Started own business - How to get online presence

fitzparker

So I have been supporting a new online business along with a friend of mine

The business is a printing website for sports teams, music etc onto apparel

So I have 2 queries

1. im looking for advise on how to get an online presence? I hate the "social media influencer" stuff but after starting this, realise its probably what I need to, content creation needs to be better etc

Does anyone recommend any free online courses for marketing? also flyer creation, is Canva good for beginners?

2. I sort of shot myself in the foot, when starting the page I blanked messaged/emailed local companies to get a bit of interest in the local town/county, feedback was great and for the past 5 months we have been doing really well printing workwear, id then post it to the social media page

Now the issue is the site has gone live, and I feel im causing a clash between posting sporting tees/hoodies and workwear… so when I post i'm paranoid that why would a hardcore soccer group want to see a top from a coffee shop (is it taking away from my reputation for them not to work with me) equally, why would a coffee shop want to be associated with getting their merch done from a sport/music site ( or am I overthinking it)

As the site is gone live, now more eyes are on socials (particularly from sports fans and groups), my target audience is worldwide sportsfans, rather than local businesses but I want both options open

I have started to pullback posting workwear (especially insta) as I want the socials .. sports mainly.

What I am also doing is getting flyers printed to be given to each local business in the nearest town.

Im trying to find a medium ground to have a place for new businesses to find us and see what we have done, but mainly for sport/music teams to see.

my idea is to stop posting workwear and maybe just post to stories? then create highlights for it all to go?

For Facebook I don't mind it being a free for all as you can only see post by post really, rather than instagram which when you click in yuo can see everything from a quick swipe.

Maybe I am thinking to deep into it :)

Gloomtastic!

Kinda of a good problem to have. Well done for putting yourself out there.

Are you worrying about something that doesn't matter? Printed apparel is printed apparel. Doesn't matter whether it's for sports or workwear. You say 'you feel' but nobody has told you this is a problem.

I'd concentrate on getting orders, delivering a great service and develop your website to deliver an all in one - quote, order, proof, deliver so the customer has peace of mind at all times.

Good luck to you!

fitzparker

Yes maybe I am, more so from a corporate side im worried the site isnt "corporate" enough, but from "sport/street" it isn't fully dedicated to that cause so why would they come to me. But thank you, feedback has been great so far, we opened the website properly on Friday and all orders made have been dispatched even as far as Italy!.

I will keep plugging away, corporate has worked offline so far (DM/word of mouth) so flyers have been made to drop into each business which will be done next week, I need social media to get the sports part off the ground so getting a few orders from a corporate side monthly keeps us going until the other side takes off.

Gloomtastic!

The sports side will be a tough chestnut to crack. You’re up against the clothing manufacturers then. They provide printing to teams as part of the package.

But once you get one team in a club, you should get them all. It’s all about contacts in that game. Who do you know?

fitzparker

When I say sport, its illustrations of players, teams etc "fan made ideas" that the average Joe would buy of his favourite team/player/sport. There are many sites out that do it but not an irish one like us and not at our prices (I actually have a contact onto a league of Ireland team for us to be an official designer for an aspect of their merch, its going well and we should know next month.

Yes as you said sport teams are hard to crack but we are working with a few already, not necessarily as their "main supplier" we sell the aspect to stay with them for their jerseys/tracksuits etc (although this takes 8 weeks) if they need tees,hats in a week or 2 they then come to us.

Eventually it is the dream to be like a Ballon/Joma/O'neills but my pet hate is this 8 week turn around. My daughters case for example we ordered her school tracksuit in May for September (meant to get it in July) from a major supplier the school use, and didn't get it until October, as everything comes from China and they just embroid/print onto it.

noahungry

I’d focus on a few simple things first, those that you can do without spending a load of money. Get your Google Business Profile sorted. It’s free and helps people find you when they search locally. Even if you don’t have a shop, you can list your services and link your website or socials.

Regarding the course question, check out Udemy. There are usually courses with big discounts, so it won't be free, but it will be very cheap. For the flyers, I'd strongly suggest you add a QR code if you haven't already. It can even lead to a page where you offer a small discount. This is the generator I use, you can create static QR codes for free and even customize them a little with your brand colors. (You can for sure find some marketing ideas on their blog, I know I did)

my target audience is worldwide sportsfans, rather than local businesses but I want both options open

Yes, I think you should keep both - workwear and sports. The point is that your printing service is reliable and delivers good quality.

