Promocodes are an internet marketing tool companies use to enhance their sales.  As many of you know Qdigitizing also uses promocodes and while many of you take advantage of them many of you do not.

But believe it or not we want you to use promocodes.  We want you to take advantage of the savings we offer you.  Promocodes save you money but they also let us monitor how effectively we communicate with you.

Some of you may want to use promocodes but don’t know how.  This article is meant to be a simple set of instructions for how to find and use promocodes at Qdigitzing.com.

Probably the most important thing to know is where to find a promocode.  Qdigitizing makes codes available through several outlets like, newsletters, advertising pieces or on our Facebook Specials page.  You can almost always find a promocode at Facebook.  While there please – LIKE US, Please!  Facebook has gotten a little weird with followers who are not friends.  If you don’t “LIKE” us you may or not receive notification that a new promocode is available.  It is way too long to get in to here…but Facebook now uses an algorithm to determine who may see what.  IF you don’t “LIKE” our page, you are not a frequent visitor and especially if you never post a comment on our page you almost certainly won’t get a notification for one of our specials.  However, if you do any of the three you may.  If you do all three, you almost certainly will.  I know, I know…it is confusing and hassle but we don’t make the rules at Facebook.  It didn’t use to be that way but Facebook has changed the way they look at business pages.

Promocodes will save you money but it is UP TO YOU to find them and use them.  You should also understand promocodes are only valid during the promotional period and are not retroactive.  For example, if you go to our Facebook page today (https://www.facebook.com/Qdigitizing ) you will find a promocode for the month of April.  If you click the “Specials” link (https://www.facebook.com/Qdigitizing/app_208195102528120)  You will find a promotional flyer with an offer. This offer expires April 30th.  However, if you activate that code today only orders placed from today through the end of the month will receive the discounted pricing.  It is always in your best interest to check Facebook often.  And don’t blow off the email we send you or email from the Ad Specialty Institute (ASI); there might be very valuable offers in those messages.  We also contract with Send Offers.com and 8 Legged Media.  So, if you see emails from any of these companies you should be aware they are not SPAM.  You would only receive these messages if you have opted in to one of those lists.  And while every offer might not pertain to you many will.

It is really important to know that writing “Use the XYZ promo code” or anything similar in an email message to us DOES NOT COUNT for registering a promocode on your account.  It is up to; it is your responsibility to log in to your account and update your <<My ACCOUNT>> settings with a valid promo code.  If you ever forget your log in credentials you can always call customer service at 877-733-4390 and we will walk you through getting back in to your account.

To register a promo code follow these simple instructions: 

1. Find a promocode (try Facebook!)
2. Navigate to www.qdigitizing.com
3. Log in to your account
4. Hover your cursor over <<My Account>>
5. Select <<ADD/UPDATE PROMO CODE>>
6. Enter the code you have in the field provided.
7. Click the <<Update Promo Code>> Button

That’s it.  You will then see a screen informing you your code was accepted.  From that point forward all orders will receive whatever offer has been presented until the promotion expires.

HINT – If you have an order to place  – - – update your promocode first – then place your order.

Folks, we want you to take advantage of the savings but it is your responsibility to manage your account.  Qdigitizing will not do this for you.  If you go to the grocery store and forget your coupons you are kind of “out of luck.”  While I am not that cold hearted I will only retroactively apply a promocode to your account one time.  After that…it is all on you.

If you have any questions or concerns do not hesitate to give me a call or send me an email directly to steve.freeman@qdigitizing.com

I hope to hear from you all soon…

Steve

First you outgrew that extra bedroom, and then your dining room. Now your home is bursting at the seams from your success as a “stay-at-home” embroidery professional. You can’t possibly squeeze another piece of equipment into your garage and you have no idea where to put the 50 cases
of polo shirts you just sold to your number-one customer this morning. You’ve reached a crossroads and made a brave decision to take your embroidery business to the next level – and open a retail storefront.This isn’t a decision to be taken lightly. You’re about to expose yourself to the world in a way you never have. When you were tucked into the privacy of your home-based business, you weren’t exposed to the same level of operational scrutiny as your contemporaries. This isn’t to imply in anyway that you weren’t already running a “real” business. However, you probably played by your own rules far more than other brick-and-mortar operations.

“You’re putting your freedom at risk more than anything else when you open that first retail store,” says Alan Strauss, a 30-year veteran of the custom embroidery and screen-printing industry. Strauss, having opened more than 150 stores in the course of his career, speaks from experience. “Don’t incur the overhead unless you’re prepared to incur the overhead,” he says. Seems simple, right? It’s not.

It’s impossible in a short article to expose a reader to all of the nuances of opening a retail location. So instead of attempting to provide you a comprehensive list of everything to expect when opening your doors for the first time, we’ve got some advice on the major hurdles you’ll encounter along the way. Here’s one piece of very valuable advice for embroiderers getting ready to make the retail leap: As you determine your budget for opening your store, put some money aside to hire a consultant who comes highly referred from a source you trust. We’ve all heard the cliché, “A defendant who represents himself in court has a fool for a lawyer,” which has some validity here as well. Your money will be well spent if you hire the right professionals to guide you through the intricacies of opening a retail store for the first time.

How to get started

1. Define who you are. Probably one of the most important things you can do before you venture out of your home and into the glare of the public eye is to have a complete understanding of the type of embroidery business you are.

Different profiles will have different location requirements, and it’s vital for you to understand the difference between what might be considered true retail, business to customer (B-to-C) or corporate buying business to business (B-to-B).

B-to-C businesses rely on the heavy foot traffic of high-volume locations such as malls or busy strip centers. B-to-B embroidery companies are typically more focused on the higher-volume business customer and set themselves up as destination locations that don’t rely on walk-in business. There’s also the hybrid operation that straddles the fence and services both types of customers. Fortunately there are locations well suited to any of these business types.

It’s important to remember that it’s not what you sell that determines the best retail location for you, but rather who you sell it to.

