Earlier this month, we profiled Free Fashion Tees, a website that offers free t-shirts to its members. Simply complete the registration at FreeFashionTees.com and they will match you with an advertiser and send you a fashionable yet free t-shirt — with no shipping or hidden charges!
To learn more about FreeFashionTees.com, we conducted an exclusive interview with Diana Braun, the co-founder of Free Fashion Tees.
Stephen Kersey: How did you get the idea for Free Fashion Tees?
Diana Braun: My business partner and I came up with the idea for Free Fashion Tees because we noticed a simple fact that all the promotional t-shirts we had were unattractive and taking up space in our closets. Sure you might wear one to the gym, but never consider wearing one of those shirts out in public, especially in a social setting. Companies were basically printing their name on any one-size-fits-all shirt and distributing it anyway they could. We thought that there must be a better way.
We were also amazed at the rising popularity of expensive designer t-shirts. We thought why not design trendy promotional t-shirts with an advertiser’s message on it? People would be more likely to wear a promotional shirt if it didn’t look like a promotional shirt. It would benefit both the advertiser and the t-shirt recipient. We also developed our idea further and thought it would be useful for the advertiser to specifically target their t-shirt recipients — that way they would have more control over their distribution process.
SK: What were the most difficult obstacles you had to overcome early on in the startup process?
DB: The most difficult aspect of launching our company was managing our time and resources. There are only 24 hours in a day and sometimes our workload can be overwhelming, especially with a small team. We overcome these obstacles by prioritizing our tasks and creating detailed timelines to help keep us on track.
SK: What do you like the most about the startup process?
DB:We enjoy the fact that our company is starting with a blank slate. We can go in virtually any direction with our ideas and run with it. Often times we sit down and simply brainstorm ideas that will help differentiate our business from the competition and improve our service.
SK: What aspects of your business do you think potential clients should know about?
DB:Our potential clients should know how our service is unique among the promotional items industry. Not only do we design distinctive high quality trendy promotional t-shirts, we also specifically target and distribute the shirts to members of our website that match our client’s target market. Our customizable advertising campaigns also include email marketing campaigns and online ads.
SK: How has the reception been for your Free Fashion Tees service?
DB:We have received a tremendous amount of support from our website members and we have been lucky enough to earn the respect from various online news sources and blogs who have written about us all over the world.
SK: Do you utilize any Web 2.0 technologies in your marketing?
DB:Yes, we have created Twitter and MySpace accounts. Fans of our site can follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/freefashiontees and MySpace at www.myspace.com/freefashiontees. We are also developing a Facebook application that will allow users to “give a free fashion tee” to friends.
SK: How has the global economic recession affected your startup?
DB:We believe these economic times have actually helped our company because everyday people and companies are looking for ways to cut spending and increase savings. Our service offers our members a chance to save on clothing expenses while offering an economic way for advertisers to spread their brand awareness.
SK: What do you hope for in the rest of 2009?
DB:Our plan for 2009 is to continue to grow our community of website members and to have the opportunity to work with large advertisers.
SK: Where do you hope your startup is five years from now?
DB:Within 5 years we would like to expand our service overseas because we have received numerous emails from people in Europe, South America and Asia inquiring when Free Fashion Tees will be available outside the United States.
SK: What advice would you offer to others who are considering creating a startup business?
DB:We just got started ourselves, but our advice to any entrepreneur is to first research your idea to see if it is feasible with your current resources, develop your plan, then get to work!
Fashionable Free T-Shirts (FreeFashionTees Screen Capture)
Nice article, and cool website and service. I’ve seen people wearing their shirts in Miami.
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