The number of personalized shirts I see in a day never ceases to amaze me. In addition to respect for the creativity of some of the slogans I read, I also reflect on the fact that every personalized t-shirt I see means that someone out there was smart enough to offer short run t-shirt printing. It used to be that the only way to personalize a single t-shirt was with what we call "little letters." "Little letters" are the 2-inch and under die-cut or pre-cut letters that Stahls' has sold since 1932. T-shirt shops buy the letters by the pack or kit and when customers wanted a name or saying on a shirt, you would line up the letters and heat apply to create a personalized shirt in a few mintues. Today there are a few other ways to add personalized sayings or logos to shirts, but sales of "little letters" still remain strong. In fact, many businesses continue to count on die-cut/pre-cut lettering for all their short run lettering needs. While many have switched to the convenience of CAD-CUT names, there are still thousands of businesses out there that rely on the simplicity of reaching for a box of Stahls' lettering to get the job done. With a kit of white and a kit of black 2-inch Pro Block on hand, you're always ready to add a name to any shirt.

If you are considering purchasing a direct to garment printer, please read this first. I know a lot of people, myself included, find direct to garment technology to be a garment decoration method with enormous potential. If you're in the process of investigating the merits of direct to garment printing, one article I ran across in the August issue of Impressions Magazine, did a good job of exploring developments in the direct to garment technology that is currently available. I bring this up because every customer that I have had the chance to show a comparison between direct to garment and print/cut technology, is amazed at the benefits of print/cut over direct to garment. Both technologies have their advantages and disadvantages, but if you are considering purchasing direct to garment technology in the near future, you owe it to yourself to review the benefits of print/cut technology as well. Here's a link to an article by Josh Ellsworth that explains some of the differences. For one thing, you can use a printer/cutter such as the Roland VersaCamm to decorate just about anything.  This includes: T-shirts, hoodies/fleece, bags (all types), performance apparel, umbrellas, portfolios, camping chairs, jackets, pants/jeans, hats, koozies, sneakers, luggage, CD cases, lunch bags, coolers, polo shirts, neckties, seat cushions, leather/leatherette car interiors, robes, pillow cases, shorts, uniforms, golf bags, briefcases. Basically anything made of fabric that you can fit onto the heat press. Not quite ready to make an investment but still want the benefits of printing full color logos on almost anything? You can order full color digtal transfers, or CAD-Printz(R) from Stahls' ID Direct. Want to attend a seminar to learn more? There are new seminar dates available on the Great Garment Graphics website.

It's always interesting to look at trends occuring in our industry and the folks at Impressions do a nice job of reporting their survey results in their annual industry report. In case you haven't read it, you can click here to access the information. In a nutshell, it confirms what I've been saying all along, that our industry is on a relatively steady course despite the troubled economy. They don't go as far as to call our industry recession proof, but based on the data they gathered, compared with data going back to 2004, all signs point to stability. Which is not to say there may not be a few bumps up and down along the way, but that there is no reason to panic. 23% of the respondents are planning on purchasing a heat press, 22.5% some type of digital transfer printing equipment and 22% a fabric/vinyl cutter. This confirms that people are still looking for faster, less expensive alternatives to screen printing and embroidery. Which reminds me, if you want to learn about printing your own digital transfers, we've just updated our CAD-LAB.info website to include information on print/cut technology, media and design creation. Just click on the new CAD-PRINT section and prepared to be amazed. Our multi-media team enjoys having fun with this site and we hope you will as well.

With the new year looming in the distance, many are already beginning to wonder what 2009 has in store for us. On the bright side, we are in the middle of a digital revolution that is totally transforming the way graphics are created and applied to garments and other products--things are getting faster and easier to create, with higher profit margins and less labor. On the other hand, we are operating in a tough economic climate, with competition for the graphics customer’s dollar more intense than ever. Smart business owners know they can’t take a business-as-usual approach if they hope to continue to prosper in 2009. 

What kinds of specific changes will be required to operate a  successful personalization store in the future?  I have written, spoken and made predictions about "The Store of the Future" for many years now. I've collaborated on drawings of store layouts and contributed to industry publications that have reported on the topic. More importantly, GroupeSTAHL companies have invested heavily in developing new digital technologies, media and online software to help you create the full color digital graphics you need for any type of garment, including performance wear, nylon and all kinds of stretchable fabrics that are hard to decorate with traditional methods. We are positioned to help our customers create the store of the future, capable of offering a full range of decorating options. In the coming weeks, I will be sharing some more of my thoughts on where the industry is headed and what you can do to learn more about alternative decorating options that can save you time and money. I will also look up some of my old articles and documents that have talked about the store of the future. And then we can see if my predictions are coming true, which I believe they are, and if 2009 will be the year where going digital becomes a possibility for more people than ever.   