2. Define where you want to be. If you’re a true retail embroidery shop and the majority of your transactions are business to customer, you’ll want to be in the highest traffic volume location you can afford. You’ll find these locations in malls, strip centers, resorts and any location where there are large numbers of people who will pass by your storefront. For example, “Set up your shop in close proximity to a high-volume restaurant,” Strauss says.

A B-to-B embroidery company owner can afford to take herself a little farther off the beaten path and look at locations in light industrial business/office parks. While these locations don’t have the foot traffic of a mall, that’s perhaps more desirable. While small-ticket retail transactions can be very profitable, they may not fit the business model of the B-to-B embroidery professional.

The hybrid embroidery shop might want to locate its business in the types of strip centers that cater to other B-to-B establishments such as print shops, machine shops, sign shops and repair facilities. This type of exposure will tend to bring in the destination B-to-B customer as well as attract a number of customers who might be looking for the types of mid-volume retail order placed by teams and school groups.

3. Understand what your new expenses are going to be. No matter what, when you move from your home-based business to a retail storefront, your expenses will increase significantly. You need to be aware of this, and budget and plan for it. If you think the only additional expense you’ll have is rent and utilities, you’ll be in for a big surprise.

While your most obvious new expense will be rent, you’ll have a whole litany of other costs that may have been absorbed into your home but are now separate and additional expenses. And, for the uninitiated, you’ll find expenses such as telephone, Internet and utilities are far more costly to the business user than the home consumer. For instance, that nice speedy little Internet package you have for $39.95 a month at home might easily cost you $150 or more at a business address.

4. Negotiate the right lease. Remember, when it’s time to negotiate the lease, you hold all of the cards even though the leasing agent might try to convince you otherwise. The real estate agent’s job is to fill empty spaces with paying tenants like your business. It doesn’t mean he’ll take any crazy deal you throw on the table, but by no means should you ever assume the first price you’re quoted is where the lease will be signed. Almost everything is negotiable, so don’t be shy about asking for tenant improvements, signage, suite maintenance and even free rent.

Additionally, there are many things to consider in a lease other than gross rent. Depending on the type of property you lease, you could be exposed to other expenses such as triple nets, common area maintenance fees and percentage rents (see sidebar, “Real Estate Terms”), and other forms of published, but sometimes difficult-to-understand, expenses that are part of a lease agreement. It’ll be 100% your job to understand all of the terms of the lease. Speaking from experience, first-time embroiderers who’ve made the leap to a retail shop say that complaints about not understanding the fine print in a lease will fall on deaf ears when it comes to resolving a dispute with a property management company.

Some leases seem very straightforward and simple to read, while others appear from the start to be very complex. Tip: Have your lease reviewed by a competent real estate attorney before you sign it. Even the most basic lease can have land mines embedded in the body of what seems to be mundane, boiler-plate language. If you agree to it and then contest it later, you’ll almost assuredly lose.

Also, be sure that your location is properly zoned to allow an embroidery business to operate. While almost any space will allow a couple of smaller machines to perform light production, if you have large multi-head equipment, you might need to locate your business in an industrial park zoned for operations of this nature. Many malls will absolutely restrict the amount of noise being generated by your shop. Strip malls, while typically less uptight about noise, might have severe restrictions on the times when you can operate or the types of traffic loading and unloading product at your doors.

There are other issues that you’ll have to contend with before opening your first retail shop. These include tenant improvements, window displays, store layout, bringing employees into your company and marketing. Business owners who want to find additional information can find a host of resources on the Web at www.sba.gov. Also, almost every city has a chamber of commerce that’s stocked full of resources (human and printed) to help you get your doors open. You’ll find many friendly and helpful people who are interested in your success. But, it’s your job to ask.

The pride of ownership you’ll feel as the doors open and you frame your first dollar are almost second to none. As the proud owner of a shiny new store, you’ll most likely spend more time there than you will with the people you love.

Back in the late ’80s to mid-’90s, embroidery digitizing was enjoying its heyday in the United States. Digitizers, or punchers as they affectionately called one another, charged as much as $30 per 1,000 stitches to program a design. Vector art was still in its infancy and the limited number of artists trained in the software were also able to charge a premium for their time and talent.

Then, as the millennium wound down, a new player emerged on the stage – and everything changed. Enter the Internet. The power of the Web and the ability to transfer electronic files with virtually the speed of light caused a paradigm shift in the embroidery and digitizing industries, allowing offshore providers to participate aggressively in the U.S. market.

While there are still numerous domestic outlets to obtain art and digitizing services, outsourcing these products can be a viable and profitable option if done carefully. As an apparel decorator, you should be prepared to source and qualify your vendor based on a set of criteria. It’s your responsibility to determine the importance of quality, price and service. You should understand that dealing with offshore vendors may force you to deal with significant time zone issues. You should also be prepared to take the time to understand and appreciate the cultural diversity between U.S. and offshore business practices. Here are five specifics to consider.

Quality is number-one concern
“Our biggest concern with using an offshore digitizer or vector artist is quality” says Bill Stockwell, owner of Added Touch Embroidery and Screen Printing. “We can’t afford to compromise our quality to save a few dollars.”

Stockwell has valid concerns. But there are steps you can take to protect yourself when using an offshore provider. “Provide feedback to your outsourcing agent,” says Joanna Grant, one of the cofounders of Affinity Express, a graphic design and digitizing house with offices in India and the Philippines. “A good outsourcing agent will act on your recommendations. Consider the comments carefully, though. A statement such as, “Your quality needs improvement,’ doesn’t provide enough information about what’s wrong with the quality.”

Amit Jham, owner of DigitizingMart.com based in Mumbai, India, agrees with Grant. He keeps a log of every customer suggestion and annotates a customer file to build a list of “properties” for each customer based on their requirements. He urges customers to give specific suggestions and examples of areas where improvement is needed or excellence has been achieved. “That way, we can build a record of how to please a customer on every single job,” he says.

