Stop! Don’t put this article down just because you a few years of experience. I teach beginners who can print better with ten minutes of instruction than many printers with years of experience. This article is written with the beginner in mind but take a few minutes – read this short article – and maybe there will be a tip or two to make even an experienced printer better. Why not.

Where Do You Start

The time has arrived. You just spent $15,000 on equipment and you have made a screen. Now what do you do? What if you ruin a shirt? What if the ink washes off? What if the customer isn’t happy? What if you put the print in the wrong location? Maybe this wasn’t the business you wanted after all. Traumatic, isn’t it!

Fortunately, you’ll get over it – but these are the questions and problems that face beginning printers.

This article is about some basic fundamentals of making a print. These are things that beginners AND experienced printers need to know. Make sure your existing printers read this article. How many times has a printer told you how many years he has only to not be able to produce a salable shirt. Just because they have the title “screen printer” doesn’t mean they are one!

The Screen

For the purpose of this article we will assume you have a screen made using the correct mesh. No, 110 (43cm) monofilament doesn’t work for every job. You need to use the correct mesh count to have a good print. Although mesh count is an entire topic, for now let’s assume you are doing a simple three-color print on a light shirt. I would use a 160 (61cm) to 180 (70cm) monofilament mesh with either very well made wood frames that have been purchased with the fabric already attached (prestretched) OR I would use a metal retentionable screen that I had brought to the proper tension a couple of times to get the fabric very tight. I choose the 160 to 180 because I want to lay down a little less ink since this is a multi-color job AND in doing so I will not have to flash cure between colors. In fact I can print this job wet-ink-on-wet-ink. Trust me!

I would also have used a dual-cure photopolymer emulsion as my stencil since they can be used with only a single coat on each side and they hold up well, yet reclaim easily.

Press Set-up

Square the Screen to the Shirtboard The screen needs to be placed on the press and squared to the shirtboard. This is as simple as placing a t-square under the frame and looking through the screen to square the image on the frame to the edge of the board. Now when you make a print it will be straight to the board.

Multi-Color Print Sequence

When printing multi-color prints on light shirts you generally print the lightest color to darkest color OR the smallest print area to the largest area. This sequence, along with the right ink viscosity will help minimize ink picking up on the screen bottoms. This is called build-up and is a common problem in multi-color printing. The easiest way to line-up screens on a multi-color print is to make a print of the outline or main color and just line-up the other screens to the print. Sure you may get a little ink on the bottom of the screen but guess what? It will wipe right off.

Adjust the Off-Contact Distance

The screen MUST be set to sit slightly off the shirtboard. This is called off-contact printing and is how all good printing is done. Some presses have adjustments for this. Others will need to have the screen shimmed from underneath. Either way, you may need to put a thin piece of cardboard under the edge of the frame so it will hit the shirtboard as the screen comes down. This may seem unorthodox, but again, trust me. You need to keep the screen from 1/16″ to 1/8″ off the shirt and no matter how well made a manual press is, the tip of the screen is going to move downward when you get to the end of the stroke and nothing is going to keep it off the board but a simple shim.

The Ink

This is one area where there is a lot of confusion. The ink manufacturer told you that the stuff in the can was “Ready for Use” (RFU). That means just slop it in the screen and “pump up” to make a print. RFU is one of the greatest lies ever told.

Don’t Be Afraid of Additives

Most ink on the market it a little too thick to print easily by hand. It generally needs a slight amount of reduction – thinning – to make it work better. Thinning does not mean making it softer so I am talking about adding a curable reducer rather than a “soft hand” additive. A small amount of reducer will make the ink more workable.

Thin Some Colors More Than Others

Since our test job is a three-color print we will thin our lightest colors a little more. This will generally be the FIRST COLOR YOU PRINT and it needs to penetrate INTO the garment more than the others so you won’t pick it up on the bottoms of the other screens. If black is our last color, we can thin it less. It needs to lay on top of the other colors and will blend in with the undercolors if it is too thin.

Stir the Ink First

Plastisol ink tends to get a little thicker or “body up” when it isn’t in use so you should ALWAYS STIR THE INK BEFORE YOU THIN IT. By stirring the ink you will find out if it really needs thinner. I prefer an ink that is smooth and creamy to one that is so thick that you break the stick trying to stir it.

How Much Ink to Use

No matter what I tell you here, no matter how little ink you put in the screen, some people are destined to make a mess. I have had printers who would never get a drop on them and have the screen full of ink – and others who got ink on them by just looking at the press. You are better off putting a small amount of ink across the back of the screen. You need enough to make a number of good prints without running dry, but not so much that when you print it all rides up on the squeegee handle. It is much easier to put more ink in a screen and harder to take the excess out!

What Squeegee to Use

This is another debatable item. The rage now is a triple durometer squeegee that has a harder center around a softer outer edge. These actually do give you more control, especially if you have a lot of strength and try to flatten the blade as you make the print. (No, you really don’t want to flatten the blade.) The realities are that you could pick up an “old fashioned” medium hardness blade with a sharp edge and make a great print. Notice that I said sharp edge. A sharp edge shears off the ink cleanly and will make a much sharper print than a dull edge blade. If you are a messy printer, you should use the wider 5″ handles. These will help keep your fingers out of the ink.

How To Hold and Move the Squeegee

Top Grip

Another debatable area. A lot of printers use the standard “two-hand, top grip, pull towards you” stroke. While this works good, it can cause some problems if printing all day long. Not only will the tips of your fingers and thumbs be sore (and maybe numb!) you may also feel tenderness in your wrists. What you are getting is a repetitive motion disorder known as Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

Some people can print all their lives and never get this. I am one of them. Others print only a few hours and have a problem. To minimize this problem you should use one of the special ergonomic squeegees that force you to hold your hand wider. You can also pad the handle with foam and tape or purchase the new squeegee pad made specifically for this industry. Carpal Tunnel is a very real disorder that should not be ignored.

Side Grip

This technique moves the strain from the center of your wrist to your forearm muscles. Simply hold the squeegee by the side and pull it towards you. This works great if you are short (aren’t all manual presses designed for tall people?), although my son, who is 6′2″ loves this stroke. You can actually get great pressure when printing with thick inks.

Push or Pull

Another area of individual preference. Pulling the squeegee towards you is the standard method, but pushing it away from you is really a lot easier. When pulling the squeegee you use more of your wrists and shoulder muscles. When pushing, you use more of your body weight to push the squeegee. You push it but don’t change the way you hold it or the angle of the squeegee. This stroke works best with thinner inks and it will take a little getting use to. Actually you can get high production with this method and you get into a little rhythm with your body leaning into the print. It is a much less fatiguing stroke on long jobs!

How Many Strokes Do You Do?

