Advertising and Marketing Through Fashion Promotion, Finding Outfits that Sell Your Product

When you're an entrepreneur, promotion is key. Never leave home without business cards, flyers or your product. In my case, I take it a step further and promote from clothing.

Signals.com is one of the companies I can depend on when attending a book signing or networking event with sweatshirts like "Can't, I'm booked," "English major, you do the math" and "Lead me not into temptation...especially bookstores." I also collect sweatshirts from WhatonEarthCatalog.com like "Careful, or you'll end up in my novel." I also own shirts from these companies that say "Education bridges the gap between your ears" and "As soon as I finish this chapter."

While wearing a sweatshirt to a work event may seem like a bad idea in most cases, it's a great icebreaker in others. Sometimes people may not want to come up to your table, but if you're wearing something that catches their eye, they may drop by to ask, "Where did you get that shirt from?" or smile when they see you wearing it. There's a shirt on Signals.com that says, "Ask me about my book." If you're wearing something like that, don't stay indoors. Run every single errand you can think of while wearing this shirt. Even if someone doesn't walk up to you to ask about the shirt, they'll at least remember the face.

Does it seem a little obnoxious to wear clothes promoting your event or product? Certainly not. When you go to other networking events, don't companies have everything from umbrellas to T-shirts to water bottles with their logo on it? When you leave a car dealership, the plates have the dealership's name on it. Music artists are constantly getting paid to wear someone else's clothes to promote that fashion line's branding. Why? Advertising. While you may spend hundreds or thousands of dollars working with PR representatives to promote your company, don't exclude yourself from the process. Be your own marketing tool.

If you don't want to buy a shirt with writing on it, personalize your own. Go to a fabric store and find out how to get an iron-on print of your book cover. Get a button made or create a patch to put on your jacket. But whatever you do, never be too shy to promote. If no one knows about your product, how will they buy it?

For other tips on promotions, click here:

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