While it’s your vendor’s job to provide you with a quality product and service, it’s your responsibility to provide your vendor with enough information to do the job right the first time. “Complete information is important,” Grant says. “Our customers frequently neglect to provide enough information to allow our team to produce work exactly as they require.”

For embroidery digitizing, you should include at a minimum:
• the fabric the logo will be embroidered on
• the finished size of the design
• if the logo will be on hats or flats
• the file format you need your design in
• what elements are to be included or excluded from a design

For vector art, you should include at a minimum:
• the substrate for printing
• if you’ll require color separations
• the file format you need your design in
• what elements are to be included or excluded from a design
• Hint: Make sure all are fonts converted to curves.

Know what services should cost
Currently, prices are all over the board. However, you can find embroidery digitizing for as little as $1.50 per 1,000 stitches or flat-rate pricing such as $25 for any crest design regardless of stitch count. “Many customers jump around from vendor to vendor,” Grant says. “It makes better sense to choose one vendor – the one with the most experience, good pricing, best reliability and the most complete service. Make your vendor a partner.”

Vector art services are similar. You can find quality work for as little as $10 a design. With this type of pricing you might be tempted to experiment with a new “low-price leader.” However, based on Grant’s advice, supported by Jham, you’re most likely better served by establishing a relationship with a vendor who understands your needs and can react based on your order history and profile of order properties.

Navigate time zones and cultural diversity
While it might seem obvious, you should be aware that the operations of companies such as DigitzingMart.com and Affinity Express can be as much as 12 ½ hours ahead of where you’re located. While larger companies such as the two mentioned have U.S.-based customer support zones, many of the smaller companies don’t. Because of this, be aware that today is tomorrow to these vendors – and you need to adjust your production schedule accordingly to accommodate this reality.

Additionally, many times you’ll find a language barrier to be an issue. You should also expect that common clichés and the subtle nuances of American English may not be understood by your vendor. Avoid using slang when providing instruction.

A point to consider: In North America, we often encourage our employees to take initiative and make decisions when all of the information isn’t present or there’s room left for interpretation. In some countries, employees are discouraged from making these types of decisions. Because of this, your instructions may be taken quite literally. And while something may be quite obvious to you, the operator doing the work will not deviate from a set of instructions and make an executive decision. Because of this possibility, you should always eliminate as much need for interpretation as possible.

Make sure there’s access to customer service and support
You’d be well served to find a company that offers U.S.-based telephone, live chat and e-mail support. The support staff will be able to speak to you in the lingo you understand and pass the instructions off to the production departments in the lingo they understand. Additionally, U.S.-based support will more closely match the operating hours of your business.

Look before you leap offshore
All of us are aware that working with offshore vendors has positives and negatives. Aside from all else there is the political hot potato of outsourcing work that, in theory, can be done on our shores. But as the world changes and economies are more closely mingled, the fiscal reality may force some of us to look hard at outsourcing at least part of our art requirements.

Some of these companies have suffered some black eyes because at first their quality was suspect. However, over the past few years the stronger organizations have realized that shoddy work at any price will not be accepted, so they have adapted. The result of this is there are offshore art houses doing very good work for extremely competitive prices. But it’s up to you to nurture the relationship and provide your vendor with the information and resources necessary to provide you with the quality product and service you demand.

I read this article today on Yahoo http://news.yahoo.com/oops-university-misspells-own-name-70k-worth-canvas-153200695.html  and I thought I would share it with all of you.  Anyone and everyone in the imprinted apparel or promotional product industry should read this article  because I promise you, sooner or later this happens to all of us.  It will happen to you.  It is not a matter of IF, it is a matter of when and you should have a plan in place to minimize as best as possible this unfortunate eventuality.
One time I embroidered an order of 1,200 shirts where my in-house digitizer (employee) misspelled the word millennium and I didn’t catch it.  I presented the proof as “millenium.”  This was entirely my fault.  I should have caught it but I didn’t.  Neither did my customer.  Neither did her customer and he signed off on the project.  My customer then came back and signed my work order and we did the job.  The mistake was caught by the very first person to receive a shirt.

So what then should you do to protect yourself?  Below are my suggestions.

1. When you first obtain a customer you should explain what your policy is on proofing orders.  Your customer should be aware it is their responsibility to final proof an order before it goes in to production.  You must be firm on this.
2. Explain and show your customers how WORDS are not seen as WORDS in programs like COREL DRAW and Adobe Illustrator.  Show them how spell checking does not work in applications like this as WORDS are seen as ART and not as words.  ESPECIALLY once a font is converted to curves, then all bets are off.  Or what about the case where a word like CAR is intentionally spelled as KAR for a marketing or branding reasons?
3. If your customer tells you it is your job to be perfect you must remind them such a demand is unrealistic and unreasonable.  However, it is reasonable for you to request your customer review a proof before you begin production.  It is in everyone’s best interest and I would say it is best to go beyond your buyer and have a third party review the proof…someone who is not too close to the project.
4. Show your customers examples of how easy it is to make mistake.  In the Yahoo article I had to examine the art three times before I saw that university was spelled wrong.  Often times your eyes see what they want to see and it is very easy to miss something like univeristy.
5. Implement a policy where your customer must sign off on a proof for all orders before they go in to production and adhere to that policy strictly, no excuses.  This is easier said than done because to be valid the document should be drafted by an attorney and softened to the point where it does not scare your customers away.  Again, no so easy a task but this is to protect both the vendor and the buyer and should be presented as such.
6. Post a sign in any location customers have access to that explains your policy on proofing orders.
7. Before you go in to production have one final quality person proof the project and they must be held accountable for their actions.

You have to protect yourself and if possible maintain the relationship with your customer.  In my example I had to embroider all of the replacement product at no charge but at least I didn’t have to eat 1,200 shirts and I didn’t lose the customer.   In the end everyone was satisfied even though no one made any money and the buyer ended up spending a lot more than they should have.