Does it take three strokes in both directions to “work” the ink into the garment? I’d like to see the print! You really don’t have to work the ink into the garment. Just print the shirt with ONE – or maybe two strokes. If you must use two strokes for better coverage DO THEM IN THE SAME DIRECTION! If you have to do two or three strokes then maybe your ink is too thick and it is not flowing good through the screen. Try thinning it down a little and see what happens.

How Much Pressure to Apply

If your ink is too thick then you have to apply lots of pressure to get the ink through the screen. This excessive pressure spreads the ink and causes shadowed, uneven prints. If the ink is the right thickness (viscosity) you should be able to use medium pressure with one stroke and have a GREAT print. When printing on dark shirts you will find that excessive pressure drives the ink too deep into the garment and it actually isn’t as bright as when you lighten up a little.

What to do at the end of the stroke?

There are three options here. You can either pull the squeegee all the way to the end of the frame and scoop the excess ink up with the squeegee and place it in the back of the frame; you can quickly lift up the squeegee when you get close to the end of the frame and lift up the excess ink or you can stop when you pass the image area and lift the screen and do a flood stroke to push the excess ink back to the back of the screen. The last two are much more desirable than scooping the ink on the screen frame – although on jobs where the image is large you really will have no choice.

When Do You Flash Cure?

Never – if you can help it! The flash-cure unit has become the Band-Aid of the industry. People let the flash-cure unit make them a good printer by covering up thick ink, poor artwork overlays, too many strokes, etc. Almost anyone can get a good print by curing between each color – but with production rates in the low 30’s (I mean 30 prints per hour) you will find this a hard business to make any money in. By simply using the correct mesh, right ink viscosity, good artwork and not too many strokes, you could print the same job wet-on-wet. Granted, there are many jobs where you have to flash-cure. Just don’t let it be every job.

Keep the Finger Prints off the Shirts

Do you get ink everywhere? Maybe you cook dinner the same way. Try to clean as you go. This means keeping the ink containers, squeegee handles and screen frame edges clean. Get in the habit of not grabbing the squeegee too far down the handle. If you just can’t keep ink off your hands then have a helper load and unload the shirts for you.

Here is a Summary of Right and Wrong

Wrong
(This way is typical of how many “experienced” printers print.)

1. Use 110 mesh for everything.
2. Use low tension screens.
3. Print the print on-contact.
4. Use the ink direct out of the container with no adjustment.
5. Print with a number of strokes in each direction to “work” the ink into the garment.
6. Flash cure every color.
7. Have a VERY thick “bulletproof” print.

Right
(This is how good printers print.)

1. Use the proper mesh for the job. Higher mesh counts for multi-color work.
2. Make sure the screens are tensioned properly.
3. Print off-contact – even if it means using shims on the press.
4. Reduce the ink if necessary to make it flow and penetrate better.
5. Use just one stroke to make a clean print with minimal ink deposit.
6. Flash-cure only if necessary.
7. Have a soft print that has good detail and can be done in high production

It Ain’t Brain Surgery

OK, it looks hard, but it isn’t brain surgery. Just follow some simple and logical rules and you will find this business easy and very rewarding. Have fun with that first print!

During the busy months it is important to get as much production as possible off of a manual printing press. This article details some simple steps and changes you can make to squeeze out a few more shirts and dollars per hour. Some suggestions are more long term and managerial and will take time for the changes to show in increased production. It is very important to not disregard simple changes that may only increase production by a few shirts per hour. Equate this savings by a day and month and it may be enough to pay the rent! Remember, you not only need to speed up general production, you need to reduce unnecessary downtime that decreases production!

Managerial and Procedural Changes

1. Double check the art.
   There is nothing more frustrating than a production delay and screens to remake because the art was just not checked thoroughly. If you don’t have artists who know screening, then let the artists work in the shop for a week to learn about color sequence, ink buildup, mesh counts, trapping and other art/production considerations. It is much easier to spend a little extra time on the separations than to stop the presses.
2. Use a detailed work order.
   I have been in too many shops where a work order either didn’t exist or was not used. “Print as before” becomes the norm on reorder jobs and if the production crew is new there are chances for mistakes and downtime. Why should you reinvent the wheel on a reorder? There should be notes as to color sequence, flash stations, ink considerations, job problems and more. This, along with a sample shirt from the previous run should always accompany a reorder to production.
3. Keep track of the little things.
   You should be gathering data on all jobs including items in number 2 AND the amount of time spent on setup and teardown, rejects, screen problems and other reasons for production delays. Chart the reasons for production delays on a weekly and monthly basis to find trends. Are you having too many torn screens? Maybe your tension expectations are too high or general handling is poor.
4. Train the sales staff.
   Try to get your sales staff to learn about screen printing. Too much time is often spent trying to print something that just doesn’t work. There are also too many sample printed without an order as the outcome. Also, there are too many redone samples with minor changes requested by the customer that are frivolous.
5. Keep the pressure on.
   This may seem heavy handed but you need to always keep the pressure on production. If they feel that all they need to do today is one job, then one job is all that is done. If there is a schedule that is a little over optimistic it will always keep the pressure during printing, setup, teardown to get the job done because there are other jobs that need to be done too!
6. Have weekly meetings and job postmortem.
   This is VERY important and often overlooked. Get all parties involved at the end of the week for a short meeting to go over the week’s jobs. A quick postmortem on each job will help all concerned learn from mistakes and have better communication on future jobs.

Technical and Production Floor Changes

1. Use job carts for better staging.
   Order staging is critical. You don’t want employees looking around for screens and ink for the next job. A simple rolling cart should be used that has all of the ink, screens, clean squeegees, and even shirts (if they will fit). If the order is too large, the shirts should be laid out on job carts by size. When a job is done, the cart is used for dirty screens, squeegees and ink.
2. Do regular press maintenance.
   This does not have to be a big deal. If someone spends and hour every Monday morning checking registration guides, platens, dryer temperatures and other critical areas, there will be less downtime related to silly things like misprinted shirts because a little nylon bold worked loose!
3. Use all-arms-down press.
   This will not help for short runs but can GREATLY INCREASE PRODUCTION on runs of a few hundred shirts or more. It means that you can have more than one person printing on a press at the same time. I have seen shops go from 100 4-color prints per hour to over 200 per hour by adding one more person to the production crew. Yes, it increased the body count, but we are trying to increase production in this article. There is a lot of controversy over this and many manufacturers state you don’t need it. And, in many cased you don’t/won’t need it until you have a large job with a tight deadline. And, most equipment manufacturers charge extra for this feature.
   
