Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Profile: How a clothing designer uses social media

 
Alloyius McIlwaine is turning his Cultures 
Clothing Company into a monster through 
social media

During a trip to Philadelphia over the weekend, I had a chance to hang out with Alloyius McIlwaine, a clothing designer who is no doubt going to be a household name one day. Perhaps one of the biggest reasons why Alloyius will achieve that success is his use of social media. While he could easily just use his accounts to promote his clothing line, he uses social media the way a business should: He makes strong connections by just being himself. Those connections then translate into hits to his Web site, www.culturesclothing.com, where his fans and friends can view and purchase items from his clothing line, see what he's up to and know what's coming from him in the future. If you want to see how a clothing designer uses social media the right way, check him out on Twitter @culturesclothes. Here's an interview I did with him:

JAY ADAMS: First of all, explain a little bit about what Cultures Clothing is, how the idea came about and what type of success you've had since you launched.

ALLOYIUS MCILWAINE: I founded Cultures Clothing in my college years. At first, I was just making T-shirts as a way to make some extra money, but then I really fell in love with creating. I'm an artist at heart, and this gave me an outlet to express myself and to get my work seen. Even in high school, the idea of having people wearing something that I created really appealed to me. I came up with the name because everyone is a product of many different cultures, whether you're talking about nationalities, or the culture of the society that you grew up in, so I wanted my line to reflect that. I wanted to show that all nationalities, cultures, or social groups have something interesting or beautiful about them. The line is representative of high fashion, urban wear and everything in-between for men, women and children. I've expanded from just doing T-shirts to doing dresses, polos, skirts and hoodies, as well. You'll see influences from everything from fine art and high fashion to hip-hop in the clothing.

On the price tags for the clothing, I include little known or interesting facts about different cultures, to inform people, and to help them to understand that we are all connected. Along with doing pieces of clothing for mass production, many of the pieces from Cultures Clothing are hand-painted and can be customized, so that the consumer can have a one of a kind piece of art to wear.

Just like anything, it takes a lot of time and hard work to really become successful. Statistics show that, on average, it takes business at least seven years to become successful, so it's been a long and hard process, but people seem to love the clothing! The hoodies are big sellers. People love that I use a lot of color in the clothing. One thing that I've noticed is that I get a lot of return buyers. People love the quality of the work and that I'm doing something a little different than the norm. I've gotten a ton of support over the years and I'm getting to the point where, every once in a while, I can see someone walking down the street wearing something that I've created, and let me tell you man, that is a bug-out! It's like, "Wow, I made that!" Sometimes I introduce myself and tell them, "I made this shirt that you're wearing, take a picture with me really quick" (he says with a laugh).

JA: How do you use social media for Cultures Clothing?

AM: Well, essentially, I use sites like Twitter, MySpace, Facebook and Model Mayhem to spread awareness about the clothing line, to let people know what's going on behind the scenes, and to let people know what is available from my brand. All of the different sites have something that is very useful. I use Model Mayhem as a way to connect with models, photographers and make-up artists. MySpace was my first social media outlet, so I have the most followers on there (about 3,000). I use MySpace to post bulletins and news flashes. Sidenote: MySpace is also great for promoting music. Facebook is a more personal way to connect with people, and Twitter is the best way to reach influential people who might help the brand, and to build a following.

JA: How have you been able to gain a following for your brand through social media?

AM: With Twitter, I just started out by just speaking about whatever subjects are trending at the time, and usually, if you have something funny, witty, or truthful to say about something, and people see you, they'll check you out and follow you. I also try to reply back to every message that I get, so when people get to see how friendly and personable I am, then tend to check out whatever else I'm doing and they support it. I talk about various subjects, including the clothing line, and I post artwork, and I just try to entertain people. People like to be entertained, and I like making people laugh, so I just try to be fun and easy to talk to, and the following grows daily. I also invite people to come out and meet me when I do events and stuff. It's funny, people are usually pleasantly surprised when I act the same way in person as I do in (social media).

JA: What has been the impact to your business? Has being active on social media brought you more visitors to your site?

AM: Yeah, it definetly has! I haven't done any magazine ads, or billboards or anything like that, so outside of doing events like fashion shows and people hearing about me that way, I'd say that social media is the source of the majority of the clothing line's sales.

JA: I notice that you don't publish tweets or Facebook updates just about fashion or your personal brand. You talk a lot about music and your other interests. How much do you think that helps potential customers identify with you as a person rather than just some random brand? Has that been your strategy all along?

AM: I guess you can say it was a strategy, but moreso I'm just being myself. I just feel like if you're too one-dimensional with your posts, it's not going to be as interesting for the reader. I mean, they might come to you when they specifically want to read something about your trade, but that's it. I just talk about whatever pops in my head, whether it be sports, fashion, music, politics, or social commentary. I think the key to gaining more followers is personality. If you're interesting, people WILL follow you.  

JA: You recently started up an online magazine. How did you get the idea to do it and why do you think it will help your brand? 

