: IDENTIFY YOUR GOAL It s extremely important to lay out specifically what you want. Write down your goal, what you re willing to invest to hit your goal, and what will happen if you don t hit the goal. This will help you decide if this is something you MUST DO or if it s something that you can put off for later. THIS IS WHAT I DO. I THINK ABOUT HOW I WANT THE SHIRT TO WORK FOR ME? 1. How do we want it to create revenue for the company? a. Are we going to sell it? b. Give it away as a thank you gift? c. Use it as a promotional tool to generate new leads? 2. How do we want it to build our brand? What values, messages or impressions do we want to convey? Do we want it to inspire? educate? ignite conversation? WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT THAT YOUR CLIENT WEAR THE SHIRTS IN PUBLIC? Because that's how it helps you make money! You are making a significant marketing investment in shirts. Take a moment to consider the benefits of successfully achieving your goal. How valuable will increased brand recognition be? What is the lifetime value of each new lead generated? What is the value of the additional sales generated by the shirt? How will it forward your goals for your brand's reputation? Achieving any of these goals requires that your client be willing to pay for the shirt or wear the shirt in front of your target audience. STEP 2: MAP OUT YOUR OPTIONS With any project, you have several options which includes doing nothing at all. Map out ALL the options you have and then put a price on them. For example, here are your options that we typically see 2

Professional Design - This costs a little bit more, but can really give you the wow factor in your design that makes the difference between a t- shirt people love to wear and a wear it for chores

3 Design it yourself. If you've got graphic art skills, go for it! It can be fun and give you a totally original design representing your company. If you're thinking about just slapping a logo on a tee and calling it good, you may want to consider the next option. Professional Design - This costs a little bit more, but can really give you the wow factor in your design that makes the difference between a t- shirt people love to wear and a wear it for chores only shirt. Professional design is generally a surprisingly small portion of the total cost of a t-shirt run and can save you hours and hours of frustration trying to design it yourself. A distinctive look and a design that is well suited for a great screen printing result can deliver the results you really want. I'll Get Around To It. Yes, you could just wait until the next event to print your shirts. The cost in this one is the opportunity cost. Will your customers be wearing the competitor's shirts instead of yours? Will you be missing out on the word of mouth when other athletes ask your customer how they like your product? Every customer wearing YOUR shirt is marked as YOUR customer in the eyes of everyone around them. What is the potential value to you? STEP 3: HERE ARE THE COMMON PITFALLS. In my experience there are 3 tragic mistakes that people make when attempting to design shirts themselves. HERE THEY ARE: ONE. THEY DON'T MATCH THE SHIRT TO THE AUDIENCE. This is the single most important factor. In order to have an influence your shirt must A. Get worn frequently B. Get worn in front of other people with the same interests If you are not reaching your audience, what return can you expect? For example: If you are promoting a tri-athlon, your shirt will have the greatest impact when worn by participants when they are in a setting to be in contact with other potential participants! An athletic shirt is more likely to be worn when running, biking or working out at the gym where other athletes with similar interests can be made aware of the event. A plain tee might be worn to run errands on the weekend where it may reach a few potential participants. Consider, how much more impact will it have on athletes who are actively working to reach their fitness goals, when achievement is top of mind and how many more of those folks will be exposed to the shirt in the gym than while shuttling the family around on the weekly errands? 3

