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With T-shirt sales at US $154M in 2019 and with an estimated market growth of 5.4% you want to have a slice of the T-shirt pie. Your passion for these garments has stirred within you a desire to start your own online store with Shopify.

Yet, you realize that you don’t know how or where to start, but that yearning in your heart won’t go away. Never fear, keep reading and by the time you have finished, you’ll be all set to start your own profitable T-shirt business through Shopify.

Your customers are who?

Before anyone ventures into the world of business, they need to find out what their target market is. That is, what is your niche? If you don’t know who your market is, then you are going to take a very expensive shot in the dark.

Yet, how do you go about identifying your niche? Here are some tips to help you identify your potential audience that will be willing to fork over their cash to buy your T-shirts.

Check out your competition

What is it that they aren’t doing? What is the gap in the market that you can identify? Spot the gap and you have a segment of the market you can reach out to. Read the lower rated reviews (those with 1-3 stars) on online shopping sites such as Shopify and see what customers may be dissatisfied with.

Become “one” with your market

To really get a feel for your target market, you need to think, breathe and eat as they do! That is, you need to get an intimate understanding of your ideal customer.

• Where do they hang on online? What Social Media do they use and which groups, forums, etc. do they subscribe to?
• Are they male, female or are you targeting a mix?
• Which age range are you aiming to reach?  
• What do they love and hate?
• How about their culture? American tastes may differ from those in Ireland.

Do your own market research

Do you have a Social Media account? Then use that to do a marketing survey. Facebook and Twitter allow you to create surveys and polls so you can test the waters. Place some t-shirt mockups on Instagram or Pinterest to gauge reaction from your prospective customers. Another option is to use a site like SurveyMonkey.

As you identify your niche and target market, then you can get a feel for the style of the T-shirts that you want to sell.

Love the design!

Your designs are what is going to set you apart from the competition but how are you going to create the design? Will you do it yourself or hire a graphic designer?

If you are adept at using Photoshop you can make your own designs. When setting up your initial design ensure that you choose 300 dpi. Also, you want to have your background set as “Transparent” and the color mode should be RGB 8bit.

Now you have set up Photoshop and made your first design, you can’t wait to see what it looks like on a T-shirt. It’s time to see what your potential creation looks like by using a T-shirt mockup.

There are plenty of T-shirt mock-up Photoshop templates that you can download. You can check out Creative Market which offers a decent range of templates. Or just do a Google search. A mockup template takes your design and puts it on a T-shirt so that you can get a visual of how your end product is going to look.

If you don’t have Photoshop or you aren’t good at graphic design, you can always hire a designer. There are plenty of freelancers that can be found through sites like Fiverr or Upwork.

What printing technique to use?

You have your design ready and now it’s time to put it onto your shirt. There are several printing techniques you can choose from:

Screen Printing

This is a great option if you are looking at producing a large number of shirts. Also, it allows you to print in a variety of colors (just remember each color needs a new screen, so it can become pretty pricey). Another plus with screen printing is that your design will be durable and not fade.

The disadvantage is that it is uneconomical if you are producing a small number of T-shirts (25 or less) as the set up cost is somewhat fixed.

Direct to Garment

With Direct to Garment you are printing your design straight onto your shirt (just like printing onto paper!). There is little set-up involved and you can print a small batch of shirts or even one-offs. The end result feels soft as the ink thin (which also means it’s best suited for lighter colored fabrics, otherwise the design won’t look that great).

Make sure that you use a high-quality printer otherwise your design is going to look low resolution (which will definitely turn your potential customers off!).

Heat Transfer

Heat Transfer is a good option if you are only doing a small number of shirts. Put your design onto some transfer paper, apply heat pressure onto the transfer and then peel it off. It’s a great option if you want to print colour images or photos onto your shirt. Plus it’s quick, taking only 3-5 minutes.

Just be aware that with this technique the print can fade after a while. Another point to be wary of is that the transfer will make the fabric of the T-shirt firm.

Dye Sublimation

Dye Sublimation is ideal for polyester or any other man-made fabric. It is a similar process to Heat Transfer where the design is printed onto paper and then applied to the garment. You can’t feel the transfer on the shirt, so that means a soft touch to your T-shirt.

