Launched my own clothing line (in less than 7 days)

[Lex DeVille]

All that stuff is nice, but what's the story and who are you targeting?

Everyone has a nice t-shirt website, so you have to answer the questions nobody else does.

• What niche is this for?
• Who is that person specifically?
• What are they like?
• How do they think?
• What do they identify with?
• How do they want your shirts to make them feel?
• What story does your brand tell?
• What story does each shirt tell?

Regarding stories, I'm talking about the story told in terms of brand imagery as well as copy. There should be an unspoken story and a story told with words. Even those who like your designs won't buy them if there's nothing to connect with.

Shirt stores are a dime a dozen. It's no longer about creating viral designs or mass marketing. You have to target a micro-niche around the people who already want the experience you offer. Right now that experience isn't clear. Right now it's just shirts. I don't know who this is for.

Some people like to watch t.v. <---- These people don't buy t.v. shirts.

Some like to watch Star Trek. <---- These people buy anything Star Trek but they have lots of options.

Some like the Klingons <----- These people buy Klingon shirts any chance they get because Klingon shirts are hard to find, and they identify so much it's all they talk about, it's all they think about, they even learn the language. These people are a micro-niche tribe and they'll pay higher prices for a Klingon tshirt because it defines them. It forms their identity. It tells their story.

Define your niche. Define your customer. Define your brand. Define your story.

Why should they buy from you?

 

[Gareth]

As I discovered in my journey, building a website and building a brand are two different things.

A few years back getting a ecom site up and running was a major expense. But these days you can do it in a matter of hours.

You are competing with the other 1000 people who built a clothing ecom site this week.

Good luck on your journey.

I would suggest you start learn how to build your brand.

 

[Andy Black]

All that stuff is nice, but what's the story and who are you targeting?

Everyone has a nice t-shirt website, so you have to answer the questions nobody else does.

• What niche is this for?
• Who is that person specifically?
• What are they like?
• How do they think?
• What do they identify with?
• How do they want your shirts to make them feel?
• What story does your brand tell?
• What story does each shirt tell?

Regarding stories, I'm talking about the story told in terms of brand imagery as well as copy. There should be an unspoken story and a story told with words. Even those who like your designs won't buy them if there's nothing to connect with.

Shirt stores are a dime a dozen. It's no longer about creating viral designs or mass marketing. You have to target a micro-niche around the people who already want the experience you offer. Right now that experience isn't clear. Right now it's just shirts. I don't know who this is for.

Some people like to watch t.v. <---- These people don't buy t.v. shirts.

Some like to watch Star Trek. <---- These people buy anything Star Trek but they have lots of options.

Some like the Klingons <----- These people buy Klingon shirts any chance they get because Klingon shirts are hard to find, and they identify so much it's all they talk about, it's all they think about, they even learn the language. These people are a micro-niche tribe and they'll pay higher prices for a Klingon tshirt because it defines them. It forms their identity. It tells their story.

Define your niche. Define your customer. Define your brand. Define your story.

Why should they buy from you?

(Hurries to the Google Keyword Planner to determine search volumes for "klingon t-shirts"... to the Facebook equivalent to determine how many people like Klingon... and to Wikipedia to find out how to say "Lex Rules" in Klingon...)


EDIT: In all my 45 years I've never uttered the word "hurries".

Great post Lex. Rep+

 

[AllenCrawley]

Some like the Klingons <----- These people buy Klingon shirts any chance they get because Klingon shirts are hard to find, and they identify so much it's all they talk about, it's all they think about, they even learn the language. These people are a micro-niche tribe and they'll pay higher prices for a Klingon tshirt because it defines them. It forms their identity. It tells their story.

Don't forget to secure a license first.

Rep+ @SinisterLex.

 

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[fhs8]

I get them printed and dropshipping from Printful, therefore I'm out of control with shipping times, even though if I use another ecommerce software it be a little bit faster.

So your cost is how much? Why didn't you start printful? Wow they started in 2013 and look how good they're doing. Already hit millions of revenue in a year. Tons of slowlaners with small clothing websites place an order with them every couple of minutes.

