HOW TO START A CLOTHING

BRAND
BY SECRET BRAND HELPERS
In this book

Welcome to the SBH guide on how to start a clothing brand, this book will serve as your compass to
navigate through your own journey of starting your clothing brand. We will be going through all the things
you need to do to launch your first collection or drop.

Whether you’re experienced in the field or a beginner, this book has something to learn for everyone. The
book is separated into 15 detailed chapters, which all go in depth about a different topic, please read all
chapters to fully gauge and understand the given task.

At the end we have provided you with a bunch of links which should prove quite useful to you.

This book is about to take your clothing brand from a mere idea to a tangible, market-ready reality.
Contents

In this book .................................................................................................2

Contents......................................................................................................3
Step 1. Creating your vision board ..............................................................4
Step 2. Naming your brand .........................................................................5
Step 3. Designing your logo.........................................................................6
Step 4. Design clothing................................................................................7
Step 5. Order clothing ...............................................................................10
Step 6: Printing by yourself .......................................................................13
Step 7. Order packaging ............................................................................15
Step 8. Thank you / business cards ...........................................................17
Step 9. Capturing your brand: photo and video shoot ..............................18
Step 10: Types of selling ............................................................................21
Step 11: Social Identity..............................................................................23
Step 12. Marketing your brand .................................................................24
Step 13. Creating your website .................................................................27
Step 14. Domain and business emails .......................................................29
Launch. .....................................................................................................30
Links you may find useful. .........................................................................32
Step 1. Creating your vision board

Definition: A dream board or vision board is a collage of images, pictures, and affirmations of one's dreams and
desires, designed to serve as a source of inspiration and motivation.

So basically, it is a board which you should make which will include all your ideas and inspirations for your brand.

This is a very good thing to make, this will give you an idea of what direction you want to take your brand. Do research
into the type of clothing pieces that you like, the type of photoshoots, brand images, photoshoot areas, packaging
types and anything else you like about brands and include them in this vision board. Also include your overall budget
and the individual budgets you have for certain things.

You can print out this vision board and have it in real life, or make it digitally on notes, procreate, PowerPoint, word, or
any other editing software.
 Step 2. Naming your brand

If you haven’t already got a name here are some criteria, you should try and follow:

- Make sure your brand name is unique.

- Make sure your brand name is different.
- Make sure it has meaning.
- Remember that your brand name can’t be changed so it should be something you see yourself having long term.
(Don’t choose something silly)

Once you do think of a name you need to check if it is already in use, however in certain specific scenarios it is okay if
the name is used but for a different company. So, for example, if your name idea is ‘SECRET BRAND HELPERS’ but there
is already an alcohol business with the same name, technically you can still use that name for selling clothing and only
clothing because when you register your name for a trademark you must state what industry (mark) you will be selling
in. So, if the alcohol brand ‘SECRET BRAND HELPERS’ doesn’t sell any clothes then you are fine. However, this (as you
can tell) is quite complicated and we would advise you to just try and choose a completely unique name.

This website https://www.gov.uk/get-information-abouta-company can be used to search all existing trademarked

names to see if you can use them.

If it isn’t trademarked that is good, but you still need to check social media and the internet, search the name into
google on its own and then with the words ‘clothing’ after it to see if anything comes up or if anything similar comes
up.

Check on all social media platforms that, that name isn’t yet taken, some accounts you come across may be inactive,
you can tell by how recent their last post was or their number of followers. If you do find an active account with your
name and you still really want it, you can obviously kindly ask them to use it or if they haven’t trademarked it on
company house, you can still use it and trademark it before them.

It could be a good option for you to add words on the end of your name like, ‘UK’, ‘MILANO’ or ‘CLOTHING’, use these
when your name has been taken to make it different.
 Step 3. Designing your logo

If you don’t already have a logo, it is time to make one. Try to make a logo that stands out and is easily
identifiable, this is probably what will be on most of your clothes, so it is very important to take your time with
this and be happy with the finished product. As we mentioned earlier, you won’t be able to change this later.

There are 5 different types of logos you can make:

• Pictorial symbols
• Letter form logos
• Wordmarks
• Emblems
• Characters

We explain what each of these videos are and how they differ in one of our videos:

TikTok link

Instagram link

Your logo sets you apart from other brands, and people normally remember your logo especially if they are
seeing it around on people’s clothes. For example, companies like Apple, Off-white, Nike, and Adidas, their logos
are rememberable.

