Tired of buying Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, or even Nike? Want to give your own brand a shot? It can be done and its not as expensive as you think. I started my own private label gift line for less than $500 ten years ago
Why do so many people "chicken out" when it comes to launching their own brand? I know I did for many years. It as out of fear of failure. Now I know better.
Information on branding used to be a very well-kept secret. After the Internet was founded, the cat was let out of the bag.
Depending on your style, you might want to start small, buy some lables with pretty graphics and your name, and bottle or serve to your heart's desire in your own community. You may want to outsource it all to a manufacturer. You may think that is expensive. It is if you pay outright. it is not if you "make a deal" to split the keep. You better have a good idea to pitch that. And you want know how good until you pitch it. I had to pitch to almost 200 of them before one said yes. And it was a big fish.
Cartoons and humor were always my forte'. When I started Londons Times Cartoons I had acquiesced to the fact that I would be a middle class creative semi-starving artist marketing to trade publications. And that is excactly how it started ten years ago. Now I sell over 100,000 cartoon humor products from clocks to aprons in 7 different highly-ranked e-stores..
So I found another company called Printfection that offers digitally produced items. No affiliate program yet, and not the huge variety of Cafepress, but the quality was what I was after. I would rather sell a thousand quality tees, jerseys, sweats coasters, aprons, etc. than 10,000 of the same in which the image fades, or fabric tears etc. I have gone through that experience with a number of firms. It is a live and learn process. I have used about six and Printfection (even with its flaws comes out ahead).
There is more than one way to skin a cat. Though I wanted my Rick London label on everything, I was not a trust fund baby. And like many entrepreneurs, my dreams were a bit larger than my pocketbook, but I still felt I had the right to dictate quality control. So until Cafe Press got their act together, which admittedly they finally did, I began using a Denver print-on-demand named Printfection to launch several niche stores including RickLondonwear . It turned out to be a good idea.
Another incentive to purchase the product, and it is a big one, is that I decided to offer engraving on the cups with the senders company name and URL for only $2 instead of the $10-20 that it often costs. This makes for a most unique and personal corporate gift for several reasons. The first is, one has to ask oneself, what is one of the first thing someone sees when they wake up in the morning (besides the irritating alarm clock)? Their favorite coffee cup. And trust me, with the right artwork or cartoon, it soon becomes a favorite.
So when they are looking at their favorite coffee cup with a cartoon that makes them laugh, they are also looking at your company name and URL. They are generally in a good mood while seeing your gift. So you are giving both a gift and "a good attitude" towards buying from you, first thing in the morning. It prioritizes things. Sounds a bit Machiavellian but it is not. It is simple basic business that makes sense.
This may sound a bit manipulative, and I agree, in a way it is. But it is also providing a product and service that people want, and an ideal way for a company to personally get their name to the right party. And it works and it works very well (is the feedback we get).
If you have not noticed we live in the information age and the Internet has made all information available to everyone, you've been out on a limb. Take advantage. All the information is there. All you need do is utilize it. If not for the Internet, there would be no Londons Times Cartoons, RickLondonwear, LTSuperstore, RickLondonCollection or many of the smaller niche stores I have opened, all branded under my name. You really can do it with a little effort.
Article Source: http://www.orbitaloc.com/
Sassy cartoonist e-tailer Rick London has added yet another unique gift comic collectible store to his repertoire of offbeat funny gift and apparel store, Rick London Collection product reviews and
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