The name ‘Profits’ aka Anthony Marsh maybe familiar to some of you in the industry, I’ve seen his name associated with many t-shirt related sites whilst researching for the Buy Tees blog,. He’s almost everywhere these days, be it t-shirt design, printing, whole, promotions and marketing, he’s even included my news feed at his popular t-shirt news site TeeFeeds.com. However I felt that Profits deserved a little more attention than he’s received so far within the industry. He has a great of experience in the field, and can teach us all, beginners and professionals alike, the mysterious art of forming a popular t-shirt network of must have resources and products that have ensured his prolonged success for quite some time now.

For the best part of a decade Anthony sunk his teeth into the food concession business, spending intermittent periods of his early career as a property manager for an office park and an IT manager. However with the 90’s boom in Internet use, he spotted an opportunity to provide online services resulting in his final decision to capitalise on the humorous t-shirt market, which has since burgeoned into a successful network of t-shirt related sites and resources.

Paul: Hi Profits!

Profits: Hi!

Paul: Firstly let me thank you for this opportunity to share your wealth of knowledge and experience in the industry with our readers here at Buy-Tees.net. Before we dive headlong into the world of tees, I wondered, do you have time for anything that doesn’t involve t-shirts? I used to have time to play music myself, but with designing tees every week and reviewing as many others, I find my time management skills lacking.

Profits: Isn’t it always the way? I myself have little time to spare, I mainly reserve it for family and friends. Currently I’m spending any moments alone on improving my skills in photography, video production and illustration.

Paul: That’s good to know, I think it’s vital to always expand your skills and of course have outside interest and pastimes otherwise you may find yourself becoming rather stale. I am starting up my old web design business and keep practising my design skills, but it’s true I should make more time for plain old fun. Can we get a breakdown of all the sites in your current network, I’m sure our readers would be interested to see how you’ve climbed the industry’s ladder.

Profits:

PopularThreadz.com – My flagship site, It was founded in 2003. I purchased it in 2005 – it had a minimal amount of sales and needed development.
I was hoping for a fast entry into the industry, until recently it was operated under a different domain name which has become embroiled in a trademark dispute. I adopted the current name earlier this year to get back to the business of producing t-shirts instead of talking on the phone with my attorneys.

CrackSmokingShirts.com- Founded in 2003 was my first entry into t-shirt sales. Originally I started by selling iron on transfer shirts via Ebay
but this quickly led to learning the screen-printing trade from scratch. The market for screen-printed t-shirts is far more vibrant these days.

RetroVintageTees.com – This was initially going to be a showcase for my own line in vintage tees, unfortunately due to time constraints…

Paul: As we discussed earlier…

Profits: Yes, time is always of the essence. Anyway, I reassessed the project, and last year I revamped the site and now it currently sells shirts I obtain from various wholesale sources.

T-ShirtRater.com was founded 2004 as a ranking site but over time has turned into a place for me to share what I enjoy about the business.

TeeFeeds.com – A tool that makes it easy for my to keep up with all the t-shirt blogs I regularly read and form feedback others are finding it useful. When I complete some current projects I’m going to develop it some more to provide useful resources for collectors and sellers.

I also have a few business partnerships within the industry:

NinjaClobber.com and DanTeesInferno.com – From the minds behind a large entertainment site Kontraband.com. I was enlisted by them to bring their
ideas to viable products and to provide the printing and shipping for their customers

Paul: What would you say is your fundamental approach to the market? Primarily you seem to be drawn to humour-based tees.

Profits: I can understand how people could assume that each brand was created in response to a market. In actuality, every site I start is in response to
something I enjoy. There are many designs across my sites that are nothing but inside jokes between friends and family. I believe the key to success in any endeavour is to make sure you are doing something you enjoy. Every shirt design I bring to the market is something I personally find humorous and every design I print is in my closet and worn regularly.

Paul: What past successes and failures would you say have got you to where you are today?

