How to Screen Print A T-Shirt

To understand the time and care that is taken into each silk screen printed job, we thought it would be helpful to show you what happens each time we have a job to print.
The first step is you sending us your artwork when you place your order through our PrintMojo system.

Once we have the artwork, it gets sent to our art department for processing.
They take a look at your printing instructions and come up with a composite proof for you so you can see what your design will look like on the t-shirts (or hats, sweatshirts, baby doll tees or other garments).
Our proofs will show you the ink colors to be used on your order, the print size dimensions for your artwork, and it will confirm the specific print locations you have instructed us to print.

At this time, you can instruct the art department to make any changes you see fit. If you'd like different ink colors used in your design, just let us know. If you'd like it to be printed smaller, just let us know.
We don't print your job until you are thrilled with your proof and you have specifically approved it for printing. We'll work with you until you are 100% satisfied with your design!
After the art has been approved, we need to output the film that we use to make the screens.

Turning out the lights:

All of the art is then pre-registered and checked for detail and quality:

Once the art is completely approved in-house we send the job to our screen dept.

The first step in the screen department is to coat the screens with a photosensitive emulsion

Next, the screen dries, and it is placed on the vacuum light table and exposed with a 3000 watt metal halide light.

      

The Final Touches:

After being exposed the screens are then washed out with a pressure washer at around 1300 psi.
Once the image is washed out, it is double checked with the films for accuracy.




The Actual Printing Process:

Each color in the design needs a screen and each screen must be blocked, taped, setup, and squeegeed.

Just imagine if we had to do this each time a t-shirt was ordered. You can see why screen printing was designed to print quality garments in bulk quantities.

For smaller runs, we may use one of our manual presses. For larger runs with more colors, we use our 8 head automatic press.

By "flashing" or drying the ink between each color layer, we are able to give you bright, professional quality printing, with years of wear and tear :-)

Blocking	Tape
Setup	Print

There you have it. Most ALL other companies charge for this process.

Must now these things before start a T-Shirts Business

If you have a idea to start a t shirts business, you should know about these things.

 

1. Research.

Make sure you’re knowledgeable about the clothing industry before you dive in. Get an understanding of how the business works. Read about how other brands became successful, and model a similar strategy.

2. Planning.

Before you get started, have a clear idea of what you plan on doing. Try to decide things like what kind of t-shirts you plan on selling, who your target market is, whether your t-shirts will be available online only or if you’ll eventually be aiming to sell in stores. Plan a marketing strategy that involves both free and paid advertising methods of getting your brand in front of your target market. Compose a practical business plan to use as a guideline for operating. For starters, identify your brand’s values, mission, objectives, strategies, goals, and long term vision.

3. Know about your competition and learn about it.

You should always know what other clothing labels you’ll be competing with. If you’re starting a label based on humorous t-shirts you should watch what all the other funny t-shirt labels are doing. Keep track of things like their design variety, pricing, and promotion, because it may spur some new ideas for your own business strategy. This can be done easily nowadays by reading the blogs of competitor brands and signing up to their newsletters to keep tabs on what they’re up to. This knowledge can help you keep up.

4. Create products people would actually interesting to buy.

It seems this step should be obvious, but you’d be surprised at some of the t-shirts you can find these days. Test the quality of your t-shirts by getting honest opinions from others, preferably people who are within your target audience.

5. Know the finances.

Once you know what you plan on doing, get an idea of how much everything is gonna cost you. When you start producing and selling t-shirts, keep track of all of your expenses. Get screen printing quotes from several  printers and compare prices to get the best deal, without sacrificing quality. Add in the cost for labeling, hang tagging, bagging, or whatever other finishing options you might use. Don’t forget the shipping envelopes, boxes, and product storage. Don’t be fooled by the hundreds of new t-shirt start-ups you see these days; starting a t-shirt business isn’t cheap. A lot of this should also help you decide how much you should charge for your clothing.

6. Promotion strategy.

Figure out a way to spread the word in a manner that those who discover your brand go on to spread the word to others. For starters, your strategy can include PPC ads, press releases to blogs, and social networking. You can even give away t-shirts with your logo for free. Using guerrilla tactics and promotional items like this can have a tremendous impact on your business growth. However, don’t be a Cheapo. Sooner or later you’ll realize that you’re gonna have to spend money to market your t-shirt business, so you should be willing to pay for things like online ads, event sponsorships, and other paid marketing methods. Understandably not everyone is rollin’ in the dough, so find smart ways to balance paid promotion with free promotion to create an excellent strategy.