I understand it is easy to blame a mistake like this on your customer after you ask them to sign off on a proof.  And maybe you will not get stuck holding the bag for replacing the product.  But unless you handle it correctly you will almost certainly lose the customer.  Because of this you need to be prepared for this eventuality and have your plan in place for how you will handle this.  While each case is different one thing that remains consistent is unless you have your paperwork in proper order you don’t have a leg to stand on.  So the most important thing you can do is:

1. Hold yourself accountable.  It is your job to get all jobs approved by your customers prior to production, in writing.  Period.

If you are not prepared to take this step then you must understand sooner or later you are going to end up eating a major project.  It can be an uncomfortable conversation when your customer asks you, “why don’t stand behind your work.”  You need to think about how you want to answer that question and be prepared, becuase it will come up more than once.

Once upon a time one of my employees told me, “lazy men work twice as hard.”  And to borrow another aphorism, “measure twice, cut once.” Every time I find myself wanting to take a professional shortcut I remind myself of this phrase.  It seems like every time I cut a step to save time (even as a favor) it will come back to haunt me and I will end up doing a job twice.

Please let me know by dropping me an email or commenting here for any topics you would like to see me cover.

I hope you all had a great start to the year and I hope to hear from each of you sometime soon.

Steve Freeman
Qdigitizing

steve.freeman@qdigitizing.com

877-733-4390

I am freshly back from the ASI Orlando and ISS Long Beach industry trade shows.  We had a great time and we hope you did as well.  I would say between the two shows we were able to put faces to about 50 of you who usually only get to  speak with us on the phone or by email.  I cannot begin to tell you how much I enjoy being able to meet those of you who made it to the show.   For those of you who missed us the picture below shows me on the right, my busines partner Amit on the left (he manages the production facility) and the lovely young lady in the middle is Bridgetta,  our marketing specialist who works trade shows and other industry events with us.

While at the show we were able to connect with many of you to discuss what we have been doing well and yes, in some cases a few of you let us know what we need to improve on.  As much as we enjoy the compliments in some ways the complaints are more valuable becuase it lets us know what we need to focus on in order to provide you with a better product and serrvice.

To that end we will be working on enhancements to our web site  that will make communicating with us easier and more accurately.  WE are also always working on ways ways ti improve our work flow and quality.  PLease don;t be shy…if you have suggestions let me know.  Sometimes it may hurt but I really want to know.

Keep tuned to the web site and your email for details of features we will be rolling out toward the end of the first quarter and  the start of the second quarter.  And as always…follow us on Twitter or Facebook for all of the latest news and information.

Even though the trade shows were all  about business and were able to have some fun as well!  Here is Bidgetta making it official that Big Foot is more than a myth!

And this picture is a picture of one of four (yes FOUR) winners of Amazon Kindles that we offered as door prizes to one lucky person each doay of each show.  Congratulations to Eric Hilferding from Class B apparel on being just one of the lucky winners.  We hope you enjoy your Kindle.  They are pretty cool devices.  And don;t forget our APP work perfectly on the kindle!  YOu can find it in the Google PLay Store or iTunes store by simply typing Qdigitizing in the search feature.  The APP is free and will let you place orders, check status, and download/email all archived files to the location you specify!

We really had a blast and later this year we hope to meet you at two more shows we planning on exhibiting at.  We have not confirmed these dates yet but as of this writing we plan to be in Chicago at the ASI Show in July 16-18,  and Fort Worth for the ISS Show in September 26-28.  Hopefully with our making the east, west, north and south portions of our great country we will have every opportunity to meet each and every one of you.

I hope to hear from any or all of you soon.  Don;t forget you can always reach out to me by email at steve.freeman@qdigitzing.com or simply pick up the phone and give us a call!

Steve Freeman
Managing Partner
Qdigitizing.com
877-733-4390

When the only product you sell is the stitches you sew, you had better sew them well!

Contract embroidery is a term often thrown around loosely in the world of commercial embroidery. But what does it mean, exactly? Jimmy Lamb, a 20+ year industry veteran defines it this way: “Contract embroidery means providing embroidery services only. Contractors do not normally sell garments, only stitching.” To be able to make money in this manner, Lamb says, most contract embroidery shops have a large number of heads so they can turn large orders quickly and efficiently.

The traditional contract embroidery company does not typically compete with embroidery companies who also sell products (apparel or hard goods) or other types of services like signage, silk screening or direct-to-garment printing. It’s a service provider who fills the needs of a customer who is without embroidery equipment and needs large numbers of products embellished. As in any business, there are hybrid shops that may dabble in other areas, but the main focus of contract embroidery is high-volume, low-margin work completed as quickly and efficiently as possible. These professionals can make (or lose) a great deal of money in short periods of time based primarily on the capacity of their equipment and how well they manage their shops.

The Successful Shop A contract embroidery business might look a little different than many other embroidery shops you walk in to. What might catch you by surprise is there probably won’t be a showroom with a display of products for sale. Rather, the whole front end might consist of nothing more than a few small offices and a main room with a big table and embroideries hung on all of the available wall space. Remember, the contract embroiderer is selling stitches and service only. The real “meat and potatoes” of the business is usually in back and accessible only by invitation. Some shops have fancier front ends than others, but they all serve the same purposes. It is a place for the owner or manager to meet with clients to discuss the needs and details for production orders.

The front room should have access to any databases which contain client order history. It is important to have this information handy at all times. When running a contract embroidery shop, the single most important commodity to manage is time. Effective systems that can reduce the amount of time needed to process a client’s order are what will separate successful contract embroidery companies from unsuccessful ones. By its very nature, contract embroidery is low-margin work. Because of this, it is critical for the business owner to manage the details of the business. According to Lamb, the contract embroidery professional must be able to provide “great quality, quick turnaround, and super-low pricing.” In order to do this, a professional must have superior systems in place.

Contract embroidery shops are built for speed. A quick look into the back room of a successful contract embroidery company will show a space carefully designed to allow the efficient movement of product through the work cycle. Wherever possible, wasted motion should be removed from the system. Machine operators should not be responsible for material handling any more than a shipping and receiving clerk should handle digitizing.