Sometimes we give our customers great ideas, and other times, customers share their great ideas with us. I love to hear what you think and to learn about how you use our products. I don't know if you've ever shared an idea with a company you work with, but at Stahls' it's an important part of our partnership philosophy. We pay attention to everything you tell us, because whether it's a complaint or a tip, it always gives us important information on how to serve you better. It's also part of the reason why I started this blog, but not many people have felt compelled to leave comments. I'm hoping that will change soon, and if you ever want to comment on anything I've written, or talk about any servcie or product offered by a GroupeSTAHL company, I'm here. Please don't be shy! I especially like it when I hear from customers who find creative ways to combine products or come up with entirely new ways of doing things. Recently, we received a note from Brian McCall, of SBL Embroidery who gave us this tip: “I use a combination of a heat transfer and your Custom Made Easy in Poly-TWILL to create polka dot twill fabric." Great idea Brian and very creative look.

With one trend in garments going towards more technical fabrics and better quality t-shirts, it seems some people don't mind paying more for a better garment. However, that doesn't always mean that they are willing to pay more for garment graphics.People are still looking for ways to save money, and one way is to find the most inexpensive way possible to decorate their shirt. In many cases, the answer is screen printing. How can you compete with inexpensive screen printing? One idea is to look at the lower cost CAD-CUT(R) materials that are available. Now is a great time to check out lower cost Fashion Film, available from Stahls' ID Direct. If you don't own a cutter, this lower-priced film is also available as an option for their custom cutting services.

Before you say Ted, the Roland GX-24 doesn't print, read on. I just wrote that to get your attention and to fill you in on a little known decorating process that some very "cutting edge" decorators, who will do anything to get a job done (does that sound like you?) have used with success. If you own an inkjet printer and a GX-24 or other optic-eye enhanced cutter, you can do the same thing. This process has been used by several Cadworxlive.com users, they are the ones that shared the tip with me. I am constantly impressed and amazed at the creativity people show when they need to print a specific design on a t-shirt. Maybe you can try it the next time you need to print a full color image on a shirt and don't want to have the entire piece of inkjet transfer paper appear on the shirt. Here's what they did:

The GX-24 Print/ Cut process
Users create full color designs by selecting a piece of clipart or importing a full color image into the Cadworxlive.com designer. They can then add text and apply any effects they like. The user then exports the file into a raster image format such as .jpg or .png. The user can then import the image file into Cut Studio and create a cut contour line. They can then print onto Inktra transfer paper and cut around the design using the optic eye feature on the GX-24.

After you're done, just used your heat press to apply the design.

I've written about Cadworxlive.com here before, but I want to make sure you all understand that this free online software service that is available to all GroupeSTAHL customers can be used for more than creating designs to be output in CAD-CUT materials. In fact, Cadworxlive.com is being used by customers to produce designs with:

·     CAD-CUT materials

·     Printed Transfer Papers

·     Digital Print and Cut

·     Twill Applique’

The Cadworxlive twill appliqué production process proved itself out the other day at GroupeSTAHL West. A customer needed to create a jersey front with the following specification: Two Color, Script/W Tail, Split Front, Twill Applique. Cadworxlive delivered hands down. The customer was amazed at how easy it was to create the split front on the Cadworxlive website. Here's how it was done:

The Cadworx Twill Applique Production Process

• Create vector art using Cadworx Designer or Easy Teams Designer

• Export each color layer as a separate .plt file

• Import .plt file into the Ioline 301 Software

• Cut from either VectorCut or the 301 software

• Generate Sew file

• Apply onto Garment

So if you want to save time and create great looking designs, register to start using Cadworxlive.com today. And let me know what you created.

If you thought it was hard or time consuming to make your own t-shirt using a cutter and heat transfer materials, this video will prove you wrong. Please take a few minutes to watch it. Okay, it's done in high speed but I think it gets the point across about how easy it is to cut your own graphics using CAD-CUT materials and heat apply them with a heat press.  

