How we are going to advertise ApplianceJunk.com offline.

[Jade Elizabeth]

Jade,

Are you selling the shirts, giving them away or both?

I started a "giveaway" with our shirts.

ApplianceJunk Shirt (Short) Giveaway: 01/01/10 - 01/07/10

Sadly I only got one. If I had a job you have NO IDEA how much ****** I would buy [but it would actually help us, and I would use them in competitions and stuff]. I'll be getting some for sale, some air brushed ones. They will be expensive but that's what happens when you get an expensive shirt made lol. I'm going to get 3 all up, one with each of our bunnies, and let the competition winner choose one and the other two will be on sale for $49 I expect. They're going to cost me $30 as it is.

If I were to sell this one, it costs me about $14 per shirt (unless I can miraculously afford 12 in which case it's $12 a shirt) so I'd probably sell it for anywhere between $16-25. I want it to be cheaper than those $18 shirts you find online lol....so I can compete effectively.



I'm going to get me some more business cards and sell them for like $1 per 50 or 100. Can't decide yet. I gave some out before and I send them with competition prizes .



What's cafe press like? Do you have to pay anything? I am REALLY REALLY not getting any money. I am literally like a hobo....but I like what I hear and want to know....cause I want to start getting products out there with our name on them. I'm about to do a campaign asking for $1 donations. If 50 people donate $1 or more I can get the system I need to finish the new design. I'll have enough to fill in the gap with my Christmas money if I don't go buy those air brushed shirts. I'll probably be lucky to have 5 people donate though .

I gotta go find some odd jobs to do for people or something.

[Cassiel]

Check it out for yourself. =)

www.cafepress.com

I haven't really tried to make any shirts yet since i haven't really had the need, but i heard the process is really easy, it's just kind of limited. Not sure about the price though.

Best of luck with BRS! =D

[Jade Elizabeth]

I tried it out but it's being a REAL b**ch to me. Wants me to remake every bloody image at 2000px which means I have to scale and recolour all my bunnies....and then I have to add text into the image and the allowed print area doesnt exactly GIVE much space for text .

I seriously prefer printfection, which is where I got my shirt from:
http://www.bunnyrabbitsex.com/index.php?topic=1518.0

Thanks Cassiel. Also you have a PM from me on there .

[Uhura!]

This is great - the flyers, cards, even the ATM card. Good luck!

[Uhura!]

Sigh, spammer.

Wait - I just saw this mess.

I KNOW you weren't talking about me.

I checked the "links" you posted looking for pens and business cards for my site.

I WASTED about an hour and came right back to VistaPrint.

And NO I don't work for them. I just don't want to buy 8000 pens. 

The message was probably removed....but you dont need to reply 6 times....just enter a few lines and quote the next part you want to talk about...

I replied six times did I?

Um...yeah OK.

[Jade Elizabeth]

Please don't hate me because a post was removed .

[Uhura!]

I have no idea what you're talking about.

I did not see the original spammer's post & so I thought that because I said Vista Print was better - someone was saying I was spamming on behalf of Vista Print.

Looks like an e-misunderstanding. So, let's drop the condescension & snide remarks.

[Cassiel]

I tried it out but it's being a REAL b**ch to me. Wants me to remake every bloody image at 2000px which means I have to scale and recolour all my bunnies....and then I have to add text into the image and the allowed print area doesnt exactly GIVE much space for text .

I seriously prefer printfection, which is where I got my shirt from:
http://www.bunnyrabbitsex.com/index.php?topic=1518.0

Thanks Cassiel. Also you have a PM from me on there .

I think someone might have told me about Printfection. It sounds really familiar. Is it any good?

And sure. I'll check it out when I get free time from my little secret project.

[Jade Elizabeth]

I have no idea what you're talking about.

I did not see the original spammer's post & so I thought that because I said Vista Print was better - someone was saying I was spamming on behalf of Vista Print.

Looks like an e-misunderstanding. So, let's drop the condescension & snide remarks.

I wasnt making any snide remarks or anything like that at all . I use Vistaprint myself, I have heaps of stuff from them.... I just wanted you to understand I didnt think you were a spammer, that message was directed at a post that was deleted .

I tried it out but it's being a REAL b**ch to me. Wants me to remake every bloody image at 2000px which means I have to scale and recolour all my bunnies....and then I have to add text into the image and the allowed print area doesnt exactly GIVE much space for text .

I seriously prefer printfection, which is where I got my shirt from:
http://www.bunnyrabbitsex.com/index.php?topic=1518.0

Thanks Cassiel. Also you have a PM from me on there .

I think someone might have told me about Printfection. It sounds really familiar. Is it any good?

And sure. I'll check it out when I get free time from my little secret project.

Well the shirt I have has a rip under the arm and the colouring is a little off....but it seems okay . I messaged their Twitter and they ignored me so I'm going to send an email asking why my design came out so dark and I have rips. That's not cool to ignore me on Twitter .

