Tuan. H – Conquering the world from Vietnam
Vietnamese sellers are one of the biggest and strongest communities not only in Teezily, but also all over the world in general. Today we have the chance to chat with Tuan. H, a young marketer from Vietnam, whose life has changed dramatically since he joined T-shirt business. Apart from the story of his journey with T-shirts, Tuan. H also share some of his difficulties and interesting tips for newbies.
Tell us a bit about you. Where are you from? Where do you live?
Tuan. H: My name is Tuan. I am a young guy living and working in Hanoi, the beautiful capital city of Vietnam.
What did you do before joining the T-shirt business?
Tuan. H: Before joining the T-shirt business in May 2014, I worked as a marketing agent in an English center for students.
How did you discover the T-shirt business and how did you learn to be successful?
Tuan, H: I came to T-shirt business quite fortuitously. In late April 2014, I came by chance across a video of a foreigner introducing a course about Facebook advertisements. What impressed me the most in the video was the part about successful T-shirt campaigns that reached a ROI of 200-500% by using Facebook ads. Before that, I already had some basic knowledge about MMO (Make money online), so I immediately knew it was a great chance to seize.
To get to know this business, I had to learn entirely from the beginning since it was completely new to me. I had not created or run any Facebook ads before that. Then I joined some Facebook groups about selling T-shirts to learn from the forerunners and other members. Noteworthily, I invested $1,000 to buy an online course about T-shirt business and Facebook advertisements from one of the best Facebook marketers at that moment, despite the fact that I only had the a capital of $2,500 - most of it was borrowed. I developed a habit of noting down every tips and experiences I learned everyday for later use. The most important lessons I've learned are from my own experiences and testings by looking for T-shirt ideas by myself, creating hundreds of campaigns, having failures and learning from them. I told myself to keep fighting and never give up.
I immediately knew T-shirt business was a great chance to seize.
I told myself to keep fighting and never give up.
You started selling T-shirts with us shortly after our platform was launched, which makes you one of our very first Zilers. When and why did you start selling T-shirts and what brought you to Teezily?
Tuan. H: As mentioned before, I first got to know about T-shirt business in April 2014, and started selling in May 2014. I believed that this was a great chance to make money, firstly, but also to create valued products for customers. I find this job very interesting and creative as it’s related to Marketing – one of my favourite courses of my bachelor degree.
I started running campaigns in Teezily in mid June 2014. At that time, I was not doing very well in the United States, which gave me a thought: All sellers focus on the US market, creating fierce competition. Why not go to the new market of European countries, at least try with the British market since they use the same language as the US? After some research, I knew that there are two main T-shirt platforms in Europe. Eventually I decided to go for Teezily because of its beautiful web design, user-friendly interface, strong analytics tools and many other cool features.
Vietnamese sellers are one of the biggest and strongest communities on T-shirt marketing, creating and selling campaigns all over the world in many different languages. What are the difficulties for Vietnamese sellers in international platforms and how do you deal with them?
Vietnamese sellers are very dynamic and creative
Tuan. H: In my opinion, Vietnamese sellers are very dynamic and creative. I have a lot of friends who are doing very well with T-shirt business. I noticed that there are two main disadvantages for a Vietnamese seller when performing in international markets.
Firstly is the barrier of language. For example, when selling in the US, if you don’t have a certain level of English, you won’t be able do the basic steps of the job: research for ideas, choose the right text, compose ads copy … I myself have seen a lot of spelling and grammatical mistakes from Vietnamese sellers.
To overcome the weakness of language, I think the best way is to learn and practice English as much as possible. Invest your time, money and effort and you won’t regret, as it does not only help you in selling T-shirts, but also in other aspects of life. When selling in Europe, if you are ok with English, you can easily seek for translation help from the platform.
The second barrier is culture difference. To have a better understanding of a local market, especially when you have an idea of a new niche, you have to do thorough research to make sure it goes well with the targeted market’s culture. For example, the word “Mom” in the design is good in the US, but in the UK they say “Mum”. In the long run, you should study your niche regularly, interact with your customers and find out more about their interests.
How has your life changed during the last 2 years and what’s the most memorable thing you have done thanks to your profits?
Tuan. H: Taking part in T-shirt business is one of the turning points in my life, which has changed dramatically during the past 2 years. I found a job that I like, it suits me well and most importantly, brings good income. Now I can support my family and help other people.
The most memorable thing I did with my profit from selling T-shirts is that I bought my younger brother a new motorbike, my first big present to him. It was not huge in amount of money, but was meaningful to him and made his student life easier.
Do you have some pieces of advice for newbies?
Tuan. H: I was a newbie and haven’t considered myself a Pro. I have only 3 pieces of advice for the newbies:
+ Don’t overdose yourself by reading/watching too many materials. No need to spend too much time on Facebook groups about T-shirt business. You only need to know the basis and then take action. Every time you fail, try to figure out the reasons why, and learn from them. Don’t think you can remember everything in your head, write it down.
+ Don’t keep comparing yourself to other people. Everyday you learn something new, that’s good enough. Don’t be jealous or lose confident. The good sellers started just like you. Their achievements that you see today are just the tip of the iceberg, you never know how much effort they put in to be successful.
+ Last but not least, you need a systematic working style: set your weekly/monthly goal and your daily schedule (don’t just work when you feel like working). Discipline is power in this business. You should also take good care of your health. Better health means you can work better and more creative and have more pleasure enjoying your profit.
Thank you very much for your sharing and tips.
You are welcome. It's my pleasure.
