We occasionally do sponsored reviews here on Young Entrepreneur, and when we do, we’re very careful to only review products, services and sites that we can speak honestly about and praise because they deserve it. Once in a while though, a site experience “wows” us enough to want to sing their praises even without it being a sponsored post. That happened to me last week. The site I’m talking about is CreateMyTee.com, where the customer experience I went through was nothing short of awesome!
Launched in 2008, CreateMyTee.com is an online custom screen printing company specializing in t-shirts and apparel for college student organizations and groups. They’re basically a group of young, energetic, creative, entrepreneurs who love to sell t-shirts. When they found themselves in need of money for school, they developed a model and supply chain to sell to students, and it took off fast, selling $25,000 worth pretty quickly. At that point they knew they were onto something and decided to pursue the idea further.
With a zero-dollar marketing budget and a unique social media approach, their Michigan-based start-up has secured a national reach, explosive growth, and a bright future. Their business model is simple: Be better, faster, and cheaper, and use a highly automated, repeatable process. This keeps their overhead low and allows them to turn product around quickly and provide outstanding service. Also, through a network of campus reps, they have gained national exposure with a local presence that has allowed a small-company feel, even as they’ve grown into a big company.
Without a budget for advertising and marketing, CreateMyTee.com has become a social media success story, harnessing the power of social networking sites to promote their business, advertise their work, recruit new reps, and connect with customers. They call Facebook one of their most valuable tools and have used it effectively to communicate their brand message and philosophy (Shirt Happens) to their 5,000+ followers and beyond.
CreateMyTee.com was recently featured in an interview on Smart Companies Radio, and the founders are scheduled for an appearance on The Big Biz Show out of San Diego.
As for my experience: well, as I said, it was nothing short of awesome. The shirts I ordered were a great, soft quality, the screen printing quality was superb, and their customer service help matched it! Turn around time on the order was quick and shipped UPS with no issues at all. The bottom line is that everything was as good as or better than expected. But don’t take my word for it. Look in their “Closet” at all the rave reviews – then when you need some T-shirts for your group or company, head over to CreateMyTee.com. You’ll be glad you did!
Here’s a shot of the shirts we received from CreateMyTee. Want to win one? Just be one of the first ten approved commenters on this post, and you win!
(We’ll contact you by email to get your shipping address if you’re a winner)
