PrintHustlers Conf 2020 Preview - Andy Rudman on Growing Shirt Kong

<div>SHIRT KONG’s Andy Rudman runs one of screen printing’s most interesting shops. We invited him to PrintHustlers Conf 2020, and now he’s giving us a virtual shop tour on July 23rd. “I have this idea of a live shop tour,” he told us. “I was really excited about being in person at PrintHustlers Conference. I know from being there last year it was so cool, and the energy that’s there, so we'll bring some of that to the web.”</div> <div>Join us at PrintHustlers Conf 2020 (it's free!): <a href="https://www.printhustlers.com">https://www.printhustlers.com</a> </div> <div>Andy discussed the ups-and-downs of running a screen printing business during a turbulent period of change. When he started Shirt Kong, he’d place an ad in something called a “phone book.” Soon, he’d have to adjust to new technology: “Marketing shifted to Google, and we spent time trying to educate ourselves on this new thing called SEO.” But marketing is not Shirt Kong’s biggest asset: it’s their unique and ability to tell a fascinating story. Their remarkable Instagram account is a prime example: a t-shirt screen printing shop with 12,000 followers?</div> <div>“We’ve grown with word of mouth, referrals and SEO. You have these customers and it starts to snowball,” Andy said. “I started sharing our shop’s day-to-day story. I thought that was real. If anyone was looking through Instagram, they’d see...this is a real shop. And they’d identify with it. It worked.” Andy posts pictures and videos to the Shirt Kong Instagram (<a href="https://www.instagram.com/shirtkong">https://www.instagram.com/shirtkong</a>) that pull the curtain back on their busy operation. </div> <div>Get your tickets to see Shirt Kong's shop here: <a href="https://www.printavo.com/blog/printhustlers-conf-2020-shirt-kong">https://www.printavo.com/blog/printhustlers-conf-2020-shirt-kong</a> </div> <div>Just as Shirt Kong was hitting their stride and expanding into a 12,000 square foot facility, coronavirus hit. “We expanded at the perfect time,” Andy joked. But it’s been an