In 2 weeks I will create pictures with real models, I could have more fake ones but I'll skip that.

You don't need pictures with models.

First off they are sweatshop free

Nobody cares. American Apparel filed chapter 11 recently.

, and design wise we will create new designs every week or so. So we will create as unique as possible t-shirts that keep improving.

The t-shirt designs suck imho. New designs? All the t-shirts basically look the same.

I know people who have "rounds" of clothes for a limited time, I could do something like that too.

Nobody is going to be interested enough to stick around waiting for your new round of clothes to come out.

I can't change the site. I see 1 thing is missing if you have a lower resolution laptop and on firefox you can't see the quantity, they just haven't tested it good lol.

There's a LOT more problems than that. It's on all resolutions. Here's a pic on IE.

Notice how the footer is showing but I've only scrolled down half way and also a missing shirt on the last row and first column? The website sucks big time. If Tictail only hired one competent person for one day they could fix all of this but no. There's also a "start a shop" bottom on the top right. So if your customers order from you they'll just go through Tictail next time and not you. It's like starting an Ebay shop to build a brand name. What a great idea.

 

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[Alxander]

After more than a year of pseudo entrepreneurship with apps etc (just trying things out lol);
I created my own clothing line and webshop in less then 7 days (with help from awesome services)

The brand is called 10AM and the website is www.10amapparel.com

Together with a friend of mine we create minimalistic-"polyscape" inspired clothing

Here is one create by myself with the picture photoshopped on a model

Already made a mistake on the launch of making the clothes 5 dollars instead of having a 5 dollar-off sale lol.

Haven't had any sales yet.

I created a post on reddit to focus on the community of people who like these types of designs.
Got a 2000 follower Instagram account where I'm now preparing stuff for, I'll do a giveaway on there to begin with.

Feedback/advice is highly appreciated!

I'll keep you guys updated

 

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[fhs8]

What is the expected COGS? What about CPA? Nobody is going to buy these shirts. The t-shirt design, product selection, checkout, website, product pricing, shipping times, and almost everything else is horrendous.

Look at the quantity under cart. See how I can't see the "1" because of the up/down arrows blocking it? That's just one example of why the website sucks.

How did you decide on product pricing? Why did you pick $25 instead of $20?

Do you see how there is a missing product on the 3rd column on the bottom? I've had these type of issues with my website and fixed everything in about 5 minutes because I was able to change things. It's so easy to fix. They are even using style=position: absolute; for the products! Total amateurs. You could probably fix it by making all your pictures the same dimensions though.

 

[luniac]

All that stuff is nice, but what's the story and who are you targeting?

Everyone has a nice t-shirt website, so you have to answer the questions nobody else does.

• What niche is this for?
• Who is that person specifically?
• What are they like?
• How do they think?
• What do they identify with?
• How do they want your shirts to make them feel?
• What story does your brand tell?
• What story does each shirt tell?

Regarding stories, I'm talking about the story told in terms of brand imagery as well as copy. There should be an unspoken story and a story told with words. Even those who like your designs won't buy them if there's nothing to connect with.

Shirt stores are a dime a dozen. It's no longer about creating viral designs or mass marketing. You have to target a micro-niche around the people who already want the experience you offer. Right now that experience isn't clear. Right now it's just shirts. I don't know who this is for.

Some people like to watch t.v. <---- These people don't buy t.v. shirts.

Some like to watch Star Trek. <---- These people buy anything Star Trek but they have lots of options.

Some like the Klingons <----- These people buy Klingon shirts any chance they get because Klingon shirts are hard to find, and they identify so much it's all they talk about, it's all they think about, they even learn the language. These people are a micro-niche tribe and they'll pay higher prices for a Klingon tshirt because it defines them. It forms their identity. It tells their story.

Define your niche. Define your customer. Define your brand. Define your story.

Why should they buy from you?

man this guy is good

 

[Argue]

Not hijacking this thread but @SinisterLex just dropped some 24K Gold info! Thank you! Congrats on your progress to the OP. Keep grinding.