Creative software’s:

> Canva

> Photoshop

> Adobe

> Procreate
 Step 4. Design clothing

Now for the fun part; designing your clothes.

This is obviously completely up to you, and so I am not going to instruct you on what to put on your clothes or
what clothing items to make, but there are some things that you should bear in mind.

Every clothing brand has its own style and preferences, this is what differentiates us, you need to decide what
type of style you want to go for and what type of clothes you want to make. (This is where your vision board is
important).

Don’t be afraid to look at other brands for inspiration, take notes to gauge what you really want to do, but don’t
copy.

Look at brands on Instagram and TikTok to get some inspiration.

You can also look at websites like Pinterest, Savee.it and archivepdf for inspiration, they have loads of resources
of clothing brands some old and some modern.

If you don’t want to design your clothes yourselves you can pay someone else to do it, or buy designs online,
from places like Fiverr or Instagram from graphic designers on these platforms.

Designing clothing pieces is a process, ensure you don’t rush it and you are happy with the final product.

A general step by step process would look like this:

1. Inspiration and Concept Development:

- Begin by gathering inspiration from various sources such as fashion trends, art, nature, culture, or personal
experiences.

- Develop a clear concept for your clothing line or individual garment, including its style, theme, and target
audience.

2. Market Research:

- Conduct market research to understand current trends, customer preferences, and your competitors.

- Identify gaps in the market and potential opportunities for your designs.

- Do not copy – this is probably the worst thing you can do.

3. Sketching and Initial Designs:

- Create rough sketches of your clothing ideas, exploring different shapes, silhouettes, and details. (Make your
design)
4. Design Specification

- Consider fabric choices and colour palettes to visualize the overall look.

- Also consider sizing and fit of your clothing product along with the GSM of your product.

- Also consider the printing technique you would like to use; do you want DTG, Screen printing, Embroidery etc.

5. Technical Drawings and Specifications:

- Create a tech pack for your design which should contain your design in vector form along with all the
specifications you have (For ex. Measurements, construction details, outlining materials, trims etc.)

- We have tech pack templates and vector packs on our website which will make your life easier, they indicate
everything you need to include in an easy-to-read format.

6. Find a manufacturer:

- Now you need to find a manufacturer, the best places to find one is:

Ali baba

Ali express.

Four source.

Our manufacturer bundle – every manufacturer which we have worked with who has good quality and customer
service.

TikTok - sometimes people will share their own manufacturer and you can use them; but be a bit cautious of this.

- I would say try to stay away from Instagram manufacturers who are messaging you – the logic is that if
they are messaging you to make clothes for you then they probably don’t have a lot of clients and there must be
a reason for this.

- Establish relationships with manufacturers and fabric suppliers to ensure a steady and reliable source of
materials.

7. Sample Creation:

- Contact your found manufacturer and ask them for a sample, show them your design and send them
your tech pack, because you have a tech pack this process will be quite simple.

- Always get samples, we aren’t trying to rush, a sample will tell you if you need to change anything or if
your product is as perfect as you envisioned.

- You can also make clothes yourselves but for this you already know what you want.
8. Fitting and Prototyping:

- Once you receive your samples, test them out to see if they came out how you wanted, and wash them
to see if the quality is good.

- Please don’t compromise at this point because this is the exact product which your customers will
receive.

9. Garment Production:

- Once the final design is approved, you can now consider bulk ordering for stock.

- Work with manufacturers or production teams to produce the clothing in larger quantities.

10. Quality Control:

- Implement strict quality control measures to ensure that each garment meets your standards.

- Inspect each piece for defects or inconsistencies before packaging and distribution.
 Step 5. Order clothing

This step is just a few things I wanted to emphasise when it comes to ordering your clothes it’s a process which
you need to take care with because everyone is different, so apply this to what suits you best.

• When you start a clothing brand, you will have your budget, the higher the budget the more things you
can do (obviously), personally, I started by putting in 1000 pounds, which was very beneficial, but you can
start off with a lot less.

• There are a few things that you need to know before you place the order with your manufacturer. Firstly,
you need to make sure that you have a sample, I see too many brands not get samples and then they aren’t
happy with their clothes when it comes, don’t be that brand.