AM: Honestly man, one day, on a Tuesday I just said "I want to start a magazine" and I had it up two days later on Thursday. I just figured that I'm talking about all of these different subjects anyway, let me put them together in a format like a magazine and get my thoughts and (point-of-view) out there. I come across so much information that might be overlooked by mass-media, and I just felt like certain information needs to be out there.

For example, if you go on the Internet, it's incredibly easy to find out what Lil Wayne and Gucci Mane are doing this week in jail, but news about cognitive, thought-provoking hip-hop just gets swept under the rug and doesn't see the light of day. I think that's sad. Most people who are unfamiliar with what hip-hop really is would just look at what's in mass media and think that hip-hop's all a bunch of womanizing, talk of drug trafficking and money-worshiping with gratuitous violence. I use the magazine to push real hip-hop out there.

Just to give you a few more examples, I also think that there's a lot of propaganda going on in mass media. Like recently, there were reports that Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, one of the Taliban leaders had been captured. Shortly after that news came in, Taliban videos pop up all over YouTube refuting that claim. So I'm like, "Which is it, is he captured or not?" Next thing you know, we have breaking news on like every station about Tiger Woods' apology. That was just amazing to me, and I mean amazing in a bad way, like shocking. I use the magazine to bring those types of things into light. I also have this section of the magazine called "Cultures Facts" that I use to give little known/interesting facts about different cultures. I think that if people could see how closely we are all related and gain a better understanding of different cultures then the world would be a better place.

As for how the magazine will help the brand, I've already gotten a lot more exposure from it. I recently did a radio interview with Shamara on Power99 about the magazine, and I actually got a ton of Facebook adds just from people who heard that interview on the radio. So it's given me more exposure, and with more exposure comes more sales. Since I started the magazine, I think my sales have at least doubled. I do an article every week called "What's New With Cultures Clothing," which gives me an avenue to let people know what's going on behind the scenes, and to let them know about what I have for sale and what I have coming out. So now that people are more up-to-date with what I have to offer, the business is having a lot more success.  

JA: What has been the response to the magazine so far? 

AM: Oh, the response to the magazine has been incredible! The first month and a half of the magazine has gotten 3,200 views, which is pretty good for an unknown online magazine that popped up out of nowhere. I have so many people that are just offering help and support, it's really humbling. Like my inbox is filled every day with friends, family and even fans of the magazine sending me interesting articles to talk about for the magazine. It looks like we're starting a bit of a movement here! 

JA: What are your future plans with it? 

AM: As far as future plans, I'd love to put it into print one day. That's definitely on the agenda. I'm currently looking for investors and writers. I'm just trying to make this thing grow and reach as many people as possible. Hopefully, one day, I'll have something on the scale of what Marc Ecko is doing with Complex magazine. That would be awesome. 

JA: You're very active on Twitter. How has Twitter helped you network with others in the fashion industry? 

AM: Twitter has helped me to get in touch with so many people in the fashion industry, in the music industry, and mass media in general. Since I've been on Twitter, I've gotten some clothing to hip-hop underground legends like COPYWRITE, the incredibly lovely Aubrey Aquino has worn my clothing on her TV show "On The Flipside," and has put me in touch with celebrities like Somaya Reece. I've even gotten the chance to talk to a lot of my hip-hop idols, such as Chino XL and Talib Kweli. It's amazing, I've also found numerous models off of Twitter, and made lots of great contacts in the fashion industry. You'll be seeing some collab projects coming up soon! 

JA: How difficult would that be if Twitter didn't exist? 

AM: Truth be told, it would be very hard. Twitter is maybe the best social media outlet for connecting with people. It would be much, much harder to get in touch with a lot of these people, even through Facebook and Myspace. I mean, a few years ago I got in touch with Natalie Mejia of Girlicious and Cori Yarckin, who's now a friend of mine, through MySpace, and I have pictures of them wearing my clothing, but with those, I felt like I got really, really lucky. Twitter's easier for contacting celebrities and marketing your brand.  

JA: What does the future hold for Cultures Clothing, and how does social media play into it? 

AM: Hopefully in the future, Cultures Clothing will be up there with the big brands like Ecko and Polo. The plan is just to keep expanding and to keep promoting. I have photo shoots, fashions shows, and all types of other events coming up. Social media will always play a big part in how I promote Cultures, because it's the easiest way to get your brand out there to the largest number of people. You'll see me on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Model Mayhem, Formspring, and every other social media outlet out there promoting Cultures Clothing for a long time! 


Alloyius McIlwaine's Cultures Clothing line can be found here:
www.culturesclothing.com
www.twitter.com/culturesclothes
www.myspace.com/pharoahe214
Facebook Fan page
Model Mayhem

And, as always, you can follow me on Twitter @JayAdams70

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Problems with Facebook redesign? Me too


UPDATE: As of 8:30 a.m., it looks like this problem has been corrected. I'm not 100 percent sure yet, but it looks like my live feed is updated much more regularly than it did last night. Anyone else still having problems?