However, this process is only ideal for light colored or white T-shirts. Another downside is that you can’t print onto 100% cotton.

Embroidered printing

If you want to give your T-shirts a formal look, then this is the technique for you. Instead of printing, the design is sewn onto the garment which means that it is going to last a long time.

It’s not an ideal option for full graphics as it can be costly when one considers the amount of different colored threads needed. When it comes to small text, the result can become unreadable.  

With a range of printing options available, it’s simply a matter of you deciding what you want your end product to look and feel like. Also, how many print runs you are going to do. If you don’t want to do the printing yourself, you can use an online T-shirt printing service.

Quality means happy customers

Can you think of the time you bought a T-shirt that was well…falling apart after you wore it a couple of times? Simple business advice: Don’t sell those to your customers!

How can you tell a quality T-shirt from one of its cheaper counterparts? First, go to your closet and pull out one of your favourite T-shirts and study it. How does it feel? What is it made of? When you put it on, is it too tight or too loose? These are all indications of an amazing shirt.

Chances are that your best-loved T-shirt is made of cotton. That’s because it’s a breathable fabric and the print on it looks amazing. Look for a tighter weave and longer threads, as these mean that the material is going to last longer and have a softer feel about them.

Another indicator of a good quality shirt is one that won’t wrinkle much when you squish the material in your hand.

Sure, quality costs more, but you can also ask for a higher price for your product as people know that they are going to be getting a great T-shirt.

Brand time

Think of your favourite brand. What makes them stand out? Why do you like that particular brand? What is it they do differently?

When it comes to making a dent in the competitive world of T-shirt retailing you need to think long and hard about your brand. What is your mission statement? What is your unique point of difference? How are you going to promote your brand? What are your values? What image do you want to portray?

It takes a while to build up a brand, but when you do you can become an icon in your field.

Taking stock of your stock

When it comes to thinking about inventory, you can either have the stock on hand or you can utilize print-on-demand services such as Printful or Zazzle, or even go with dropshipping.

Your own Inventory

The benefits of having your own inventory is that it is quicker to dispatch the order to your customer and also you can provide better customer service because the consumer is buying directly from you rather than going through a middle-man.

The downside to having your own inventory is that you can have stock sitting around that you can’t sell, therefore tying up your cash. Also, you have to consider the possibility of incurring storage fees if you plan on storing your stock in a warehouse or storage facility.

Print-on-Demand

With print-on-demand services, you don’t have to concern yourself with tying up money in stock as these services will fulfil the order once it is placed. Also, there is no need to invest in any printing equipment.

The disadvantages with using these services are that you lose control of your customer order systems and it takes longer to ship the product to the customer (due to the amount of time it takes to create the T-shirt and then shipping it out). Another negative with these services is that you are relying on the company to be able to provide the product (out of stock items or discontinues lines means trouble for you).

Dropshipping

Dropshipping is a popular way to start a store as there are very little start-up costs and you don’t have to store inventory. The dropshipping company handles everything as soon as they receive an order for your product. That’s a plus for anyone who is just starting out with a brand new online store.

The things you need to be wary of with drop shipping is that, similar to print-on-demand services, you lose control over your customer fulfilment process. Also, dropshipping companies take a cut of the sales which means less profit for you. Something else to keep in mind is that due to the popularity of drop shipping, there is a lot of competition so you definitely need to have something unique in order to stand out from the crowd.

Shopify, here we come!

Now you have done your research, figured out your brand and customers as well as your printing technique and inventory handling option, it’s time to get your shop open. Exciting! Here’s how to get your store up and running.

1. Sign up to Shopify

It doesn’t take long to set up your shop with Shopify and you can even take advantage of Shopify’s 14-day free trial. So, obviously, the first step is to head over to Shopify and sign up.

2. Choose a theme:

When it comes to the look shop, you can use one of the themes provided by Shopify (you have the option of free themes or you can buy a Premium one). One thing to keep in mind when choosing a theme is the style and feel you want to have for your store. Do you want something conservative or a theme that is more cheeky?

If you aren’t a fan of any of the themes you find on Shopify, you can always head over to sites such as Themeforest or TemplateMonster and see what they have to offer.

Make sure you test the theme for functionality before settling on it. The last thing you and your customers want is a theme that isn’t user-friendly.

