We received great response to our Black Pearl Clothing interview back in July so we’re bringing you another one. In this interview we’ve reached out to another Twitter connection ShirtLaunch. You can follow them by clicking here: @shirtlaunch
ShirtLaunch.com is a pretty cool website. It’s a place where you can go and register the launch of your clothing company – announcing it to the world. It’s a place to increase exposure and coupled with other social media marketing methods, it’s a great part in the plan of getting the word out. For this interview we had the opportunity to speak with Adam from ShirtLaunch.com You’ll learn a little more about Adam from the interview, he’s a new entrepreneur (shameless plug later) and a successful marketer as evidenced by his following most notably with his Iamthetrend.com project.
Hopefully throughout the interview you’ll pick up little nuggets of inspiration and advice. We tried to pry all of the info we could from Adam, ranging from tips for start ups to his experience with one of the most successful t-shirt brands Johnny Cupcakes. I hope you enjoy the interview as much as I did…here we go -
Josh: Tell us a little bit about ShirtLaunch.com, Who is behind it, what is
the mission and how does it work*?
Adam: Shirtlaunch.com is the world’s first interactive release calendar for
clothing companies! The original concept was thought of by myself (Adam
from iamthetrend.com) and then I took it to a good buddy, Zach from Blue
Tide Productions. He is actually the person who designed
Iamthetrend.com for me as well. Since designing that site Zach and I
have formed a really good relationship, so when I came up with the
concept of Shirtlaunch.com I pitched to him and we decided to form a
partnership!
The basic mission behind Shirtlaunch.com is to shed some light on new
clothing companies and give them a place to hype their launch before it
comes out. The way it works is we allow clothing companies to submit
their profiles complete with a 300 or less word description and up to 4
sneak peaks of the upcoming line. Visitors to the site can leave
comments, share what they find with friends and “hype” or vote for their
favorite companies.
The brand that gets the most “hype” or votes then gets a full-feature
and write up on the front page of Shirtlaunch.com for the entire
following month!
Brand featured on ShirtLaunch.com, 11:11 Apparel
Josh: I love the idea, so what else makes SL.com different than all of the other t-shirt sites on the
web?
Adam: Well Shirtlaunch.com is the only interactive release calendar on the web
right now. It is a great addition or alternative to the standard t-shirt
blog because it provides a very simple and straightforward way of
checking out clothing lines that have not yet been released.
J: How does someone get their brand featured on SL.com? Does it have to be
a new brand or can it be one that already exists?
A: Submitting your “launch” to the site is extremely easy. Just visit
Shirtlaunch.com and click submit your launch. There is a quick and easy
form to fill out. Once that is sent in we go over the details to make
sure everything is good to go and then we post it! We accept ANY
clothing lines or brands, new or old, big or small! We only ask that
companies only submit their site or line before they have released the
new threads.
Cure Apparel on ShirtLaunch
J: OK, so what brands have stood out so far to you or your readers and why?
A: I have actually been really surprised and impressed with the amount of
clothing companies that have already submitted themselves. We basically
launched in the beginning of August and already have over 20 different
companies participating! (editors note: much more now)
It’s hard to pick favorites but in August there was an absolute battle going
on between Redemption Brand and Lab Candy, both of the brands have
been busting their butts to get their fans to vote for them so they can
be next months featured brand. Things have definitely gotten heated in
the comments sections over there. While we encourage healthy competition
between brands we definitely are trying to promote a healthy and
positive atmosphere.
August Winner - Redemption Brand
J: I noticed this is a sister site of iamthetrend.com, from the work on
IATT and now on SL.com you have experience with clothing lines of all
types so I’d like to get some advice for our readers. For your
reference, some of our readers have their own clothing lines already and
some may decorate for clothing lines or for general group orders, and of
course we have aspiring entrepreneurs.
A: It has definitely been quite an experience running both IATT and now
Shirtlaunch.com. Everyday I come across new clothing lines and brands
that have really given me a lot of insight into what works and what does
not work when launching and running a brand. I actually have started a
small web series on my youtube channel www.youtube.com/iamthetrendtv to show off some companies that
are going above and beyond with their brand. From videos dealing with
shirt packaging, custom labels, knowing your customers and even printing
there is some pretty useful information over there for brands.
