What It's About
A recent college grad turns his love of Stumptown into a successful Instagram account and apparel company.
Business Model
Skills Required
Complexity
Profit Potential
Words of Wisdom
Though Marcus is happy with the success of the company, the most rewarding part is knowing that he’s building an authentic, passionate community that’s making his city a brighter, better place to live.
Fun Fact
One morning when Marcus logged into his account, he realized it was no longer @portland, but @portland222. He had been hacked! It was the lowest of lows, but his followers sprang into action, commenting on posts made by the new @portland handle hundreds of times until Instagram restored Marcus’s handle.
Notes from Chris
Episode 1010
When Marcus Harvey graduated from the University of Oregon and moved back to his hometown of Portland, he entered into a partnership where he co-ran an apparel design agency. Through that process, he became an expert in clothing design, screen printing, and fashion marketing. The agency started picking up clients here and there—many of them local to Portland. And that’s when Marcus began to appreciate his city in a whole new way. There were a lot of great companies in the area, and he wanted to not only help them design products, but elevate their brand recognition. As a personal project, Marcus convinced the owner of @portland on Instagram—a middle-aged dad somewhere on the east coast who mainly posted pictures of his daughter—to sell him the handle name for $1,500. He then used it to post pictures of the city. Because the name was so simple, people found it organically. Some people were searching for local events or tourist hotspots. Some tagged him without realizing it. And organically—without much work at all—Marcus got his first few hundred new followers. After a few weeks, he began to mention in the captions that if other people wanted their photos featured on the page, they should include the hashtag #portlandnw when they posted. In the coming weeks, Marcus got dozens of high-quality images, which he quickly reposted—twice a day, every day, like clockwork—with credit to the original photographer. And between all the tagging and back-and-forth engagement with Portland natives, the account just grew and grew. In November, a year and a half after creating the account and 60,000 followers later, Marcus ordered a few dozen t-shirts from a local screen printer and set up his new website: PortlandGear.com. He wasn’t sure anyone would want to buy his shirt design, but with such a large following, it seemed like a no-brainer to try. That was on Thanksgiving. The next day was Black Friday, so it seemed like as good a day as any to tell everyone about the new t-shirt. He posted a quick image of the shirt mock-up and told followers where they could order. Marcus remembers it being a rainy morning. He was walking through the streets of Portland. Suddenly his phone vibrated. Then it vibrated again. And it didn’t stop. Within 24 hours, Marcus had sold over $5,000 worth of t-shirts. He immediately reinvested the profits into more shirts so he could keep selling. Now sitting at 338,000 followers, the @portland instagram account is still Marcus’s #1 marketing strategy for PortlandGear.com and his two-year-old Portland Gear retail store—and he still only posts about his products twice per month.MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
- @portland: Follow the @portland handle that Marcus still manages today.
- PortlandGear.com: Love Portland like we do? Check out all the awesome apparel at Portland Gear's website.
SEE ALSO:
- College Buddies Create $15,000 Bow Tie Hustle: After making the decision to upgrade their wardrobes, two Virginia college students start a bow tie side hustle.
- Catholic Designer Creates Stylish Apparel Line: What shall it profit a man to gain the whole world but not sell any t-shirts? This designer cast his bread upon the waters and ended up with a profitable fashion line.
- New Yorker Covers Up With Comfy Underwear Line: For years, she wanted her own side hustle—and she finally uncovered it in a drawer of intimate apparel.
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Resources
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