Custom vs Retail Screen Printing | An Epic COVID Fundraising Saga | Rockford Art Deli Interview

If 80% of your screen printing business is walk-in retail, what happens when customers can't come into your store? You pivot to online sales and fundraisers like Rockford Art Deli (RAD). But this wasn't easy! "It's almost worse to have too much success and not be prepared for it," explains Jarrod Hennis from RAD. By joining the 50-state-wide Here For Good campaign, Jarrod and his team took part in a nationwide movement to help sustain small businesses...but it wasn't easy.

After donating more than $100,000 to local Rockford businesses, Jarrod and the RAD team have seen it all. From angry emails telling them how to run their business to media coverage to dealing with t-shirt shortages, Rockford Art Deli has made it through this challenging period with an eye toward the future. Jarrod exclaims: "5 years ago you could never have done any of this!"

This in-depth conversation covers everything from how RAD balance custom and retail screen printing, why they only do hand-printed and simple designs, and what happens when you're not ready to handle a crush of orders.

Software mentioned in this episode:

Frontapp: https://www.front.com - a shared inbox
Kloud: https://kloud.io/ - better marketing
Signpost: https://www.signpost.com - get more (and better) reviews
Gusto: https://www.gusto.com - HR, payroll, and more...made easy
BombBomb: https://www.bombbomb.com - video marketing made simple

Since this is a long interview, we've highlighted some moments below. Click the timestamp to jump straight to a topic that interests you:

2:20 HILARIOUS clip about how screen printers chat with each other at trade shows
5:35 Why Rockford Art Deli's Free Print Day cost "pennies in marketing” but delivered a huge return on investment for RAD
7:00 What happened to Rockford Art Deli in March 2020 when COVID hit
18:00 “I’ve made every mistake. I’ve had every customer tell me how to run my business.”
23:20 How did the Here For Good campaign wind up financially for the company?
29:26 How Jarrod would have ran his store differently if he’d known this would happen
31:00 Would DTG have been better than screen printing for this campaign?

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