 

[GuestUser4aMPs1]

As I discovered in my journey, building a website and building a brand are two different things.

A few years back getting a ecom site up and running was a major expense. But these days you can do it in a matter of hours.

You are competing with the other 1000 people who built a clothing ecom site this week.

Good luck on your journey.

I would suggest you start learn how to build your brand.

Agreed, the barrier of entry is significantly low.

Props, but Op's offering must be compelling enough for a LOT of people to buy. This is a volume game.
Of course, it's a fun experiment too

 

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[Alxander]

All that stuff is nice, but what's the story and who are you targeting?

Everyone has a nice t-shirt website, so you have to answer the questions nobody else does.

• What niche is this for?
• Who is that person specifically?
• What are they like?
• How do they think?
• What do they identify with?
• How do they want your shirts to make them feel?
• What story does your brand tell?
• What story does each shirt tell?

Regarding stories, I'm talking about the story told in terms of brand imagery as well as copy. There should be an unspoken story and a story told with words. Even those who like your designs won't buy them if there's nothing to connect with.

Shirt stores are a dime a dozen. It's no longer about creating viral designs or mass marketing. You have to target a micro-niche around the people who already want the experience you offer. Right now that experience isn't clear. Right now it's just shirts. I don't know who this is for.

Some people like to watch t.v. <---- These people don't buy t.v. shirts.

Some like to watch Star Trek. <---- These people buy anything Star Trek but they have lots of options.

Some like the Klingons <----- These people buy Klingon shirts any chance they get because Klingon shirts are hard to find, and they identify so much it's all they talk about, it's all they think about, they even learn the language. These people are a micro-niche tribe and they'll pay higher prices for a Klingon tshirt because it defines them. It forms their identity. It tells their story.

Define your niche. Define your customer. Define your brand. Define your story.

Why should they buy from you?

Appreciate the priceless guidance!

There is a Japanese proverb: "Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare."
Normally I'm on the daydream side, now I just jumped right in without thinking about what I'm doing haha

It all comes back to me personally, and I hope I can have people that resonate with me, that is my main goal.
These designs are about *how do i explain* showing nature, and showing yourself with that.
ALERT VAGUE LANGUAGE IS COMING UP
The idea with the stars came to my mind because after star-gazing and listening to Alan Watts, that I was actually looking into myself; the universe itself. I want to show nature while at the same time show small "human" aspects like geometric shapes and a minimalistic design. So when a person looks at the shirt in the mirror, I want him to understand that he is looking into himself, a part of the cosmos


So if I see another person walking with my shirt on, I don't want to think "he likes brand ...", but rather that he likes the beauty of nature!

I want it simple, significant & authentic . That's where the shirts are about.

Now where do I find those spiritual hippies like me and convey my message good to them? Guess I'll have to find out

Btw I update the site with my own wordpress server with WooCommerce, @fhs8 must be very delighted about it

 

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[Colin Panarra]

My own quick opinion on the website is that the background has a bit much going on especially for a minimalist t-shirt brand. The colors of the nebula clash with the prices especially. Maybe put them in a box like the "select options" button below.

That said I love the attitude, keep striving towards creating that brand identity!

 

[fhs8]

Nice to see Woocommerce. Now you need to remove the video background, add product categories, and fix/make a homepage just for starters. White is probably the best background for the T-shirts. I still don't think this will go anywhere near fastlane especially with the products and pricing. You're paying over retail for your t-shirts. $15 for each shirt? It should cost more like $1.

 

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[Ludachris]

Exactly.

Branded website, branded logo, branded products, you can put mugs, shirt's, hoodies with the designs, you name it, all dropshiped from the same company if you don't want to mix things up and keep the dropshipping method, something along the niche.

And you can even make your own community, with a FB page and/or Instagram as well.

In my opinion, that's the only way to make it work - you have to build communities that you can sell to. If you're just slanging shirts you can't really do it passively. You constantly have to come up with new designs. If you build a brand and a community around your brand you have a far better chance of making it more passive.