A wise embroidery shop owner will carefully analyze his work flow and set up his shop floor accordingly. It is impossible to configure a “one size fits all” shop floor for all embroidery operations because work profiles vary greatly. There are some excellent and affordable solutions, like Extend Simulation Software (www.extendsim.com), which allow you to model your production floor to exact scale and include all of the steps necessary to process orders. The simulation will then give you an animated “model” of your production flow. This user-friendly software will allow you to analyze where bottlenecks form and provide you the ability to make educated decisions about where to lay out your equipment and how to best distribute your personnel.

Contract embroidery shops require large amounts of equipment in order to process high volumes of orders. Lamb recommends at least 60 heads; there are shops that have hundreds of multi-head machines; some working as much as three shifts a day, seven days a week. What might surprise you, though, is that the principles in running a 60-head shop are not significantly different from a 600-head shop. The main difference is scale: a contract embroidery business is extremely scalable, headed by someone who is prepared to treat the company as a professional, light-industrial manufacturing operation.

Who Buys Embroidery? The million dollar question is: Where does all of the work come from to keep high numbers of multihead embroidery machines running? The million dollar answer is … from the hard work and marketing efforts of the business owner. Certainly there are high-visibility potential clients. Anyone who sells advertising specialty products needs a good embroidery professional to service his embellishment needs. But this is a competitive market. The successful contract embroidery professional needs to be creative about locating business in unusual places. For instance, walk in to any mattress store and examine the “throws” that are used to identify and sell mattress brands: most of them are embroidered with very high stitch count, high-dollar designs.

If you look closely, embroidery is all around you. You can find it in automobiles, airplanes, caskets and bedding. As a contract embroidery professional, you need to be able to break out of your comfort zone and be prepared to sell. Many people will tell you that much of this type of production has gone overseas. To some extent that is true, but there is still a significant amount of work domestically. The trouble is, unless you are very lucky, it will not walk in to your facility. You must be prepared to go out and find it. That means you must refine your sales and marketing skills.

Mistakes to Avoid Probably the biggest mistake you can avoid is getting into a price war with your competition. This is a battle you cannot win. It doesn’t matter who you are – the economies of high-volume contract embroidery are such that you will not be able to participate in a protracted price war. Simply put, the margins are just not there.

So what can you do to prevent this cycle? You need to define your operation and sell your business on quality, service and reliability. Lamb advises you to focus on quality. “There are so many companies focused on doing embroidery cheaply that they cut corners and end up with inferior product,” Lamb says. “These professionals get too wrapped up in price and end up selling at deep discounts. You need to focus on quality and turnaround, first, then worry about price.”

You should also consider offering value-added service – additional services where you can generate extra revenue. An obvious one is the individual folding and bagging of products, but there are hundreds of possibilities. Two popular options: offer your clients new corrugated boxes to replace the old beat-up boxes the products came in; sell private labels and offer the ability to remove generic tags and sew in the custom labels from your customers. These types of services can significantly pad your bottom line, and when handled properly, can be the “make or break” difference in a successful shop.

Contract embroidery can be a very challenging business. In some cities there are many shops – even hundreds – all competing for the same work. Anything you can do to differentiate your operation from the business down the block will give you a competitive advantage, and in the competitive world of contract embroidery, that’s really what it’s all about. It is your responsibility as the business owner to define your business.

I would love to hear from you with any questions or suggestions for blog content.  Please contact me at steve.freeman@qdigitizing.com

Steve Freeman
Managing Partner
Qdigitizing.com
877-733-4390

This month’s discussion is how simple shapes can make your complicated design simple. Basic shapes like circles and rectangles (with some help from lines) are your best friend. Because it’s the holiday season I thought I would show you how to create some great holiday theme artwork. Although you can use any graphic software program, I used Adobe Illustrator.

The first thing you should consider is using layers to build up your design. This will make it much simpler to select something should you want to change it or move it. Also think of building your design background to front layer or front to background layer. It’s easier to keep track of elements and layers better this way than if you jump around.

Here is what is on each layer I created for this Holiday image.

Layer 1) Cream color rectangle that covers my whole design.

Layer 2) 5 rectangles with gradient fill of light yellow to brown.

Layer 3) Angled lines with the same gradient fill as layer 2, however the angle has been changed.

Layer 4) Filagree design element one with light yellow to brown gradient that repeats twice. This element is only on the 2nd and 4th rectangle.

Layer 5) Filagree design element two . It has the same gradient fill as layer 4 and it also is only on rectangle 2 and 4.

Layer 6) Light yellow circles of various sizes and scattered around the rectangle. The pattern is the same on all rectangles.

Layer 7) More scattered circles in a different pattern than layer 6. The pattern is the same on all rectangles, however the color is different on each.

Layer Ornaments on rectangle 2 and 4. Create one ornament then copy and paste over left side of rectangle 2. Vary the sizes and placement. Copy and paste to rectangle 4. To make ornament. Create a circle with light yellow to brown fill. Create a crescent moon shape with same gradient fill at a different angle. Use for bottom highlight. Create oval with light yellow to medium brown gradient fill for top highlight. Create white 11 pointed star to top off top highlight. Create a square at the top and behind the circle. Fill with light yellow to brown gradient. On top and behind the square create a medium brown circle outline. This is the top of the ornament that holds the string. Last create the brown string (line) from the top of the outline circle to the top of the rectangle.

Layer 9) Presents in rectangles 1, 3 and 5. First create a rectangle with a white outline. Then create a narrow vertical rectangle with white outline located in the middle of first rectangle. This is the ribbon. Fill with light yellow to medium brown gradient. Create the ribbon bow on top of the box and fill with light yellow to medium brown gradient with white outline. Change angles of the gradient to create highlight and shadows of bow. Copy and paste boxes with bows across the left side of top rectangle. Use various sizes to create variety. Fill some with light yellow to medium brown gradient and the others solid. Fill some with stars and others with stripes. Select all the presents and copy. Paste on
rectangle 3 and 5. Change some of the colors in the presents to matches the scattered circles of each rectangle on layer 7.