3. Payment:

You want money from your customers, right? When it comes to receiving payment you want to minimise any costs of processing the payment. Look at the fees that the different payment gateways charge.

Cheap doesn’t always mean the best service either. Look for a balance between a reliable payment system and the costs charged to process the transaction from your customer.

4. Business Information and Tax:

Before making your new Shopify store live, you need to provide company and business information to Shopify as part of the setup process. What is the name of your store? Where is it located?

You do have to pay tax (it’s one of those givens in life). If you aren’t familiar with setting up for tax, then seek the advice of a financial adviser or accountant.

5. Do a “test” order:

A final step in the creation of your store is to place a mock order to see if everything is running smoothly. You don’t want any headaches or grumpy customers on your opening day!

Head over to the very useful Shopify Bogus Gateway and from here you can do a test run of your store. When you are happy that everything is working the way it should, then you’re good to go.

All the best for your Opening Day

Now you are all set and ready to build your own T-shirt business. You have your unique brand. You know who your customers are and the printer is ready to pump out your first batch of t-shirts. Good on you!

But, it takes time and effort to build any successful business, so stay focused and committed. Keep an eye on the competition. Listen to what your customers are saying or wanting and keep your creative design juices flowing.

Good luck with your Opening Day! Go and smash your goals!

It doesn’t matter if you’re a beginner or expert. You’re going to have to battle blank space on your Shopify product description.

How should you write that category page? What product description is most likely to make your customer add to cart? Besides, how do you even get started?

Glad you asked. Check out these seven copywriting tips that will lead to fewer shoppers leaving your page, and more people clicking that big juicy buy button.

Tip #1: The Magic Three

Before you write anything, and this works for product descriptions, blog posts, or even customer “Thank You” emails. Ask yourself three questions:

Question #1: Whom are you writing to?

You’re writing to a person and a search engine.  Err on the side of talking to a human.  Yes, it’s a balancing act.  But remember search engines don’t buy products, people do.

Don’t just write to anybody.  Figure out who your target audience is.  Develop an avatar or a picture of your ideal customer.

You can do this with some basic questions (and I’ll answer these with a sample later):

• What is their age, gender, education, income level, marital status, and family status?
• What are their values, interests, attitudes, and hobbies?
• What are their pains? And what do they seek to gain?

Example: premier Shopify client Magnolia by Chip and Joanna Gaines

• We’re guessing here to a degree. They sell to women 25 to 44, college educated, $75,000+ a year, married with children.
• They’re christian or conservative with similar values to Chip and Joanna Gaines. It’s women seeking to copy their success. They may want to dabble in interior design, staging, or real estate as a hobby, career, or side project.
• They are crazy-busy moms and wives who may work in or outside the home. They want to build a beautiful home and still have time for a family.

Let’s call our avatar Magnolia Mandy. Now when you write the copy for your page (if you were Magnolia) you write to Mandy or a family member, friend, or an acquaintance you know that’s just like her. This will make your writing relevant, real, and right-on-target.

Question #2: What’s in It for Me (WIIFM)?

Your customer’s favorite radio station is WIIFM. Who’s the first person you look at in any group photo? You. Your customer is no different.

What will you customer gain when they trade the precious attention for your copy? This is the heart of empathy. It helps you walk a mile in the other person’s moccasins. Tell them how your product helps, and you’ll be on your way to another closed sell.

Question #3: What Do You Want Them to Do?

Action. You can skip the lights and camera.

You’re the director, and the focus is on your customer. Now tell them what to do. What is the goal or the next step in the process? It could be as simple as I want them to add this shirt to the cart. Make sure you’re direct and obvious.

Tip #2: The USP and Your Tribe

If you watched the show, Mad Men, then you may know the writers loosely based it on revolutionary advertiser Rosser Reeves. In 1954, he created the slogan, for M&M’s “It melts in your mouth, not in your hands.” That little slogan turned an okay candy company into a billion-dollar brand.

He did it through the power of a term he coined called the Unique Selling Proposition or USP. What’s a USP? It’s something your product or brand can offer that no one else can.

But you’re thinking I sell T-shirts, sunglasses, or watches. People can get those just about anywhere. You’re only half right.

Why should they buy those “commodities” from YOU?  Before we can answer that, we have to go back to the first question of The Magic Three.

