Printavo PrintHustlers Podcast

Hot Market Screen Printing + Pop Up Shops by Printavo

"How do I hire sales reps? When should I hire them? How much should I pay them?" Print shop owners have these questions all the time. We talk to Kevin Baumgart, a sales and strategy expert. He jokes that he wishes he could run a print shop: "You get to work with so many cool people all day!" On word of mouth, the most powerful form of marketing: "To me, it's amazing what shops have been able to do with word of mouth and virtually no marketing." But there's a downside. Shops often lack formal processes and procedures for sales. This makes it hard to grow past a certain point. So when should you hire a sales rep? "When you're really ready to grow your revenue and business." He even believes that shops could make marketing and sales the FIRST hires. "If you want that new press, how awesome would be to make the sales, and then need to go buy the new press?" Hiring for sales is tough, and Kevin is open about it. But there are ways to make it easier. "Look at the hiring process as a whole. What do the first 30, 60, or 90 days look like?" You've got to evaluate people to make sure that they have the right skills...and model success for them. Print shop sales require gritty people that can handle rejection. "You can't hire someone that wants to have their hand held. People that are successful in large corporate environments are not successful in small businesses." When it comes to paying sales staff, you've got to give people incentives that align with reality for them. "I've never seen 100% commission work well. It's hard to manage them. Someone needs to be comfortable. The base plus commission model is good, but provide a strong incentive for them." To get a sense of what you should pay in your area and for the talent you want, browse job listings. "Try Payscale, Glassdoor, and other websites to research how to get good folks to apply there." The bottom line? "Outbound sales is all rejection and totally monotonous. 98% rejection, same script, same process. It's hard." You've got to arm people for that process, and remember to reward them when they do find the 1% or 2% of customers that are a perfect fit. Lastly, Kevin has some great advice for the quote process. Get on a call! Don't just send a quote and wait. "You've done all this work and you're just going to hope they'll get it? Take advantage of getting on a call with them. Answer their questions up front. But most importantly, tie back to what they said. Reveal how your shop can help. You're so much more efficient this way. This should be a solution recommendation." Watch Kevin at PrintHustlers Conf 2019: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrvFLBdQT1w Need help? Reach out to Kevin! Here's his email: kbaumgart@setsales.co

Diversifying Retail Vs Custom + Email Marketing With Jupmode by Printavo

Clubhouse + Getting Started With Fulfillment (Plus Its Woes) by Printavo

What does it take to start an American-made garment factory? We talk with Soft Goods Detroit about their ambitious plan to bring high-end, American-made blanks to the market. "We're pushing American-made, custom apparel from the ground up, cut-and-sewn, printed, embroidered, the full spectrum," co-founder Josh York tells us. What began as a plan to give every homeless person in Detroit a beanie has blossomed into a retail and wholesale business. Based in Detroit, Josh has built a team of hard-working locals. "There are cool things you can do with a print shop. You can train people these skills. You can really make an impact. So I thought: why not do it here in Detroit?" From working as a production manager at Abercrombie and Fitch to learning to sew his own t-shirts, Josh York has put in the work and learned that the garment industry is a far-reaching machine. "I got perspective by making one t-shirt a day, seeing how hard it is and how long it takes. Millions of people do that every single day," he said. "There's a customer that wants that really premium American-made garment, and that's the problem we're trying to solve now," Josh explains. But when it takes 20+ minutes just to make a hoodie, there are few people willing to pay the cost. But Josh is certain there's a viable market, and we agree. Contents: 00:00 Buying an automatic folding machine 03:39 Intro 04:57 Getting into cut-and-sew 06:00 Starting with charity 07:07 Employing the homeless 08:48 About cut-and-sew 11:11 7 million pairs of underwear? 12:40 Scaling 15:00 Navigating the industry 16:11 How COVID changed business 17:50 What's next 19:50 Turnaround 21:00 How long it takes to make a hoodie 23:01 Finance and risk 24:50 Marketing blanks 26:50 Sample kits 30:28 Retail to wholesale 32:19 Sales 36:00 Selling at the mall 38:35 Niches 40:16 Sourcing fabrics

To Screen Printing Shops Under $500k During COVID by Printavo

When to Hire an Assistant In Your Screen Printing Shop by Printavo

Raising Your Screen Printing Prices Annually With Alive Print Shop by Printavo

Hiring & Training A Production Manager For Your Screen Printing Shop by Printavo

IntegriTees' Sean Kirkpatrick joins us to talk about M&R's Digital Squeegee. He's had this hybrid printing machine in his west Texas shop for more than two years. It's pushed the boundaries of what's possible and opened a new niche for his shop. The Digital Squeegee combines screen printing and digital printing in one package and the results are fascinating. Sean discusses everything from pricing to printing for niche women's apparel brands in this episode of the PrintHustlers Podcast. 00:00 Intro 01:05 About IntegriTees 02:25 M&R's Digital Squeegee (DS) 05:50 Equipment needed for a Digital Squeegee 06:55 Smallest shop with a DS?? 07:30 M&R Stryker presses 08:33 Why try new technology? 12:30 How much a Digital Squeegee costs 15:30 Hybrid printing artwork & screens 16:18 Learning curve & struggles 19:03 What jobs you should print with the DS 21:23 When prices make sense 22:30 Growing in 2020 23:00 Pricing as a luxury service 24:20 A warning about Digital Squeegees 25:58 Does it break? 28:10 10 days without turning it on? 29:25 Women's apparel niche 31:35 How fulfillment works for brands 32:50 Handling inventory 34:20 Why 2020 was great 36:50 Biggest challenge 38:45 Delegating 41:30 Reflecting on what's next 44:50 Outro