This works because it acts as a “keyword” , if that is what the client is thinking of, you target him propely, so kind of a display network text add, but without the heading and description;)

I thought this was such a great idea, I tried it myself. I went with ‘web designer’ and also added my company branding on the sleeve.

Just last week was the shirts first outing at a business show in London. I had several people stop me to ask for a business card and quite a few comments on what a good idea it was. I will be using it again.

So thank you for the inspiration, very cool!

Gary

So I was thinking about your T shirt idea a lot…

What do you think if I have the “Title” within a Speech bubble design or something like that…Will it be too much?

And do you have any suggestions for the title to use instead of “Graphic Designer”!

Thank you
Tyno :)!

Hey Mike!

Great question. I’d pick the one that the audience you’ll be in front of will resonate with most. If their lingo is “art director”, that’s what should go on your shirt, and vise versa for “graphic designer”.

But I would actually get more specific than “graphic designer” as that’s also super vague and a lot of people might not know what that translates to, as there are tons of different kinds of designers.

I’d put “Logo Designer” or “Web Designer”, etc. as people walk around thinking “I need a website designed” or “I need a logo designed” and not “I need a graphic designer”.

Hope that helps 🙂

Best of luck,
David

I own a small recruitment firm and I went to a Company Directors event a few months ago. Mostly MD’s of SME’s so the place was just me, in jeans and a shirt and a bunch of suits. Imagine my relief when someone else turned up in jeans too, we got talking and it turned out that he was one of the speakers, a former CEO that turned around a loss making business and sold it for £180M. I’m going to ditch the Shirt and get the T-Shirt, maybe I’ll join him in the Hamptons next summer 🙂

I thought of a similar idea people couple try if they don’t have the time or money for the T-Shirt idea (which I love by the way).
If you have to wear a name tag – or even if you don’t, write in what you do in the “My name is” space.
Not as cool but it might help.

Jennifer

Hey Candy,

Great question.

I think you have to do what comes most naturally to you. Dressing up and trying hard to make a good impression are not my thing, so I don’t even attempt it. Some people feel more natural in that kind of apparel though and can’t work without it.

I dress super casually. I feel my strength is making people feel comfortable and safe around me, so I stick with that. But to do that, I have to feel comfortable and safe with myself, so I dress in a way that helps me do that 🙂

This is usually slightly-tight fitted jeans and a blank t-shirt (I don’t really wear shirts with designs or writing on them – unless I’m wearing my “copywriter” shirt).

When I speak to someone, their clothes don’t really matter to me as far as professionalism goes. I listen to how they talk, what they say, the kinds of questions they ask. In a few words I can tell if someone is the real deal. And often they’re not wearing expensive blazers and polished shoes 🙂

Hope that answers your question! None of this is an exact science, but these are my thoughts.

Take care,
David

I hope so too!! Thanks and good luck 🙂

Glad to hear it! Hope it works really well for you 🙂

Hey Duncan,

I couldn’t tell you font size or anything, sorry :-\

I just shift+dragged the word until it stretched all the way across the chest. And yes, I left the back blank 🙂 I think anything else turns it from a cool shirt that can also serve a business purpose into a business shirt that might be cool as a side-effect.

For this method to work, the cool, low-key factor has to have first priority. That way people feel safe approaching you and not like they’ll be bombarded with a pitch if they do so.

Best of luck!

Hey Joe,

I’d tailor it to the conference you’re attending, and pick the one that you feel people at that conference will have the most interest in.

Or, like in our case, pick a service that you’re looking to expand. We were booked with design so copywriting made sense.

For this tactic I would avoid something like “Need printing?” as that’s a sales message and exactly what this method is positioning you to avoid 😉

This method is just geared toward letting people know “This is who I am, what I do, and I’m here if you feel like chatting”. It’s more casual and low-key, so people feel like if they approach you they’ll get a conversation instead of a sales pitch, and so they’ll feel safe to do so.

With that said, maybe you’ll have a lot of success with it. Best of luck 🙂

Right on 🙂 Hope it goes well for you!

I think it’s going to take a bit more than this blog post for things to get to the point where a blank t-shirt is the silence and shirts using the method above are the noise 😉

This method right now separates you from the noise, and gives clients the chance to approach you so you don’t have to go “hunting” at these conferences and events and put people on the defensive and be just “another” person walking around trying to sniff out potential clients and handing out biz cards.

Joe,

Pick one, and it might vary from conference to conference or day to day. The point is to get people talking to you, and from there you can sell all of your other talents.

Good luck!

April