7. Find some partners.

You might start out on your own but you should find partners to help maximize your brand’s potential and help you reach your goals more efficiently. Aim to have partners within your company while also collaborating with other businesses that may be of some help to you.

8. Make your goals.

How many t-shirts do you plan on selling this year? How about this month or this week? Alot of people new to the business have no idea, or just don’t care. Then there’s the group of people who are too scared to set a  goal out of fear that they won’t reach it. A successful business sets goals of success, in order to have a solid idea of what it’s working towards. Set a goal and believe in your ability to reach it. As the law of attraction goes: if you know you’re gonna reach it, you’re gonna reach it. If you decide from this day forward that you will sell 10 t-shirts every week, and strongly believe in your business, you’ll do everything you can to figure out a way to get those tees moving. If you don’t set a goal, well of course, you’ll be stuck with a box of t-shirts you were too scared to sell.

9. Consider how you compare to the competition and emphasize your competitive edge.

That’s a good way to get you nowhere. Try to figure out ways of improving your designs, your strategy or your work habits. When you’re just getting started you’re still learning so keep at it. Winners never quit and quitters never win. Read informative, motivational books, to keep your spirits up. Frequently visit other brand’s websites and blogs, and see how much fun they’re having, to remind yourself of where you wanna be in a few years and how bad you really want it. Reanalyze your business plan, promotional efforts, and branding strategy. Consider how you compare to the competition and emphasize your competitive edge. 

10. Have fun.

How To Promote Your T-Shirts Designs

Selling T-Shirts is not so easy.Before you are going to sell your t shirts, you have to promote your brand and t shirts in some ways.This post about how to promote your t shirts brand offline.

1. Business Cards

 

This is the most important thing to have when running a t shirt design business. As a clothing line owner you need to network like crazy and the one thing people always ask for is a business card. If you are caught without one there i a good chance you will not be taking seriously and you could miss out on a big opportunity. You might even find every day people asking you where they can get your tees and handing them a business card with your website url is a great way to ensure nabbing a new customer.

So the first thing any t shirt business owner should get is some Spiffy New Business Cards with your logo, website url and contact details on each card.

2. Flyers

Flyers are a great way to promote sales to your customers via standard mail and also at events. Their are plenty of holidays during the year shoppers associate with sales and these are all Great Times for Flyer Printing and mailing to past and potential new customers promoting sales, contests and more. Start building up your mailing lists today and keep a stack of flyers handy at any t shirt events you attend.

3. Stickers

People enjoy supporting brands they love and stickers are a great way to create a guerrilla marketing team out of your loyal customers. You can throw a few free stickers in with each order, give them away at events, or stick them around town yourself! When you Order Your Sticker Printing, make sure your logo and website url are on the stickers so people know where to go when they run across your brands stickers.

4. Hang Tags

Hang tags are a kick butt way of reinforcing your brand name on your actual products. Many clothing line owners create Custom Clothing Hang Tags with their logo on them and attach them to each t shirt. This is a cheap way to help people remember your brand name and it is also a good spot to place pricing tags without damaging your t shirts. You can order several hundred hag tags for cheap and there are a bunch of easy ways  to attach them to your tees quickly.

5. Vinyl Banners

Going to concerts, trade shows and other events is an important thing for any t shirt business owner to do. Many brands spend a lot of time traveling and attending events to promote their t shirts to a specific target audience. If you can find the right audience for your tees at events you can sell tons of tee designs in just one day. Usually you pay for a spot to set up a booth and then its up to you to draw people in.

I have seen t-shirt business owners create very impressive setups to promote and display their tees. Putting up a Big Vinyl Banner is a very good way to draw people in and the banner is something you can keep using over at any events you go to.

6. Letterhead

A good letterhead design can be used for a lot of things such as standard letters, contracts, estimates, invoices and so on. Its a simple way to make your business appear more professional and keep your branding consistent across all your business and marketing collateral. A Good Letterhead Printing design should not be too overpowering, but should include your logo design, design elements that work with your branding and important contact information such as your website url, email and phone number.

7. Greeting Cards

The perfect holiday promotional tool, greeting cards can work wonders for bringing in extra sales during the holidays. Greeting Card Printing is also a really nice way to just say thank you to your customers. You don’t always have to pitch a sale or offer with a greeting card. A simple seasons greetings form your clothing line with your logo and website url is enough to get people back to your website when they are trying to think of ideas for gifts.

