Tag: niche

Business Plus, JUKI Posts

JUKI Business Plus Seminar: Creating a Newsletter

by sewinwithjukiLeave a Comment on JUKI Business Plus Seminar: Creating a Newsletter

In today’s day and age, almost all shops and businesses use some format of email marketing. From sale promotions and company updates to personalized thank you notes for past shoppers, email marketing can help build your business. This practice has showcased time and time again what a great tool it can be for driving sales, creating a connection to the customer, and getting your business out there.

Today’s blog will cover what email marketing is, how you can create your newsletter, and tools and tips that will help you succeed. While an email can be used for many different purposes, it can upgrade your business!

What is Email Marketing?

Email marketing is a tool used by all business types that builds a connection between you and the customer, like informing business updates, abandoned shipping carts, reward systems, thank you emails, and more.

The benefits of this tool are limitless! With email automation, you can help customers have personalized shopping experiences, improve return rates, promote products, and have the ability to reach a larger audience rather than you sending one email at a time.

Creating Your Newsletter

Let’s plan your newsletter! First, start a conversation using a direct connection to your customer, like their email. Seen as one of the more personal options for sales, thanks to the ability of personalization, buyers will appreciate that you’ve made an effort to connect with them.

Focus on newsletters that offer some form of value. For example, a focus on accessories they’ll like, promotions of products they’re interested in, blogs that align with their interests, and the like offer customers the opportunity to trust your business.

Consider your buyer or viewer when creating your newsletter. For example, if you could obtain an email address from someone considering your shop but didn’t complete a purchase, a newsletter can be a great way to bring them back in! In addition, with add-ons like coupons, promotional pricing, or upcoming sale announcements, you can pull in potential customers on the fence and help them find the product they need.

Another positive about newsletter promotions is the ability to speak to the customer without paid promotion. While we can pay to promote our ads on social media and online, there is no promise it will reach your intended audience each time. On the other hand, an email will directly reach your client and inform them of what’s happening in your business today.

Different Newsletter Goals

Before diving into your design, let’s plan the content your newsletter will cover. Of course, we have different goals when sending out these emails, so consider what response you want from the audience.

  • Relationship building: The top reason newsletters have gained popularity is the relationship and trust you begin building with your customer base. If your focus is relationship building, focus on giving them a view of your business and expertise. Add-ons like behind the scene clips or blogs on your projects allow you to build credibility while promoting your shop.
  • Sales and Services: Create curated newsletters for your customers. Based on their past purchases, you can create an email that will go specifically with their interests. For example, if someone purchased a quilt pattern, you can curate a quilting newsletter that promotes a project and other items for sale. This way, they can see you care about their purchase while encouraging a new sale.
  • Education: Does your business focus on selling sewing supplies or finished quilts? Create a how-to newsletter to show customers your abilities and allow them the chance to see how they can use your products. Whether it is how to style your new quilt or sew using a tool you sell, the best promotion for some customers is seeing the product in use and imagining how they can do the same.
  • Customer Feedback and Referrals: Use these newsletters to receive feedback on your business and practices. This way, you can focus on what works and needs to be fixed, allowing customers the chance to place their input, a benefit many appreciate! 

 Besides your content, focus on your design look. We want to create a layout that is easy to read but catches the viewers’ attention and helps them clarify that it’s your business. For example, focus on what color choices, font, and layout you want your letters to follow.

While most programs offer templates to choose from, make sure to personalize the templates to your company’s brand. Consistency is key when setting up your newsletter so that customers can connect it with your business and feel your brand’s touch.

Finding Your Audience

Before you can send these campaigns out, you need to build your audience! By building a strategy, you can decide whom you’re hoping to reach, what segments you might create (breaking down your audience by interest), and when you’ll send out your campaigns.

First, focus on your audience. Whom are you trying to reach? By deciding this first, you can plan how you’ll gather your emails and what groups you’ll create for newsletters, which will help you get a better idea of the content you need to add to your campaigns.

