What am I doing wrong with my clothing brand?

[Jonny Blaze]

Hello all fastlaners!
I need to ask for some advice on my clothing line. So we made a design and got a good amount printed, we also have a website our customers can order through, social media, snapchat, etc. We really aren't experiencing many sales...we aren't letting it discourage us though. Here's what I've tried so far, I asked a lot of my friends to buy (Senior in High School) and most of them bought them, but a lot of them hit me with the "I'm broke man" or the "ok I'll check out the website" but then never bought (Not complaining, we 100% expected this from 17 year olds). So then I tried moving traffic to the website, we got business cards printed, and I decided to construct a giveaway on our Twitter, and I paid two accounts with a lot of followers to Retweet it so all of their followers could see it as well. Long story short it was a scam and I maybe got 2 followers out of it and a paypal dispute case. Now a lot of people say to go to trade shows but I don't want to waste money and it not at all pertain to our target audience (Younger generation). I've read the lengthy articles saying
1) You need to have a message. (Our message is that we want to change the youths mindset that keeps them stuck in slavery.)
2) You need to be authentic (Doesn't get much more authentic than making our own designs)
3) The product needs to be quality (Discharge ink on AA shirts...best you can get)
4) It needs to be unique (There are many brands that start up every day, but I have confidence in saying the story behind our whole brand and the brand itself is one of a kind and unique.)

At this point I'm wondering if you guys could help me out and give me some advice on maybe what we're doing wrong or what we should be doing. We are a modern 2016 brand so please keep advice relevant to now.

Thank you!
Jonny Blaze

 

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[Ika]

I don't want to hurt you, but maybe there is no real need? Yes, your idea and story might be interesting, but are the clothes itseldf interesting enough to buy and wear them?

 

[Jonny Blaze]

I don't want to hurt you, but maybe there is no real need? Yes, your idea and story might be interesting, but are the clothes itseldf interesting enough to buy and wear them?

We market them to be interesting yes, they're better in my opinion than the garbage that Kanye west puts out time after time.

 

[JokerCrazyBeatz]

What value are you providing ? And im not talking about the quality of the shirts.

 

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[Scot]

What is your sales copy like? When you advertise in IG and Twitter and Facebook, are they just pictures of shirts, or hot young people wearing the shirts doing fun things? Do your posts have a clear call to action?

If possible, post some examples of your marketing so we can take a look at it.

 

[Ika]

When you advertise in IG and Twitter and Facebook, are they just pictures of shirts, or hot young people wearing the shirts doing fun things?

Good point!

You can target every part (exept safety) - depends on your niche.

 

[mrarcher]

1) You need to have a message. (Our message is that we want to change the youths mindset that keeps them stuck in slavery.)

So your message is "You are wrong and we cant to change the way you think"? And you are targeting people most likely to be students! Maybe that isn't the kind of message they would be into considering what they are doing. I cant really say much else on this as I haven't seen the shirts but that jumped out at me.

We are a modern 2016 brand so please keep advice relevant to now.

Honestly what the hell is this about? Your business now save a few extra technologies runs no different than one did in the 1980s. Here is a little hint to be taken more seriously by everyone - BE MORE HUMBLE! Think about the owner of any successful business from the big multinational companies to the local car garage in everyone inbetween. Do you see them acting like an "entrepreneur" wearing suits etc all the time and acting like they are better than everyone? Nope! The only people you really see doing that are young guys who started a business 5 minutes ago and think they are the bollocks. Normally they don't go far. If you don't believe me walk around local businesses and speak to the owners. They act like joe everyman who are just doing their thing. They do this because their customers are usually just regular people who love to be served by other regular people. I'm not trying to be a dick I'm just saying that that kind of attitude is poisonous and spreads to other things without you realising. People want to relate to you either as a person or a company which is why some of the big companies have twitter accounts that just joke around with people.

 

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[Random_0]

Why not link your product page?

 

[Jonny Blaze]

What value are you providing ? And im not talking about the quality of the shirts.

So your message is "You are wrong and we cant to change the way you think"? And you are targeting people most likely to be students! Maybe that isn't the kind of message they would be into considering what they are doing. I cant really say much else on this as I haven't seen the shirts but that jumped out at me.

