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?
October 1st, 2005 at 8:46 am
I love reading what Heather writes and immediately click over here to see if Jon has added anything. Love both sites and the family antics dearly.
I’ve NEVER ordered a t-shirt (or coffee cup) from the web no matter how devoted I am to the site or logo.
I would, however, in a HEARTBEAT buy a tell all behind the scenes DOOCE/Blurbomat book!!! That is where your money would lie, besides some other non dooce internet work. If you collaborate and compile all the past enteries together with photos and more “insider” secrets we’d be right there with our money. At least 200 of us and if you read the 40 t-shirt lovers comments then you realize you only have 40 t-shirt buyers.
Thanks a bazillion for all your writings, pictures and wonderful experiences you share with us all daily!
October 1st, 2005 at 8:53 am
jon,
Ditto to all those posts above from your adoring fans about your talent and bravery for escaping. Also, ditto that the t-shirt market is saturated.
Try limited edition, high-quality prints for sale to high-end businesses for their interior decoration (e.g. doctors’ and lawyers’ offices). The upside is that you get a large profit margin and you get nearly complete quality control. You also get the most appropriate display of your artwork that is on par with a gallery. DO NOT attempt to purchase the ultra-expensive hardware!
Although you have many adoring fans who profess to want to purchase your t-shirts, this is a onesy-twosy market that won’t put Doritos on your table. You can deliver nifty t-shirt ideas to your throng when the mood or inspiration suits you as long as you’ve bagged a few corporate clients.
here’s to your success…
October 1st, 2005 at 9:04 am
I agree with the need for varied sizes. I always wear a women’s small or extra-small, and no matter how much I like a t-shirt, I won’t buy one that won’t fit. I didn’t think the orange went the design. I really liked the photos you gave as an example. You and Heather both take great pictures.
October 1st, 2005 at 10:26 am
Bottom line is: do what you love. You love photography, that much is obvious, so I say go for it. I love the calendar idea, the themes idea (I’d be all over a Vancouver one, since there were some awsome shots there - and it’s close to home). One could stretch the photography to cover all sorts of “niches”. I think my favourite medium is postcards. Whoever it was that said she’d bought greeting cards and matted them - I do that with postcards - maybe just me, but there’s something delightfully tactile about cardstock.
Love the shirt - esp the variation with just the dingbat on the front and the teeny web address on the front. I’m undecided on the ringer, but I’d be into a ladies cut for sure.
Good luck to you!
October 1st, 2005 at 10:27 am
of vice versa, since I’m partially confused this am… *sigh*
October 1st, 2005 at 11:30 am
regarding the t-shirt, I think that the ringer has been played but maybe just ringer at the neck - not the arms. I know that I have a few in my collection like that. I would buy one.
October 1st, 2005 at 1:44 pm
I like the shirt, but I agree you should either change the ringers to green to match the Blurb logo or just have an all white shirt.
I also love your photos and I think you could sell them as “fine art” if you add some really great mats and frames. I’d go to other photography sites and see what they are doing.
Two very friendly, helpful people you could talk to are Doug Thompson (http://www.blueridgemuse.com/), an AP photographer who just “retired” from his corporate job and moved back to the Blue Ridge Mountains, and Robb Kendrick (http://www.robbkendrick.com/) who just retired from National Geographic magazine and moved back to the Hill Country of Texas. I know both of these guys would be happy to talk to you about marketing your photography and they are both very cool, interesting (liberal) people.
I, too, quit my hell-hole of a corporate job last year when the stress started killing me and created my own internet business. There have been ups and downs, but I’m happier and healthier than I’ve been in years. So kudos to you for taking this courageous leap of faith!
To show my support in a more concrete way, I plan to do some advertising on Dooce’s site.
Hang in there and believe the universe is unfolding as it should.
October 1st, 2005 at 2:02 pm
I don’t get it, but I’d definitely buy the shirt
October 1st, 2005 at 4:53 pm
I, too, enjoy both yours and Dooce’s photos.
You might check out http://www.brooksjensenarts.com for some thoughts on limited editions and printing options. I’d certainly consider purchasing prints, but I’m not in a postion to pay “fine art” prices.
October 1st, 2005 at 5:14 pm
I don’t “get” the shirt, but I would buy them for my sister and her boyfriend (they’d “get” it).