When you are done, you’ve just created wonderful holiday artwork you can use for various projects. Here are a couple more examples created in a similar way.

May you always have food and drink to fill your belly, friends and family to lift your spirits and love to fill your heart. Happy Holidays!

I would also like to hear from you about your most pressing issues about artwork. Your question may be used in a future issue of this newsletter. If you have questions, please email me at cora@qdigitizing.com. And please reference this newsletter.

Looking forward to sharing an exciting journey of discovery into the world of Art.

Sincerely,

Cora Kromer
cora@qdigitizing.com.
Awearness Ink
Step out of the Chaos into the Awearness.

Don’t wait until you have to hire an attorney to get briefed on intellectual property law.

For a small-business owner, it’s tough to turn down business. If you’re offered design work that you suspect could infringe on someone’s trademark or copyright, however, industry veteran John Swinburn advises that the only responsible answer is “no” – at least, until you’re sure you’re legally covered.  Swinburn is executive director of the Dallas-based Embroidery Trade Association, which devotes a chapter of its Master Embroidery Manual to the subject of intellectual property. According to Swinburn, copyright is any intellectual property that can be conveyed in words, and, unlike a logo or trade mark, is automatic – you own it as soon as you create it. Trademarks – symbols or words representing a company or product – must be registered and are more commonly dealt with in the embroidery trade.

“Be very careful, because it’s so easy for people to stumble into breaking copyright and trademark law,” Swinburn says. “It’s tough for an embroiderer to be held totally accountable, but you need to have prudence to recognize commonly known logos of companies. If an embroiderer should have known that a trademark was owned by Exxon Mobil Corp., they’re going to find themselves in hot water.”  A common error cited by Swinburn is the belief that if a logo is altered to a certain degree, is safe to use without permission. “That’s dead wrong,” he says. “If you start with something that’s trademarked, you start with something somebody else owns – simply changing it doesn’t mean you don’t need to get permission.  “Rather than finding yourself and the customer in trouble, you need to go back to the original owner [of the logo] and say, ‘This was presented to me; I want to make sure it doesn’t look too much like yours,’” he says.

Protect yourself
It’s your job to ensure you’re not saying these famous last words: “But, Your Honor, he told me it was OK to use the XYZ Inc. company logo.” Simply put, Farley Weiss, a Phoenix-based copyright and intellectual property attorney, says, “It’s your responsibility to ensure you have the permission of the copyright owner before you use their design on anything – before you do the work.” Where it gets complicated is obtaining permission and ensuring the permission has been granted by the legitimate owner or agent of the copyright.

Embroidery shop owners agree that checking first is the most important safeguard to avoid legal trouble. “If a UPS driver wants us to embroider the UPS logo on something, we have a form he has to take back to his office to get permission to embroider this logo,” says Dan Fisher, owner of an EmbroidMe (asi/384000) franchise in Exton, PA.

You aren’t expected to be a private detective and go to extreme measures to verify the identity and credentials of a person who presents a design to you for embellishment. However, if push ever comes to shove and you find yourself defending your actions in court, it’ll be expected that you’ve at least done the minimum. This will include written permission from the copyright holder on official company letterhead and signed by an authorized agent of the copyright holder. It isn’t sufficient to have a “middleman” sign an affidavit stating he has the “right to use” the copyrighted material. Such a document will help – but only in your countersuit of the person who didn’t have the authority to use the design in the first place.

Swinburn advises asking for a letter of permission on company letterhead with contact information, so shop owners can follow up if need be. The letter should state that the person asking to have the work done is either the owner of the logo or has been given explicit permission to use it. “What’s important,” Swinburn says, “is that that person will take responsibility if the material was copyrighted or trademarked and will not hold [the embroiderer] responsible.”

Some companies will pursue copyright infringement more vigorously than others. For instance, if you ever “resell” unauthorized product embellished with the properties of any major sports franchise (or film, music, etc.), you’ll most likely be sued before you can say “process server.”

Some companies will be kind enough to send you what’s called a cease and desist letter before they take any further legal action. A cease and desist letter will come from the attorneys of the company that believes you have violated its copyright. The letter will instruct you, “Stop using our logo now, or there will be consequences.” If you receive a C&D letter, immediately stop using or selling the copyrighted material and take the letter to your attorney to have them craft a response stating immediate action has been taken to cease the objectionable activity. Mail your letter certified to the law firm that sent the cease and desist letter and if there’s a third party, contact them to make them aware you cannot do any additional work until the copyright issues are resolved.

Promo copyright infringement
Let’s say that all you wanted to do was build sales. So, proactively you found some artwork for a hot prospect and produced some samples. Then, being the hard-working entrepreneur you are, you set up a meeting with XYZ Inc. to showcase your products and service with its logo. Everything seemed to go well – the meeting was a success and you even received a few verbal purchase orders. You feel great about yourself, since it seems that your efforts to land a new customer have succeeded. Then, three days letter you get a cease and desist letter from XYZ Inc. warning you not to use its copyrighted logos for your personal or business promotional use.

What’s going on here? “By the strict letter of the law, you run a risk using copyrighted material to create promotional materials for a potential client without their prior consent,” Weiss says. “However, in most cases like this there’s no harm, no foul, and whereas technically you could be sued for copyright infringement, there’s nothing to be gained by such a suit.” XYZ Inc. is simply telling you in no uncertain terms that it wants you to respect its intellectual property rights. In response to a cease and desist letter in this case, inform all concerned parties that you have destroyed any and all questionable materials; then ask if there is a different path to take for establishing a business relationship with this potential client.

Sticky stock designs
So, who owns the stock designs you just purchased? This question isn’t easy to answer because a great deal depends on who you bought the stock designs from in the first place. But in general, you don’t own them. When you buy stock designs from most major distributors, typically you don’t own the design. Rather, you own a license/contract to use the design according to the terms spelled out in the purchase agreement.