 

[Ilhan]

How do you go about getting your t-shirts made?

Also from a buyers perspective, what makes your t-shirts better than other ones?

also just a tip, try to get the t-shirts without bruises (if thats how it's called), they look kinda messy on the pics now

 

[Alxander]

So your cost is how much? Why didn't you start printful? Wow they started in 2013 and look how good they're doing. Already hit millions of revenue in a year. Tons of slowlaners with small clothing websites place an order with them every couple of minutes.



You don't need pictures with models.



Nobody cares. American Apparel filed chapter 11 recently.



The t-shirt designs suck imho. New designs? All the t-shirts basically look the same.



Nobody is going to be interested enough to stick around waiting for your new round of clothes to come out.



There's a LOT more problems than that. It's on all resolutions. Here's a pic on IE.

Notice how the footer is showing but I've only scrolled down half way and also a missing shirt on the last row and first column? The website sucks big time. If Tictail only hired one competent person for one day they could fix all of this but no. There's also a "start a shop" bottom on the top right. So if your customers order from you they'll just go through Tictail next time and not you. It's like starting an Ebay shop to build a brand name. What a great idea.

First off I and other people like them at least a few designs, we will remove the ugly ones. We will keep on creating these types of shirts, if it hits. These shirts aren't made for everyone.

This is like a side-side-hustle for me, I didn't intent to build something brand new, just something to do with still putting my own twist to it to make it unique and wanted.

The guy who does rounds of clothes is a youtuber and makes tons of money, it does work good in certain conditions.

But I will try WooCommerce, that one got live shipping rates what makes it cheaper too.

Right now it's about 15$ per printed shirt

 

[samuraijack]

All that stuff is nice, but what's the story and who are you targeting?

Everyone has a nice t-shirt website, so you have to answer the questions nobody else does.

• What niche is this for?
• Who is that person specifically?
• What are they like?
• How do they think?
• What do they identify with?
• How do they want your shirts to make them feel?
• What story does your brand tell?
• What story does each shirt tell?

Regarding stories, I'm talking about the story told in terms of brand imagery as well as copy. There should be an unspoken story and a story told with words. Even those who like your designs won't buy them if there's nothing to connect with.

Shirt stores are a dime a dozen. It's no longer about creating viral designs or mass marketing. You have to target a micro-niche around the people who already want the experience you offer. Right now that experience isn't clear. Right now it's just shirts. I don't know who this is for.

Some people like to watch t.v. <---- These people don't buy t.v. shirts.

Some like to watch Star Trek. <---- These people buy anything Star Trek but they have lots of options.

Some like the Klingons <----- These people buy Klingon shirts any chance they get because Klingon shirts are hard to find, and they identify so much it's all they talk about, it's all they think about, they even learn the language. These people are a micro-niche tribe and they'll pay higher prices for a Klingon tshirt because it defines them. It forms their identity. It tells their story.

Define your niche. Define your customer. Define your brand. Define your story.

Why should they buy from you?

Another one added to my bookmark collection

 

[Alxander]

Hey guys heres a quick update!

So was focusing on the branding and soul searching and get some "ground" before I can jump forward.

It's all based around minimalism and freedom, so I don't want to use a lot of words (in real life that's also true lol).
But I do think with the new site it's making some nice progress, visually wise for sure.

I also found people who really like the designs and resonate with it, one person asked to model in it, another person will post a shirt I traded with him so he will post it on a 6000 follower IG account.

But there weren't really people who we're hooked and wanted to buy all of the clothes because there was barely any traffic on the site anyway. (haven't focused on it, only SEO to begin with)
Our IG account @10amapparel • Instagram photos and videos has 2000 followers right now, and get 50 likes due to the inactivity it has before, so I'm also still starting from scratch social media wise.

I'll have to continue to discover, practise and learn.

 

[Under-Dog]

There's a lot going on with that background... I'd also probably include the shirt material in the description. Is it 100% cotton? Is it pre-shrunk? I sure take that into consideration before purchasing a t-shirt.