The best way to segment your audience is by asking for their interest when registering their email with your business. For example, if your business is focused on sewing but sells patterns, fabric, and accessories, you can request your audience pick their interest by choosing quilting, new patterns, and more.

While creating segmentation can be simple once you know your audience, the time-consuming project begins when you need to create separate emails for the segments. Therefore, we recommend that those new to email marketing stick to just one or two segments before attempting new ideas.

As for the topics, focus on products or projects that customers are interested in, products you want to promote, and blogs or vlogs that can benefit customers and encourage sales. Some topics can be consistent with forming a connection and building expectancy. For example, if you have a blog you post on often throughout the month, you can include a blog round-up for viewers to check out on your monthly business update newsletters. This way, in case they missed any or haven’t subscribed to your blog, you can bring in readers and offer them new exciting pieces to discover!

Finally, decide on what locations you will request emails from, online or in person. Email capture can come from your website, blog, social media sites, collaborations, and so much more! Be intentional about where you’re placing this sign-up form so you can receive new emails consistently and safely.

Don’t forget Privacy Regulations and Best practices!

When you begin sending email newsletters and collecting new ones, keep in mind marketing laws. In addition, privacy legislation and anti-spam guides are important to keep in mind when it’s time to start scheduling and sending.

  • General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR): Implemented in 2018, this European Union (EU) privacy law applies to anyone processing and/or storing the data of people in the EU. Many platforms comply with these laws and help users remain compliant with them.
  • Know your anti-spam legislation: CAN-SPAM (US) and CASL (Canada) are examples of anti-spam legislation intended to protect consumers from spam and electronic threats.
  • Subscribers must be obtained honestly: Sending email communication to people who have not opted-in is not GDPR compliant and is widely considered spam. Even customers who provide their email for purchase must choose to opt-in for receiving emails unrelated to their purchase.
  • Emails must contain an unsubscribe link: Subscribers must be able to opt-out from receiving email communication from you.
  • Include your business contact information: Make sure to place your business contact information in the footer of your emails to comply with anti-spam legislation.

Finding Your Platform

Each email platform has features and plans curated for different business types and needs. When choosing your package, focus on what you need right now, and remember what features you might like to use in the future once you’re more comfortable.

Below are features any beginner can use and place in their campaigns.

  • Built-in templates with customization: easily set up beautiful newsletters and customize them to your needs as you learn how to arrange your campaigns.
  • Personalization: with the ability to include subscriber information, you can choose an option to personalize each email with a user’s first name! This little touch will help customers feel like this email was curated for them.
  • Segmentation: Keep your audience organized by their interests! This way, quilters, sewists, pattern creators, and more get emails that correlate with their interests and help your email openings stay consistent.
  • Scheduling: schedule emails to be sent out at the best times for your audience. Whether that be morning before work or weekends for project time, study your subscribers’ habits and change your schedules every once in a while until you find what fits.
  • Automation: connect your email program to your shop and have emails sent after certain actions! For example, if someone just purchased an item from your shop, they can receive a confirmation email promoting similar products, a space for review, and a space for tracking.
  • Analytics: Whichever program you choose should have a form of analytics. This way, you can study what campaigns are successful and what you can fix to have consistent openings.

Keep in mind the budget before choosing a program! Focus on programs that are straightforward for beginners and offer packages for small businesses.

Below are three recommendations that beginners can check out!

MailChimp
Mailer Lite
Active Campaign
  • MailerLite: The easiest program to use, MailerLite offers easy drag-and-drop interfacing that makes it quick and fun to create. With a simple style, anyone can create their first newsletter on this program! The best part is that this program offers a free subscription option for up to 1000 subscribers. After this, the plans begin at $9 per month. This program can also be connected to your online e-shop, like Shopify.
  • ActiveCampaign: Easy to use and edit, the Active Campaign program integrates into Shopify and vouches for over 500 pre-built automation for your campaigns, allowing you to send welcome notes, sale confirmations, and more. It also offers an SMS option for those who volunteer their number to your business. The best part is you can test this program for 14 days before committing, and its beginning package begins at $9 per month.
  • MailChimp: Popular and easy for beginners, MailChimp stands out from other programs thanks to its ease of use and clean interface. With the ability to have 500 contacts before purchasing a plan, you can access hundreds of free templates, SMS Marketing, email automation, and quick editing tools. Furthermore, if you purchase a plan, their beginning plan starts at $11, upgrading your audience limit from 500 to 50,000!