Space limitations don’t allow a full examination of these types of contracts because even though they share similar language, each is different and needs to be reviewed on its own merits. When you purchase the design(s), you’re free to use the design to create and/or resell products you embellish or authorize an agent to embellish for you. What you absolutely cannot do is make copies of the stock designs and either give or sell them to anybody, period. That means you can’t give a copy of your favorite design to your Aunt Madge who owns a home machine that reads DST files. This is a clear violation of the copyright and can carry significant penalties if ignored. Additionally, you can’t modify the design and then call it your own.

There are most likely exceptions to this rule, but it’s not worth the legal hassle or cost of defending yourself to fight this point on a $25 stock design. Be aware that several of the major stock design companies are very aggressive about protecting their properties, so don’t make the mistake of testing them – it can be a costly mistake.

University and corporate logos
With university logos, Swinburn and Fisher advise getting permission directly from the college itself. Depending on the school, this can be fairly easy to do.

“There are some good [university] Web sites where you can go right to the home page and find out the proper use of a logo,” Fisher says. Contacting athletic directors is another good bet, he says. “They don’t want royalties,” Fisher says of most schools. “They just want it done right.”

Getting it right is equally important to corporations, many of whom are very exacting about how a trademarked item must look. Swinburn cites Disney as a company obsessively protective of its brand; according to Fisher, Alcoa is so particular about the shade of blue in its logo that the company would prefer it done in black and white if the color can’t be matched exactly.

Fisher says embroiderers should also be aware of whether a school has a contract with a major apparel line; putting the logo of a “Nike school” on an Adidas product could obviously create a problem. The Web sites of suppliers such as SanMar (asi/84863) will sometimes post warnings about how their name-brand apparel can be used.

Of course, misrepresenting any clothing as being part of a branded apparel line is a huge no-no. Phyllis McLaughlin, an EmbroidMe owner in King of Prussia, PA, has a creative way of putting people off who come into her store looking to add a Nike swoop to a $2 or $3 shirt. “I say, ‘We’ll be glad to do that. That will be $110,’” she says. “Then they change their mind.”

Copyright law can be very complicated when practiced in a court of law. However, out on the street, it can be somewhat more clear and comes down to this: If you want to avoid any chance of impropriety, simply make sure you have the express written permission of the copyright owner to use their material. Is this always practical? No. Because of that, you’ll need to make decisions based on information available to you as well as the risk you’re willing to expose yourself to. There’s a plethora of information available at www.copyright.gov to help you make more informed decisions.

STEVE FREEMAN
Qdigitizing.com
steve.freeman@qdigitizing.com

JAMES STURDIVANT, a PA-based contributing writer, contributed to this report.

Go Mobile

Have you ever considered taking your embroidery business on the road? Lots of embroiderers have made the leap – and been very successful.

What could be more American than taking your show on the road? Lots of embroiderers who aren’t content to operate within the confines of their home base are making the decision to take their business mobile. This brave group of entrepreneurs takes their business directly to consumers, meeting them head on under any number of conditions. From flea markets to rodeos, trade shows to parking lots near Little League games, you’ll see them set up with embroiderables and machines, ready to do business on a very personal level.

What’s the advantage of setting up a tent in the middle of a hot field to pitch your wares and services? “For what you’d spend in traditional advertising, the road show provides far more bang for your buck,” says Phil Casey, owner of The Parent Shop. “People can walk in and touch your products and see your services. There’s also the personal side of building the relationship.” He adds, “Residual sales – after the show – might be double or even triple the show revenue. You just don’t get that kind of return running ads.”

This is a primer on what to consider before packing up a van or small truck to take your embroidery business to the masses. There are a host of considerations unique to the traveling embroidery professional. And, “It’s a lot of hard work,” Casey says. “It’s time away from family, friends and your social life. So, plan for everything.”

Know who you are

Before you go on the road, make sure you really understand your business identity and your competitive advantage. If you’re the type of embroidery business that specializes in selling to school athletic departments or local sports teams, don’t go unprepared to a traveling road show aimed at fire or police departments. While there are similarities in what’s needed from an operational standpoint, the product mix and service offering will be quite different. Also, a big part of going on the road is developing the relationships vital to a strong business. If you present yourself to a group of buyers where you aren’t comfortable “talking the talk,” you’ll find yourself reading a book in your booth instead of running your machines.

This isn’t to say you can never attend shows that are outside your comfort zone or area of expertise. But if you do, you’d be well served to find a friend or colleague who’s well versed in your target group’s lingo. Let that person do the talking while you perform the back-end operations. After you’ve done this a few times and you’re familiar with the jargon (and yes, sometimes the swagger) of certain venues, you should be ready to go it on your own.

When you take your business on the road, it’s as much about the product as it is about the embroidery. This might be a little foreign to some of you who are used to running contract embroidery shops. When you’re on the road, customers won’t (for the most part) be bringing product for you to embellish. They’ll be looking to buy something you have on hand and have you embellish it for them on the spot. To this end, you should know your typical customer at this particular event and what types of embellished products they’ll want to buy. For example, don’t take leotards to the local Pop Warner football game or conversely, football jerseys to the local dance recital. While these examples are extreme and meant to be tongue in cheek, the concept is not: What you decide to display at a traveling show can make or break your success.

Another thing you might want to consider are products that may or may not be embroiderable. Don’t limit yourself only to that which can be sewn. Odds are you’ll have a captive audience. The more products you have (appropriate to the event), the better chance you have to make money. “You must be flexible and creative,” Casey says. “You don’t know what customers will be asking for, so be a good listener.”

What you need
Aside from what you need to operate your equipment and booth (see sidebar, “What to Bring to the Show,” different shows will have different requirements for what you need to bring. It’s your responsibility to determine beforehand what will be required for you to set up your temporary shop. Make sure you ask the show organizer what’s included in your booth or space. Typically, indoor shows will provide a table, two chairs, waste basket and a backdrop. Never assume electricity will be available to you. While it’s usually available, many times it’s at an additional cost and requires you to pre-order the hook up.

