• CUSTOMER SUCCESS STORY - How one business establishes a unique niche market - Interview with Yellow Llama
• MARKETING TIP - Donate your services to charity fund-raisers
• TECH TIP - Life after hitting a hoop
• SWF SPECIAL - DTG Viper Only $19,995 - Limited Time Offer
• COLMAN & COMPANY SPECIAL - Patch Kit - Introductory offer $49
• SWF TEAM MEMBER SPOTLIGHT - Meet Lucy Scharschu - Supervisor of Accounting
• UP COMING EVENTS - Embroidery and DTG Extravaganza - June 18-19 - Louisville, Kentucky

Could you please give us a bit of your background in the apparel industry?

That’s funny. I buy and wear clothing, that’s about the extent of my prior experience in the apparel industry. However, my wife and partner is a graphic artist with twenty plus years of visual marketing. Her history combined with my experience in business development and operational analysis consulting, has positioned us well for this endeavor. I think the union of our combined skills has enabled us to have an uninhibited approach to the apparel decorating business. This has played a critical role in our successfully identifying a market niche that we could develop and deploy an appropriate business model to address the market opportunity.

Explain to us the concept of “Yellow Llama”.

Yellow Llama is an online artist community fortified by more traditional brick & mortar retail outlets. The project came together with a defined objective to solve a problem that adversely affected so many visual artists. We sought to address the inherent difficulty associated with translating their creative work effort into marketable consumer products, while maintaining a cost effective low production volume levels. Our project is not unique by default of its existence, or even what kind of products it offers for sale. What makes Yellow Llama special is its mission and executed proprietary methodology. We may be a bit naïve, but we actually believe that every artist should be able to live on his or her individual artistic work product.

Sounds like you’ve created your own niche in the marketplace. Any advice for folks looking to find a good niche?

I would have to disagree with your use of the word “created”. I don’t believe that we have created the niche. At most, I think we can be credited with correctly identifying, micro focusing upon and successfully exploiting a niche that already existed within the larger marketplace. Yes. I think our advice would be, not to look to create a new market but instead to effort to identify exploitable marketplace voids, synergies and nuances that already exist within the current market environment. We have found this protocol to be more productive and results in metrics that are quantifiable when integrated within our final market deployment strategy.

What sort of things do you think are important for someone considering starting up a business based either partially or fully on DTG?
 

DONATE YOUR SERVICES TO CHARITY FUND-RAISERS

Charity fund-raisers often include auctions and raffles. This is a great way for you to give to your community and get great publicity. The organization will usually include your company name, address and phone number in their program in exchange for your donation. Check newspapers or the Chamber of Commerce for upcoming fund-raisers.  
 

LIFE AFTER HITTING A HOOP

I hit a hoop while sewing, now what?

There are several things to check after a hoop has been hit.

 1. Check the needle. If your needle is stuck in the hoop, then rotate the timing wheel backwards to remove the needle. If the needle is broken, then you will need to replace it, but do not replace it until all of the steps have been finished.

2. Check to the needle bar. The needle bar is inside the head and is the component that helps move the needle up and down. The easiest way to test this is to manually push down on the presser foot to emulate sewing. If the needle goes down smooth and does not get stuck along the way, then the needle bar has not been damaged. If there is any difficulty in manually moving the needle up and down, then the needle bar is bent and you will need to replace it. Please consult a technician.
 

The DTG VIPER is the industries latest in digital garment printer technology. With higher speeds and more importantly white ink printing reliability the DTG VIPER delivers quality garment prints that save production time and money. The versatile VIPER conveyor pallet system is truly unique allowing up to 4 different or same garment printed at the same time.

Learn more about the DTG VIPER
 

PATCH KIT - Now you can easily create your own patches or badges

Colman and Company’s Embroidery Patch Kit is the solution to small orders of patches without the fuss of guessing which colors of pre-made patches you should have bought. Now you can customize each patch in-house. Comes complete with an instruction sheet.

Patch Kit Includes:

 • One yard of white or black Patch material
 • One yard of Heat Seal
 • Hot knife

Universal Cutting Tip Introductory Offer $49. Find out more
 

MEET LUCY SCHARSCHU - SUPERVISOR OF ACCOUNTING

Walk in the office at SWF East and you will notice a steady hum of activity. Diligently keeping an eye on all the daily operations is Lucy Scharschu. Lucy started at SWF East in February 2007 and she helps customers with billing questions, software and machine issues, shipping and receiving as well as assisting team members with any questions they may have. A native of upstate New York, Lucy loves living in hot Florida and enjoys spending her spare time reading, soaking up the rays, and taking her dog Bailey out for ice cream. She has a passion for helping others and volunteers her time at Seniors In Service where she assists the elderly with paying their bills and balancing their checkbooks. She generously gives her time also to help the elderly around the house with maintenance or share a meal. Lucy has a creative side and loves to make things. She makes many of the items shown in SWF East and Colman and Company tradeshow displays and showroom. Every year hands down Lucy always wins the company’s funniest Halloween costume.