Finding Mojo

April 01, 2007

Thanks to PRINTMOJO.COM, anyone with a design and an entrepreneurial mindset can start his or her own T-shirt business. In August of 2003, veteran screen printer and embroiderer Jamie Monroe partnered with Rodney Blackwell, who boasts a strong e-commerce background, to devise the PrintMojo project. "We put our two skill sets together to create an all-in-one solution for selling custom printed products online," Monroe says.

What PrintMojo, Chico, Calif., offers is a chance for novice decorators to take T-shirt ideas and make them a reality, without having to manually screen print or embroider the orders. With the increased demand for accessible personalized goods, the e-commerce shirt solution has had more than 12,000 merchants sign up in less than four years. "We have doubled active stores and sales every year [since] we began," Monroe says.

Wannabe T-shirt creators are only responsible for choosing the product styles, colors and the amount of inventory available in their online stores. They also have to promote their shops and figure out pricing. PrintMojo handles all facets of the production process, including the screen printing and embroidery, customer service, payment processing and shipping. PrintMojo also hosts each online store, providing all merchants with a unique URL.

Companies selling branded clothing, non-profit organizations, as well as startup clothing lines, are among the profiled users of PrintMojo.com. "Our merchants vary as much as the T-shirt designs themselves," Monroe says. "Some out-of-the-country merchants start their stores to tap into the American market. Others make a living on the needs of their existing customers while [some] create hype through new and innovative Web site ideas." Check out the homepage and more than 12,000 registered Mojo merchants at printmojo.com. — S.M.