Impressions - Team & Active Wear - Fall 2019 - 12

Using CorelDRAW, an original template
can be customized by swapping out text
values, fonts, clipart and playing with
colors.

How do you set yourself apart in this competitive marketplace?
Graphics is the key.

All things considered equal, the company with
the best-looking graphics is going to win in
the marketplace. A T-shirt is a T-shirt. What
makes the T-shirt special is what's printed on
it. They key is creating graphics that trigger
an emotional connection. I still own nearly
every T-shirt from my high school track and
cross-country days. I have memories associated
with every one of these shirts. They don't fit
me now, but my daughters wear them because
apparently, it's cool to wear '80s retro apparel.
My point is, if you create memorable graphics, people will want to buy your products.
If your graphics are lame, no one is buying
from you. Our company, Digital Art Solutions,
specializes in creating stock graphics for apparel decoration. We did this because we knew
that the average self-taught decorators were
finding it difficult to compete with companies
boasting sophisticated graphics capabilities.
If you have invested in stock graphics,
then you have access to the creative abilities
of professional designers. You can produce
graphics at a much higher level than trying
to play graphic designer or forensically reconstructing designs your clients bring you
from one of the online T-shirt websites. You
look like a bigger deal than you are, and that
exactly is the reason people invest in stock
designs. You don't have to be a good designer,
just a good assembler.
It comes down to swapping text values,
changing fonts, swapping out clipart and play-

12 * Fall 2019

ing with colors in CorelDRAW or Adobe
Illustrator. I've always preached that a template is just a placeholder for a fresh idea. You
want to create graphics that are relevant to the
current graphic trends in the sports markets.
Young people want to wear what professional
athletes are wearing.
If you collaborate with clients on a graphic,
then they are likely to purchase from you.They
were part of the creative process and now
have a level of ownership over the idea. This
is why we teach our clients to engage with
their customers in the creative process. You
need to get your graphics in front of buyers.
While younger people are buying online,
most of us older folks still like to talk to a live
human being. I advocate a mixed approach to
buyer engagement, which involves boots on
the ground plus a strong social media presence
and leveraging online selling tools.

Let's take a look at all
three approaches.

Boots on the ground means humanto-human interaction. One of your best forms
of advertising is wearing your products around
your community. If you have kids on the local athletic teams, wear a spirit jersey you
produced. You'll be surprised at how many
people ask where you got it from. Bling apparel
gets a ton of attention. Be prepared to say, "I
made it myself, I have a local business that
produces customized apparel, my minimum
order is one."
Of course, you don't have to tell them the
price of a single unit. Hand them a business

card with a promotion code on the back for
a discount on their first order.
Another approach is dropping off flyers and
catalogs. Get on the school district's website
and gather the emails from the decision makers
for each sport or group. Send over a quick email
introducing yourself with a link to samples of
your work. Post photos of your work on your
Facebook fan page or your website. The key is
showing them something that is personalized
to their team or school.
If you have customizable templates, this
is a snap. Better yet, leave a sample. If you
have a production process like a vinyl cutter,
sublimation system or DTG printer, you easily
can make a single customized sample. This
is the best advertising money you can spend.
The key is making it easier for the decision
makers to buy.
When you look at the sports market, the biggest audience is the fans, not the players. The
kids on the team have mothers, fathers, sisters,
brothers, grandparents, aunts and uncles. The
fans are the bigger play with spiritwear. They
are the folks tapping into the enthusiasm and
support for the athlete. It doesn't matter if the
athlete is getting recruited for D1 athletics or
sitting on the bench, their family members
are going to be just as enthusiastic. Everyone
wants to look good and support their athlete.
You can use social media to exploit this.
Imagine sending a parent of an influencer a
free personalized T-shirt or spirit jersey and
having them post it on their Facebook page
or Instagram with a link to your website.
One of my clients has taken it a step further.
She hires a student "brand ambassador" to post

Impressions - Team & Active Wear - Fall 2019

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