Friday, May 30, 2008

Buffalo T-Shirt Idea #1





Consider this a sneak peek.
I was kicking around this idea for last St. Patrick's Day but didn't have enough time to get it done. This will be ready for next years parades for sure (with updated info) and will be available on my website in time for the festivities. With the recent passing of Jimmy Griffin–Buffalo, NY's iconic mayor–it seemed somewhat timely to show this idea and get reactions.
Well, whadya think?

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

"Nice shirt," Buffalo T-shirts replied.


This t-shirt comes from Ucon, out of Berlin, Germany. Nice artwork. A nod to The Simpsons, no doubt.

Buffalo T-Shirts Advertising and Marketing Update

Just wanted to give you some stats from Google Analytics that may be linked to my higher google rankings. I say maybe because I'm also blogging, twitterin' and joining additional groups as I become more familiar with social marketing.
This info is compared to weekly averages two weeks ago(May 12ish):
My pageviews and visitors have gone up from barely a heartbeat to doubling in each of the past two weeks with the average visitor spending 4 minutes on my site. That's four minutes that my logo/business is visible, up front & center and essentially alone with a potential client.
That makes me think about a couple things:
1.) Is my 'brand' coming across the way I'd like it to? Have I given enough thought to this?
2) Can I do something to utilize this time more effectively? Perhaps with Sprouts.
By looking closer to the stats, I can see what the popular keywords used in finding my sites and where visitors came from (whether from a social networking site or twitter, my blog, mybloglog, etc)
A big thanks to Matt and his blog, People Like to Share. Matt's an expert in share marketing, copy writing and I suspect by this time, linoleum floor installation.

Word Clock


The computer clock for any designer. Word Clock by Simon Heys.Thanks to danny's tweet.

Monday, May 26, 2008

Buffalo T-shirts waterfront pics

Hit the waterfront yesterday to check out the newly opened canal harbor project. While I didnt take too many pictures of that area we did take a stroll down to Morriseys and I was able to get some interesting shots of some of the abandoned buildings down there. With the opening of canalside, its not unlikely that all these buildings will eventually see renewal and get back on the taxrolls. The pot belly stove shot is interesting. It was sitting inside the building in the shot previous to it. I believe this was the site of the last standing blacksmith in the city. Just closed within the last decade or so.
















Time for a tasty beverage. Morriseys patio is open.














Thursday, May 22, 2008

Buffalo Bills

Funny blog post:
31 reasons to hate the other 31 teams except the buffalo bills.Thanks to wnym for the tweet on this.

Buffalo T-Shirts and Affiliate Marketing

I just started reading about affiliate marketing to determine if this is an avenue that makes sense for BfloTees, Buffalo T-shirts and Design.
My initial, and perhaps, ignorant questions are:
Is there an affiliate marketing program that can group other Buffalo, NY stores together?
If so, can I review/select who I want to affiliate with? I assume so, but gotta ask. Obviously I wouldnt want to affiliate with an auto tire retailer. Unless I come up with a shirt or something that targets that customer base. Which would open the network to a whole other set of affiliates. But I digress.
Initial types of businesses to affiliate with:
gifts/souvenirs retailers
clothing stores
Buffalo hotels
tourism board
Buffalo arts, entertainment and recreational entities,
buffalo bloggers.

Im going to follow therandomeforest and his quest for affiliate marketing dominance. He's got a head start on me as far as research, but that's good-he's done all the legwork. Just sign up and follow him, ask questions and learn something new. Your mom would be proud.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Sogeshirts.com presents: Blog of masterful entertainment: Twitter Glossary

Funny twit.

Sogeshirts.com presents: Blog of masterful entertainment: Twitter Glossary

Lost in Twitterdom

Wow, Ive spent hours in the land of Twitter. Addictive.

Here's a twitter t-shirt that I fell upon while reading tweets. From secureshirts.com
And to follow up, another article on twitter, this time from Business Week.
Thanks to mboogie

Why Twitter?

Never heard of it? Heard of it but thought, whats the point? Heres an article on the hows and whys of Twitter for Business.
Using Twitter for Business, by Rich Brooks

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

SCORE Buffalo

I realized I had never heard back from the SCORE counselor that I sent my rough business plan too a couple weeks back so I sent him another follow-up email. I'll keep you posted as to what happens (if anything)

Buffalo T-shirts label

I received the samples of the front hem label yesterday. I ordered two samples with different sized web addresses and I prefer the smaller of the two. The front of the label shows the Buffalo T-shirts buffalo. When you flip the hem over, the web address,bflotees.com is displayed. They look absolutely fantastic so Im placing the order. It will take 12-18 days to ship here. That gives me 2 weeks to get shirts printed for the first run. Time to start laying out the website!

Friday, May 16, 2008

Bug Eye View of the Backyard

Took a quick break from things and hit the backyard with the macro lens.















Thursday, May 15, 2008

Buffalo T-shirts viral/word-of-mouth Marketing idea

I just thought of an idea to get the word out about my t-shirts in the Buffalo, NY center core that might create some unique buzz. It'll combine word-of-mouth advertising with a viral marketing aspect.
Ill share it when its time, but it'll be fun--with prizes to boot.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Buffalo T-shirt Labels


I received scans of the t-shirt labels this morning. These will be stitched on front bottom hem. The front will be the buffalo image, the back (or inside) will have the web address. Im starting with just Black on White, but if things go well, Ill get other color combinations that will compliment different shirt colors. They are sending me the samples to approve. If all goes well I should have them in hand in 2 weeks. That sounds kinds like a deadline to me.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Widget, Mini Site Maker



Here's an interesting new app to create mini-sites, widgets,etc. called Sprouts. I havent looked into it too much but plan on testing it out this week (to create a twitter widget) and see what it can do.

Thanks to libraronin for the twitter on this.

Monday, May 12, 2008

Friday, May 9, 2008

The Steak Place


A little salt, some pepper and a couple shakes of Worcestershire Sauce. Let em sit for an hour, then on the grill. Serve fur on one side, milk coming out of the other. Thats all there is to it.

The Steak Place, by The Fall.

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Buffalo SCORE & Business Plan

My bad, I forgot to mention I sent my rough draft of my business plan to SCORE for some advice and direction on Tues, April 30. Ill wait til noon tomorrow and then email them to"verify receipt of plan." ("Did you read my shit yet or what? Giddyup.")

WRITE LIKE A PRO

WENT BACK TO AN OLD POST AND ACTUALLY LOOKED AT THE LINK AND MAN, GOOD STUFF. A DAMN GOOD READ. (opps, caps)
"We cannot compete to they magnificent designing package good. For yes and for always, I pay money good results for mental superiority."
THAT'S RIGHT, I WROTE THAT... but it was inspired by the clients of the $50 logo.
Love writer (or multipliers of sexing milktoast) that you know message of kindness and honesty fertile soiled lunch.
Man, thats fun.
And then you see the ultimate mark of corporation life and you cower in fear of the mass superior concept ride of joyous mastery of text, graphics of design and font establishments. The triumph of wheels oddness. All support with waves of thought and energies to smile goodness with course and true aft.
I gotta say, its kinda fun trying like hell to write badder and worster than evil clamato.
Give it a try. Go on.

Younger Furniture



Just put down some cash on a new chair at The Stock Exchange on Hertel Avenue from Younger Furniture
Nice lines. I adjusted the color to reflect what were going with-kind of a creme/off white. Legs are straight-up 70s but the body is classic 50s mod. Love it.
Heres a quick read about The Stock Exchange from Buffalo Rising here.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Advertising Icons Past and Present


Mascotville
Thanks to woot.com blog.