4. Know your mesh and ink.
   I like to say I can solve most problems with changes to “mesh and ink.” If you are hand printing, don’t be afraid to get the ink smooth and creamy. An addition of a small amount of curable reducer (not soft hand) will make the ink easier to print and will also GREATLY reduce the amount of buildup on the bottom of the screens. Also, you can go to higher mesh counts with reduced ink and get a softer hand, use less ink, reduce buildup, hold halftone dots better and on and on. For basic one-color move higher than normal and use a 156 mesh.  For simple multi-color print use 156 to 200 mesh. For a detailed print with halftones use 230 mesh. For a process print use 305.
5. Use a push stroke with the squeegee.
   Although the squeegee was designed to be pulled towards you, it is actually less fatiguing to push the squeegee away from you. It is a simple stroke that uses more of your body weight and allows for more shirts per shift. It is held at the same angle as when pulling.
6. Use helpers.
   If you have more than one press you should have a “rover” who helps stage shirts, acts as a runner, checks to shirts coming off the dryer, helps unload and load shirts, etc.
7. Cross train.
   Cross train all production personnel to do more than print. When there is a lull in production, they can sort and package shirts, spot shirts, clean screens and more. I am always amazed at the amount of standing around that goes on – especially if there is a production problem. Try to find self-starters who can find work to do.
8. Speed up setup and teardown.
   This sounds so simple but it is one of the biggest time loss areas – especially on short run jobs where is may take longer to setup and teardown than to print the job.

Start by making sure that all of the above is done. Proper mesh, ink viscosity, order stages, etc. Train employees how to setup a job quickly. If necessary, go to a pin register system even on the manual presses. Standardize your screen sizes so there is very little press adjustment needed from job to job. Have good lighting over the press area and have all adjustment tools (if needed) chained to the press. Supply cut cardboard squares for scrapping a screen clean and teach people to not spend too much time in teardown. Final cleanup can be done at the screen cleaning area later.

It is the little things that count in production. Work on these items every day and find your own little time savers that equate to “free” shirts that are over and above your normal production. Good luck

When you need new business there are may different approaches. The most important are those ways that get orders quickly with the least purchasing resistance possible. Without a doubt, the fastest way to get more business is to look at your existing customer base and see if you can sell them more. There are a variety of ways of doing this. Two of  the fastest  are to bundles and programs.

Bundles are where you group two or more items together at a significant discount. The idea is to create an irresistible offer where your customer would be crazy not to take it up. We see this in informercials all the time. You know, “Call in the next two minutes and we’ll double the offer,” or they include two or three additional complementary items along with the original product. Examples for us would be to combine hats and tees or perhaps hoodie sweatshirts and tees.

Programs are timed delivery of product. This  works  best when you have customers who’re using up a lot of shirts and are too busy to place a regular order with you. You can set them up on a once a month, every two months,  every 3 months or whatever is appropriate for them. You give them a cumulative discount for the privilege of automatically delivering goods to them. For instance, you may give them a 144 price break but fill in the orders at 48 pieces.

These approaches work great until you’ve gone to the well too many times. Then what? The next best place is to resurrect customers who’ve left you for one reason or another. I don’t know why businesses are so scared of this. Perhaps they think if a customer’s left, they don’t like you. In most cases that’s simply not true.

People leave for all kinds of reasons. Your main contact may have left the organization and there’s someone new that doesn’t know you. Perhaps their needs changed and they no longer required your services. Perhaps there was some internal disturbance that caused you to fall between the cracks. Most likely, your customer simply got too busy and time slipped by. Before you know it, it’s been a couple of years since they’ve done anything.

To make matters worse, when you’re busy, you don’t seem to notice them falling off. It’s only when times get slow and you start to look back that you see how much business has gone away. This is called attrition. It’s the easiest and fastest way to get orders in, after you’ve exhausted your currently active accounts.

Get out your total customer list. If you can by most recent order. You can now go down the list and find everyone who hasn’t called you in say,  6 months. Get on the phone and call them. Simply ask if there’s anything wrong? Tell them you’ve noticed they haven’t ordered recently and you wanted to make sure you haven’t done something to offend them.

If something isn’t right or if you’ve upset them in some way, you’ll learn about it right now and you can correct the problem. Make sure you sincerely thank them for their frankness and directness in letting you know where things when off track.

By the way, this is something the OWNER should do. If an employee did something you want to know about it. You can use the owner-to-owner approach and get them to level with you. It’s tough to listen to, but it’s also a big part of making your business better.

If everything is ok and you haven’t mistepped, your customer will find themselves in the position of having to respond. You may very possibly end up with an order on the spot. This is especially true if you give them a “welcome back” incentive of some kind.

If you have mistepped, it will give you an opportunity to fix it once and for all. This is one of the biggests gifts your customers can give you, even though it isn’t an easy thing to do. I have seen relationships actually strengthened when an upset customer felt you listened to them and took action to make the situation better.

Even if they don’t have an order for you right now, take the opportunity to ask if they know anyone who they could recommend  you to who could benefit from your services. If you can get 1 – 3 names from each of the people you talk to, you’ll have a great running start toward new business.

Remember, business is built on relationships. The closer you are to your customers and clients, the more business you’ll get. It’s when you start drifting away that you begin to lose business. As I’ve said earlier, this happens when we get busy and neglect the contact. Try reactivating your old accounts as I’ve described. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at what develops.

As more and more people use Twitter in their business and more and more people are confused by it…..I thought I would post an excellent link to Twitter 101 (about using Twitter in business) – direct from the Twitter.com website. As many readers can tell, I am trying to “tweet” every day. I am also working to increase my number of “followers” and also to follow more people. I will say that for those who have been on Twitter since the beginning – you probably “get it.” I have been a little slow to adopt but now I get it and find it very refreshing.

Note: If you don’t know the terms I am using here then take five minutes and read Twitter 101….. :)

What I “get” is that Twitter is becoming the new news source. I “follow” CNN, ABC News and other outlets on Twitter – along with hundreds of companies I have an interest in. I also follow industry sources like Impressions Magazine, Printwear Magazine, SGIA, FESPA, and others.

Twitter is changing how we get information. I was watching the news last night with my wife and they were talking about the new hurricane gaining momentum in the Atlantic Ocean. I told Pat – I already knew that – from Twitter (my CNN following).

While many of you anxiously wait for your monthly trade magazine or online version of the trades to see what is new, chances are most of the companies in there have already tweeted about their latest special, new products, and more. If they didn’t tweet about it then the trade magazines did.

Whether you like it or not, Twitter is here to stay and if you watch TV you now see more and more ads with the Twitter logo. I remember how in the mid-90’s you started to see companies using their web address in the advertising and I vividly remember thinking about those who DID NOT do this for a long time – they didn’t “get” it.

If you are a company doing business in 2010 with a website, you need to show you are on the cutting edge and show not only your Twitter link but also that of your Facebook Fan Page and your YouTube Channel (topics for another blog).