8. Catalogs

Catalogs are perfect for trade shows and handing out to retail stores interested in selling your tees. It allows people to quickly see all the designs you have in stock and can help them order products offline. If you have a ton of products you can even invest in Catalog Printing and allow people to order a printed catalogs online. You should also carry a small stack of catalogs to events in case any potential retailers like your line and want to take back some samples and a catalog of your products for review.

9. Roll Labels

If you can’t afford expensive custom packaging for your tee designs, but you still want to make an impact you can use Custom Roll Labels. The roll labels can be printed at various custom sizes and placed on standard envelopes and boxes to give them a sweet custom look that is consistent with your branding. Roll labels can make all the difference when it comes to packaging design. They are super easy to have made and only take seconds to place on your product packaging.

10. Sales Sheet

There comes a time for many t shirt business owners when expansion is needed. There is nothing cooler than seeing your t shirt designs in clothing stores and making great money at the same time. In order to get your t shirt designs into stores, you usually need to pitch your line to a retail business that sells tees. Having a Professional Looking Sales Sheet is a super simple way to let a retailers know everything about your clothing line and individual designs such as what your tees look like, how they are printed and who your target audience is.

How To Sell Your T-Shirts Through Social Networks

Some of the most visited sites daily on the internet are various social networks. The largest demographic of these sites are the people who purchase the most tee shirts of any other group. There are many tee shirt brands that have launched to success with just a small beginning presence on a social network.

Depending on which network your strategy will differ according to their individual policies. Some networks allow open promotion of your product while others don’t. You can bring in external content to build up your profile on some networks but not others. They all have their own methods of keeping in touch with other people, whether it is through profiles, messaging or a blogging platform. It is impossible to provide a run down on just one way to use all social networking sites. Of course, you can build from a simple starting place that most incorporate:

Set up a profile with information about your brand and develop an authentic personality for the specific social network,

Search out and contact friends and associates you already know who are members of the network.

Explore their friends lists and look for others you may already have in common and invite those people to join you.

Get involved in the networking and keep your profile updated and fresh with new content. Add photos, videos and do blog postings.

Stay active, visit daily to answer any inquiries or requests and put in the effort to make new friends.

Join groups and make comments using a signature line to link back to your website

Network with as many people as you can and identify major players to connect with. Use the site’s tools to search for others who fit into your target market and make contact with them.

Check out any applications or features of the network that can be used for building more contacts and marketing your brand.

Develop strategies to funnel your friends and contacts to your blog or website if you are not allowed to openly market.

Even though social networking is a fancy term, exactly like in real life it’s still all about making friends and influencing people. There is a continually growing number of social networks. Myspace and Facebook may be the largest, other sites can also bring more sales for your brand like Bebo, Friendster, Hi5 and Orkut to name a few. There are also thousands of smaller sites that appeal to different niches and are also worth exploring if your shirt designs target those interests. One example would be if you sold t-shirts targeted towards dog owners then Dogster or Pawspot could be a good place to start a presence.

One of the ways to build a successful network is to constantly stay in touch with people. As your network grows, this task will become harder and harder to do if you belong to a number of social networks. This is where Twitter.com comes in. You can update your contacts and friends on a multiple number of social networking sites about your every activity if you want.

People have used Twitter at times when they were getting fired or laid off, giving minute by minute details of what was happening, and by the power of social networking had a job again or offers almost immediately. How can this happen? The people on the social networking sites found a persons story so compelling it caught the attention of others who wanted to help. Twitter has a way of engaging people with a constant stream of by the minute news, which many find intriguing and compelling.

Successfully using social networks to sell t-shirts isn’t instant and will not happen overnight. If you start now in building your presence, before you know it, you can have viable marketing channels hitting the right demographics that will produce sales for your shirts.

The more time you spend and explore each site, the more successful strategies you will come across that people have used to develop a strong presence. As with everything else you do to increase your tee shirt sales, always be sure to cross link all of your efforts to create a vortex that will eventually pull in customers and make sales.

HOW TO FOLD A T-SHIRT

Okay, so you’ve been folding t-shirts for years now and you’re probably thinking “I KNOW how to fold a t-shirt!” If you’re like most people you probably have your own way of folding a t-shirt, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But most likely you were never taught how to fold one, so maybe you’re doing it too slow or too sloppy or just flat out wrong. We hunted down some of the best t-shirt folding guides to help hone your t-shirt folding skills. This is the definitive guide of t-shirt folding, courtesy of Fold-Your-Shirt.com and YouTube. Take notes.

       

10 Tips For Run Your T-Shirts Business Successfully

If you are you running your t-shirt company and want to increase your sales? Drive more traffic to your website? Sell your shirts to stores? Then read on about 10 tips for setting up and running a successful shirt company.