Now, for the online presence, ok, you can aim at creating content that speaks to sports fans. That will help with your online presence. Facebook, Instagram, and not only; you can also create a profile on sites like VocalMedia or Medium (also for free) and, for example, write an article about printed hoodies - "Wear Your Team, Your Way: Custom Hoodies for Real Fans" or "More Than Merch: Printed Hoodies That Show True Colors" (I asked Chat GPT for suggestions, assuming "printed hoodies" and "custom hoodies" are among your keywords). Link your website in the article and social media profiles, of course. (Just keep in mind - local and global marketing strategies are different, as you can imagine.)

Now the issue is the site has gone live, and I feel im causing a clash between posting sporting tees/hoodies and workwear… so when I post i'm paranoid that why would a hardcore soccer group want to see a top from a coffee shop (is it taking away from my reputation for them not to work with me) equally, why would a coffee shop want to be associated with getting their merch done from a sport/music site ( or am I overthinking it)

I don't think you should worry about this. What both groups want to see are good reviews for your service. You can be the coolest guys out there; they can follow you on Instagram and read your content, but they won't print with you if you don't provide good service. So I would encourage happy customers to leave a review, offer a small discount for the next purchase, maybe, something like that.

It's cool that you're putting a lot of thought into this, and I hope I could help a little. The main point to remember is that you are, at the end of the day, offering a printing service. You have two groups of target audience, and you will build two separate marketing approaches. But it is still one printing service, and you want to point out you're doing it well.

fitzparker

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123665045#Comment_123665045

Really appreciate this, it is really helpful!

I have just set up my google business profile after your recommendation, thank you.

Since the above we have done well with supporters clubs as we offer fast delivery other major companies can't compete with, so using us as a second supplier has worked really well, regards the workwear, we removed this part from the site as it added nothing, still going well offline as word has got around and we asked the businesses to make a post if they liked it and post t their socials (as their following is much bigger and more businesses) locally for now we are doing flyers to drop into every shop/restaurant in our local town, this will hopefully create a buzz that social media will take it further then.

Authentic buyers is low, we probably have had 60 buys online of around 140 products, but out of that 60 maybe 15 are authentic "generic" stuff (none supporter club/sports club merch) but seeing this gear go to Scotland, england and out west gives me a better feeling than the other 50 buys.

I know this will take time and im trying to reach out to a few places for collaborations, going well for now but I would love an expert to have a look and tell me 10 things im not doing or doing wrong. is there any advise for marketing companies? are they expensive etc

Uncle Pierre

Just popping in here as I noticed nobody has yet answered your initial question about Canva.

It's an absolutely brilliant tool, and yes, it's good for beginners, as there are absolutely thousands of templates (especially if you upgrade to Canva Pro at something like just $120 per year), and it's just "drag & drop" to change the elements, or click a few buttons to change the colour scheme. Incredibly versatile too, as can be used for all your socials, printed materials, videos, etc.

I don't use it for business purposes myself, but I do use it for a couple of voluntary organisations I'm involved in. Once you get the hang of it, you'll never look back.

Realise of course that it's three months since you asked the question, so maybe you're already using it by now already, or maybe you've decided it's not for you. But at least I'm answering that question anyway!

scaleinsights5

To get an online presence for your business, create a professional website, set up social media profiles, list your business on Google Business Profile, and use SEO to improve visibility. You can also run ads, engage with customers through content, and collect reviews to build credibility.

fitzparker

Thanks Everyone, since the first post - Site has gone live and Social media is going ok, almost 600 followers and over 150 orders, which im happy about as its just a side job for now. but seeing the odd order go to the UK, Oz and Spain is what I love to see!

What am I struggling at now?

I have set up a Google business profile and a google merchant, and linked my woocommerce to it, but after that its all I did, what do you do to make this work? pump money into it?

My second struggle is getting followers from a certain demographic, I have loads of designs for a certain sport team, but the issue is… .no fan from that team is seeing it, so its hard to know, are the designs just crap, or is it because the 100s of thousands of fans of this team in the UK just havent seen it.

I have spent over €150 on instagram on ads etc in the past 6 months, usually its only €2 per day for a few days.

What should I be spending to make it actually work?

Christmas coming up and we have jumpers to release (I can't find anything like them online) so im sure if some lads saw it, it would be a hit… the issue is… they aren't!