 

[LiveHappy]

What's the story on this logo? Reminds me of Grant Cardone.

 

[Alxander]

What's the story on this logo? Reminds me of Grant Cardone.

I was inspired by him
lol just kidding my friend (who also makes most designs) made it. We are still creating a symbol, had a clock that stands on 10:00 with the shape of a pyramid filled with stars. But the font is pure for aesthetics for now that will be added to the symbol later on maybe.

 

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[TheDillon__]

So your cost is how much? Why didn't you start printful? Wow they started in 2013 and look how good they're doing. Already hit millions of revenue in a year. Tons of slowlaners with small clothing websites place an order with them every couple of minutes.



You don't need pictures with models.



Nobody cares. American Apparel filed chapter 11 recently.



The t-shirt designs suck imho. New designs? All the t-shirts basically look the same.



Nobody is going to be interested enough to stick around waiting for your new round of clothes to come out.



There's a LOT more problems than that. It's on all resolutions. Here's a pic on IE.

Notice how the footer is showing but I've only scrolled down half way and also a missing shirt on the last row and first column? The website sucks big time. If Tictail only hired one competent person for one day they could fix all of this but no. There's also a "start a shop" bottom on the top right. So if your customers order from you they'll just go through Tictail next time and not you. It's like starting an Ebay shop to build a brand name. What a great idea.

OP - I was in the same boat you're in right now. My most recent attempt at a project was @WeAreCropNoire on instagram. (Now a dead project.)

I went through Printful and tried to use a lot of their patter on their site as selling points on my own.

It's definitely possible to make good money off of their service, however you give up two big keys of CENTS; Entry and Control. You and I both know that there's nothing special about what we do. You don't control shipping times, manufacturing costs, nada.

Rep+ for this post, wish I would've heard this one last year.

 

[Alxander]

Had a photo shoot with my friend and me as a model #resourcefulness
So I'm looking for a company that sells in the EU with a cheaper price, I see a lot of UK companies but if they go out of the EU it wouldn't be much better than the US I guess lol

 

[Alxander]

Thanks for the feedback, never have to be scared to hear the cold truth here lol.

How do you go about getting your t-shirts made?

Also from a buyers perspective, what makes your t-shirts better than other ones?

also just a tip, try to get the t-shirts without bruises (if thats how it's called), they look kinda messy on the pics now

I get them printed and dropshipping from Printful, therefore I'm out of control with shipping times, even though if I use another ecommerce software it be a little bit faster.

In 2 weeks I will create pictures with real models, I could have more fake ones but I'll skip that.

First off they are sweatshop free, and design wise we will create new designs every week or so. So we will create as unique as possible t-shirts that keep improving.
I know people who have "rounds" of clothes for a limited time, I could do something like that too.

What is the expected COGS? What about CPA? Nobody is going to buy these shirts. The t-shirt design, product selection, checkout, website, product pricing, shipping times, and almost everything else is horrendous.

Look at the quantity under cart. See how I can't see the "1" because of the up/down arrows blocking it? That's just one example of why the website sucks.

How did you decide on product pricing? Why did you pick $25 instead of $20?

Do you see how there is a missing product on the 3rd column on the bottom? I've had these type of issues with my website and fixed everything in about 5 minutes because I was able to change things. It's so easy to fix. They are even using style=position: absolute; for the products! Total amateurs. You could probably fix it by making all your pictures the same dimensions though.

I can't change the site. I see 1 thing is missing if you have a lower resolution laptop and on firefox you can't see the quantity, they just haven't tested it good lol.

And for the rest I defenitly have to think about that. Ty for the honesty

As I discovered in my journey, building a website and building a brand are two different things.

A few years back getting a ecom site up and running was a major expense. But these days you can do it in a matter of hours.

You are competing with the other 1000 people who built a clothing ecom site this week.

Good luck on your journey.

I would suggest you start learn how to build your brand.