During the times of you making your sample, there’s a few things that you might want to watch out for:

• Making sure that your manufacturer replies to you in a good amount of time.
• Making sure that your manufacturer understands your needs.
• Making sure that your manufacturer is willing to make changes for you.
• They have consistent prices (they don’t give you one price and then randomly change it).
• Making sure that your manufacturer ships out product in a timely matter.

These are all important things that you need to can consider about your manufacturer as you will hopefully be
working with them in the long term so although these issues are small, they can become bigger problems later.

What should you do when you get your sample? As stated earlier, you need to put through a lot of stress with
this sample. What do I mean by this? Make sure it coincides perfectly with the tech pack and overall that you are
happy with the final product, you shouldn’t need to make compromises.

• Wash your sample and see if the clothing shrinks or if the design washes away.
• Iron the clothing piece and see if the quality remains.
• Get opinions from friends and family and ask them how they think the sample looks and feels.
• Look at how the design was printed or made and see if the quality is good enough for your liking.

Once you are happy with your sample you can now go ahead with ordering larger quantities.

Sizing:

This completely depends on how many quantities you have ordered with your manufacturer. Here is a good tip.
Customers tend to buy more size, small and medium. So, a good ratio I would go for is:

Small – 40%

Medium 40%

Large – 20%
OR, if you want to include some Extra-large sizes:

Small – 35%

Medium -35%

Large – 20 %

Extra-Large – 10%

This obviously isn’t the exact ratio you need to get but a general one to stop you from wasting money on excess
stock – worst case some stock sells out, at least you can then use that to show that product is in high demand.

How do I send my design to my manufacturer?

• Your design needs to have a CLEAR, TRANSPARENT BACKGROUND (called png – look it up)
• Include your tech pack (in pdf format) along with the png image (at the very minimum if you can’t make
a tech pack include a vector image so that your manufacturer knows where to put everything although
you still risk them making mistakes.)
• We have detailed tech pack templates and vectors on our website so feel free to check them out.

TECH PACKS

A tech pack is an essential tool used by clothing brands in the fashion and apparel industry to communicate the
technical specifications and design details of their garments to manufacturers and production teams. It serves as
a comprehensive guide that ensures consistency and accuracy throughout the production process, from initial
concept to the final product.

For clothing brands, a good tech pack will include the following:

1. Design Overview: This section provides an overview of the garment's design, including sketches, images,
or a clothing vector that showcase the intended look and style.

2. Technical Drawings: Detailed technical drawings or diagrams illustrating the front, back, and side views
of the garment, along with any intricate design elements or construction details.

3. Materials and Trims: A list of all the fabrics, materials, and trims required for the garment, including
specifications such as colour, weight, texture, and composition.

4. Measurements and Grading: Detailed measurements for each size of the garment, ensuring accurate
sizing across different dimensions. Grading instructions are also included to adjust the pattern for various sizes.
5. Colourways: Specifies the colours and colour combinations to be used in the garment, indicating the
Pantone or other colour codes.

6. Construction Details: Information on how the garment should be constructed, including seam types,
stitching details, and any special techniques.

7. Prints and Embroidery: If the garment includes any prints, patterns, or embroidery, the tech pack will
provide detailed specifications for their printing type, placement, dimensions, and colours.

8. Bill of Materials (BOM): A comprehensive list of all the components needed to produce the garment,
including quantities and reference numbers for each item.

9. Labelling and Packaging: Details about the labels, tags, and care labels for the finished product.

10. Production Notes: Any additional notes or instructions relevant to the production process, such as
special handling requirements or specific quality standards.

By providing a well-structured tech pack, clothing brands can ensure that their designs are accurately translated
into finished products. It facilitates smooth communication between the brand and manufacturers, reducing the
risk of errors and improving the overall efficiency of the production process. With clear and concise technical
information, clothing brands can maintain quality control and deliver products that align with their design vision
and brand standards, and most importantly you will save money.
Step 6: Printing by yourself

If you plan to create your own clothing, then that is great, it will be very costly at the start but in the long run you
will save quite a lot of money.

You would still need to follow the same steps as above, as in making your tech pack, deciding on gsm, materials,
and printing styles, once this is done then you can continue.

Obviously, the printing/embroidery style that you require will determine the equipment which you buy, for
example an embroidery machine would be required if you need embroidery for your design. These machines are
quite expensive so please check before buying it.

The main 3 types of printing people do are screen printing, DTG printing and embroidery.