4 TWO: THEY DON T GET A PROFESSIONAL DESIGN REVIEW. Designing your own shirts can be a lot of fun and it's a great chance to let your passion shine through. It just kills me to see people do all that work and miss on a couple details that would really give their design the polish to be a real winner. Whether they didn't realize they needed one, they didn't know where to get one or they thought they were saving money, too many people are suffering from "almost right" t-shirt design unnecessarily. It's not your fault, designing Tee's isn't your specialty. Many people just don't realize that a professional design review can be had for a very low price or for free even when they design their own shirts. What a shame it would be if your hard work and investment ended up in the rag pile. I keep thinking about a shirt I saw on vacation this summer...i came across a group this summer that had custom printed tees on a really cool camouflage tee shirt. Such a cool idea. Their personal development message fit the shirt design. The ink color was right. The mountain camp setting was perfect for the style. Tragically, a few small details came between an awesome idea and effective implementation. A few simple changes would have given the shirt a cool, rugged style that fit the event, the shirt and the design. A font change would have matched the shirt, a slight weathered effect would have lightened up the look of the letters and the feel of the ink, and rearranging the lettering to fit the natural shape of the shirt would have removed the awkwardness. In all, about 10 minutes of professional design time would have created a shirt likely to be worn over and over after the event. What if those millennials were wearing those shirts all the time so their friends knew how much they loved the event? How many more people might sign up next year? THREE. THEY DON'T MAKE SEPARATE TEES FOR MEN AND WOMEN. I'm just going to blunt about it. Women don't wear boxy tees. They do wear tees, lots of them! However, they are pickier about the cut, fabric and feel. Many people feel intimidated by that and just opt for "unisex" AKA men's tees. Sadly, giving unisex tees to the ladies The result is your t-shirt goes straight to the rag pile and doesn't get worn; the worst possible outcome for your marketing investment. A ladies tee success story: A friend of mine LOVES, as in refuses to ever get rid of, an athletic fabric, ladies fit tee she received as a volunteer thank you gift from the Ride for Rwanda several years ago. She is now always willing to volunteer for them again, is a great ambassador for the event, recruiting fellow bike riders and it is one of her favorite shirts. She admits, the tee made a big difference. It was worth giving up a day for. Had she received a tee she wouldn't wear, she said she probably wouldn't volunteer again. Making the women happy requires a bit of extra attention but the results can be so worth it. Women may be more likely to chat about the clothing they like and share information on where friends can find the same gear. You don't want to miss out on that word of mouth! Supertip! Offering women's tees doesn't have to be more expensive. Many designs can be printed on the both men's and women's tees at no extra charge. Blank styles are available at prices similar to men's tees or there are lots of fashionable styles available. Ask for options that meet your goals. Make sure you know these three things before starting out on your journey. 4

5 STEP 4: GETTING STAR TED Once you ve clearly identified your goals, mapped out your options, and made sure to avoid the biggest mistakes, then it s time to get started on your quest to design your customer's Next Favorite Tee Shirt. HERE IS A STEP-BY-STEP WHAT I DO: FIRST, I REVIEW MY GOALS FOR THE PROJECT AND APPLY THEM THE CUSTOMER WHO WILL WEAR THE SHIRT. THIS IS THE WHO, WHERE, WHY AND HOW. A. Who do I want to wear the tee? What are the characteristics of that person? a. Clients or employees? b. Men or women? c. Athletes? d. Fashion conscious or nostalgic consumers? e. Young or old? B. How do I want the client to feel when they wear the tee? Strong? Stylish? Clever? Proud? Rewarded? C. When and Where do I want them to wear the tee? Are there any specific events or activities when wearing your brand would be most beneficial? Where can your client interact and influence other potential clients? D. How do I want it to build our brand? What values, messages or impressions do we want to convey? Do we want it to inspire? educate? ignite conversation? SECOND, I DEVELOP A CONCEPT. THIS IS THE FUN PART! 1. Choose a message. Based on my goals for this tee, I'll decide if this should be funny, inspirational, reserved and tasteful or what I want to convey with this design. 2. I choose a style: Bold, funny, vintage, athletic? Which way do I want to go? 3. I look for sample ideas. Photos or sayings or inspiration sources, anything that I can show my designer to convey my idea. We don't want to copy another design, but we do want to show examples of fonts, color combinations or styles. 4. I share my goals, concept and samples with a designer and we collaborate to implement my concept. 5

THIRD, I START DESIGNING (OR CONSULT WITH MY DESIGN PROFESSIONAL) Now that I am clear on my goals and who I am designing for, I put my concept together for the designer.

People seem to prefer simple designs that they feel comfortable wearing with anything. Adding lots of colors increases the complexity and expense of your shirt.

6 THIRD, I START DESIGNING (OR CONSULT WITH MY DESIGN PROFESSIONAL) Now that I am clear on my goals and who I am designing for, I put my concept together for the designer. HERE ARE SOME TIPS FOR STREAMLINING YOUR DESIGN. 1) Keep it simple. Believe it or not, the best selling tees tend to be simple one or two color designs. People seem to prefer simple designs that they feel comfortable wearing with anything. Adding lots of colors increases the complexity and expense of your shirt. It also seems to reduce the broad appeal. Of course, in tropical tourist destinations, color is expected so simplicity is a guideline, but choose something that fits your intended mood. 2) Is your logo iconic? Do you already have raving fans? Is your brand something people will be proud to wear? If so, feel free to make it a key part of the design. Avoid the walking billboard look. Unless you are making a staff uniform where you need employees to be instantly identifiable, it's generally best to avoid just putting a huge logo on your shirt. A smaller logo as part of a larger design may be just the ticket. Try a cool design, a fun or funny saying or a an interesting drawing and then add your company logo to the shirt as a smaller design element. Imagine a left chest company logo with a fun full back design for example or putting the company logo on the back of the neck, on the sleeve or below the drawing on the back. 6