When Facebook rolled out its new redesign, I was actually pretty happy about it. It seemed like the changes would actually optimize the user's experience. It seemed like it would take less clicks to navigate to where you wanted to go. It seemed like this redesign might not draw as much ire as previous ones.

It took only a few days for me to realize that the redesign was not without its bugs. My biggest beef right now is the news live feed. I don't know about any of you, but my news live feed has never been less useful. The updates I get are completely sporadic. If I log in to Facebook, I'll get one set of updates that seem to have been sent hours apart. If I refresh my feed, I'll get the same set of updates with some several-day-old updates mixed in there. Even more frustrating, if I create a status update or post a link, it doesn't even come through my own news live feed.

I understand that there are always unforeseen issues that pop up when a redesign is implemented, but Facebook's usability and functionality has always been a hallmark of the site. Yet, in the face of research I've done to see if Facebook has somehow addressed this issue or if it's even aware of it, I have found nothing about news feed problems due to the redesign.

Are you experiencing the same problems? Have you been able to find anything about what the problem is or how to fix it? And what do you think about the Facebook redesign in general? Like? Dislike?

As always, you can follow me on Twitter @JayAdams70

Monday, February 8, 2010

SU student finds 15 minutes of social media fame

 
Pat Manley with his Big Boeheim Head. Manley's on the left,
in case you were wondering.

If there's one thing that Web 2.0 has proven it's that the previously elusive 15 Minutes of Fame are easier to attain than ever. Just ask Pat Manley. He knows.

Manley, a graduate student at Syracuse University, has become a local celebrity because of an idea to make Syracuse basketball games just a little more interesting. Manley saw the idea during games at other schools, but he hadn't seen anything like it at Syracuse before. The idea, in case you missed it in the photo above, is the obscenely gigantic photo cutout of Syracuse basketball head coach Jim Boeheim's head.

While Manley has received a steady stream of media and interview requests since the Boeheim head made its first appearance a few weeks ago, perhaps nothing has helped spur on Manley's meteoric rise to viral Syracuse fame like social media. It all started hours before Syracuse's home game against Marquette on Jan. 23. Before walking out the door to head to the game with the cutout that took six hours to make, Manley had friend Stephen Wolek snap a photo of the creator with his 5-foot-tall monster. Manley posted the photo to Twitter and Facebook, thinking it would just be a way to show all his friends what he had created.

"Within five minutes it was on a popular Syracuse blog, nunesmagician.com, and by the end of the game I was contacted by the Post Standard about using the very photo I uploaded," Manley said. "Within an hour after the game, I was contacted on Facebook by a girl from CirtusTV to set up an interview time."

And with that, Manley and his big Boeheim head became social media stars. Within 24 hours of the big head's debut, a Facebook Fan page was set up and a Twitter account followed shortly. The Facebook Fan page, which Manley played no hand in setting up, gathered in followers at a blistering pace. Manley was amazed when the group had just a couple of hundred. As of Feb. 8, the group is more than 5,100 strong and growing by the day. The big head's Twitter page is behind that with only 128 followers, although a Twitter search for "Boeheim Head" yields some interesting results.

But Manley has found that the big head hasn't stolen all of the social media spotlight. Manley himself has seen his social media requests rise in the past few weeks.

"My Facebook and Twitter accounts have exploded," Manley said. "I more than doubled my Twitter followers in a week's time and added a significant number of friends on Facebook. I synced up both accounts with my BlackBerry and it is constantly receiving notifications from both."

That might have something to do with Manley's decision to start marketing himself through the success he has had with the big Boeheim head. On the backside of the head, Manley wrote his Twitter account in large black letters so fans behind him at games would be able to find him on the micro-blogging site. He has even parlayed his social media presence into more and more traditional media appearances.

"Once things took off, I used social media in a variety of ways," Manley said. "Brent Axe contacted me through Twitter to set up an appearance on his radio show, which is simulcast on ESPN Radio and Time Warner Cable Sports. I was able to contact (Syracuse basketball players) Scoop Jardine and Kris Joseph through Twitter to set up a meeting that allowed me to take their pictures for new heads.

"I used direct messaging on Twitter to communicate with the owner of nunesmagician.com and field questions that he had, as well as provide him with links about the big head; and I was able to set up meetings with local media outlets through Facebook messaging."

Weeks after first becoming an icon at Syracuse basketball games, Manley is still surprised at just how much attention his creation has received and continues to receive through social media. A few years ago, Manley's popularity might have taken much longer to achieve. But through his use of social media and social networking, Manley was able to reach a large number of people in a very short period of time.

"Social media is certainly the wave of the future. Information can be disseminated much faster, it's relatively easy to use and understand and can reach people throughout the world with the click of a button," Manley said. "It was the key ingredient in my 'rise to fame,' and allowed me to connect with Syracuse fans that I would've never interacted with otherwise."

As always, you can follow me on Twitter @JayAdams70