"How to sell profit margins: don't dell for less. Customers will pay more for quality work. Continue your education. The more techniques you know, the more marketable your business becomes. Just say no. some projects aren't worthy doing. It's OK to be selective."
A Seaside Success article |
"Streetwear used to be a fad, but it never went away. It's so strong that designers such as Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein have gone into this business, and it's here to stay. It's what's selling, and the brands are doing well. It's a big sector of the market now."
Morey Mayeri, president of Royal Apparel (asi/83731) |
"I've got to be able to rely on my decorator, and their professionalism and commitment is very important. If they're messing around around and not getting things done, they're not in line with me."
Kelly Nadaud, Sheffield Road |
"The quality of work is most important. You can just tell the way it's sewn and the care taken, especially the way my decorator trims everything up when she does the embroidery."
Kelly Nadaud, Sheffield Road |
"Be original, even though it's really hard nowadays."
Kelly Bilinski, Electric Chair |
"Health care is still pretty vibrant. Buyers are trying to get good value for their dollar. They've been scaling back in price, but the volume has been better because there are a lot of people going into health care."
Sandi Richter, owner of Crazy Scrubs Inc. (asi/46840) |
"There's a lot of so-called decorators out there who've bought off-the-shelf desktop printers, such as Epson printers, from a local Office Depot and hacked them together to create garment printers. To no one's surprise, those printers fail, have a lot of issues and give embroiderers who bought the right equipment a bad name."
Matt Rhome, outside technical consultant for Brother International Corp. |
"You wouldn't want to use a garment printer to print on nylon jerseys or even polyester. Since the ink is water-based, it won't adhere to the fabric."
Tommy Martin, digital sales and support manager for Hirsch International |
"Screen-printing equipment is relatively large and messy, making it unsuitable for a residential setting. It also takes a great deal of time to set up your station. If you were to get an order for 50 T-shirts, the average time it may take you to set up shop is around three hours. You could set up and print 50 shirts in only an hour with a garment printer."
Matt Rhome, outside technical consultant for Brother International Corp. |
"The white ink contains titanium dioxide (TO2), which can damage print heads if the ink isn't flowing regularly. This means that dark-garment printing requires daily use of white inks to avoid clogging. The challenge is to keep the process optimal with plenty of maintenance."
Mike Angel, vice president of marketing and U.S. sales for Melco |
"Trade shows build the way for future relationships. At the show, you may see current customers, supplier sales representatives, distributors or members of the media."
D.J. Heckes, CEO of EXHIB-IT! Tradeshow Marketing Experts (asi/191105) |
"Have they marketed their products and services in a way that makes you want to enter their booth? If not, pass them by and go to the next exhibiting company preselected on your list."
D.J. Heckes, CEO of EXHIB-IT! Tradeshow Marketing Experts (asi/191105) |
"Plan on which booths you want to visit and go to these first. Save the browsing up and down aisles for later to ensure you have enough time to see what you need."
Ashley Scoville, marketing and communications manager for Sawgrass Technologies |
"Visit the trade show Web site. It's a wealth of information, from new products to the trade show booth layout to special presentation and classes, not to mention show specials that can save you money."
Ashley Scoville, marketing and communications manager for Sawgrass Technologies |
"Before a trade show, the show staff sends out pre-show literature telling attendees who and what they'll be showing, and then they'll send a floor map. If you want to maximize your time, look at the material, look at the format and then write down a plan of attack."
Steve Freeman, owner of Qdigitzing.com |
"Unless the size is 3XL or higher – because those sizes have more space to work with – it's nearly impossible to take apart the sleeve and stitch a patch to it without messing up the jacket."
Metilde Garza, owner of M&G Embroidery |
"I'll have customers that come up to me with a jacket that already has a patch on the sleeve. If that's the case, you have to find out what stitch was used to the attach the patch back to the jacket."
Metilde Garza, owner of M&G Embroidery |
"If you want to stitch a patch to a leather sleeve, you should consider using a 90/14 needle. But if the fabric is lighter, a 75/11 needle is thinner and will create smaller holes in the garment."
Metilde Garza, owner of M&G Embroidery |
"Emblibrary.com is an example of one Web site that gives you insight for each stitch, embroidery terms and tips and tricks on a number of different jobs."
Darla Daniels, owner of Daniels Custom T's |
"Take the time out of your busy schedule and set at least one hour of your day aside for looking through all your job sheets. If you find a word that may be odd, circle it with a highlighter. Then, contact your customer to make sure it's right."
Darla Daniels, owner of Daniels Custom T's |