Biz Dev
September 29th, 2005In my experiment of trying to make this blog have a business, I figure I could be all secretive and then launch something, but I want to perform a kind of due diligence and get feedback. The main reason for the openness is that we don’t have the liquidity for me to order up a bunch of stuff and carry stock and do a mega launch. I’m also trying to be very Web 2.0 and develop organically. Kind of like a shampoo.
I’ve had a few comments and emails about selling merchandise (t-shirts) and photos. These are two of the things that we’re working on at the blurbodoocery. And it was before I quit the day job that I wanted to pursue making some art and making some money. A sort of variation on:
- Make stuff.
- ??
- Make money!
Because the web will be the step 2, the question marks kind of go away. To this end, I did a t-shirt mockup and liked the results a couple of months ago, but felt my readership is so small, that it’s kind of pointless to do shirts. Look at these and tell me what you think:
The logo on the back would be much smaller (the vendor I used to build these comps only allows it to shrink to an inch tall, and I’d like the logo to be about a half-inch in height. Part of me wonders about the ringer, if that’s played already and I should go with a solid color. I have a soft spot for orange. My main question with this design is: do you get the front? Do you care if you don’t? Would you buy/wear this? I’m not necessarily looking for design critique, although if you don’t like something, you don’t like it and I can take that kind of feedback. I’m more interested in “Yeah, I’d buy it” or “Nah, not interested.”
The other, larger, more involved idea I’ve had is to sell prints of our photos. The photos wouldn’t just be the raw source, but I would do work to transform the photo into something larger, maybe have a theme and sell them as fine-ish art. Don’t know if people are into that idea, but I’d love it if that could generate some income.
I don’t know if I want to do the printing myself; buy a sweet printer and papers and inks then make the print myself, or outsource it to a high end shop that uses a photographic process to take a file and output it. I like the high end idea, as I wouldn’t sell everything, just a select group of photos for a limited time and even then, I’d probably only want to sell a limited run to increase value. If it got crazy, I’d sign some of the first ones as well. While I think there are excellent solutions for someone to print their own stuff, I don’t know if I have the patience or the bank account to fund the printer and supplies it would take to do what I want. Plus, no printer headaches. The only issue with using a higher end shop is that the fees are going to go up substantially and I’d have to charge a lot more per print. But that might be the best way to go to sell museum quality prints.
Your thoughts?
September 30th, 2005 at 12:01 am
having *not* read the 75 post above me, i would love to say right here and now at 76 that i’d take 3 of those T’s off your hands without so much as batting a ding.
i’d be proud to add it to my ever-growing collection of geek-inspired Tshits.
Would you do us a favour though and print up a few in the ubiquitous 3T child size? Little Lord Archibald Jude will be sporting one…
September 30th, 2005 at 12:08 am
We sold (at cost little or no prifit) some kick asre shirts on flickr. I won’t post the link because that is tacky, but i can send it to you if you want.
But what we did learn for a second round was
:: take orders before printing, so people actually make a commitment
:: use the little profit to invest in more shirts.
this way you have the costs of your first run covered, and the spare money allows you to build a stash of shirts for future orders.
We ordered our shirts through brunetto
anywahy this may sound like waffle so i’ll stop, but good luck dude.
September 30th, 2005 at 12:44 am
Hey man,
I’d buy the shirt.
A.
September 30th, 2005 at 12:54 am
Well, it’s hard to compete with a tee shirt like mightygirl’s, (http://mightygirl.net/iflag.html) but sure - yours is cool…I’d buy it.
If that’s what you’re askin.
September 30th, 2005 at 2:32 am
Don’t ‘get’ the front. Would buy it on a solid background with lower necklines but not babydoll. No ringer tee. Maybe you could sell your designs via Threadless - or use a similar concept.
Not much of a photofan so I can’t say.
September 30th, 2005 at 2:47 am
You need to have a cool quote. Or even a dictionary definition. That would make me buy a t shirt.
T shirt would need to be a good quality too.
And thanks for being open re your business, feels more respected. One thing I cannot stand as a consumer, is being patronised.
September 30th, 2005 at 4:39 am
Can someone please just tell me what “dingbat” is supposed to mean? Is that a technical thing? Or does it just mean dingbat?
I’m confused.
But I’d buy it, if I knew it helped you guys and Leta in any way. Heather helped me with the whole depression thing, and I can’t say that’s not more than a t-shirt. And Jon, you’re a great writer, even though sometimes when you spout tech stuff I kinda … fade … away … But you’re a cutie, and that’s why the chicks will keep comin’ back.
September 30th, 2005 at 5:01 am
I don’t wear a lot of t-shirts, but I do like this one. I’d buy it for my husband, although I don’t know how he’d react initially to the “dingbat” bit. I like ringers and I love orange.