 It might be off season in most parts of the country to be thinking about golf or patio umbrellas, but if you're thinking ahead, you might want to consider these two niche markets as potential business ideas you can start lining up for the spring. I know most people don't consider these items as something that can be printed with a heat press, but with CAD-CUT materials or CAD-PRINTZ digital transfers, you can create custom golf flags and easily print on large canvas umbrellas.   

VETERAN'S DAY 2008
Today we honor our nation's veterans and I hope everyone will be able to take a moment and remember the men and women who have served, as well as those who are currently serving. I have family members on active duty and I know many GroupeSTAHL associates have loved ones deployed around the world--I am grateful for everything they are doing to protect the freedoms we enjoy. My father and brother also served, one in WWII, one during the Vietnam era and our family was lucky enough to welcome them home but I realize some families have made the ultimate sacrifice and my thoughts are also with these families.  So whether you place a wreath, visit with a veteran, listen to a speech, attend a parade or just take a silent moment, it is important to remember the meaning of  the day, and the people behind the meaning.

I would also like to share an excerpt from a memoir that my mother, Ricki Stahl, put together a few years back that recalls her experiences when my father was in the Marine Corp. The photo shows me with my father,  Ernie Stahl, in 1944. 
The War Years
In 1944, Ernie joined the Marine Corps and was deployed to the Pacific. While Ernie was away, Ricki had to make ends meet the best she could, playing the role of both mother and father for her sons. It was during this time that her father-in-law, AC, approached Ricki to become involved with the family business. She was asked by AC to help with hand cutting felt and other embroidery projects.

Ricki Recalls:

"The war was on and all we had were scraps from the felt company. They were using the material to make lettering from what was used as lining for the soldiers' shoes. So the scraps we got were mostly green and maroon, so when we started cutting lettering, they were mostly green and maroon." Ricki always got the most out of her materials. Today, we call the technique…"nesting."

By this time the imprinting industry had become more specialized, new markets had evolved. A concerned Ricki then asked AC what would be left for Ernie upon his return from the war. AC said "not to worry." He then asked her what she thought about offering customers the pre cut lettering and number product. Ricki agreed it was a good idea and took on the challenge.

Business to Business Marketing

It was Ricki's idea to begin marketing the numbers and letters directly to sporting goods stores. In 1945, they placed an ad in Sporting Goods Dealer magazine. Many customers resulted from this ad and soon they had more business than they could handle. Ricki was involved with every aspect of the business, from answering phones, opening mail orders, accounting, shipping, production and customer service. This was in addition to caring for her household and her young children. "One time, when Ted was two years old," remembers Ricki, "he hid the key to the company and we didn't have a spare. It took me quite a bit of cajoling to get him to tell us where he hid it."

Move to Roseville

In 1946, upon his return from the service, Ernie Stahl and his family moved into their new home on Frazho in Roseville, Michigan. The home also provided an ideal production facility. A large garage served as their new business location that they called The Stahl Felt Stamping Company.

They specialized in die-cut heat-applied lettering and numbers for athletic teams and sporting good stores. Simply because they were business owners, didn't mean they were guaranteed an easy or comfortable lifestyle. Ricki remembers that there were times when the family only made a profit of 37 cents for a week's worth of hard work. "We didn't know that much about gardening, except we knew we wanted to be able to eat. It was summer time and I think my family was tired of Zuccini. I had to use it like meat…. that's what we lived on…Zuccini, eggplants and tomatoes."

 

Did you know you are in the promotional products business? What? You thought you could only use your heat press to print on shirts? Not so...I mentioned yesterday that Hotronix could custom produce a specialty heat press platen for just about any type of item. I wanted to show you these bottle holders that have been decorated using CAD-COLOR Solutions media and a Hotronix heat press. There's really no limit to the type of item you can customize with a heat press. What's the weirdest thing you've ever printed on using your heat press? Or better yet, what's the most profitable thing you've ever printed with your heat press? Share your stories by adding a comment. I would love to hear from you.