Once you signup for a Twitter account (free), you need a way to manage the account. You can use your Twitter page or you can use third party software to follow people, see if you get mentioned, tweet, and more. I use TweetDeck and I LOVE it! When someone I follow sends out a tweet it shows up in the upper right of my computer screen for three seconds and then goes away. I can ignore it or simply open my TweetDeck application (which I leave open all day long), and see the latest tweets. Yes, you get a lot but you can hide the people who drive you nuts with “just had breakfast.”

Like it or not….services like Twitter are here to stay. Check it out. Sign up for an account. Start to follow people. The more you follow the more they will follow you (good Twitter etiquette). Download TweetDeck. Set up a search for topics you like AND your name and your company name. See who is “mentioning” you in their tweets. Get involved.

OK, while you are at it – start to follow me, too. What the heck. It might be interesting.  www.twitter.com/tbiznetwork

The only problem is you now have to schedule your day around reading tweets and tweeting, managing your Facebook page, and – oh yes – running your business.

AND…. I don’t profess to be an expert on Twitter. I would love to have comments on this article/blog.

UPDATE: About six hours after I posted this Twitter announced the “new” Twitter with new features to be rolled out over the next few weeks.  Check it out here.

Have fun!   Scott Fresener   @tbiznetwork

I’ve been trying for some time to get around to writing on my blog. I’d like to say my excuse for not getting around to it is because I’m nursing a hurt baby toe which I got by running over it with a shopping cart (twice!)…that’s two separate incidents in a month…not twice in a row! I’ve decided that I’m not going to be nice anymore (stop snickering Terry Combs) and pull my cart back to make room for the person in front of me who decides to stick their butt out into the aisle to capture that last minute gigantic Tootsie Roll on the rack. Nope, I’m going to stand firm and hide my toes. After two weeks I still can’t wear a shoe without it throbbing. So sad to miss out on the nightly treks to kill scorpions…I feel really, really bad about that.

Anyway, last week I was out and about and stopped in to a local store on business. I was greeted by a nice lady – attractive, middle-aged, casual – who was the owner. We shook hands and right away I knew that this was a person I wanted to do business with. Why? Because her firm handshake told me that she was up to the task, that she was a business person, that she knew what she was doing and that she was confident.

I discussed this with her and we both agreed that a handshake was really important in business and was an area where a lot of people don’t do so well. We lamented about the “femmy” handshake, the “limp-noodle” handshake and the “bone-crusher.”

I recall my first bone-crusher and it was so bad I’ve managed to avoid any others. Mr. Joe Cuzort was a sales manager for Screen Print Magazine way back around 1983-84 and in the beginning we greeted each other with a handshake. Well, one time he must have forgotten himself because he gave me such a hard handshake that my knees buckled (literally) and my fingers had huge indentations where he crushed my ring into them. I kept a solid appearance so he never knew the impact of that handshake. After that I immediately turned to the “hug” greeting with him.

Which brings me to a topic that could be boring but actually isn’t….I mean think about it – you are performing an act where you are actually touching another human being and often they are complete strangers! This is an intimate act if there ever was one.

So unless you are into choreographed handshakes that make you look real cool or perhaps you utilize the roman-warrior handgrip (one of my personal favorites) then you need to know how to do it right, and if not absolutely right, then at least pretty-darned-ok.

Women! If you are soliciting a job as a queen, helpless victim or laundry detergent tester then you keep right on giving that little featherweight “four-fingers” in the hand substitute of a handshake. You will get the job I promise you. But if you are in the business world then give a good, solid, full-hand, firm handshake – I think 2-4 short, controlled up-and-down pumps will do it. This applies to anyone’s hand you are shaking (except children, the elderly or perhaps someone with a physical challenge.)

If you don’t know about how firm it should be try this: put your hand up to your throat as though you are going to strangle yourself. When you’ve closed it hard enough to cause some discomfort that’s about the right amount of pressure. (I get a lot of chuckles picturing you all doing that.)

Men! Stop giving women the “femmy” handshake. When you give us that soft, half-hearted noodly thing it can make us think that: 1. You have no idea how to relate to women; 2. You might perceive women as inferior; 3. You think you might get to first base if you aren’t too pushy; 4. You aren’t very sure of yourself; 5. You are afraid of hurting us.

So, follow the same advice for women above. If you give us that “bone-crusher” then numbers 1, 2 and 4 apply and we’ll add a number 6. You enjoy hurting us.

So that’s the quick facts-of-life handshake talk – One that every parent should have had with you but didn’t. I’m sure there are many who won’t agree with this article and I bow to your right of differing opinion…….just don’t try to shake my hand when I see you. I will take that hug though.

I want an adult “Onesie” flesh-colored thin-fabric T-shirt that body-hugs like a second skin and starts at the bottom of my feet, wraps around each leg and goes all the way up to my shoulders. I want a hot pair of thigh-high black leather boots printed on the feet and legs portion of the garment, a show of black lace printed above the boots, black lycra short-shorts printed on the appropriate area and the top part can stay a “little white T-Shirt” that is printed with “Daddy’s Girl” in red glitter. Oh, and sew a leather bottom on the soles of the feet please because I don’t intend on having to wear another single stitch of clothing with this garment.

“Mmmmmmmm……” I hear you thinking. You can probably see the visual right now. If so, then consider that being a screen printer doesn’t always mean that you print for others. I’m not talking about becoming a manufacturer of the garment in the first paragraph or going after the celebrity market with this outlandish idea but rather that you explore the possibility that you can address a niche market, one you have an interest in or knowledge of and create and market your own line for that market.

Consider the possibilities. You have the capabilities of resourcing the garment(s) and other pintables, the ability to design the artwork and the ability to print the design. But let’s put first things first and look at how you might create your own line.

Basics 1: Find a Niche Market
I’ve actually had two clothing lines and neither was difficult to develop. One was a ladies fashion halter top company where I designed the garments and took them from pattern to cut & sew and finally sales. The sales part was easy in those days……..I had a “boutique” every weekend at the flea market. They were a hot item and I had a lot of repeat customers. I would love to have had the chance to market them online but it didn’t exist in those days.

Years later I developed a clothing line that fit right into the niche category. It was for animal lovers – mostly cats and dogs – mostly T-Shirts and fashion tops. The designs were years ahead of their time with spot-color foils throughout the design and rhinestone placement. I hired artists to do what I wanted, developed the processes needed to produce the work, bought goods I knew women would love and printed away. I ended up in all of the big pet catalogs like RC Steele and sold to pet stores nationwide.

How did I do it? Just like most people do but perhaps a bit easier because I knew how to screen print. The basic steps are pretty easy. While not necessary for every potential clothing line entrepreneur I did create a “brand” name that became recognizable. The products I sold under the “brand” became my “line.”

Basics 2: Create a Brand
If you think creating your own line is something you are tuned into then you might want to create a Brand name. Pantene® is a brand and the name associates a lot of quality products with it. Within this brand there is your product line. A brand can be something simple like a word or perhaps a symbol (think logo.)

The free Wikipedia Encyclopedia at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brand has a great article on what brands and branding are all about. One interesting excerpt says “Modern value-creation branding-and-advertising campaigns are highly successful at inducing consumers to pay, for example, 50 dollars for a T-shirt that cost a mere 50 cents to make…” Of course the economy has changed a bit since that was written.

Basics 3: Research the Brand
Let’s say you live in Hawaii, California or Florida and you want to create a line of shirts involving the ocean. You can envision a nice line of T-Shirts and other imprintables immediately with this idea – marine life, bikini’s, eco system, sand, surfing, etc.

Perhaps you are seriously entering into producing your own line. If so you will want to consider trademarking your brand.

Let’s say you want to call your brand “Water Babies.” While you can put a ™ on your brand without filing a trademark, you better be sure you are not impinging on anyone else’s trademark. (You may not use the registered mark ® however unless your trademark is actually registered.) You can research the availability of a trademark yourself by going to uspto.gov/main/trademarks.htm and on the right side click “search.” Click on “new user form” and enter “water babies” in the search field. You will find several “water babies” trademarks. Some will be dead and others live. Check them out and you will see that at least one of them is related to T-Shirts and it is live. Odds are you would be violating someone’s trademark….better keep on searching.

You can file for a trademark online at uspto.gov/teas/index.html and the cost is $275 to $325, but as you will see it is really complicated, the results are not guaranteed and you will not get a refund if your item cannot be trademarked. Should you want to apply for a trademark it would be wise to have an attorney take care of it.

Basics 3 : Create a Line
For this article let’s say that “Water Babies” trademark was available. The brand name is often not used in a design but let’s say you are going to use it here and the design is “Nothing Makes Me Happier than Looking at My Water Babies”

Copyright laws do not require that you notice the work (meaning printing the ©symbol or equivalent wording) to be protected under copyright law. But should someone rip off your work and you sue them you would lose your chances at triple-damages and other beneficial claims. Whether or not you pursue the formalities of copyrighting your work will depend on your own assessment. If you do want to you can research copyright availability at copyright.gov/records/. Click “Search the Catalog.” If there aren’t any results on this it might be available. You haven’t done as exhaustive a search as a Copyright attorney will do so again you should have an attorney do the search.

You can file a copyright electronically for $35 at copyright.gov/ and click on “Electronic Copyright Office.” There is a really good explanation of how to copyright your work at copyright.gov/fls/fl115.html and click on Circular 40A – it does a nice job of simplifying the whole thing.

Basics 4: Market the Line
Marketing can make your line successful. With e-branding and internet marketing your marketing cost is considerably lower than in the “old days” of catalogs, bulk mailings and magazine advertising.

Of course you will market your shirts online but choose a specific market to approach and develop your brand heavily. There are a lot of resources for online marketing such as Google Adwords, YouTube, etc. In resourcing for this article I found a lot of sites selling narrow niche T-Shirts. Some sites and lines appealed to me and a lot did not. I visited one company’s website because I liked the name of their brand…it was cool. I went to the site and looked at their line. It was bad. It wasn’t artwork that I liked but also the designs were so varied in technique and style that no one could ever point to it and say that’s a “water babies” (brand name disguised to hide the real brand identity.)

With a narrow niche line it might be necessary to start a marketing campaign by placing small classified ads in that markets magazines that direct them to your website. If you can afford a little more then placing a small display ad with a photo of your best T-Shirt and directing them to your site will get you started in a bigger way.

The internet has become the biggest marketing tool in the history of mankind but it is still a new frontier with a skillset of its own, and that is a topic that requires an article of its own …….. And only after lots and lots of research. You can get some insight and good idea starters though from an online article at
www.nbm.com. From there you can start your own research into online marketing.

Get Going
You’re not getting any younger and the world is moving faster and faster all the time so what have you got to lose by giving it a try? Your line might be an ugly disaster or it might become a hit. Does the outcome matter as much as the journey? I think the journey is all that really matters to an entrepreneur.

If you should happen to develop that outlandish little item mentioned at the beginning of this article please let me know……I would like to buy one….oh not for me of course…….for a friend.

Pat Fresener
www.howtopublishing.com
“the best things in life are free”

(Nothing in this article is intended nor should be interpreted as legal advice. An attorney should always be consulted in legal matters. All trademarks acknowledged)

If you are going to print T-shirts then you cannot live without a curing unit. Whether it be your oven at home or a large gas dryer – somewhere in your shop there is a “heater.”

This article will detail some of the things to look for when purchasing curing equipment. If you already have some of this equipment maybe you will find ideas for your future upgrade. If you are just ready to make your first purchase then hopefully you will find some tips you can use to stump the salesman.

Flash-Curing Units

I hate to admit that when I first got in this business no one had “invented” flash-curing units. We all played with various heaters hung over a printer but the manufacturers were slow to respond. Now you can’t do quality work without a flash heater. If you don’t own one then you better put this on the top of your wish list.

Before we talk about features of flash-curing units I want to clarify one major point. I have lost count of the THOUSANDS of times I have had people call to say that a salesman told them they COULDN’T get a full cure with a “spot heater/flash cure unit.” I find this humorous because I personally know of THOUSANDS of people who have been using flash-curing units (or spot curing units – yes, they are the same thing) for years. In fact one former student of mine claimed to have done $400,000 in one year out of his garage using homemade equipment and four flash-curing units!

A flash-curing unit is simply the SAME HEATER THAT’S IN A CONVEYOR DRYER without the conveyor or tunnel. And, since these are infrared heaters that do not heat the air but only heat what the infrared radiation touches, you really don’t need a tunnel to contain the heat.

Anyway, the reason they are called flash- or spot-cure units is because if you put them close to the ink you can get a cure in only a few seconds.

Things to look for in a Flash unit

Here are some important things to look for in a flash-curing unit:

1. Heater Size- Since there are so many large prints if you get anything under 16″x16″ you are kidding yourself. I would invest in a 16″x 20″ or even a 24″x 24″ if possible. The larger units are 220 volts but the size is worth it.
2. Size of Stand- If you have ever tipped over a flash-cure unit you will know that a sturdy wide-leg stand is a must. Wheels are also indispensable because you are always moving the unit around. Larger wheels are better because they don’t get caught in cracks and on cords.
3. Automatic Cycle Feature – You couldn’t have given me an automatic cycle flash-cure unit – UNTIL I TRIED ONE. I wouldn’t be caught dead without one now. A unit like this will more than pay for itself in even curing and less guessing time. You know “do you think it’s cured? I see smoke – it must be.” O.K., so these things are like buying a Cadillac. You really will get your money’s worth.
4. Heat Controller – This is one of those things I have a hard time saying to get the best in. Since you are generally going to run your flash-cure unit full on you may not need a heat controller. I get in trouble with the manufacturers who say you need to control the heat, but frankly, I don’t want my heater to be cycling on and off all day long.

Things to Look for in a Conveyor Dryer

Dryers come in all sizes. A small dryer in one shop is a giant dryer in another. The following list should be looked at with your overall production and FUTURE GROWTH in mind. If you plan to print a few dozen shirts a week then a flash-curing unit will do forever. If you have lofty goals of being the T-shirt tycoon of your area, then get a dryer to handle your needs. Remember – as you grow the dryer is the first piece of equipment you outgrown!

Here are some points to consider:

1. Conveyor Size – By my standards a small dryer is 6′ to 8′ long with an 18″ to 24″ wide conveyor belt. These dryers are just one step above a flash-cure unit and will handle from 6 to 12 dozen shirts per hour (regardless of what the manufacturer says). They are great for small shops but will not handle more than one or two printing presses feeding it shirts. If you can afford it buy at least the next size dryer larger. If you are looking at a 6′ belt length see if you can swing an 8′ or 10.’ If you are looking at a 24″ wide belt try to move up to a 30″ or 36″ belt. YOU CAN ALMOST DOUBLE THE AMOUNT OF THROUGH-PUT by just increasing the length a few feet!
2. Adjustable Heater Height – This is nice but few dryers have this feature. By simply lowering the heating element you can get the ink hotter quicker (there is a point where you are going to burn shirts). This allows you to get that production higher on shirt jobs, and still fit puffy jackets and tall caps through the dryer when needed. It is the one area where you aren’t locked into a set heater height and a set amount of production. Don’t let the lack of this feature get in the way of buying a dryer.
3. Ease of Maintenance – Sooner or later you will burn out a heating element or a temperature control. You need to be able to EASILY get inside the dryer to drop out a heater or do other electrical repair. Even if you aren’t the one who will fix it – someone has to be able to take it apart. Some dryers have so many “pop rivets” and twists and turns that it takes days to get the thing apart. Again, you will never know you need this feature until you realize that somehow you have got to get the dryer fixed QUICKLY so you don’t lose too much down time!
4. Forced-Air – This is only a feature if you will be printing with air-dry inks for towels, non-textiles, etc. Although it MAY help minimize scorching, you will find that forced-air flowing through the dryer may also cool down the ink and keep it from curing properly. Although many manufacturers claim you must have forced- air (and preferably hot air) flowing through your dryer – there have been millions of shirts printed at high production rates without forced-air in the dryer. If you are printing with waterbased ink and especially the “new” discharge ink you really need forced air!
   

Other Goodies to Help Curing

1. Paper Thermometers – These were the standard way to test temperature for years and are still used. Although they are only accurate within 15 degrees (if you are lucky), they are the least expensive and “close enough” item we have. If you can get one to turn black at around 330 degrees, then you know you are probably running AT LEAST 300 degrees based on the heater height, temperature and belt speed setting.When people call with curing problems I always ask how hot was the dryer? When they INVARIABLY say they ran out of paper thermometers it becomes hard to help them. If you cut these little guys in half (the thermometers not the person with the curing problem) they only cost $ .25 each. That’s cheap insurance.
2. Temperature Probe – A more accurate method of checking the temperature the ink reached in the dryer is an infrared pyrometer or infrared thermometer. These are hand-held “probes” that you point at the ink when the garment leaves the dryer and it will read the surface temperature of the ink. Granted, if you are printing a thick deposit of ink you may not get an totally accurate reading, but if you are tired of buying paper thermometers then a probe may be the answer. These use to be very expensive but you can now get one from your screen print supply company for under $100.  A must have!

I hope this article has given you a “cure all” for your curing needs.

If you want clients that refer you, you’ve got to make sure you do everything humanly possible to create an experience worth referring others to. If your customers aren’t  impressed enough with your service to where they’d want to use you again, then they certainly aren’t going to refer you to other people. What most businesses miss is the “Wow Factor.” A business transaction that exceeds what they were expecting.

If you don’t know how to create this Wow Factor, don’t be concerned. You can start small and build on it.  I recently read an interesting piece by Dan Sullivan, founder of The Strategic Coach Inc. in Toronto, Ontario Canada.  Dan is reknowned for his business intellect and knowledge. He’s identified four habits he calls the “Referability Habits.” If you want your  business to generate referrals, you need to start by  following  these four simple habits:

1) Do what you say you’re going to do.

2) Finish what you start.

3) Deliver on time.

4) Say ‘please’ and ‘thank you.’

Regardless of how good your product or service is,  how great your employees are, how honest you are,  how highly skilled and trained you are — if you break just one of these referability habits you ‘ll have dropped the ball. When you break one, you’re saying to your clients, employees, and to everyone you associate with that you don’t respect them and you’re undependable. If your customers and clients are annoyed with you, there’s no way they’ll ever refer you to others.

During screen printing classes, I regularly get the question, “What do I really need to get started in this business?” Here’s my list to use as a guideline.

Six Color Manual Press – With a six color machine you can print most anything.

Conveyor Dryer – Required for any real production, and air flow is a plus.

Flash Dryer – A must if you’re printing on dark garments. Buy basic. Extra bells and whistles won’t matter here. ON and OFF are all the controls you’ll need.

Exposure Unit – Pinpoint light source is best, but the sun will work on a budget.

Washout Sink – You can buy something professionally made or improvise.

Power Washer – Used for reclaiming screens for reuse.

Heat Press – Optional but necessary if you plan to do any team printing.

Film Output Device – An Epson inkjet printer and RIP software is the package of choice for creating your film positives. Don’t overbuy. Most printers rarely use more than a 13″ wide film, so an inexpensive device like the Epson 1400 will do the job.

Screens – Wood frames are fine, and you should buy them pre-stretched.

• 12 -156 mesh – general printing
• 6 – 230 mesh – fine line
• 6 – 87 mesh – puff and athletic
• Others as needed. You’ll want to end up with enough screens for several days production.

Squeegees – You’ll need them to be a minimum of 1” smaller on each side than the inside dimension of your screens.

• 6 approximately 15” with medium durometer blades
• 6 approximately 5” with medium durometer blades for left-chest designs
• Others as needed – purchased by the inch

Inks – Buy a starter mixing system that allows you to mix any color, plus white, black and any common colors such as for local schools.

Scale – Necessary for weighing inks in mixing system.

Quart Containers – For use in mixing ink colors.

Spotting Gun – For cleaning plastisol drips, drops and fingerprints from printed garments. Requires spotting gun solution as well.

Curable Reducer – This product is used for thinning your inks.

Emulsion – A dual cure emulsion is the most forgiving and easiest to work with.

Scoop Coater – Used to coat emulsion onto your screens. At least 1” clearance required on each side from the inside dimension of your screen.

Emulsion Remover – Chemical used for degrading emulsion for screen reclaim.

Degreaser – Chemical for cleaning screens prior to coating with emulsion.

Ink Degrader – Chemical used to clean ink from screens after use.

Brushes – Soft bristle brushes (and separate) used for 1) Ink Degrader, 2) Emulsion Remover, and 3) Degreaser.

3” Tape and Tape Gun – For taping the inside of your screens before printing.

Temperature Tapes – These will help you determine actual dryer temperature.

Spray Adhesive – Low tack adhesive used to hold garments in place during printing. Comes in web or mist spray.

The Wish List

Retensionable Frames – After use, screen mesh will lose tension. Retensionable Frames allow you to tighten mesh after each use.

Safety Kleen Part Washer – Most larger shops use Safety Kleen part washer tanks to clean their squeegees and spatulas.

Tension Meter – This device when placed on a screen will tell you the tension of that screen, measured in Newtons.

Jacket Hold Down – Jacket printing requires the jacket be held firmly in place during printing with this printer attachment. Also you’ll need a plastisol ink additive such as Union Ink’s Nylobond.

Vacuum Platen – Another printer attachment, the vacuum platen holds flat stock products in place during printing. Required for printing transfers and bumper stickers.

Reprinted from TerryCombs.com

This article should be titled “If you can’t make a sale you only have a hobbie.”

Create a Plan and Set Goals TODAY!

True! If you can’t make a sale then you are just having a lot of fun with your hobby. I hear time and time again that “things are slow” or “there are too many screeners out there.” Both statements are probably TRUE. Things are slow (for you) and yes there are a lot of screeners – BUT there are a lot of screeners who have a great hobby! There are also a LOT of screeners who have a GREAT business because they know that the SALE is everything.

Work on the Package

If, in fact, “things are slow” and “there are too many screeners” then you must act now to get out of your negative slump and empower yourself to get into marketing and selling mode.

First, you need a plan or goals. The first item on your plan should be to upgrade your package. This means to develop a comprehensive and easy-to-understand price list. Buy a generic catalog and have your logo printed on it. Get a toll-free number (they are real cheap). Build a simple website. You can get a Website Tonight for $5.00 per month! Improve your letterhead and business cards. Get away from one-color printing on white paper.You can get full-color cards for $29.95 (or less) from Vista Print.

Develop Short-Term Goals

Make 20 Calls Per Day

O.K., you need sales NOW to help pay the rent. Since “things are slow” you have lots of time to spend letting your fingers do the walking. Set a goal of making 20 phone calls per day to prospective customers. Don’t start off with large companies. They will take too long to make a decision and will not pay right away. Work local companies. Where do you get the names? It’s easy. Look in the newspaper. If they are advertising then they know the value of getting their name out.

Here’s how it goes. Just pick up the phone and ask to speak to “the person who orders employee uniforms and shirts or who orders promotional products.” Yes, some people will be nasty and hang up on you. Perseverance pays off. If you make 100 calls (in less than a week), and you get two or three good leads that turn into orders then things won’t be so slow.

Now, you have the leads and they say “can we see some samples?” or “can you print just one shirt so we can see how it looks?” Remember, things are slow, so why not take the time to personally drive out there and get a copy of their logo – or better yet have then fax you copy that you can do a quick trace of it (if it’s good enough) and print a shirt or two. You’ve got the time.

Read the New Business Listings

When we moved our business from Scottsdale to Tempe, AZ (suburb of Phoenix). We had to get a City of Tempe business license. Over the next few months I received over 100 pieces of mail welcoming me to Tempe and offering discounts on products and introducing local companies. I even got an offer for a free trial subscription to INC. Magazine. Do you really think that INC. Magazine actually pays someone to read the new business listings in my local paper? YES.

I decided to track down the listing and looked in my back issue of the Phoenix Business Journal. There it was – over 30 new companies “moved” to Tempe – and I was one of them.

Sounds like work. Make over 20 calls per day and mail the package to 30 new businesses per month. No one said owning your own business was easy.

Read “the News”

Do you read the newspaper? Do you see those little two inch articles about grand openings, special events, local promotions, people who make the news. These are all candidates for a letter (personal is very nice) telling about your company. Yes, another 50 packages a month out the door. Maybe one or two will fall into the right hands. Things won’t be so slow.

Set Medium and Long Range Goals

Market Today for Tomorrow

I preach this over and over. You have to market today for tomorrow’s business! I like to tell the story that years ago I was called a Piranha by a local screener. I was always just one step ahead of him. Actually, I was months and years ahead of him. He thought you got the big account by asking for it a few weeks before they needed the shirts. I knew that you had to get there months before!

Contact Major Corporations

Along with your 20 normal phone calls, add 5 per day to major corporations. Ask to talk to Human Resources about employee products. Ask what Ad Agency do they use for promotional products. Find out when the annual company picnic and Christmas Party is. Find out how you need to get approved as a vendor. Talk with Purchasing about anything they may need. These will NOT be overnight sales. These things take lots of time and follow up. They will probably want to see samples with their logo on them – for free. Yes, we can do it. Things are a little slow.

Contact the Convention or Tourism Bureau

In Arizona, the Office of Tourism publishes a quarterly book listing all of the special events going on for the NEXT SIX MONTHS! The Visitors and Convention Bureau does the same thing. If you want to know what’s happening in the near and not-so-near future you just look in one of these books. It’s amazing. They even give the phone number and contact name! These things are a goldmine of contacts for special event shirts.

Contact the Chamber of Commerce

A few years ago a former student stopped by to say hi and told me he had just done his third order for the local chamber of commerce and was now bidding on a job for 1500 shirts with them. I asked him how he got in with them and he told me exactly what I wanted to hear. He picked up the phone and called!

Contact the City

The City of Scottsdale (where I live) always sponsors events. Whether it be a rodeo, food festival, art gallery night, chili cookoff, mighty mud mania or just a street dance, they do it. They also make sure all of the Parks and Recreation employees and city employees wear printed shirts with the city emblem. Who prints them? Call your city and find out and ask if you can bid on these items.