As for the photos, being from Charleston, I really like any arsty photos of the SC lowcountry like yours from Beaufort.
September 30th, 2005 at 6:02 am
I “get” dingbat, but I frankly wouldn’t buy the shirt - Cafepress and all the others already have a saturated market on shirts and witty one-liners anyway. The prints I would consider though; especially if they’re grouped and arranged nicely.
Those are all personal opinions, as you well know, so I’d go with the masses!
September 30th, 2005 at 6:23 am
Get your own photo printer, and make it a good one. My research seems to point at dye-sub. Find a gallery that is an artist’s cooperative where you can join and rent space. Make up your photos in matted/framed (those would be displayed on wall in your space) and matted but unframed (in bins for perusing) prints, and make the unframed ones in varying sizes down to the smallest you can do and not lose the impact of the piece. The smaller ones might look good with off-center matting. This would give people a wide choice. There may even be some you could run as blank notecards. I know notecards may make you feel you are devaluing the photos as “art” but the truth is there is a great market for them. Lots of folks want something interesting and beautiful in the way of a card and don’t want to go the Hallmark route, plus you can put each card in a nifty plastic sleeve and charge four or five dollars for it. My thoughts.
I think the photos are more of a possibility than the shirt, unless you go with something that has more market appeal. To be honest, I think you’d do better focusing your shirt designs on Heather’s blog. It already has a wide readership, and you could start just by doing a series of her banners across the front. Avid readers would probably be a sure bet to buy.
September 30th, 2005 at 6:25 am
I would buy it and make my husband wear it! But I def. don’t “get” it. I like the collar even though I think they are going a little out of style. Good luck…I think you will succeed in whatever you choose to do.
September 30th, 2005 at 6:26 am
First of all, congrats on “escaping.”
Would buy the t-shirt for sure. Loved Eden’s shirt and wear it proudly. Would do the same with this one. One for the writer in me; one for the designer in me.
Offering prints of your photos is also a great idea. I think you’re on the right track with letting the high-end shop do the printing, though. That way you can do it more print-on-demand and not have to invest so much upfront.
I’m not that business savvy, but I know that quality photography will sell itself (especially the themed groupings, like Beaufort).
Best of luck to you and the missus. Love you guys.
September 30th, 2005 at 6:30 am
Love the tshirt - you definitely have a big enough readership to warrant selling them, so go for it! I think true Blurb fans will ‘get it’
Also, can we have a Dooce.com tshirt? And a Chuck tshirt would go down well I think!
And the prints sound great, but definitely go for the high-end printing as nothing ruins a great photo more than a crappy print. Home printers end up costing you more per print if you’re doing small runs (i.e. less than 1000 each) People will buy them, you both take great photos. As an idea, a limited run of photos handsigned by the author would be a good seller, I reckon.
P.S. Professional opinion - I’m a graphic designer and deal with print every day, I’m not just kissing ass here, LOL…
September 30th, 2005 at 6:51 am
I would DEFINITELY buy a t-shirt from you and/or Heather. I don’t go for ringers though…and prefer white to colors. But the jersey style would be super cool, too.
I don’t care if my shirt says ‘Dingbat’ on it or not…but what exactly does it mean? Isn’t it a font type?
Your photographs are beautiful! I would buy them if I could connect with them in some way…say regionally or whatever. I live in San Antonio, TX, and currently have a lot of black and white photos of old downtown San Antonio in my house. I would be more than happy to host The Armstrong’s here, in my home, while you shoot a series of Texas shots, which I would promptly buy up! And you know how proud all Texans are of their state! You’d make about a billion dollars on those alone!
Seriously…just get yourselves here, and y’all would have your own private bedroom and bathroom, practically in another wing of the house! I would say free room and board-but I’m not much of a cook. But definitely free room!
September 30th, 2005 at 6:58 am
I like the t-shirt idea, but you need to take it one step furtheróbeyond your own readership. I think if you designed a line of shirts/mugs with clever design (graphic designer) humor motifs, you could have a great market. I am a freelance designer and i am always looking for unique christmas gifts for the art directors i work for. Type nerds like me definitely like to express their obsessions via t-shirts and mugs. I’m sure other design sites or organizations would carry products like that.
Good luck to you!