Profits: Well, first of all I would have to say that my failures over the years far out number my successes. I no longer remember many of the techniques I have adopted in order to sell some shirts, I would have to guess 1 in 10 ideas actually works. All in all, every failure is just an opportunity to learn and improve. I still feel my biggest success was selling my first shirt, it really was a thrill. The lowest points I’ve had in the business have all involved legal challenges. From companies not appreciating being made the butt of a joke to bullying methods by larger businesses who have been afraid of competition. Legal disputes are the biggest problems a business can face. On numerous occasions they have been huge setbacks for my companies, financially and in continuing with planned developments.

Paul: Did you buy your domains by auction?

Profits: No, I have little problems coming up with more domain names than I have time to use.

Paul: Do you do your own SEO?

Profits: Yes, but over the years I have become less and less concerned with search engine rankings. In the early years I was very dependent on the traffic. However rankings can disappear overnight and reappear weeks or months later which taught me an invaluable lesson in business – not to rely on someone else’s business model to provide my income. I’ll build a site as close as I can to what I believe a search engine wants but without sacrificing the visitors’ experience. Thankfully I no longer spend countless hours tweaking every little thing to improve rankings and prefer to just concentrate on making a site that I would like to visit and purchase from. If the search engines do what they say they do my sites should rank well in all of
them.

Paul: Which are your favourite marketing systems and why?

Profits: Head and shoulders above the best for me is good old fashioned word of mouth. I think it’s the strongest marketing formula there is for a growing customer base. I spend most of my marketing time trying new technologies and developing ways to use what I call central marketplaces (sites that already have built a user base that might be interested in my products). While I’ve spent a small fortune on advertising in the beginning I prefer to partner or joint venture with others who are already in contact with my target market. Of course, I can’t ignore the old standards of email newsletters, coupons, contests, affiliates etc.

Paul: Why the t-shirt market?

Profits: Initially it was accidental by putting a few shirts made with iron on ink jet transfers up for sale on Ebay. It was really just for fun in the very beginning. After seeing the reaction to those it then became a question of whether it was possibly to create an income from something I truly enjoyed. That then became a challenge and a love of doing it grew which brings us to the present.

Paul: What are your thoughts for the future of the industry?

Profits: Our society has become more casual in dress. People feel the need to express themselves by wearing a t-shirt with a funny saying, a favourite
artist illustration or to support a local band so the business will only grow. The future will bring ever improving designs, ideas and even more
printing methods. With the growth of technology I see customers, merchants and designers interacting with each other on an increasingly
more and more personal level. I find myself communicating regularly on a one-to-one basis with my customers through instant messaging and live
chat on the site. Many of these people have become increasingly important in referring business my direction and spreading the word
about my products.

Paul: How will lack of oil and rising prices challenge our industry?

Profits: Definitely costs for raw materials have risen and most likely will continue to rise. Shipping costs both for materials and to the end
customer will always continue to go up. Its really just the cost of doing business. A good company is always looking for ways to save money
and that will continue. The biggest affect will be on companies with business models based on price and selling a higher quantity at a lower
price. Those companies are likely to discover it is better to create a quality product that outweighs whatever price it sells for in the minds
of the consumer.

Paul: Do you see the t-shirt as fashion object or art?

Profits: I like to believe a t-shirt is art. With the growth of community based contest sites and more limited edition designs the public seems to be
understanding that. I think one of the best trends I have seen over the last few years is the emphasize put on the t-shirt designer. I think
that with the growing complesity of the art work the designer will continue to gain even more celebrity status and cult to mainstream following.

Paul: Anthony, I’d like to thank you and of course, on behalf of my readers, who I am sure will find this article a fascinating insight into the mind of a t-shirt entrepreneur,. You have certainly brought up some very interesting facts and little-known aspects of working towards real success in the t-shirt industry. I wish you more of the same for the future, I have a feeling you will!

Profits: My pleasure, and I’d just like to thank you and your readers for the opportunity to give my angle on the highs and lows of running a business in the t-shirt industry.

{Interview end}