7 3) Don't be afraid to jump on trend. Many of the popular sayings or logos aren't copyrighted so they are fair game! Applying one to your business can be a lot of fun for customers and keep your brand fresh. For example: Add your your logo and activity to the "Keep Calm" trend. 4) Have a sense of humor. Make 'em laugh or smile with something fun to wear! 5) Go ahead. Be a little irreverent. Take a look at top selling T-shirts and you'll see that people enjoy being a little in your face. If it's appropriate for your business, have some fun and let your clients speak their minds. 6) Look back in time toward vintage designs. People seem to love nostalgic feeling designs and they seem to love wearing advertisements from days gone by! Converting your logo into an old time design may be just the ticket to getting people to love wearing your company tee. Do you already have a design? If you do, congratulations! If not, we can help. Share your idea and we'll help you with an in house custom design or with a resource referral to get you just the right look. FINALLY, I CHOOSE MY BLANK GARMENT You've got awesome art. What canvas do you put it on? Choosing a great blank tee can give you amazing results! Don't feel limited to plain old Tees! QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE TO TEE SHIRT BLANKS Specialty styles: Set your shirts apart immediately by departing from the standard Tee. Nostalgic prints look especially great on retro inspired tees like football tees. Baseball tees are always popular, heather tees are super affordable to get a little more fashionable style and ringer tees give you that retro feel. 7

Athletic Wear: Are these for athletic wear?

Moisture wicking and odor resistant. Available in mesh or non.

There are some really cheap polyester shirts out there.

This is probably the category where you most get what you pay for.

garments which will have a lighter, more comfortable feel.

For the gals, scoop necks or v-necks are more fashion forward and

Fit: From classic tee to the most fashionable styles, there's a tee

Men's (AKA Unisex or Adult) - this is the wide, loose fit tee that is

Be aware that some of these can shrink "short and wide" with multiple

8 Athletic Wear: Are these for athletic wear? If yes, you'll want a performance fabric. Moisture wicking and odor resistant. Available in mesh or non. The biggest difference here is in the feel of the fabric. There are some really cheap polyester shirts out there. Be aware though, they usually feel kind of thick and non-stretchy. This is probably the category where you most get what you pay for. In this category, you may want to jump up to brand name quality garments which will have a lighter, more comfortable feel. Neckline: Crew necks rule for the guys. For the gals, scoop necks or v-necks are more fashion forward and feminine. Fit: From classic tee to the most fashionable styles, there's a tee sure to please your customer. Men's (AKA Unisex or Adult) - this is the wide, loose fit tee that is most common. Be aware that some of these can shrink "short and wide" with multiple washings. Athletic fit - a slightly slimmer look tee appropriate for fashion looks or athletic styles. Not tight or form fitting, just a little less boxy. Ladies fit - has a little taper to the cut to flatter the figure of gals and help create a waist. Lots of variations on this by brand and cut. Even on a looser fit shirt, the feminine cut makes a big difference. 8

Flowy Styles - offer the ladies feminine and flattering cuts for lots of figures. An awesome way to really set your shirts apart from plain old tees!

It s simply because you're not designing tee shirts every day.

Or maybe you've spent hundreds or thousands of dollars trying to pull this off, but sometimes you realize that you should have just hired a professional from the beginning.

I watched videos, read blogs and in the end, found myself with a pile of promo items with an awkward print and an item I was embarrassed to give away.

9 Flowy Styles - offer the ladies feminine and flattering cuts for lots of figures. An awesome way to really set your shirts apart from plain old tees! STEP 5: WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU DON T SUCCEED Well, this is why people like myself have a job. The reason you failed is not your fault. It s simply because you're not designing tee shirts every day. Maybe you've felt frustrated trying to get the design just right, felt stumped for ideas or procrastinated because you didn't know where to start. Or maybe you've spent hundreds or thousands of dollars trying to pull this off, but sometimes you realize that you should have just hired a professional from the beginning. I ve experienced this myself the first time I tried to design promotional items myself. I watched videos, read blogs and in the end, found myself with a pile of promo items with an awkward print and an item I was embarrassed to give away. Not only did I waste my time, I wasted my money and I missed the opportunity to use the items to make a connection with my potential clients. So if you end up not succeeding then I recommend that you consult a professional like myself. I ll give you advice for free and we can strategize on how to fix the problem so you can get to that end goal you laid out at the beginning. So that is my secret blueprint for creating the Tee Shirt your clients LOVE to wear. you ve read and please don t hesitate to contact me with any questions. I really hope you enjoyed what To your success! ` 9

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