[Cassiel]

Just a comment about using Shirts in general: I think it's better not to have white shirts. I don't find them ugly or anything, but it's better to use other colors. Reason being is that they get too dirty, and because white shirts just seem like you took an image and used an ironing board to put it on.

Other colors tend to last longer because you can't see the dirt on it as much. So people have more of a reason to wear it for longer.

Also, for community shirts you usually see other colors besides White used for the shirt. Like for Team shirts in Video Game Tournaments for a weird example.

Jade, BRS is more Blue and Grey than white. Try using those colors for shirts in the future.

[Jade Elizabeth]

I will be, I just wanted something I could afford to test first....If they don't replace this or help me out and it's no better I wont be buying coloured ones lol.



Edit: I'm getting the air brushed ones on blue, purple, and possibly red.

[ApplianceJunk]

Very nice ApplianceJunk.

I see that you use CafePress for your online store... what is your experience with them so far? Have you used other companies to merchandise or advertise your forum, and if so, which ones?

I ordered a couple of shirts from CafePress.com/ApplianceJunk for myself and got them a few days ago.

I'm very happy with the quality of the shirts. Here are a couple snap shots of the two shirts I ordered.

In the first photo the navy blue shirt shows how the large white/gray logo looks on the front of a dark shirt. The light gray shirt shows the same size logo, but it's on the back of the shirt and the logo is in blue/gray.



In the second photo you can see how the smaller logo looks on the front of the light gray shirt.



The small logo on the front of the gray shirt is very sharp and you can read the text inside the wrench just fine, but my photo makes it look bad.

I think Cafepress is going to work out very good for our giveaways.

[Uhura!]

Nice shirts!

I agree about not using white!


Have you considered mousepads or other things?

I had a raffle / prize giveaway earlier last year...

[Cassiel]

Hey! Mousepads sound like a great idea to sell/give out! I might do that with my site. Thanks Uhura.

I think it's good to have a couple of different items that your users can buy from you. Merchandise is basically what i'm saying. That way they can find items to support the site that they need. People might not need a cap with the site logo on it for example, but they might be willing to shell out a couple of bucks for a keychain. Or if they live in a cold state they be willing to get a hoodie from the site knowing that they're going to be using it. My staff members and I are trying to plan what we're going to be selling once our site gets more popular so we can start planning now.

By the way, that's a great design on the mousepad Uhura! And AP, that blue shirt with the white text looks really amazing! I'm sure it's gonna sell like hotcakes!

[Jade Elizabeth]

I love the design for the mousepad. I've been playing with the idea, making my own. I'm thinking of doing beanbags to be honest.

[Uhura!]

The mousepad design is from Vistaprint & the bag is as well. The mousepad cost about $4-$5 USD each...not bad. I ordered about 15 and sent it as a surprise gift for everyone who entered the raffle whether they won or not. The bags went to the raffle runners up. They were more expensive....I think about $15 -$20 each since I only ordered about 10...Members really liked the bag. Being moms they have quite a bit to lug around & some commented that the bag is really useful.

I have not seen much success from selling these types of things outright. It's one thing to visit & participate in an online discussion forum, but to buy clothing etc with the logo? I'm not sure about it. Some people are broke as hell in this economy and are hard pressed ...what would be the upside (especially with the cost as Jade pointed out wiht her shirts)?

[Jade Elizabeth]

In all honesty I want to make money from merchandise but I don't see it happening for a while. A long while.

I DO however see it working out like you said Uhara - giving them as prizes and gifts. Members will use the gift and that's advertisement for you! So you will get more members or awareness (awareness is very valuable) and be able to turn that into members or $$ which ever you're aiming for.

The more people know about the site the more people you can reach about events. The more people who find out about those the better chances you have at getting more members. Specially if you're targeting people .


I dunno if that made any sense. I havent slept so scuse me if it didnt .

[Uhura!]

Made perfect sense!

I was hoping that as the bags are carried around it will act as a walking billboard for my site.

[Jade Elizabeth]

I worry about the bags. I wanted to make or buy some.....but I'm terrified people wont use them cause they arent "stylish" or designer. Americans are bag and shoe fanatics. I guess people could use them for the library....but I don't know.

Ya gotta worry bout the shape and size and length of the handles... it got too scary for me to want to mess with, especially since I don't have an income to be playing with. Everything I try is a huge risk because of that.

It's fabulous that your audience can use them....but not only that your audience will use them around more targeted people (mums), who will see the bag as useful and that stigma will carry across to your brand hopefully. Ya got a good thing there!

[ApplianceJunk]

Have you considered mousepads or other things?

Yeah, I like the mouse pad, very nice.
Cafepress has mouse pads too, but only white.



Off to vista print to check out there mouse pads.

In all honesty I want to make money from merchandise but I don't see it happening for a while. A long while.

I'm happy with making money from my site and if giving away merchandise help promote my site I will be happy to give the merchandise away.

I just want to make sure that I give it away to people that really want it. I think having giveaway contest is a good way to do just that.