Screen printing

For this a mesh screen is used as a template of your design for ink to be pushed through. You can only use one
screen per colour so for designs with multiple colours you will need lots of screens.

For screen printing you will need:

1. A screen.
2. A squeegee.
3. A printing table with hinges.
4. Stencil material.
5. Registration plastic.
6. Water-based screen-printing inks.
7. Paper.
8. Somewhere with a strong hose for screen cleaning.

You can get full kits online at places like amazon or buy all the pieces individually. Try and get the best quality
with your budget because bad quality can result in faulty products or the inks washing off quickly.

Embroidery

For embroidery you will need an embroidery machine, these are quite expensive to get the best ones ($700+),
but if you have a little bit of experience in this you can get the slightly cheaper ones and use these instead
(~$200)

DTG Printing

Direct – to – garment printing is a process where specialized aqueous ink jet technology is printed onto your
clothing piece, you essentially put your clothing piece into a printer like machine and your design is printed onto
your garment.
For this you will need a DTG machine which is also quite expensive (~$1k+) so it may be quite hard to get this
straight away, the machine is also quite big so it could be hard to place it in your house.

Screen printing is the cheapest and easiest out of the 3 and you can still get good quality prints which is why it is
the most used out of the 3.

You will need blanks to print on, some good places to get t-shirt blanks from are:

Los Angeles apparel

Alstyle 1301

Gildan 5000

You can also get blanks from Ali baba or Ali express in bulk for cheap.

For some hoodies that are quite popular you’ve got:

Rue porter

Bella + canvas

Gildan

Anthem

Once again Alibaba and Ali express are good places to get bulk.
 Step 7. Order packaging

It’s time for you to order your packaging.

Returning customers are worth 5x more than original customers so it is good to give your customers a good
experience when they receive your product.

Your packaging should have your logo on it, notice how companies like Nike have a clear plain logo on their boxes
or JD have theirs on their bags. You have probably seen other companies packaging which you like, use these as
references.

This part is for your branding. Everybody has different branding; you don’t want to copy another brand with this
because you should have something which is different and unique. Customers need to be able to differentiate
from your brand to another brand, and it is a bonus if people receive your product, like the packaging and post it
on their social media.

Different types of packaging you can get:

• Custom poly mailers

• Bags
• Boxes
• Hat Boxes
• Stickers
• Labels
• Label printers
• Thank you, cards.
• Hang tags.
• Custom Labels
• Branded tape
• Reusable Tote Bag
• Size charts and care instructions
• Returns form.
• Promotional offers

These are a lot of the different things you can include in your packaging, make sure to keep your brands
aesthetic, target audience and brand values in mind because you don’t have to include them all. Keeping the
same packaging across all your packaging will ensure that the unboxing experience is memorable for all
customers.

You can get your Custom poly mailers, Bags, Boxes, Hat boxes, Custom labels, Branded tape, and reusable tote

bags all from Alibaba or Ali express for cheap.

For neck tags design these how you want and tell your manufacturer to include them in your clothing piece,

every clothing piece should have its own neck tag.

As for stickers I would recommend sticker app or sticker mule

The rest you are expected to make yourselves based of your information.

Hang tags.

One thing which is vital is your hang tags, these are a must for your packaging.

Think about when you go shopping for clothes, for example you go into Nike, and you see the tags. What
information do the tags have?

- Brand name & logo

- Clothing item name
- Price
- Size

Having hang tags will improve how your business is presented. You will look more professional, and customers
will have a better shopping experience, rather than you just throwing clothing items in a bag and shipping it to
the customer it shows you have put effort into your product.

Remember that you are a business, it is important to present yourself in the best way possible and so think of
yourself as if you were already big and act accordingly (to the best that you can).

You wouldn’t see Nike compromising with little things like this so you shouldn’t either. Take pride with the
presentation of your clothing. Every clothing piece should have its own hang tag.

When designing these Hang tags once again use your vision board (the same concept used here) and try to

include all of the relevant information.

You can get these done by a manufacturer through Alibaba or Ali Express once again:

Ali Express Link 1

Ali Express Link 2

Ali Express Link 3

One thing you can do to save money is order business cards with your designs on and poke a hole in it and use

this as your hang tag. To poke a hole you can use any tag gun from Amazon similar to this or even a hole puncher

and then use a string like this to thread it into your clothing through your neck tag.
Step 8. Thank you / business cards

Business cards can be a good thing to use, these will contain pictures of your brand, your logo, name, website
and social media and you can give these out whenever you are networking to let people know about your brand,
however we are living in digital times, so although business cards can be a good idea I think it is better to use
your socials (mainly Instagram / TikTok) as your business cards.