Finally, once you’ve finalized your theme, planned content, chosen your platform, and finished planning a schedule, it’s time to send out your first newsletter! Again, stay true to your brand and goals and focus on writing eye-catching subject lines to bring viewers in. Confirm which email you use for responses, and allow subscribers to contact you directly, which will help build that communication line with your customers!

After you’ve sent your first few emails, you can begin learning your analytics and tweaking your strategy. Don’t forget, these newsletters are a window into your business, expertise, and personality, so have fun and create pieces that you and your customers will love!

Stay in the loop with JUKI! Join our newsletter list by visiting us here and scrolling down today!

Business Plus

JUKI Small Business Seminar: Have You Found Your Niche?

by sewinwithjuki2 Comments on JUKI Small Business Seminar: Have You Found Your Niche?

Join us every last Saturday of the month for JUKI’s small business seminars designed to help you start or grow your at-home sewing, quilting, embroidery, or direct-to-garment business.

When it comes to owning your own small business, finding your niche is one of the first goals you should focus on. While you can have all the supplies in the world, and top equipment, not knowing your niche will leave you lost. Take the time to consider who you’re selling to and what kind of designs and work you’ll need to do to hit that audience base

Sometimes finding your niche can be coincidental. If you create a t-shirt for your daughter’s dance friends, and everyone loves it, you might find yourself attending dance recitals with moms and supporters wearing your shirts. Think of finding your niche as an upside pyramid. The top is wide and covers everything on earth, it’s up to you to trickle down and see what’s at the point for your market.

Who are you marketing to?

The best way to start your small business is by planning who you’re going to sell to! Having a target audience or niche will help you build ideas for designs or connections to go after that will grow your shop. Below are some examples of audiences you could market towards.

Hobby and Niche Markets

Are you obsessed with comics, cars, and more? Many groups of people enjoy having products that are different and creative, and allow them to show support for their favorite things in fun ways! Think of what groups you resonate with that you could create custom shirts for.

Car Hobby: If you find yourself having fun puns or art ideas for cars, those in the car community would enjoy having new products like t-shirts they could wear to car shows to show off their personality!

Punny Jokes: Something so many people enjoy are good puns and jokes. Creating material with fun graphics, or even quotes is a great way for people to show off who they are. Think of fun socks, printed t-shirts, or canvas bags with fun quotes.

Pop Culture References: With media constantly expanding and growing, you’re always likely to stumble upon a TV show, movie, or band that has a following. Create things in your style that fans would enjoy wearing as a form of pride and excitement in their likes.

Events and Show Markets

In a world where there is always something going on, events and shows always need some merchandise and freebies!

Charity Events: Charity events are always circulating. Many times these events include team t-shirts to set apart company teams, or for individuals who are volunteering! Connect with your local charities and see who needs a partner for event merchandise. These events are not only a great way to get your business out there, but they will allow others to see the quality of your work and bring in new connections for future events. 

Trade Shows: If you’re located in an area where tradeshows are common, look into exhibiting at these events! Many times teams will set up their shops on-site and sell their goods and creations while customers are attending. You can also look into what tradeshows are happening near you and create custom products to sell beforehand.

Sports Events: does your town have a kickball league? Look into what leagues are in your area for options on creating merchandise for their teams! Many companies, schools, and friends have their own sports leagues that require team t-shirts, tote bags, hats, and more.

Create Your Brand

For those who have a mind filled with artwork and fun style, look into creating your brand! These projects may seem big, but you get to choose how you create and sell. Many small businesses are known for having their select few designs that they focus on. We recommend starting with 3-5 designs you want to place on merchandise and going from there when creating your brand.

