1010
10 min 47 sec

Popular Instagram Account Becomes Fashionable Clothing Brand

After acquiring the @portland Instagram handle, a recent college graduate grows it to hundreds of thousands of followers and branches out into his own fashion brand.
Clothing Design Power of Observation

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What It's About

A recent college grad turns his love of Stumptown into a successful Instagram account and apparel company.

Business Model
Manufacturing
Skills Required
Design & Marketing
Complexity
Medium
Profit Potential
Medium

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:

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

Yours in the revolution,

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Quote of the Day
"Every photo says, "Tag photos #portlandnw to be featured." So the spirit of it is inclusivity: Go out, shoot the town, share it with us, and we'll share it with everybody else. Go show us what you love about Portland."
—Marcus Harvey #SideHustleSchool

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To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau