'Made in USA, Screenprinting, Embroidered, Imprinted Apparel, T-Shirts Interview'

Made in USA, Screenprinting, Embroidered, Imprinted Apparel, T-Shirts Interview

By Interviewer at 06/11/08 13:16

Name of your website?

Made in USA, Screenprinting, Embroidered, Imprinted Apparel, T-Shirts

Your name?

Denice Pearson

Your Location (city, etc)

Metro Detroit

Please give us a short summary of your website?

Identity Impressions Features selections of Made in USA and Union-Made products, available with custom imprinting for marketing and promoting businesses in all industries. We include a section of SPECIALS featuring current sale items. Browsing capabilties to search by event, (tradeshow, golf outing,etc) or specific product lines: office, golf, apparel, hats, drinkware, pens, etc. We cater to small businesses, entrepeneurs who don't have the large "marketing" budgets of a corporation.

What inspired you to launch your own website?

Exposure and networking. To reach a larger market of prospective clients.

When did you launch your first website, and what was it?

2004

How did you decide on a name for your website?

This names brings Businesses that choose to use Made in USA products the results they're looking for. They won't find what they're looking for when they search "promotional products". They know this is what they want and will include this in their search criteria.

What makes your website different from other, similar offerings?

We specialize in MADE IN USA or Union Made goods. I.I. works with over 200 mfgs/suppliers of only Made in Usa/Union Made products. I also feature We also distribute for over 50 mfgs/suppliers of goods made in Michigan or suppliers/factories based in Michigan. We also highlight Eco-friendly, Made from Recycled goods, Corn plastics, every option to Go Green can be found.

What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)

I will keep it and eventually launch upgraded version

How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?

Having a website does not have to be for direct sales alone. My clients use our site to save time by being able to see exactly what we offer or search for ideas.

If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site?

More self-contained, by product category and individual products with all details, eliminating links or jumps to whole catalogs, for further sorting.

If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?

Absolutely!

What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?

Due to the nature of the details involved in our service/products we do not direct sell through our site. We could potentially gain business by adding this feature, since it appears so many "cheap" t-shirts sites are finding success.

What has been your biggest challenge?

routine maintenance of features, specials, and links to remain current

What method has been most successful for promoting your website?

Adding my URL to ALL correspondence. Everything I print or mail or hand out, includes our web address.

How has running your website differed from your expectations?

Since I use an industry-based software to produce my site, it has actually been easier than building an entire site from scratch.

How long have you run the site already, and how long will you continue to keep it up if you don't enjoy big gains in traffic, income or popularity?

The site has been up since 2004, and we have no plans to remove it. Only to break from the industry template based sites and build our own independent site.

What is your website address?

Made in USA, Screenprinting, Embroidered, Imprinted Apparel, T-Shirts

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