Tribe the People Following You

You have your “who” from the avatar, you built earlier.  Now you need a tribe.  Marketing guru Seth Godin, says “a tribe is a group of people connected to one another, connected to a leader, and connected to an idea.”

Okay, let’s break that down. Remember, Magnolia Mandy, now we add her best friends Mary, Melissa, Megan, and thousands of other moms just like them. Who’s the leader? That’s Joanna Gaines and Magnolia. And they’re connected on this idea of beautiful homes fit for families (the USP).

You build your brand on the USP that will grab your tribe, niche, or segment of the market and never let them go. This fuels every word you type.

For example, your clothing USP could be T-shirts for Introverts. Our shirts help our otherwise shy customers start conversations everywhere they go.

Your tribe chooses you for a simple but powerful reason. They ask themselves, “what do people like me buy, wear, or flaunt?” Then they do likewise. It’s social proof that proves profitable for you.

 

Tip #3: Sold on Emotion Justified by Logic

Win the heart before the head.

Gerald Zaltman, a Harvard Business School professor, says that 95% of buying decisions happen on a subconscious level. But it doesn’t feel this way in reality because we find conscious reasons to justify our choices.

So visiting the mall doesn’t make us go crazy like a giant kid in a chocolate shop. We choose emotionally and dress it up with “grown-up” rational reasons.

Imagine Joe, the corporate accountant, who just put 45 candles on his birthday cake. Before he can blow out the fire and make a wish, he rushes down to the Harley Davidson dealership. Joe test-drives and buys thunder rolling on two wheels.

When he gets back to the office on Monday, his buddies gather around the water cooler. He’ll tell them he bought a bike that goes 0 to 60 mph in 3.7 seconds, has an 883 cubic centimeter air-cooled evolution engine, and emulsion rear shocks.

Joe won’t tell them he was buying coolness. The guy purchased the confidence he’s missing for not being as successful as he thinks he should be. The man paid $25,000 to feel 25 again.

What emotion makes people buy your product? Is it fear like our mid-life crisis guy? Maybe it’s shame, envy, pride, altruism, or greed. Figure out the core emotion and beat that drum with the force of a marching band.

Tip #4: Features Vs. Benefits

If you learn the difference between the two, then you’ll be crushing your e-commerce competition. Because average online sellers drone on about features.

Legendary copywriter Bob Bly defines in his classic tome, The Copywriter’s Handbook, “a ‘feature’ is a descriptive fact about a product; it’s what the product is or has. A ‘benefit’ is what the product does; it’s what the user of the product gains as a result of the feature.”

A benefit results from applying the WIIFM question to the feature. Or you could ask “so what?”

Example: Features and Benefits for a # 2 pencil 

Features	Ask So What?	Benefits
hexagonal cylinder shape		prevents it from rolling off your desk
yellow exterior		It stands out on in your drawer, and it’s bright, visible, and hard to misplace
eraser on the top		You can quickly and neatly correct mistakes

We took facts about the product and turned it into something that helps the customer. Do this with your merchandise.

Tip #5: Kill Addie by Being Specific

Who’s Addie?

Addie Adjective likes to put “best-in-class,” “world-leader,” and “innovative” in front of every product. Addie doesn’t realize these words are so overused they’ve become trite, cliché, and meaningless fluff.

Example:

• NO-best-in-class sunglasses from a market-leading manufacturer
• YES-Sunglasses that 9 out of 10 optometrists recommend because they block 99.9% of UV Rays.

Being specific assassinates Addie.

Tip #6: Shopify Product Description Overhaul

Here’s a Shopify product description template of questions to make the process easier.

Think of yourself as a reporter. Answer the five W’s and an H:

• Who uses the product? Remember your avatar.
• What are the simple facts about the product? Include details such as dimensions, features, functions, and materials.
• Where would the customer use the product? Is it used inside or outside the house? Is it used at home, in the car, or in the office?
• When would the customer use the product? Is it only a specific time of day (the morning coffee mug), during a particular time of the year or seasonal (a winter coat) or for a certain occasion (an ugly Christmas sweater). Also, stress if the customer can use it more often because that builds value. I mean you can always wear the ugly Christmas sweater on a first date, right?
• Why would the customer choose this product over your competitors? Pick a feature and/or benefit that competition doesn’t offer or hasn’t highlighted.
• How does the customer use the product? Some things are self-explanatory. Explain when it’s high technology or something new to the audience like a gadget.