Once you’ve picked your niche deep dive into what’s popular in the community. Whether it be characters, quotes, styles, or more; these tips will help you create your shop and build up a profitable business. The more you know your audience, the more likely you are to create pieces that others find special and worth buying. Small niche consumers pay more as well because of the low product options available for them to choose from.

Whether you choose to market to corporate, or to your local community, finding your niche is the essence of creating a profitable and successful company. Don’t be afraid to join niches that seem popular, the same reason people go to Walmart instead of Target can be the same reason someone goes to you instead of another seller. Begin with categorizing people so that the game plan is more concrete. Research their demographics, interests, jobs, etc. Once you reach the point where it’s too narrow, go up a level until you find your sweet spot. Try to find a niche where there are enough people to market to, and then go for it!

Business Plus, JUKI Posts, RICOH Ri 100 (DTG Printer)

Starting Your Direct-To-Garment Business with JUKI & RICOH

by sewinwithjukiLeave a Comment on Starting Your Direct-To-Garment Business with JUKI & RICOH

Opening a small business is a fun and exciting venture, whether as a hobby to gain extra income or hopes for a new career. There are many reasons to look into starting a direct-to-garment (DTG) business. Maybe you’re someone who has a head full of great ideas, has friends who are always looking for custom t-shirts for their company events, or perhaps you’re someone who loves to design. Regardless of why, today, we’re going to discuss how to start your DTG business from including markets to sell to, tools to start, and how to sell your products.

Who’s Your Niche?

Before jumping into a DTG business, it’s crucial to think about whom you’re going to sell to, as this will set the basis for what you create and where you sell. So first, create a customer profile based on the following criteria: age, gender, lifestyle, location, profession, and occasion. You can also ask yourself what problem is this product solving for this customer? Examples of different customer profiles are listed below.

The Hobbyist

Have you ever found yourself looking for a t-shirt that captures your love for quilting? Nowadays, you can find a t-shirt for almost every interest due to small business artists who focus on creating products for these specific customers. So whether it’s sewists, car enthusiasts, or even cat owners, there’s a t-shirt for that. You can enter this segment by looking at the competitors’ designs and identifying what you can offer that is different. For example, the pet industry is a huge industry dominated by big brands. The competition is currently creating t-shirts with generic pet faces on them. You can differentiate your brand and create a unique segment of personalized, one-off t-shirts with customers’ pet’s faces on them. By targeting the right niche, you can create appealing products that bring revenue. 

Charity and Corporate Events

If you’re someone who’s attended a local charity or corporate event, you’ve probably received a t-shirt with a design related to that event. So whether it’s charity sports events, Christmas parties, or retreats, these events are a perfect niche to enter since there is a high volume of events and product quantity. 

Fashion

If you’re someone who leans towards creating and personalizing clothing, look into your own branded looks. With the ability to print onto canvas totes, sweaters, t-shirts, and more using a direct-to-garment printer, you can create your own branded line using the designs and patterns you’ve designed. There are always people looking to express themselves in unique and fun ways.

What Do You Need To Start?

Once you have your business plan that includes a niche and product line, it’s time to start looking at equipment. These are some basics you’ll need to think about:

  • A DTG Printer like the RICOH Ri 100
  • A Finisher or Heat Press like the RICOH Rh 100
  • Replacement Ink Cartridges 
  • Software and Computer
  • Materials

DTG Printer & Finisher

DTG Printing is a groundbreaking technology that surfaced in the ’90s. Like your home printers, a DTG will directly print onto an array of products like t-shirts, canvas bags, fabrics, and more using inkjet technology. Over the years, the fashion industry has seen a rise in those who want to wear personalized or unique garments. As a result, DTG is a growing industry, which is why it’s an excellent option for someone looking to begin their own small business.