1.    Come up with a marketable idea

After you’ve decided that you want to start you own t-shirt business, start brainstorming about possible ideas for your t-shirts. Write down as many ideas as you can. Some things to think about are: do you want text shirts or graphic shirts or both? Do you want to make shirts for women, men, babies? What is hot right now and what is everyone wearing? Do you want color shirts, or mostly black or white shirts? The more questions you ask yourself, the more ideas you will come up with during your brainstorming session.

2.    Determine your target market

After you’ve brainstormed your ideas, it’s time to start thinking about your target market. Who do you want to sell your t-shirts to? Be as specific as possible. “Women between the ages of 18-45” is not a specific target market. You must dig deeper and find your niche. Some examples of target markets are skateboarders, women who have toddler children, grandmas or grandpas, Las Vegas tourists between the ages of 25-45, men who play golf, etc. The possibilities are endless and the more specific you can get with your niche market, the easier it will be to sell your shirts and come up with specific marketing plans.

3.    Set up your business structure

Most t-shirt entrepreneurs start out as a sole proprietor, but as their company and sales grow, they change their company structure to an LLC, LLP or corporation. Think about how big you want your business to be and then consult with a business or legal professional on what the ideal business structure would be for you. Another thing you might want to consider is what type of sales you want to focus on – retail (selling directly to consumers), wholesale (selling to other stores) or both. This might help you decide what business structure is best for you.

4.    Manufacturing your t-shirts

Many t-shirt entrepreneurs start out by purchasing t-shirt ‘blanks’ from other manufacturers. This allows them to offer a variety of sizes, colors and styles, but keep costs to a minimum. Many t-shirt blank manufacturers have really low minimums, so you can test a few different styles to see what will sell best for your niche market. Another option is to have a t-shirt manufacturer make shirts according to your specifications, but they often require you to purchase thousands of shirts at a time, which might not be feasible when you first start your shirt business. If you search for “shirt blanks” or “shirt manufacturers” you will be able to find a plethora of resources online.

5.    Printing your t-shirts

Some people get in the t-shirt business because they love to screenprint and they have all the necessary equipment to print their own t-shirts. If that’s not you, then search the Internet for screenprinters in your local area and meet with them to discuss your needs. Don’t be afraid to interview a few screenprinters and work with the one who is a good fit for you.

6.    Pricing your t-shirts

The price of your t-shirts depends on what it costs you to make each t-shirt. When calculating the price, make sure to include the actual price of the shirt, screenprinting costs, shipping costs, costs of hangtags and labels and other costs such as marketing, storage/warehousing and labor. Also consider if you plan on selling retail or wholesale or both. If you are not selling your shirts to other stores or boutiques, then you might be able to price them lower since you are cutting out the middleman. Set a price that allows you to cover all the costs and make a profit as well. And don’t be afraid to price your shirts higher if your costs justify it.

7.    Storing and shipping your t-shirts

Many shirt entrepreneurs start out by storing their shirts in their garage, basement or home office in bins or on shelves. Think about how much time and space you have and what you want to focus your efforts on. Do you enjoy packing and shipping and do you have the time to do it? If so, starting in your home is a good idea. But if you hate the idea of going to the post office every day or if you don’t have space in your house to store your shirts, then consider hiring a fulfillment house, which will do all the storage, packing and shipping for you for a fee.

8.    Selling your t-shirts retail

If you want to sell your shirts directly to the consumer, it’s probably a good idea to set up your own website and print some postcards so you can promote your t-shirt business. Allow people to purchase items directly from your website and make sure you have good photography that reflects the quality of your t-shirts. You might also want to consider selling your shirts at local events such as flea markets or street fairs or fundraising events.

9.    Selling your t-shirts wholesale

You can also sell your shirts to other stores that target your niche market. These can include local boutiques, gift stores, t-shirt shops and even larger retail chain stores. You can call the store directly and ask to speak to the buyer. Many stores like supporting businesses in their area, so it’s best to start out with stores in your town or city first.

10.    Marketing and promoting your t-shirts online and offline

Just because you have a website doesn’t mean that swarms of people will know about it or even find it online. It’s best to work with your web designer to make your website search engine friendly so people can easily find you. Contact other businesses and ask to exchange links, post comments on other people’s blogs (with a link back to your online store) and partner with websites that target your niche market but don’t compete with you.

And lastly, wear your t-shirts as often as you can! This is often of the best and most effective method to get your shirts seen. Tell everybody you know about your new business venture and ask them to tell their friends. Word of mouth is very powerful.