Guess I have to think about some stuff now

 

[regilmour]

What material do you use? Where do you get the t shirts from? In my opinion, quality is the most important thing, then fit, then if I am happy with both the quality and fit, i consider the design.

Who is your target market?

 

[Javin]

Now where do I find those spiritual hippies like me and convey my message good to them? Guess I'll have to find out

So the rave scene?

 

[Alxander]

So the rave scene?

Lol could be, if they mainly do it for the experience and not for bad escapism.

My perfect costumer would be:

(I'm just a little serious)

I see myself being like that in 5+ years

So it could also be for those van-life people, you know a person who suddenly became aware of their situation in life and decided for a change.
I mean everyone could wear the shirts but not everyone would get it, I neither want to discriminate certain people


Check out the new site, it got an HTTPS certificate too 10AM Apparel – Simple Is Perfect

Changed the background to video, think this brings it a step closer to the brand image, now I just need to put them into words

 

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[LiveHappy]

I thinks its cool that you're taking action. Congrats on that. T-shirts look ok - I don't know about the sweaters with the narrowing in the wrists... I don't think the same person who likes the design on the t will like the long sleeve shirt. Besides that I'd heed @SinisterLex 's advise - excellent.

 

[Dsant]

All that stuff is nice, but what's the story and who are you targeting?

Everyone has a nice t-shirt website, so you have to answer the questions nobody else does.

• What niche is this for?
• Who is that person specifically?
• What are they like?
• How do they think?
• What do they identify with?
• How do they want your shirts to make them feel?
• What story does your brand tell?
• What story does each shirt tell?

Regarding stories, I'm talking about the story told in terms of brand imagery as well as copy. There should be an unspoken story and a story told with words. Even those who like your designs won't buy them if there's nothing to connect with.

Shirt stores are a dime a dozen. It's no longer about creating viral designs or mass marketing. You have to target a micro-niche around the people who already want the experience you offer. Right now that experience isn't clear. Right now it's just shirts. I don't know who this is for.

Some people like to watch t.v. <---- These people don't buy t.v. shirts.

Some like to watch Star Trek. <---- These people buy anything Star Trek but they have lots of options.

Some like the Klingons <----- These people buy Klingon shirts any chance they get because Klingon shirts are hard to find, and they identify so much it's all they talk about, it's all they think about, they even learn the language. These people are a micro-niche tribe and they'll pay higher prices for a Klingon tshirt because it defines them. It forms their identity. It tells their story.

Define your niche. Define your customer. Define your brand. Define your story.

Why should they buy from you?

This.
This is so important, you need to find a passionate niche, like cycling, cross fit etc.. something people love, and target them.
Make funny shirts inside the niche, something that people connect to.

For example lets say you go into the dog niche, and you choose pugs, if i saw and fb add where i saw a pug t-shirt and i had one, i would definitely check it out.
And you could use Instagram influencers like a pug page and pay them to put your shirt there.

What do you prefer? that 200 people come to your site and 1 buys a shirt
Or
50 people come to your site and 5 buy shirts?

If people connect to the your cause they will be taking out their wallet a lot faster than someone who thinks "eh it's cool" but they don't are willing to take 25$ to buy it.

And i recommend you watching the Justin Cener's Mastermind group, he does T-shirt dropshipping and has a lot of people following him, on his page with amazing results, he has a course, it's paid but from what i see there, it's worth it. But still you can get really good information for free there.

And why Printful? they have good quality but they're so expensive, you should check out Teelaunch, or custom cat you would have better margins and you could lower your price a bit.

 

[Dsant]

This is why Teespring campaigns were/are so profitable. Imagine having a niche website that has more than just shirts in a niche where the visitor not only likes the shirt but is drawn to your brand, identifies strongly with it, and wants to be a part of your community.

Exactly.

Branded website, branded logo, branded products, you can put mugs, shirt's, hoodies with the designs, you name it, all dropshiped from the same company if you don't want to mix things up and keep the dropshipping method, something along the niche.

And you can even make your own community, with a FB page and/or Instagram as well.