A DTG printer like JUKI’s RICOH Ri 100 is an all-in-one DTG printer that can print images onto light-colored cotton or polyester* garments using state-of-the-art DTG technology with the lowest initial investment. In addition, there are various bundles available that offer the printer and finisher together or individually for your budget. We recommend contacting a local JUKI Business Plus Dealer for recommendations and pricing on bundles. Whether you purchase just the printer or the combo of printer and finisher, the turnaround when printing and heat pressing a t-shirt is about 3 to 10 minutes, creating a fast, low-cost turnaround.

Software & Drivers

There are two software’s you need to know about when starting your DTG business. The software you’re going to use to make the products, and the software you’re going to use to design the products.

For example, the RICOH Ri 100 offers easy-to-operate design software that lets you import and edit images before printing, with no specialized knowledge or skills required. In addition, the software comes with built-in designs and fonts. With the ability to print photos, designs, and more, this is a great option that removes a high learning curve.

In addition to the software that comes included with the printer, other affordable design software is available. For example, Paint.net, Paintshop pro, InkScape, and Gimp, are free or lost cost software that allows you to create art for your projects without breaking the bank. For a step up, look into the Adobe programs Illustrator or Photoshop. While these work on a monthly subscription, they’re both commonly used programs with many free and easy to follow guides you can use when starting.

The Supplies

Your customers will want to get a bang for their buck, so consider this when deciding on fabrics and product choices. Today, affordable, lightweight, heavyweight, 100% cotton, 100% polyester, and blended fabrics and blank products can be found on wholesale sites. Some examples of popular wholesale brands are Hanes and Anvil. When it’s to purchase, buying in large quantities reduces the cost of materials.

In addition, you can expand your business (like the personalized pet t-shirt we mentioned earlier) by introducing other products like pillowcases, tote bags, infant onesies, towels, and more. By branching from the t-shirt business, you can enter new markets and increase revenue.

Where to Sell

Once you’ve finalized your merchandise and have your products ready to go, look into your options for selling. Many options include online shops, in-person events like conventions and farmer’s markets, and brick-and-mortar stores. 

First, let’s discuss online shops. From creating your website to signing up for handmade marketplaces, there are various options. Before you are ready to commit, some platforms allow you to do a limited trial. The trial will enable you to test and research if this is right for your product. If you are comfortable creating a personalized website with a custom URL and have an established audience, we recommend website building and hosting companies like Squarespace and Wix. If you are looking for an all-in-one solution with high traffic volume but sacrificing a bit of branding, we recommend marketplaces like Amazon Handmade and Etsy. Whether you go for your website or an established e-commerce platform, each option requires sellers to pay either for a custom URL, listings, transaction, or payment processing fees.

Are you someone that loves to interact with others? Then, another great option is in-person events! Research local events in your area where you can have a tent or a booth. Are you selling custom cat t-shirts? Attend a local pet convention. Events like your local weekend farmer market or a yearly convention are great places to start. The great thing about JUKI’s RICOH Ri 100 is how portable it is, meaning you can take it with you! The RICOH Ri 100 can fit into a space as small as 15.7″ wide x 27.5″ deep, making it one of the smallest DTG printers. In addition, the printer and its finisher can be stacked to maximize functionality without sacrificing space so that you can create custom pieces on site. 

**Some states or cities will require a business license, so keep this in mind when applying for your stand.

How to Sell

Once you’ve finalized who, what and where it’s time to start thinking about how you will market your products. One of the best ways to get your products and brand out there is by utilizing social media. The best thing about social media is that it is free! Some platforms do offer paid advertisement options for your posts. Below are some things to keep in mind:

  1. Look into creating multiple social media channels for your shop (Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Tiktok, and so on.)
  2. Think of your niche and what platforms they use for marketing on
  3. Define your marketing goals (build brand awareness, generate sales, or engage with customers)
  4. Post content daily when possible
  5. Interact with your followers

Social media is used by millions of people every day, making it a great tool to attract customers. Take advantage and put your brand out there!

Now that you know the basics of where to start, we hope you have a clearer vision of where you want your business to go. Direct to garment is a growing business where creativity and being different is a great thing! So what more do you want to know about the DTG business? Let us know down below!