Frankly, I could go on and on. The “Piranha” knows that marketing is just using common sense and lots of leg work to hunt out potential customers. They are there and a handful of “all those screens” get the majority of the business. Remember the 80/20 principle? 20% of the screeners do 80% of the printing. You want to be in the 20%!

The Salami Principle of Marketing
Anyone who has ever taken one of my classes has heard this. Marketing can be overwhelming.  You get bogged down with too many leads. Think of marketing as the salami. Just do “one slice per day.”  If 20 calls are too much then do five. Just do it and do it every day.

Unless you’ve been under a rock, you know the economy has been down for months, jobs are being lost, credit is tight to non-existent, and everyone seems to be holding fast to what money they have. Bad time to start a new business? Not necessarily.

When times are tough, we in the educational end of the industry commonly see spikes in the number of attendees signing up for starting-a-new-business classes. The darker the economic outlook, the longer the waiting list for classes seems to grow. The stories are the same during every down cycle in the economy when students attend a class, stand up to introduce themselves, and tell why they came.

“I’ve been downsized.”

“I took early retirement.”

“I don’t want to depend on someone else for my livelihood.

“I want to start something on the side – just in case!”

On the plus, even in the bad times the decorated apparel business is one of the least expensive ventures you might find. A legitimate startup screen printing business can be put together for about $15,000, or less if you’re creative. Is this the ideal, most efficient investment scenario? Well, more investment gives you a bigger, better, more efficient printing operation. But, you can start a real business with real cash flow in this price range, and then build from there.

On the flipside, an inexpensive startup opportunity also means there are plenty of folks in this industry who probably should have stuck with their day jobs. But, that can just mean a bigger opportunity for you. People are always telling me they have too much competition in their area. I respond, “There are lots of screen printers, but there aren’t very many good screen printers.” Be one of the good ones and you can be successful in this business, no matter what the economy has in store for us.

Even in economic downturns as we’re struggling through right now, kids still need soccer uniforms, lawn services still need T-shirts for their staff, and my daughter in college still needs to buy those $20.00 T-shirts with one color prints from her favorite online stores!

Today might be a good day to start a business.

Hey, the good news is that this article is really for those who are thinking of joining the revered group called “newbies” so “experts” don’t have to grab their reading glasses for this one! If you are considering starting a small screen printing business then this blog’s goal is to either spur you into action (making you a newbie) or send you back to the cold-blooded arena of the employed ranks or perhaps I might say even the “unemployed ranks.”

I know someone who, for the last 20 years, has always “been looking for a business to start.” While I have no doubt that she was perfectly capable of starting and running a business it just never happened. Oh there was a lot of research, a lot of demographics, a lot of studying on how to put a mission statement together and of course the business plan. Now you really do need all of this if you’re going to try to secure outside funding. But as I saw it, the main reasons she never got anything off the ground was: 1: The businesses she chose were terrible for her. 2: She was not realistic about what that particular business required. 3: Fear.

That brings me to our industry – the glorious world of printing T-Shirts from which hope and customers spring eternal. Customers for printed goods are everywhere. Scott & I will never forget the words of a Dutch airline captain following his warning about not wearing seat belts – ”Eef yew geht hurt eet vill be yuhr own fauhlt!” (The snickers could be heard throughout the plane after that one.) Well, if you can’t get customers in this industry then it really is your own fault because they are everywhere.

So What’s Stopping You?

So let’s take a look at some of the factors regarding starting a T-Shirt printing business.

1. You can start inexpensively.

Low $1,200 to $3,000; Mid or Average $6,000 – $20,000; Big with commercial, production oriented equipment – $25,000 – $50,000; Biggest with automatic presses, auto screen reclaim, DTG, etc. – $50,000 – $125,000.

The low price range means that you either build some of the equipment or buy used machinery. You will need a scanner, computer, software such as PhotoShop and CorelDraw and an inkjet or laser printer to produce the art films (for screen burning) and these items are not included in the “Low” pricing estimate above but the higher “low” (oxymoron?) range of $3K could include some of these items.

2. You can start in a small space at home or begin with a retail, commercial or industrial space.

Many small shops start off in a garage. A friend recently said that they started off in a “2 car” shop and always felt they had plenty of room. Any other small room could also be used. Unless the retail location is in a high traffic area and you are gearing up for a high retail volume you should go with the commercial or industrial space because they are less expensive. Unless you have a big bank roll don’t start out spending lots on overhead. Moving to a building can come later and perhaps never unless you really feel the need to get dressed and leave the house every day.

3. You can learn how to print through classes, books and DVD’s.

Unlike the old days where screen printers valued technical information more than their firstborn child you can get the information you need pretty easily. The best start for every screen printer is to purchase the book “How to Print T-Shirts for Fun and Profit” written by yours truly and husband and unabashedly promoted here – because you really, really need it! The shop floor plans, pricing guides and plans to build your own equipment are very informative and of course, the complete step-by-step instruction of garment printing is as good as it gets. Get it at www.howtopublishing.com. While you are there be sure to check out the DVD “Starting a T-Shirt Printing Business” by Scott & Mike Fresener. Another must for you.

Learning how to print is not difficult but you do need to learn commercial methods as opposed to hobbyist level techniques (unless this is only going to actually be a hobby of course!)

4. Your Most Difficult Challenges

A. Learning how to convert artwork to quality artwork for T-Shirts.

Since knowledgeable T-Shirt artists can be hard to find you will want to learn some of the techniques yourself. Some jobs may require the skill of an artist but much of it will be done in the computer with various software programs. You can find the best training DVD’s for PhotoShop and CorelDraw and DVD’s on Screen Printing Training at www.howtopublishing.com and lots of free online screen printing training videos at www.tbiznetwork.com

B. Taking Action.

Lots of people talk about starting a business. It really isn’t a big step for you to start printing T-Shirts. You could just start by printing heat transfers and applying them to garments. “Heat Transfers – is she out of her mind?” Sometimes. But here’s the bottom line on this: With a dirt-bottom investment you can print heat transfers. You build a little vacuum table out of the book “How to Print T-Shirts for Fun and Profit.” You buy a screen printing frame stretched with fabric, a scoop coater, emulsion, transfer paper, ink and a heat press. You have someone else provide the art films. Did you know that there is no limit to the colors you can print with a heat transfer? Only have a 4-Color press and the job requires 9 colors? – No problem with a heat transfer.

OK, I was just proving a point. If you want to get into this business then hopefully, you will invest in more than just the ability to print heat transfers.

It would be hard to find a business that provides as much satisfaction as a screen printing business. It’s a great family business that has room for everyone. Any talent that you possess can be used whether it’s mechanical, artistic, financial, sales and marketing oriented, production – You’ll find skills you didn’t even know you had.

So Newbie or Not Newbie. That is the question that only you can answer.

Pat Fresener