Your Instagram will contain all the relevant information of your brand and it will have pictures of your products
(which you would have made able to sell the product) so it may be easier (and cheaper) to just show them your
Instagram.

Thank you, cards are to, be put inside of your packaging for a bit more of a personal touch when people open
your packaging, letting customers know that you appreciate their purchase. You can even add a discount code on
the back of the card as an extra thank you (tip: this will make your customers come back and spend again)

When designing these try to be creative but remember, you aren’t trying to sell them your thank you cards. You
can get lots of different materials, some more expensive than others obviously, so experiment with these and
make something that you are happy to give out to customers.

They shouldn’t be too expensive to be made and to start off you shouldn’t need more than 100 (this obviously
depends on your stock size).

You can get them from:

Ali express.

Got print.

Vista print

Bizay.

Canva & Free prints (You can get them for free this way; design your thank you cards in Canva and save it as
images with the correct orientation size, go to free prints and get these printed as pictures with the front and
back designs, just pay shipping).
 Step 9. Capturing your brand: Photo and Video shoot
Please don’t take boring pictures and videos of your clothes, this is the main selling point of your brand and it is
so important, so you need to sell your brand or a lifestyle or a vibe or aesthetic, whatever it is you need to be
able to make your customers feel something through these pictures. Look at these two pictures below:

They are the same clothing item, but the first picture shows a kind of vibe which you can’t get from the picture of
the cargos on their own, use this concept in your pictures and videos.

General steps to ensure you can get the most from your shoots:

1. Planning your shoot

- Define your goals for the shoot – do you want to showcase a new product, promoting a specific product or
telling a brand story.

- Determine a budget for the shoot, including things like models, videographers/photographers, location, stock,
equipment, and props.

Be organized and try to schedule everything, time date tasks to ensure everything goes smoothly.

2. Planning your shoot

- This is where your mood board comes in, plan out the clips and pictures you want to get done.
- You can get inspiration from places like:
Instagram
TikTok
Facebook
Reddit
Pinterest
Archivepdf.net
Savee.it
3. Establish your team.

- Photographers, models, videographers, stylists, editors etc.

4. Location

- Determine the location for your videos and shoots.

- There are different types of photoshoots you can do in general:

Studio photoshoots – Mainly used for websites just to get the pictures of the product (however
nowadays people are using pictures of just the product for the website, and it still works quite well. You can find
studios near you online.
You can also do shoots outdoors – this can give the aesthetic of your brand with the right scenery and
type of photos. These will be used for social media.
Indoor photos – you can get buildings to have your photoshoot in, buildings like car parks, mansions,
abandoned buildings, nice hotels etc. These will be used for social media.

5. Wardrobe and styling

- If you haven’t already decided on the products which are being promoted, make sure to do this.

- If you are only promoting single items (e.g., a hoodie) this would be the time to sort out full outfits so that
they all follow the same aesthetic.

- Sort out accessories and anything else you will need for the shoots.

6. Execution

- Prior to the shoot, make sure to emphasise the importance of how you want things to come out, and that
everyone is on the same page, ensure there is a clear vision that everyone understands and can execute.

7. Editing and post – production

- If you don’t already have experience in editing it may be smart to pay someone to do this for you so that it
comes out how you envisioned.

- Don’t compromise with this stage, ensure that the pictures come out to the standard you require.

8. You are now ready to post on social media.

Make your vision board of all the picture’s videos and concepts you like and take inspiration from these to make
your pictures and videos.
Last tips:

When you do make your clothes and your pictures and videos, try to look at it objectively, don’t just say it’s
good because it’s yours, would you like that picture If it wasn’t your brand or would you buy from that
Instagram if you stumbled across that video, if the answer is no then you are doing something wrong.

Remember you have full creative control at this stage, don’t just copy what you see on social media, try to add
your own personal touch and even make the pictures better.

If you have an Instagram or TikTok, try, and make sure that the top 9 pictures look as good as they can as this is
the first thing people will see when they land on your site.

You can also lay your clothing on the floor and take a photo from a higher angle to get your product photos.

If you can’t afford a photographer, then try and take the photos yourself with your phone or if you have a
camera – If you are doing it like this take your time because it may be a lot harder.

