Smelly Finger Tshirts

Smelly Finger Tshirts
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Wednesday, December 29, 2010

New Promotion for 2011 Stay tuned

There are some new promotion ideas I have for 2011.  Starting January will be my first promotion for Smelly Finger Clothing.  The promotion is still being hashed out but details will be released in January..... Stay tuned

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Business Woes

Starting a business is a bumpy road. The payoff is totally worth the struggle but the struggle can be disheartening. We’ve been talking a while now, so I think we’re friends and as a friend I’m going to tell you whats been on my mind lately. Quitting! I’m not going to but it has been on my mind a lot lately. So far I have had almost no sales, views on my items are dropping from almost nothing to nothing. I find myself where a lot of people find themselves when undertaking a venture of this sort, up against our very first business hurdle. I understand why people quit and I pass no judgment. Starting an online business is hard, but I believe I will get through this. I have put everything on the line for this, failure is not an option at this point (that sounds so cliché but its true). I need to put a positive spin on things like, I have not failed I have succeeded in finding what doesn’t work. Boy have I succeeded in that so far. I need a strategy, something to keep me looking forward( to be successful it’s the only way to move). The good thing that has happened out of all of this is that it has angered me. Anger is a fuel I use to keep me motivated, moving and very determined to get what I want. All those easy money people are full of crap! No money worth having is going to come without work, I would not appreciate the journey without some pitfalls. This has helped a lot, thanks readers for letting me vent to you… your such great listeners.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

5 Creative Marketing Ideas

Standing out is the key to marketing a.k.a. getting your name out there without spending tons of money. Have you ever seen a big guy in a red shirt? Of course you have, we all have, that is standing out in a sea of conformity. The big guy is your company and it needs to wear a bold color to shout to the world, “here I am, look at me, I matter.”

I’ve been thinking for a while and here are 5 creative marketing tips that could push your business to a new place(don’t forget these are just ideas):

1. If your brand is a hip brand or something that hits big with teens, give it away to influential high school kids. If the product is good enough they will be so grateful they will spread the word to their friends and followers on social media.

2. Give your product away to another business as payment for them to cross promote your product to their customers. If they are not similar or conflicting then it is very possible that another business would go for it.


3. Put your website or your business name on your cars rear window and leave the car parked near the from of a major super market all day (have a friend pick you up or something). A sticker for your window will not cost very much money, you might even bargain with the business that does them as well.

4.Everyone has sponsored baseball teams, but I suggest taking it one step further and sponsoring different groups of people around your town or other towns. Whether it be groups of friends or entire groups of guys that work together…. Feel free to be creative with this one. (don’t be lazy I gave you the idea, run with it)

5. Use your passion to push your business. If your passionate about drawing and you sell carparts, use the drawing social network like deviant art, or art wanted. Whatever your passion get in with those people if your are not already, be bold start conversations with strangers. Chances are they don’t know anyone that does what you do and people are always happy to tell their friends, “ I know a person that might be able to help you.”

These are just ideas maybe they can spark your imagination or you will use one of these, but the key is to stand out and do what the next guy won’t.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Marketing .... It's Hard

Marketing is tricky on the internet. Don’t believe me, well think of how many brand names there are on the net and now think how big the net is. If you take into account how big the net is then its almost nothing that has a brand name, only about a tenth of 1% and that a high estimate. You can find a lot of information about marketing on the internet but after reading the article I usually say to myself, “well, I’ve never even heard of this guy…. Is that his fault or mine?” The articles you find on the net starts to sound the same after a while but I think because the information is simple and true. Most of the marketing is going to get lost down the well of the net but depending on your tenacity the net can be a dead end well or it can seem like that at first but will end up being like the rabbit hole and has a wonderful world on the other side of it.

The real key to marketing isn’t going to be found on the net, mostly because a lot of it is the same and those people don’t know how to promote their site either. If everyone does the same thing then no one really stands out. So what’s the key to marketing you ask….. Stand out!! How do you stand out you ask….. (What’s with all the questions…. just kidding I don’t mind, ask away) the only real way to stand out is to be yourself (sounds cheesy huh, but its true). Your unique ideas mixed with your interests equals a marketing plan that is solely yours and makes you stand out from everyone else. This can be a bit challenging so I invite everyone who reads this to contribute an idea in the comments to help get the creative juices flowing.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

To-Do List

The To-Do list is a vital piece of the entrepreneurial puzzle. The workload that comes with being an entrepreneur can be overwhelming but a to-do list will breakdown a ladder into a series of rungs. I feel like Santa sometimes, because I am constantly making my list and checking it twice.

There is an art to creating a to-do list. Start with writing down all your problems or things you have to get done. Next go put them in order from needs to get done first to can wait for last. Now go to the first thing on the list and break it down to all the steps you are going to need to get it done and repeat the process with each of those steps if need be. Put them all in order from has to get done first to its finally done. Now this might sound time consuming but its really doesn’t take that long.