My biggest piece of advice is do not cut corners! Taking your time and
planning your release and brand are absolutely crucial. The shirt
companies that I see with the most success are brands that have
identified a specific target market and are attacking that market. It’s
extremely hard to be everything to all people, but if you can identify a
specific market or group of people I really think your chances of
success greatly increase.
J: What value do you see in following Shirtlaunch.com for the actual
garment decorator?
A: I see Shirtlaunch.com as a great tool for designers and up coming
clothing companies to be able to easily check out what other brands are
doing. Not to say you should copy anyone, but it’s a great resource to
get some inspiration and keeping an eye on your competition.
J: Is there anything you can share with garment decorators about getting
into the printing scene for new t-shirt lines? Where can they start?
A: Picking a quality printer is huge deal. Not all printers are created
equal when it comes to quality, so make sure to ask around to peers to
get information. There are several different printing styles and things
you should look for when getting prints done, far to many to discuss
here. But I actually am in the process of editing together a video that
I did at Storenvy about the printing process that answers some FAQ.
(shameless plug!) Speaking of Storenvy over the past couple months I
have actually teamed up with them to become an outside sales rep! So if
anyone is interested in getting some prices or needs a quote feel free
to email me at: adam@storenvy.com <mailto:adam@storenvy.com> and make
sure to check www.storenvy.com/printing
<http://www.storenvy.com/printing> (end shameless plug ; )
J: Now for the shirt brand preparing to launch – what tips would you give
them to stand out on shirtlaunch.com and in the marketplace in general?
A: As far as preparing your images for Shirtlaunch.com, I really think the
best way to do it, is to split your four images in half. Show a couple
previews that do not show the entire design and then show a couple
designs that show the entire thing. This way you build up a little
mystery around the launch without giving away all your secrets, but also
allow people to get a feel for what you are about.
J: Any other info you’d like to share? Do you have any other ‘irons in the fire’ so to speak?
A: Well on a completely non t-shirt related note I am launching my first
company called I Will Pong You! I really don’t want to give away too
many details but if you are into beer pong you should take a second to
visit www.pongdeck.com <http://www.pongdeck.com/> and sign up for the
mailing list. Zach from Blue Tide Productions is once again helping out
with my website and Mike Gaboury of Cherry Sauce Clothing has done all
the illustrations for the products! We hope to launch in late September,
and yes Beer Pong will never be the same!
J: Wow, you sound like a busy guy… I just have one more question. I’ve been following IATT
for awhile now…. you did an interview with Johnny Cupcakes, a very
cool t-shirt brand with a great story. It’s always great to interact
with successful people who have drive, it’s almost contagious. Can you
share anything from your interaction that may have inspired you?
A: Absolutely! So I had been trying for quite sometime to get that
interview setup with Johnny and his marketing people. I knew that he was
coming to town for his cross country tour and figured it would be a
perfect time for the interview. After several attempts at getting it
setup nothing really seemed to be panning out. So I figured I would just
go down there anyways take some footage and try and get him to give me a
few minutes of his time so I started heading down.
About into my ride to Chicago I get a blocked call on my cell phone.
Usually blocked calls are some sort of spam calling and I usually let
them go to voicemail, but for some reason I decided to pick this one up,
and it was Johnny himself asking if I still wanted to interview him! It
was at that point that I realized how down to earth and in touch he was.
He proved this even further throughout the night. With literally
hundreds of fans lining up outside I assumed he would be sitting behind
a table while the line passed in front of him taking only a few seconds
with each person. That could have not been further from the truth. First
off there was not table between him and his fans, he literally stood the
entire 6 hours people were there and interacted with each and every
person that came to see him. Johnny really showed me what it is to live
and love what you do, which was a HUGE inspiration for me and should be
for all others as well.
J: Adam, thanks so much for your time and insight..I know I’ll be checking Shirtlaunch.com to see what’s new and fresh!!!
Readers, please leave your comments below on the interview and for Adam & Zach. Also, and most importantly check them out over at ShirtLaunch.com