Don’t rush your photoshoot, it is way too important.

Make sure your models look good, make up done, haircut, nails done, hair done, nice outfit etc.
Step 10: Types of selling

There are a few different ways that you can sell your clothes, these are linked to the amount of stock you should
buy and the way you should market your brand.

The traditional way:

The traditional way of selling your stuff still works, this would involve you having your website available and then
constantly posting stuff on your social media to promote your clothes until you sell out or are ready to go on with
your next drop. For this you need to buy all your stock prior to the drop and then keep them somewhere ready to
ship out when someone orders.

Pre orders:

For this you can give customers (or a specific selection of customers like your email list) early access to your drop
for a limited time or for a limited amount of stock before the actual drop. If people really want your drop they
can buy and then you can use that money to fund other things which you need to like ads during the drop for
example, but for this you also need to promote before the pre order time so that there is a little bit of hype.

Print on demand.

This is when stock isn’t bought until orders are actually placed, for this you can have your website opened all the
time and be constantly posting and then whenever anyone orders tell your manufacturer and order that item
from them (or make it if you are making things yourself) but this might be a bit expensive for you, and delivery
times will be quite bad so you could have a designated time period for people to purchase, for example a week,
and then you can order all orders that you get in that week together and it will be cheaper for you to order like
this and you can give a more estimated time on when peoples orders will arrive.

Print on demand with company’s

There are companies (like Printful or Printify) who you can work with where you make your design and website
and everything and then whenever someone orders from your website they will make the clothing piece and
send it straight to the person who ordered and you don’t actually have to do anything, however the quality of
the clothes isn’t always good with this technique and their logo is usually on the packaging which your customer
receives.

Marketplace platforms

You can sell your clothes on established online marketplaces like, Etsy, Amazon Depop, Instagram DMs, eBay, or
other platforms dedicated to clothing, however with this technique you will have marketplace fees, limited
control over branding and some people may see your brand as unprofessional because you don’t have your own
website.

Pop up shops and craft fairs

Setting up temporary retail spaces at pop-up shops, craft fairs or local markets can help you to connect with
customers directly, especially with everything being online and on social media these days, doing something in
person is a breath of fresh air and can appeal to a lot of people because of this. Obviously with this you need to
consider things like fees, space, foot traffic and profits.

Subscription Boxes:

I see this done mainly with food, but the same concept could be applied to clothing, you can create a
subscription box which delivers your clothing products to customers on a regular basis. Subscribers pay a
recurring fee. This can be quite good as constant money would be coming in monthly however it does require
good quality and customer service to keep customers for a long time and to attract more customers.

Flagship store

If you have the resources to do this then it could be very beneficial, to have your own store you could reach a
huge range of people, even if people come into your store and don’t buy, they can remember your brand and buy
later online, you can do events here and decorate the store to give a personal touch of your brand.
Step 11: Social Identity

Social identity

When making your social media accounts your identity is important, once you have your name that is obviously
what you will use for all your social media accounts, try to use the same name across all social media that you
have, that way you are very easily recognisable on whatever platform people decide to use.
Also make sure that the profile picture is the same across all platforms, preferably your own logo but if you have
a different picture which encapsulates your brand that is good as well just ensure that it is the same across all
socials so that you are very easily recognisable.

When making your social media name also try to not add any unneeded extras because they just look
unprofessional, things like /, -, 10 will make people think you are an unserious brand and can even stop them
from buying from you.

For example:

Our name is ‘SECRET BRAND HELPERS’ on Instagram, YouTube and TikTok our @’s are @SBHelpers and all of them
have the same logo and the name which appears in our description is always ‘SECRET BRAND HELPERS’ we kept it
short, recognisable and professional.
Step 12. Marketing your brand

This is arguably one of the most important steps, I always say to my friends that marketing is the most important
step of building any business. “Good marketing for a bad product will still get sales but bad marketing for a good
product won’t get any sales because it won’t get seen by anyone. “
With this importance comes the complexity of doing well, but it is possible for anyone if you can make good
content.
Before I even start, make sure your content is good, if you don’t know what good content is do research into what
others are posting and what Is doing well, this doesn’t even need to be to get ideas but just so that you know
what classifies as good content.

This includes:

The quality of your content

The quality of the audio

Retention rates

Relevance to your brand

Etc.