I like the colors. Blue caps on the ringer would look cool with that green design.
Ringer is a classic look and makes any guy irresistable.
Also, the baseball tee would look hot! It is SO NOT played out — and I know these types of things (fashion, etc.).
I too would love to see a dooce shirt. I’d buy that for me and my friends.
Oh, and the coffee table book would be a really cool idea. THAT, I would totally buy. I love your photos but I’m probably too poor for any awesome prints.
Good luck!!!!!!
October 1st, 2005 at 7:29 pm
Nope, I don’t really get the front … but I’d send one to my ex-husband and when he wore it, everyong else would get it even if it wasn’t what you originally intended.
And yep, I’d buy it!
October 1st, 2005 at 11:54 pm
I’d buy one of those shirts, as long as you ship to Oz. And as long as crack-smoking-supermodel isn’t the only size you sell.
Love your work.
October 2nd, 2005 at 10:10 am
Apologies if this has already been mentioned, but for the short term (and/or small-er change) have you thought about uploading to iStockphoto.com? I just read an article - http://www.istockphoto.com/article_view.php?ID=103 - about the dearth of really, really original stuff there. Do you realize how many people out there could be looking for a picture of a dog with spaghetti hanging off his nose? (I’m sure somebody is - if not the exact photo, the possible things it could mean. Things like wanting something that you just can’t quite get a hold of. *lol*)
Anyway, good luck with whatever you decide, and congratulations on leaving the soul-sucking workplace.
October 2nd, 2005 at 12:41 pm
J-
Awesome ideas. I like the T-shirt, I like the orange, and I would likely buy it. I think more t-shirts would be good too. For years I’ve thought that heather should have one that says ‘SUCK IT’ on the front and DOOCE.COM on the back. I also thought about limited edition T’s for you. Maybe you have artists (like myself) design a T, and sell it. Giving minimal profits to the artist. Perhaps a drawing of the whole family? Beautiful white lines on bright orange T’s… Know what I mean? Also - as far as the photos go, this is a sure win as well. What about limited edition sets there too? Maybe a box set with a theme? All signed by you. I have loads of ideas, but perhaps I am overwhelming the situation… I WILL support you!
October 2nd, 2005 at 5:20 pm
1. I would totally buy a blurbodoocery shirt. A hoodie or something long-sleeved would be ideal because I am a coldblooded, cave-dwelling geek.
2. I would outsource too–people will pay.
3. Yeah, both of you could *totally* do stock photography. Try http://www.istockphoto.com
October 2nd, 2005 at 7:15 pm
No color bands on the arm
October 2nd, 2005 at 10:36 pm
Yes! I get that it is a dingbat image and that I, too, am a dingbat, in larger format. Love it.
October 3rd, 2005 at 3:50 pm
I like the idea of your photos on a t-shirt with your web address on the back. I think t-shirts with cutesy sayings are a dime a dozen. T-shirts with original photographic art, not so tired. Just an idea.
October 3rd, 2005 at 9:47 pm
I am sure somewhere up there, someone has said this already, but I don’t have the time or the patience to read every single comment. Start an entire line of Dooce items. Try, t-shirts, coffee mugs, mouce pads, note pads, fridge magnets. I would buy something for sure. I am sure Heather can come up with some really obnoxious/sarcastic/over the top saying to put on merchandise. It would have to be something that dooce devotees would howl out (do I hear inside joke), but that can catch on to the general non blogging public. Perhaps it will bring blogging even more mainstream than it is currently. Do I hear book deal, movie. I am sorry if I have insulted you. I love your pictures and think you can definetly do something with them, but sell out like Gwen Stefani did and sell Dooce stuff for an easy buck! Good Luck - you Fucking Rock for quitting! P.S. I love Chuck. Do you ever call him Chuck the Fuck? That’s funny!
October 4th, 2005 at 10:46 am
I didn’t read through all the comments, so hopefully I’m not beating a dead horse…but from what I did read, I would agree that having a “ladies cut” would be a must, and making it available in different background colors would be fantastic as well. I would only buy it then. As for the pictures…I think you and Heather take wonderful photos of people, but your scenery shots just don’t catch my eye, especially not for hanging on a wall. Too much going on usually. But as someone else said, I might buy a shirt with a (scenery) photo on it…
Good luck with whatever you decide. I’m happy to see new things coming out of your websites!