No matter what you're hearing on TV, radio or the internet, if you plan to prosper during the coming months, you may have to start thinking outside the box. Or outside of a regular 16" x 16" or 16" x 20" heat press platen. Your Hotronix heat press, if that's what you own, is designed with interchangeable heat press platens. I've blogged about the different stock size heat press platens that we offer before--round sizes to print the ends of bags,etc... But what I want to share with you today is the fact that Hotronix can also create a custom heat platen to make it easier to print odd shaped or other items that would be difficult to print on a standard sized heat press platen. Especially if you have landed a job that requires you to print logos on gloves or even socks! I know one customer who is doing a huge business heat pressing our Vintage Puff material on the bottom of socks to make them slip resistant. Many care facilities go through hundreds of pairs of socks per day. Hotronix created a special platen just for this purpose. So if you come up with a great idea of something that sounds like it would be hard to decorate with a heat press, think again. I know the heat press experts at Stahls' Hotronix will do their best to help you find a solution.  

How do you write a marketing plan? It's not as hard as you think it sounds. You probably have all the right answers in your head already. It's just a matter of taking the time to organize your thoughts and think about what you already KNOW. For example:

Know yourself. Is your company’s strength the speed of service it offers? Is your point of differentiation the award-winning creativity you offer? You need to know what makes your company special or different, and then promote that differentiation relentlessly. It’s better to be different than better. Find something unique about your business.

 

Know your market. There’s not necessarily a right or wrong answer in determining the customers for your business. It’s just a matter of figuring out which ones make most sense for you.

 

Who is your prospective client? Do you want to sell to the bowling team that needs five shirts, or the corporation that needs 500 shirts for a company picnic? You may be marketing to a group of customers you’re already familiar with, but if you’re reaching out to an unfamiliar customer base, spend some time getting to know the audience. Trade associations are great for market research. For instance, if you’re into hospitality, the restaurant association is great.

 

Identifying your target market will simplify your marketing efforts tremendously. If you only want to reach car dealers, for example, you’ll be able to eliminate broad-based marketing vehicles like newspapers in favor of more focused efforts, such as direct mail sent to car dealerships. If you have a special focus and a lot of contacts in that area, you’re way ahead of the curve.

 

However, your business model may dictate a more general approach rather than a focused one. For instance, you may be trying to reach all types of small businesses within your area. That’s fine, too. The point is to figure out who you want to reach, or who in your existing customer list you should be reaching more frequently and in a more meaningful way.     

 

Ask questions like: Who do I need to spend more time with or less time with? Where are my opportunities?

 

Know your goals. Depending on your business model, your goal may be to build revenue from new customers by 10%, increase walk-in traffic by 50 people per month, or generate 25% more in sales from existing customers. In the long-term, you may want to generate $1 million in sales annually and have four locations. Whatever your goals, the point is to clearly define exactly what you hope to achieve.

 

Ask yourself: How are you going to make more money? Am I going to increase sales with new customers? Make higher margins? Get bigger orders?

 

As for your short- to mid-term goals, make sure you can handle the additional business you’re hoping to generate. Be sure that you can meet the cash flow and increased labor required. For example, you may buy a list from your local Little League and send an offer to 1,000 teams, and you hear from everybody. Suddenly you have more orders than your production or your suppliers can handle.

 

The key is to design your marketing plan so that it builds your business in small, manageable steps. Then you can handle the increase in business as it comes.

 

 

It's hard to believe that it's already November. As the end of the year approaches, it's a good time to evaluate what you did right this year and what you need to improve upon. If you're a screen printer, you might be interested in going more "green" with heat transfers, cad materials or other heat printing products that don't require clean up or create hazardous waste. Just how green are heat printing products? Many cad materials that aren't made of PVC, commonly known as vinyl, are considered "green" and safer for the environment. Customers of yours that are "green" minded might appreciate knowing that you can offer decorating methods that are less harmful to the environment that screen printing, which could give you an edge over companies that only offer screenprinting as an option.
On another note, I also wanted to help spread the word that you are invited to receive a complimentary pass to the upcoming Imprinted Sportswear Show in January 2009. Here's the information on how to get your FREE entry pass:  