Remember throughout your marketing you aren’t just trying to sell a t-shirt or a hoodie but a whole brand, with
an aesthetic or a niche. Here’s a video we made explaining this:

Video 1

Social media marketing

Social media marketing would include social media apps like:

Instagram

TikTok

Pinterest

Reddit

Facebook

Right now, TikTok is the biggest app allowing people to grow so you should probably capitalize on this. Obviously
post the content which you have already made from your photoshoot but for TikTok you will need more personal
content. Generally, photoshoot content performs better on Instagram than TikTok.

For TikTok you can check the most viewed videos for your niche, in the past week, month, 3 months etc. this
should give you an understanding of what content should do well, and you can make these with your own
personal touch. You don’t have to do it this way, you can make your own unique content, just make sure that this
content is good.

Instagram will serve as your main selling page; most people will see this before they see your website so make
sure your Instagram can convert on its own. (As we said earlier, this is the modern business card)

Paid Ads

You can use paid ads on Meta (Facebook, Instagram etc.), Snapchat, Twitter, TikTok and pretty much all social
medias, with this you pay the platform to show your content to a lot of people, depending on their interests, the
more you pay the more people it will reach. If you have a specific niche that your clothing fits, then this could be
a very good idea. With this you need to investigate so that the platform can find people who will buy from you.
I’ve seen people make hundreds of thousands with this technique, but I have also seen people lose a lot of
money so do some research before you throw all your money here, we have a book about how to do these ads
properly coming out soon.

Email marketing

An old technique but still a very good technique, if you can increase your email list then you can retarget these
people with special offers, early access and reminding them about drops, but don’t overdo it, work on the timing
of the emails and analyse the results and adapt to them, also allow people to leave the subscriber list, we don’t
want to be keeping people if they don’t want to be kept.

You can increase your email list by having pop ups when people land on your website, for example: 15% off their
first order if they input their email, or even by having your website closed and promoting on social media so that
if someone wants to be alerted about the next drop, they will receive an email about it. Whatever you see fit, the
bigger your email list the more you profit.

Pop up shops

Pop up shops are temporary retail spaces which provide clothing brands with a unique opportunity to connect
with customers in a tangible, immersive way. These stores can be opened wherever you see fit and are good
because you can give your customers a once in a lifetime experience. Some brands do easter egg type hunts,
some do a crossbar challenge, the possibilities are endless.

By leveraging this short-lived nature of popups, brands can use this excitement to further market their brand and
reach more people, and if some people are posting your pop-up shop, then that’s even more reach and exposure.

Content ideas

A few contents ideas that are doing well right now are:

- Day in the life video

- Unboxing videos
- Look books.
- Photo dumps
- Interview videos
- Do process videos.
Social proof

Social proof is a psychological phenomenon that occurs when people use the actions and opinions of others to
guide their own behaviour. In the context of clothing brands and marketing, social proof refers to the influence
that the positive experiences, opinions and actions of customers or others have on potential buyers. It serves as a
form of validation that can significantly impact purchasing decisions.

So basically, if you have a clothing brand which a lot of people are wearing, and looking good in, others will want
to check it out. If people are constantly talking about your brand, then more people will want to talk about it, the
truth is people like what other people like. (This can also work the same the other way, if people are hating on
you for something it could lead others to do the same)

A few ways you can get social proof is with:

- Customer reviews
- Celebrity support
- Milestones
- Behind the scenes footage
- Others wearing your stuff.
- Others posting content about your brand (preferably positive)
Step 13. Creating your website

To make a website shouldn’t be that hard even if you have no experience, you can pay someone to do it for you if
it is too hard to do. I would personally advise using shopify, at the time of writing this book they have a ‘£1 a
month for 3 months’ deal going on and they are the best website builder I have used.

If you’re building your website on your own, then make sure that you have the patience and time to do this.

When you make the website, make sure that you include all the correct information.

Information pages such as…

Contact
Privacy policy
Returns and refunds.
Delivery times
Terms and conditions

These are all the information that you will need to make sure you have at the bottom of your website, which is
called a footer.

Then you need to make your menu. For example:

Shop all
T-shirts
Hoodies
Tracksuits

If you have different products to these listed, then you will make your menus according to what you’re selling.

About you page.

It can be good to add an about you page to give your potential customers a little insight into the brand and what
it is about.

Homepages

It could be good to have a homepage, if you are going to then make sure it is good, but you can also send
customers straight to your products page especially if you don’t have a lot of products.

