[Lubby]

Was just looking into this the other day and thought maybe I'd ask for ideas/experiences from you all here.

Have any of you ever had your own clothing and apparel made for your design/hosting companies? If so, what was most popular, what sort of pricing did you pay, and was there any return on this investment from potential customer leads and sales?

[vito]

www.cafepress.com is pretty good for "one-offs". But if you plan on having a larger number of items produced, I'd suggest looking up a local apparel company. Or perhaps try scouting your local mall for one of those embroidery shops that will add your logo to everything from caps to tshirts. We have a few here in Brampton.

It's pretty tough to gauge the "effect" of such promotional material. Heh, the day we can add a clickable link to a tshirt is the day we can measure "real" results.

Vito

[the_pm]

At first, I read into this that you wanted to make your apparel available for others to buy (I think Vito thought this too). On second read, I think you're wondering whether having your own apparel positively impacts sales, right?

I'd say it gives a slight edge and some professional appeal for a reasonably small investment. I would look into local embroidery shops to see what the prices would be. Cafepress can do one-time jobs, but their quality tends to be on the average side, sometimes downright shoddy.

[vito]

I have found that cafepress was generally too limiting. It's OK if you just want the "standard" tshirt or mug. But if you want anything other than a white tshirt, for instance, or anything different, you need to source out another supplier.

Vito

[Simon]

I can see an advantage to a hosting company's T-shirt.

For instance: A shirt with "99.9% uptime GUARANTEED" may be a big seller. "Open 24/7" may also go over well. OK, enough inuendo.

As for CafePress: They used to be a good company. However, the merchandise they ship as of late is shoddy, at best. The only long standing product of theirs is the travelmug.

Simon

[Tjobbe]

We should have IWDN t-shirts!

[Lubby]

Yeah they won't be for making money, it will be more of a brand awareness type of thing.

Would you notice a tshirt more that has a cool logo on it or some smart text?

[the_pm]

I think I would notice it. I think it gives a certain amount of cohesiveness to your message.

[Tjobbe]

If it is for an unknown company then a relevant ctahcy phrase would go well with the company name, but no logo i dont think. just my 2C

[gordman]

But if you plan on having a larger number of items produced, I'd suggest looking up a local apparel company. Or perhaps try scouting your local mall for one of those embroidery shops that will add your logo to everything from caps to tshirts.

This sure sounds interesting, I'll look further into it although it would be kind of difficult for me to search for the local stores, malls or shops. Wouldn't it be more easier to use the internet?