This past weekend I went out to my car to find a small white piece of paper tucked under the windshield wiper. Great, a parking ticket, was my first thought, but since I wasn't illegally parked I quickly realized it was just a flyer. The message was short and sweet--Medium One Topping Pizzas, No Limit, $3.99. The reason? Customer Appreciation Day. The special was for one day only, from a national chain, only at one location. Intrigued by the special (where else can you get a pizza for $3.99?) as well as by the reason for the special, I took a little detour to order some pizzas and speak with the owner. It was early for pizza, but I decided to take home several pies and while I was ordering, I asked the owner how his flyer effort was working out. He said it was early yet but that he had gotten at least 10 orders that he wouldn't have so far. I guess my order made that 11, since I certainly hadn't been planning on purchasing pizza from him. In fact, until I got the flyer on my car, I didn't even know the business was there. "That's the problem," he said. "The city won't allow me to put up a sign on the main street." The business was located in a strip mall/business office park situation that was positioned back from the road, with large parking lots in front of the businesses. It's true, you would never notice the business from the main road, unless you drove in the parking lot. I told him I thought the flyers were a great idea, one that I myself have used many times in the past when I owned several retail engraving stores. If you don't have a location that generates a lot of foot traffic, you need to be more creative in trying to bring customers into your store. Flyers don't need to be expensive. The flyers for the pizza special were printed on plain white paper, 2 up, and then cut in half. He also had the cost of paying someone $10 an hour to distribute the flyers on cars. When people respond to your flyer, it's a good idea to ask them where their car was parked and see if you get a better response from a particular parking lot. If it works for pizza, it can work for t-shirts. What are some ideas for a customer apprecation day that you can offer with a heat press? How about FREE NAMES? For one day only, you can offer to add a name for free if they purchase the shirt in your store. Whether you use die cut lettering or can cut your own with a  cad-cutter, you will most likely not lose money on the sale. Which is more than I can say for the pizza store owner. $3.99!

It's almost too close to Halloween to suggest using this new Stahls' ID product to personalize costumes or trick or treat bags, but it's never too late to think about the power of 3M Scotchlite™ Reflective Strips and Lettering to greatly increase the visibility of anyone crisscrossing the streets after nightfall. Like pizza delivery people, bike riders, security guards or anyone out after dark who needs to be seen. 3M Scotchlite™ Reflective Strips and Lettering can be placed on clothing, back packs, caps, pet leashes to reflect headlights and make it easier for drivers to see people and pets. Adds extra safety to early morning and early evening joggers, dog walkers and kids walking to school. 3M Reflective Strips are available in silver and come in one and two inch strips. Just use your heat press to quickly and easily heat apply. The 3M Scotchlite™ Reflective Lettering is offered by Stahls' ID Direct in packs of white, yellow and silver. 

 

Somehow I thought this blogging thing would be a bit more interactive, but after several months of posting, I haven't received many comments. In fact, I didn't receive any until Oct. 24th, but I am proud to announce that the first comment has been posted! To spare you the suspense, I will reprint it here, since it was added as a comment on a posting back from August. I won't make it a habit of reprinting all my comments, (I know they're coming) but since this was the first one, I thought I would share it with you. Here it is:  "pls, i need to learn more about heat transfer, can you send me any article or journal on heat transfer printing."  (if you can identify the post to which the comment was made, leave a comment on this post and I'll send you a free CAD-LAB magnet) We have taken care of sending the author of the comment an email and will be sending them the requested information. I have received some feedback from other people in the industry, but via email, not as a comment. Here's what one said "A great blog topic would be customer service. Stahls' is really known for this. How did you get such great customer service established? What are your philosophies on customer service and how to you train a staff to implement them?" Now there's a topic I could go on about! What do you think...any comments?
By the way, the photo features me with another one of my favorite "firsts,"  my first teddy bear. Not comparable with my first heat press, but that's another story

 

If you have always wanted to discover the advantages of using cad materials to decorate t-shirts, or just about anything for that matter, but don't own a vinyl cutter, now you can try it out from the comfort of your desktop computer. You don't need any special software, you don't need a vinyl cutter. All you need is a heat press. Here's how easy it is. Go to CadWorxLIVE.com to create your design. This free, online software is easy and fun to use. Even if you have no artwork experience, you can create a great looking design in no time. You will need a customer number from any GroupeSTAHL company in order to register to use the site, but other than that, it's a free service. After your design is finished, you can select the option to send it to Stahls' ID Direct to be cut. We will then cut the design in the cad material or cad materials of your choice and send you the finished custom design. All you do is open the box, and heat press the ready to print design. Once you see how amazing the finished results are, I'm sure it won't be long until you decide to purchase your own vinyl cutter and start making your own t-shirts with cad materials.  The shirts in the photo were printed using CAD-CUT® Fashion-FILM™. Incredibly thin and lightweight, CAD-CUT® Fashion-FILM™ is great if your design has a lot of intricate details. It comes in 21 fashion forward color choices including newly released Gingersnap, Coffee Bean, Cornflower Blue, and Storm Gray.