Honestly what the hell is this about? Your business now save a few extra technologies runs no different than one did in the 1980s. Here is a little hint to be taken more seriously by everyone - BE MORE HUMBLE! Think about the owner of any successful business from the big multinational companies to the local car garage in everyone inbetween. Do you see them acting like an "entrepreneur" wearing suits etc all the time and acting like they are better than everyone? Nope! The only people you really see doing that are young guys who started a business 5 minutes ago and think they are the bollocks. Normally they don't go far. If you don't believe me walk around local businesses and speak to the owners. They act like joe everyman who are just doing their thing. They do this because their customers are usually just regular people who love to be served by other regular people. I'm not trying to be a dick I'm just saying that that kind of attitude is poisonous and spreads to other things without you realising. People want to relate to you either as a person or a company which is why some of the big companies have twitter accounts that just joke around with people.

I get how that could of been misunderstood. I was talking about an example how clothing brands back in the day such as Stussy, were able to just walk into a boutique or department store and sell them 20 shirts and if they sold they'd ask for more. Nothing like that...thank you though

 

[Jonny Blaze]

Why not link your product page?

Jonnyblazeclothing.com

 

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[Random_0]

I get how that could of been misunderstood. I was talking about an example how clothing brands back in the day such as Stussy, were able to just walk into a boutique or department store and sell them 20 shirts and if they sold they'd ask for more. Nothing like that...thank you though

Have you tried walking in to your local skate store and giving them some samples?

People from my city 'sponsor' local music artists by giving them clothes to use in their music videos.

As far as your story I can't tell much from looking at your 2 product Shopify page. The design niche you're going for is pretty much done by everyone now, it's not very original.

 

[jon.a]

http://www.themillionairefastlane.com/download.php

 

[ZeroTo100]

Have you tried walking in to your local skate store and giving them some samples?

People from my city 'sponsor' local music artists by giving them clothes to use in their music videos.

Think about successful brands in your niche. What are they doing that you aren't? Study them and read between the lines. You'll find all your answers.

 

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[Envision]

You have 2 shirts.
Your about page is a sentence long.
Your design sucks.
The brand name doesnt resonate... like Diamond Supply or Pink Dolphin.


Just to name a few things. Also you have no one to market to because your product doesnt fill a specific need. As someone in the clothing industry its hard and next to impossible if you dont have a pre built way of marketing your product.

Id take it as a learning lesson and start again

Edit: And im pretty sure jonny blaze clothing has already been a clothing line so trademark infringement would occur if you got big and the old owner saw your success.

 

[mrarcher]

I get how that could of been misunderstood. I was talking about an example how clothing brands back in the day such as Stussy, were able to just walk into a boutique or department store and sell them 20 shirts and if they sold they'd ask for more. Nothing like that...thank you though

Why not? What's wrong with doing that?

 

[Scot]

Ok but still, you haven't told us what you've actually done to sell the shirts...

You said you have social media accounts. What are you posting on them to get people to buy your shirt? How many followers do you have?

Honestly, the first thing you have to do is sell 1. Figure that out, do it again. Repeat.

No one here is going to give you the magic answer. There isn't one. But we can try to help, you just need to show us you're actually making an effort.

 

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[AgainstAllOdds]

Your potential customers are not looking to buy "a t-shirt", but a cool design or a brand.

As of now, you have zero brand. And you have one design. There's not enough for people to choose from, and not enough reason that they'd wear your clothing for $25 vs a Stussy shirt for $25.

 

[biophase]

are you serious? All those posts and I go to your page and it's got 2 shirts? The design isn't that great. Layout and lines just don't look right. No meaning behind the shirt at all. No photos of someone wearing the shirt.

You don't have a clothing line, you have a single Tshirt.

 

[Supa]

Serously? After reading your posts I imagined to see a shop of several t-shirts, designed with creativity and love for details, maybe with a message or just with a great design. Then I open that site and see 1 f*cking t-shirt? One t-shirt with a design that one can create with 3 icons from iconfinder within 15 minutes.. But yeah, Kanye West's designs aren't thaaat good right?

 

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[JasonR]

We market them to be interesting yes, they're better in my opinion than the garbage that Kanye west puts out time after time.

From your post it's clear you have no idea what you're doing.

Kanye can sell dog poop stitched on a shitty shirt because he has THOUSANDS of fans that will buy literally anything he puts out. You don't.

Your t-shirt looks like you spent less than an hour on the "design" - and I see 0 evidence of any clever or cool marketing.

To me, it looks like you heard of the people making a lot of money selling tee spring t-shirts, and decided to put in a couple hours of "work" and think you'd be rolling in cash already.

I have never printed myself business cards for any of my businesses, even after I boot strapped them and was making good money.

I think more time has been spent by people rolling their eyes at this thread than you the time you've put into your "clothing line."