Size chart and care instructions

Please don’t forget to include this, it makes your website look more professional and will increase your checkout
rates.
Product pictures

Make sure that your product pictures are cohesive, too many times I see brands have one picture of just trousers
and then the picture next to it is someone wearing a hoodie with a different coloured background. You need to
make sure all the pictures are the same, look at this Selfridges product page for example:

All products are the same size, same type of picture with the same-coloured background. The second picture is
then of someone wearing the product, but all in a studio with the same-coloured background. It is cohesive and
gives your brand a better look.

Each of your products should have all the correct information such as

Size guide
What size the model is wearing.
Clothing material / how the clothing fits
Any other information such as “fits true to size”.
Step 14. Domain and business emails

Domain

Let’s start off with your domain. Your domain is your ‘website name’. Your website will operate under this ‘title’
essentially. THIS IS NOT YOUR ACTUAL WEBSITE, JUST BUYING THE ‘LINK NAME’ SO THAT YOU OWN IT AND CAN
USE IT AS OPPOSED TO ANYONE ELSE. It is important to have one as it makes your website look legit, professional
and if you don’t you will have a ‘…..@myshopify.com which doesn’t look good, all of these little things truly
matter.

You can get both your domains from : https://uk.godaddy.com/ on a yearly subscription.

Once again it is important to keep your domain nice and simple so that it is easy to remember and type in.

For example:

Our domain is ‘SBHELPERS.XYZ’ – simply our name followed by ‘. xyz’

Business emails

Next are business emails, these are the emails which end in your domain name. So, for example;
Contact@sbhelpers.com or Peter@sbhelpers.com you can have a personal (CEO) type email which you will use to
send out your emails, and then a contact email for customers to contact you (and any other emails you see fit).
These emails aren’t made by Outlook or Gmail, but you buy them alongside your domain and then you can use
them.

These emails are once again used to provide an extra layer of professionalism to your brand, so it doesn’t just
look like a startup / small business but a professional one.

However, if you don’t want to use these types of emails you could stick to “‘brand name’@outlook.com” type of
emails but just make sure that you try to make these look as good as possible, same concept as the Instagram
handles.
Launch.

Here's a list of different things you can do in the lead-up to your launch day:

1. LET EVERYONE KNOW YOU'RE COMING!

- Inform your friends and family about your new business venture and ask them to spread the word.

- Make a post on your social media platforms, such as sharing a photo from your shoot, with a caption
announcing your upcoming launch.

2. MAKE YOUR WEBSITE LIVE

- Launch your website for customers to pre-order or sign up for your newsletter.

- Offer a discount code to subscribers to encourage excitement and early sales.

3. HOST A GIVEAWAY

- Consider a giveaway of two hoodies (or any product) to generate website traffic and create buzz around
your brand.

4. HAVE A SALE

- Offer a special discount, like 10% off on first orders, to entice potential customers and drive sales.
By following these steps, you're setting the stage for a successful launch. If your products are of high quality, you
can sell out!

Your Business is Up and Running…

Congratulations on making your business live! Now, it's time to focus on marketing to grow your brand further.
Here are some helpful tips:

1. COLLABORATE WITH ARTISTS

- Consider partnering with artists or musicians with a solid fan base to boost your sales and brand
exposure.

- Influencers are great for exposure too, so don't neglect that avenue.

2. BE CONSISTENT ON INSTAGRAM

- Stay active on Instagram by planning regular photoshoots or content days to ensure a steady flow of
posts.
3. CUSTOMER SERVICE MATTERS

- Offer excellent customer service to build loyalty and retain returning customers.

4. SHIPPING COSTS

- Try to keep shipping costs low, this is one of the highest causes of abandoned checkouts, make sure you
have reliable shipping, so that orders always get to customers successfully.

- Look into international shipping as this will be at a different rate.

Links you may find useful.

Here are a bunch of links which you may find useful now or later in your brand journey.

Our website

Our TikTok

Our Instagram

Our pages have all the relevant information about growing, maintaining and tips for your clothing brand.

Virgil Abloh’s Free Game

Ali Baba – Manufacturers

Ali Express – Manufacturers

Four source – Manufacturers near you

Pirate ship – shipping system

DaFont – Free fonts

Hvntr – Purchasable font packs

Template monster – Shopify themes

Savee.it – Inspiration

Archivepdf.net – inspiration