Tell a Micro-Story

Now you can take those five W’s and an H and build a micro-story for your product. Give it a beginning, middle, and end. Or enough story that the customer can imagine using the product.

Example: Shopify User Argent Work (Notice the Product Description)

Five Reasons to Buy

Engage the five senses. Make them see, hear, smell, taste, and touch your product.

Example: Shopify User Death Wish Coffee (Can you almost sip the product description?)

Bonus

For a collection description, Shopify likes-you should keep it simple, descriptive, and orderly. You can always update this as your inventory changes, or you have promotions.

Tip #7: Editing Made Easy

Mathematician Blaise Pascal once wrote, “if I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter.” Many beginners think editing is the five minutes spent on spell check. Ding. Wrong Answer!

Editing is cutting your writing for clarity. Before you give a rose, you trim all the leaves, thorns, and thistles in the way.

Pardon the pun, but that’s how you plant ideas in the minds of your readers.

Here are three checklists that cover style, apps, and actions. The style one I adapted from Bob Bly’s excellent work The Copywriter’s Handbook:

Style Checklist

• Put the reader first: write “you” throughout remember you’re talking to a person.

Example

NO-Energetic Executive watches are the world’s first user-friendly watch that has smart energy management and tracking software with the style and prestige of a business watch.

YES-The Energetic Executive watch is the world’s first business watch to monitor your energy levels so you can be at peak performance in and out of the boardroom all while matching your sleek, professional style.

• Short Sentences and Short Paragraphs

Short sentences are easy to understand. The apps below will help with this, especially the Hemingway one.

Keep your paragraphs short. Two to three sentences or 100 words or fewer is a good rule of thumb. People are reading on smartphones and computers, so big blocks of text are intimidating.

• Use simple words.

This is not an English report where you change every ordinary word to its more “highfalutin” counterpart. “Car” becomes “automobile,” “end” becomes “terminate,” and “best” becomes “optimum.”

Use the small, simple word don’t choose the $10 word when $2 one does the job.

• Be concise

NO-a wide variety of different models

YES-a variety of models

NO-simple and easy to use

YES-easy to use

NO-from a low of 7 to a high of 17

YES-from 7 to 17

• Write in a conversational, friendly tone

You’re writing to your ideal client. They should be a friend. Speak to them as if you’re sitting across from them at Starbucks. I said this earlier, but it bears repeating. Never forget you’re talking to a human.

Apps and Actions for Polish

Apps

• Microsoft Word’s Spell Check and Grammar Too.

Paste your Shopify product description or paragraph into Word. In Options turn on check for grammar and style.

• Grammarly Free or Paid.

Catches stuff Word misses.

• Pro Writing Aid Free or Paid.

Tag team with Grammarly.

• Hemingway App.

Focuses on readability, so you’re not writing for rocket scientists who do part-time brain surgery.

Actions

• Read It Aloud.

Basic but valuable. If it doesn’t sound right to you, then it won’t sound right to your reader.

• Give It 24 Hours.

Time makes it go from subjective to objective. Your mind is filling in all the mistakes because you know what you mean. A day of rest grants detachment.

• Have Someone Else Read It.

A spouse, family member, friend. Bonus points if it’s a prospect. Can they catch any mistakes? What did you do well? What can you improve? Would they buy?

• Read It Aloud Again.

Before you publish.

• Good Enough Is Good Enough.

You’re not writing the next great American novel. Progress > Perfection. It’s the internet right. You can always fix your Shopify product description later.

 

What Questions, Ideas, and Insights Do You Have?

You’re starting the famed journey of a thousand miles. It’s a marathon with some sprints throughout. Don’t be like the Shopify snobs who treat customers like numbers.

It’s trite but true. You can sum up all seven tips in the golden rule. You’re putting the customer first. Theodore Roosevelt said, “Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care.”

Good copywriting is good customer care.  If you found this article useful, and you’d like to see if I could do your copywriting for you GO here.

What are your biggest copywriting challenges? Which tip helped you the most? What ideas would you share with others just starting? Tell us in the comments.