If you think a business card will sell a t-shirt, you need to go back to the drawing board.

 

[Scot]

I'm gonna step in and play referee. Guys, let's remember he's in highschool. Do we have rock stars like @Omega the same age that will be billionaires when they're 30? Yeah. But I know I wouldn't have gotten this far at 17. Cut this kid some slack, let's try and be constructive here.

 

[jon.a]

I think that the members are being generous.

 

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[Longinus]

Cute girl at least.

 

[JasonR]

Do you want to see something that takes a bit more effort to sell and that may actually work?

I was just targeted with this ad (see the attachment).

I was JUST in Budapest, and am an American. Someone had created this t-shirt, clearly spent time making a nice design, and got very narrow in their targeting. I can definitely see this selling.

Now, I wouldn't buy a shirt like this, but I'm betting many would.

 

[MisterBHZ]

I didn't read your first post but from the replies, your designs aren't good and you only got 2 shirt.

1st off. Johnny Blaze has already been done in rap/hiphop clothing. Google it. You're going to have to rebrand.

Since youre going for the youth/urban crowd, you're going to need catchier designs. My guy Kid Eight is super dope with designs. Get in touch: www.kideight.com

Also, do the same with your website. My guy Elvis Salic is a beast with designing websites. Get in touch: www.elvissalic.com

Also, add more freakin product.

 

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[InnovateDesign]

Before printing business cards, sell some shirts

Also, if Kanye started selling canned air, people would buy the hell out of it since you know it's Kanye, "the lyrical genius" and people seem to love him for some reason.

 

[Scot]

I have a feeling we ran this kid off and he won't be coming back...

 

[ClickDale]

I tried to start a T-Shirt business...and we found it nearly impossible to sell shirts online. They seemed to sell pretty decent at live events were we had foot traffic...but it always seemed to be an impulse purchase. Nobody was actively looking for our shirts. We found some pretty amazing designers overseas. We paid about $100 per design. You really need to go that route if you want to continue this venture. Our designs were so nice that our competition kept trying to make knock-off versions of our stuff. I ended up cutting my losses. I sold all of the designs and inventory to someone else. I actually made $2k off of the t-shirt equipment I bought nearly brand off of craigslist from someone else who went out of business...and I put that into a down payment into a house we flipped.

Anyhow...let me give you some good advice. Check out Tai Lopez's video on youtube on branding. He interviews Tommy Hilfiger on the Top 3 tips to creating a Multi-Million Dollar Brand. Follow his advice. Next...go after a BIG niche that has a lot of loyal followers. We failed by going after a niche that was so small that there wasn't much of a market for it. Our customers were buying one of almost every design we had. He had like 10 different designs...but our target market was SOOO small. Think big markets...like music fans...or skaters...MMA...etc. Then if you get something amazing...then you want to get a booth at the Magic convention. This is one of the largest conventions in the United States. Warning...it costs about $10,000 for a 10x10 booth for like 3 days. Crazy expensive...but anybody who is anybody in the clothing or retail industry will be there. This is where clothing companies go to sell there products to big retail chains. It is difficult just to get a ticket to check out the convention. First you have to fill out an application and send all kinds of proof that you either work in the apparel industry...or own a clothing business...and then it cost around $1,000 (i believe) for a ticket...if your application gets approved. And if get a booth...you have to really hustle to attract people to check out your designs. Many booths used celebrities to attract attention. If you land a deal with a big retail, then they will want the prices crazy cheap...and you will have to be prepared to deliver in massively quantities.

I give you credit for getting out there and trying...but I also believe you fail the commandant of Need. The profit margins are horrible. I remember an episode on Shark Tank where nobody wanted to invest into a T-Shirt brand because they all knew how difficult it would be to make that businesses profitable. Best of luck...

 

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[ZCP]

Nice work getting what you have. Now the question is whether you will quit or man up and take this to where you think it already is?

1 design with two colors is not a clothing brand (could we change the thread title?).
1 sentence does not inspire or even explain what the hell your 'brand' is about. is this for goth? suicidal? rebellious? rich white teenagers that need a cause?
telling some buddies is not marketing.
go out and sell the shit out of some shirts. take a picture of each one purchased and ask if you can IG them. be at all the cool concerts and places. become identified with a cause / trend / brand.
sell some shirts.

 

[TJPB]

Dang...you guys really did run him off! Eh.....he'll either realize these are the best, most straightforward answers he'll get, or he'll give up.

Any update @Jonny Blaze ?