By this point you should have a list of all the things you need to do and all the steps it takes to get them done. Pretty common sense here start with problem 1 step 1. No need to be too religious about sticking to the structure it should work as a basic outline.

Once you get to either 2 things or 2 weeks into the list, here’s the fun part, time to make a new list. The beauty of this technique is when you trying to get something done most of the time something gets in the way or something that you didn’t know has become a new step. But this is the just the way I get things done. I wanna hear from the people that read this either for or against, or maybe you have your very own method of getting things done, either way I’m always looking for new ideas. So lets see what you do.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Business as Art

Art and business, two very opposing sides ideals, or are they. The ideals of each are never thought of in any form of balance, there is no yin and yang here, its more like positive and negative. Lets take a look at both and see if there is anything that can be done about this. First lets talk about art.

The bohemian heart is something else, living through your art, enjoying life and the only rules are beauty, truth and love. Living with passion is something everyone at one time or another wishes they could enjoy, finding true love is the dream of many, and being true to yourself is the only way to be happy. The life of a bohemian artist is letting passion lead the way and using feeling and inspiration to paint the masterpiece of your life. What a great thought, unrealistic but a great thought.

Business on the other hand is cold and calculating. It is ruled by logic and reason, a laboratory sterile of feeling. A successful business man is believed to be just the same usually devoid of any likeable personality. A cold machine programmed to for one purpose and one purpose only, profit. Profit is the only god of the business entity and values it over anything else. With the prophet of profit as the financial statement bringing the gospel of the bottom line. A little research will show that the god of business also demands human sacrifice for the glory of the bottom line. One word, despicable.

In the eyes of the law a corporation is a separate entity, like a person, so I think the solution to the unrealistic expectations of the bohemian life and the emotionless corporation is to bring two polar opposites together to create something like what a corporation is under the law, a feeling person. If the bohemian ideals are fused with the logic and reason of business you don’t get a sell out artist or the lazy guy at the office, you get a business with human needs at the forefront. I believe business can be another form for an artist to express his/herself. Fusing the two allows the artist to create a new entity with truth and love at its heart but also prepared for the harsh realities we all confront but doing it at the expense of no one. It allows the artist to create but it also makes the world a better place, isn’t that what all artist really strive for in the first place.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

My Newest Design: Wanted Monkey

This monkey is wanted for crimes no monkey should ever do. His first offense is dressing like a stereotypical Mexican, this is not a crime but he did this in Arizona and we all know looking Mexican in Arizona is a crime. His next crime was selling oranges, once again this is not a crime but he was taking jobs away from native born Americans and that is a crime, almost a felony in Arizona. The last charge was for throwing feces at an innocent man who was yelling Mexican insults at the monkey.

This is the newest design I’m calling the Wanted Monkey. I made this shirt to comment on the mess that is going on in Arizona. I’m not a very political person but when people are pushing for racial profiling to be legal then I feel an obligation to at least make a joke about it. This design was originally designed on paper and pencil and it was copied into Inkscape, a free and easy to use vector drawing program.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Conquering Fear to Start a Business

Anytime you read anything about starting a business its always kind of vague. Most of the entrepreneur books I read were more like self help books. The truth is most people read a lot of those books because its a lot safer than starting their own business, that’s what I did for a while. Now I’m not saying don’t read the books but what I am saying is don’t read book after book after book, at some point you must take action. Books don’t start businesses, actions do. While I am in the beginning stages of my venture anytime I talk about my clothing business it sparks very interesting conversation with people who are full of woulda coulda shouldas. These are usually very nice people but when your 80 years old and looking back on your life do you want to say I had guts or I wonder what it would have been like. I don’t advocate taking stupid risks, but being an entrepreneur is a risk and there is always the prospect of failure. It takes lots of planning and getting your ducks in order but your worst enemy isn’t a bad plan, its usually going to be Fear. I’m no self help guru but if you really want to start your own business, conquer your fear of failing, your fear of success, and your fear of a challenge. If any of those 3 scare you to the point you can't take action then maybe starting a business isn't for you, but if your fear of a mundane, mediocre, and complacent life is much greater then you can push through your fears. (that still kinda sounds like self help but hey I guess a portion of it is mental, go figure) Now here it is the cure for fear,(drumroll please) Experience. If your scared or nervous about starting a business then just do it, get some experience and it wont be that bad. Just as it says in Alexander the movie “Conquer your fear, and I promise you, you’ll conquer death!”

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Here we go

This is the official first blog entry for Smelly Finger Salute.  My name is Guillermo the captain of this ship, but call me Willy.  This is the first post so i'm gonna keep this short and sweet. Smelly Finger Clothing is my ebay store where i smell... sorry, sell my designs.  Its a very simple cartoonish style.  In the future i will be updating the blog with all kinds of ideas that come along with starting a business like marketing, designs, drawing tips and so on.  Stay tuned i hope to share all kinds of cool stuff with you.