Outdoor events almost never include a canopy so if you want protection from the sun, make sure you bring your own. Only the most organized outdoor shows have electricity, so be prepared to bring a generator with enough power to operate your equipment.

When considering equipment to bring, it’s a good idea to consider packing as lightly as possible, as you never know from venue to venue what type of loading facilities will be available to you. Brian Belk, owner of Axiom America, a distributor for Brother International products, recommends the Brother PR620C “as a fantastic embroidery machine to take to events such as craft shows,” he says. “At a slender 82 pounds, the PR620 is truly portable.” This is also the machine Casey takes to every show he attends. He swears by the durability, quality and portability of the machine. Tip: Under no circumstances should you travel with a machine that requires a 220 three-phase power source unless you’re absolutely certain your destination can support this requirement.

You should also be prepared to bring the appropriate software and a computer for personalizing products and making any design adjustments that might be required. Belk recommends Brother APS Ethos Artisan Plus Software, while Casey likes Generations Embroidery Software. However, any of the popular digitizing packages on the market allow for the creation of text and minor design edits (assuming you purchase the appropriate product tier) to suit your needs just fine.

Potential revenues and costs
By now many of you might be thinking, “So, what’s in it for me?” Casey can clear as much as $6,000 from a three-day weekend show with residual sales doubling or even tripling the show revenue. He notes, though, that when you combine travel time, setup, tear down and show hours, your time commitment can be as much as back-to-back 10-hour days, making for a very grueling schedule.

From his business perspective, Belk estimates a mobile embroiderer’s hardware and software investment to be: equipment: $8,295 (includes a cap system and two sets of four different sized hoops from 12 inches by 8 inches to 2 inches by 1.5 inches); stand: $500; and APS Ethos digitizing software: $2,995, with the purchase of the equipment.

It’s very important to note that Belk’s list doesn’t include things such as inventory, displays, materials, promotional materials and other related show expenses. Another key cost to factor in is the price of admission for the show. These fees can vary widely, from less than $100 to several thousand dollars. These fees are usually assessed by the square footage of space you occupy and the relative size (number of attendees) expected to attend. Basically, the bigger the show, the more it’ll cost you. Also, there are usually space premiums applied to the best locations. Corner booths and other high-profile locations will almost always carry a premium at larger shows.

And finally, when doing outdoor events where electricity isn’t provided, many shows will have a strict limitation on the amount of noise you can produce. Because of this, you must purchase a higher-end generator as bargain-basement generators tend to be very noisy.

The mobile shop, when properly executed, can be an extremely lucrative proposition for the embroidery professional inclined to participate in this niche market. Like any other business venture, though, it’s fraught with risk unique to the environment. Attend a few of these shows, both large and small, and talk with some of the exhibiting decorators. If you’re courteous and catch them during a slow period, you’ll find most of them willing to discuss the pros and cons of the roadshow circuit.

However, I would not expect you to just take my word for it so listed here are several questions you should ask and carefully consider the answers before you make a decision on who you will trust your work to.

 1. How many and what kind of embroidery machines (heads) does the vendor have? 

The answer to this question will provide insight to the capacity of the facility.  Ask your embroidery provider what their daily capacity is based on their equipment lineup and average stitch count.  A good vendor will know the answer to this question.  If your embroidery supplier cannot answer this question effortlessly you need to prepare yourself for late deliveries.

2. Is the vendor local to you? 

If the answer is “no” this should not be a show stopper for you.  However, if they are ask the vendor for a tour of their facility.  Most owners are proud to show off their equipment and the effciency of their operation.  If a vendor is reluctant to show you their production this might be a red flag.  My experience has shown me that a neat and organized shop will generally be more reliable at meeting deadlines with quality work.

3.  Get Referrals! 

More than anything else your vendor should be willing and able to provide referrals for their work.  However, a vendor is not likely to knowingly provide you with a bad reference.  To combat this you should go to a meeting of professionals (like a Chamber of Commerce meeting) and ask other professionals who they use.  Compare their responses to the provided referrals and you will get a good idea for what to expect.

4.  What is the Damaged Product Policy? 

In the real world of embroidery product will get damaged in production.  It happens to all embroidery shops regardless of how good they are.  You should be aware of this and you need to ask what the Damage Policy is.  Most contract embroidery shops will have a 1% to 2% damage policy.  That means if a product is ruined on the machine you will be responsible for 1 or 2 pieces out of every 100.  Damage over that number would be the vendors responsibilty.  Hats are far more difficult to embroider than “flats” and some companies might have a Damage Policy as high as 3% to 5% for hats.  You need to have a candid conversation about this with your vendor.  Damage policies are meant to cover issues that are virtually impossible to control, not incompetance.  It is your responisbility to understand what is covered by a Damage Policy.

There are many other questions you may want to ask an embroidery provider before you decide to trust them with your work.  On the most basic level your vendor is applying for a job.  And each time you bring them work they are renewing that relationship.  As with any relationship the key to success is open, two way communication and realistic expectations of what each party will get out of the relationship.  You will probably notice I have made no mention of price in this blog  because I feel price is irrelvant to this conversation.  If I cannot get satisfactory answers to the four basic questions above I would not use a vendor no matter what their price is and neither should you.

As we enter what is the busiest time of year for many of you it is important to have reliable vendors.  The most important thing you can do is go in to the experience with your eyes and ears wide open.  Observe the surroundings (look for piles of ruined product) listen for claims that seem unreasonable.  Like the shop with 6 heads who say they can turn five thousand shirts with a 12,000 stitch logo in a week.  They can’t unless they are outsourcing the work.

This is an area I have a great deal of experience.  If any of you out there have specific comments or questions please feel free to drop me a note here or email me at steve.freeman@qdigitizing.com.
Thank you very much and everyone at Qdigitizing wishes you a warm and happy holday season.

Steve Freeman
Managing Partner
Qdigitizing.com
Steve.freeman@qdigitizing.com