September 30th, 2005 at 6:59 am
Hi John, Not so much a comment on your ideas (althought I love the dingbat t-shirt, and, yes I do GET it). Just wanted to give you a bit of a business idea that might help in the tight spots and you only have to work weekends. Friends of mine have an 11 year old boy who plays hockey, soccer, etc. Aout 2 and a half years ago they saw a guy at one of the games taking digital shots while the kids played and after the game he had a table set up printing out 8×10 photos for $10 a piece to interested parents. He also had two computer screens randomly flashing the pictures on the screen so people were drawn to the table when they saw their kid playing. Anyway, his quality wasn’t that great and the set up wasn’t really professional so my friends took that ball and ran with it. They now own a company called “Capture the Moment”. They started with a small business loan of approx. 10-15K for computers, printers, paper, etc. and have paid it off in 2 years. I believe you and Heather already had about half of the equipment (from what I’ve seen) so a large loan of 10K may bot be necessary. Anyway, my friends are now working more than just kids games but are getting booked for men’s hockey leagues, broomball (we’re in Canada) and other things including the big banquets at year end. They are so successful that they have an extra photographer and image processor on staff and don’t actually have to go to every game (they still do ’cause they love photography). This is perfect for Heather and you - you both are excellent photographers and post-editors, the profits are all cash and you don’t have to work every single day so you can work on other stuff. Just an idea if money gets tight.
Another amazing writing/photography idea would be to put together a book based on Heather’s and your blogs. Like a chapter of the “GREAT KITCHEN RENO” with the pictures and comments by you and Heather. You’re wedding is also cool. You have amazing talents and a wide following of people so a coffee table book of your photographs would not be inconceivable. Put a demo together and find a publishing agent - with the background you have with regards to circulation on your blogs I’m sure that there is something to this. Good luck but from what I’ve seen you guys are doing the right thing. P.S. Obstacles (question marks?) are the things you see when you take your eyes off the goal. Go for it bro.
September 30th, 2005 at 7:18 am
I’d buy both - but am in the UK - not sure you’d ship that far? although we recently bought some cool 70’s skate T-shirts from a skate shop in California and it wasn’t too pricey!
Love both your sites……
Good luck!
September 30th, 2005 at 7:19 am
Love the shirt idea…would totally buy one. But you’d have to have sizes for us fatties too.
Coffee table book is an AWESOME idea! It would SO sell!!
September 30th, 2005 at 7:33 am
A few thoughts about the shirt …
I like the idea of the ringer shirts but every one I’ve ever bought is uncomfortable so I never wear them.
I whole-heartedly agree about a “ladies” fit shirt.
I like the idea of hoodies or hockey jerseys as well, but those get to be more pricey.
I love orange.
September 30th, 2005 at 7:39 am
Jon, when I first found dooce on the net I fell in love, naturally. She’s incredibly talented and writes so well and is so honest and funny.
I sent her a couple of long, warm and personal emails and received no response. Even a form response would have been happily welcomed.
Fine, I’m a sane, normal young woman so I shrugged and went on with my life. However, I changed from “Hey! Let’s see what my pal Dooce is doing today” to “Let’s see what this talented, remote, inaccessible artist is doing today. I’ll laugh, cry, but I won’t feel any sense of friendship or kinship with her. Because she doesn’t care about me at all, or her readers. No links, no response to email, no nothing.”
You, Jon, write on your website “She has 80,000 emails. BACK OFF PEOPLE.” Well, fine! You don’t have to hit me over the head! I backed off.
No matter how talented you guys are, I can’t help but feel very alienated and insulted. Now you want me to use my paychecks working for the man to help support the Armstrongs? Why?
The talent is there, man, in spades, but if this is going to be a business for you–I can’t be the only person feeling this alienation.
Good luck. Now I shall go back to the shadows.
September 30th, 2005 at 7:40 am
Yeah, I would buy the photos. Especially if you did a group on SLC UT. I’m always looking for great pictures of our city, and can never find them…
September 30th, 2005 at 7:43 am
I second Alison with the quote or dictionary definition.
I also think the coffee table book and coffee mug (cool bistro style please) would work. I may not buy the book (unless it’s a decent price and I could use it as a gift) but I would defintely buy a mug and shirt.
September 30th, 2005 at 7:43 am
I’d buy one, it is was black and the orange was changed to something else….. White is not a good colour for anyone a little bigger then a size 12….
September 30th, 2005 at 7:51 am
I don’t “get” the front, either. In all honesty, I probably wouldn’t buy one, not because of the color, but perhaps the style. You’d have to offer them in more of a “woman” style. The cuffs on the side of the sleeves are a little uncomfortable.
I don’t know. I’m not a real fan of shirts with writing on the front. I know that sounds weird, but I always see these shirts like “you’re retarded” or “I slept with your sister” or whatever the hell people come up with these days. I think you have to be a certain type of person to pull those off. I don’t know if I could pull off “dingbat”.
September 30th, 2005 at 7:54 am
Black. If it were black, I’d buy it.
Why are all the t-shirts white by default?