Autograph Signings - 4 of 4

Another great opportunity to promote your BallStars business is by attending autograph signings as available in your area. Marc Dominguez, Texas Photo Ball, Little Elm, Texas, realized this opportunity when DeMarcus Ware, a linebacker for the Dallas Cowboys, came to his neighborhood Albertson’s grocery store to do an autograph signing. Dominguez got in line with his seven-year-old son. Unfortunately, it was their bad luck that the person ahead of them was the last one chosen in line to get a turn.

While Dominguez feels a BallStars ball signed by a professional athlete makes a great display sample, he also got the business card of the Demarcus Ware’s business manager. “Often, at autograph signings, the athletes are selling a product for them to sign,” notes Dominguez. “For example, they may provide a football, which the fan must purchase for $25 and then it can be signed. I plan to talk to these business managers about offering a higher quality ball with the athlete’s photo on it that can be sold to fans to be signed,” he says.

To find out more about the Dominguez Family visit their website at www.txphotoball.com

Getting Established In Photo Ball Business - Part 3 of 4

As with any new venture, plan to spend a certain amount of time learning how to use the system, learning the graphics software, and getting the word out that you offer BallStars balls. While doing all this can be a full-time job, unless you will not need to be generating income to live off of during this time period, you may find it prudent to keep your full-time job until the business is firmly established and earning a regular income.



This was the case with Marc and Monica Dominguez, Texas Photo Ball, Little Elm, Texas. Their greatest motivation for purchasing the BallStars system was to allow Marc, who was burned out from his current career, to shift gears and do something more enjoyable.

He says, “My original intent was to go full-time, but I had to change that. I am now doing BallStars part-time because I am still building my base of clients. My contact list of parents and coaches is growing, but I know that it will take at least two years to build up the business to the point that I can quit my full-time job.”

A plus to a BallStars franchise is it can easily be operated out of a home, garage, or basement so overhead costs can be kept down while the business is getting started. “My business is located out of my home,” says Dominguez. “I converted one side of my garage to my Texas Photo Ball work area. I purchased one table. I use the shipping crate as the system stand, and the transport pallet holds my current excess inventory. I lifted the pallet onto cinder blocks to keep it safe. I also use a free-standing five-shelf unit to hold my working inventory.”

Because Monica has an MBA and Marc has almost completed the coursework to earn his MBA, they didn’t need much business advice. The couple has mainly used BallStars to provide information about shipping, costs, and marketing.


Monica has taken over the responsibilities for the management portion, while Marc concentrates on sales. Says Marc, “It is a family effort whenever we go to a sporting event, I will have everyone doing something. The kids enjoy passing out fliers. They think every flier they pass out is a sale. I told them it is a potential sale.”

Another plus of the BallStars system is there is not a long learning curve. “Learning to use the BallStars press was easy for me,” says Dominguez. “It has been a little more challenging to learn the Adobe Photoshop program. I had to sit myself down and go through many tutorials before I could produce good-quality art. Luckily, most of my sales have been on standard templates created with the easy-to-use BallStars software. And I am still committed to getting better at Photoshop.”


The Dominguez family goal for this first calendar year is to gross $25,000. “Our first- year revenue goal has been adjusted from my original goal because we are only doing it part time right now. I will be happy to pay off the system in the first year,” says Dominguez.

Dominguez Getting Started With BallStars - Part 2 of 4

Aside from learning how to use the BallStars system, the highest priority of any new owner is the task of sales and marketing. BallStars balls have far-reaching potential to sell in a wide range of markets, but just starting out, it’s important to pick a niche that will allow you to focus your efforts for the greatest results.

Marc and Monica Dominguez, Texas Photo Ball, Little Elm, Texas, purchased their BallStars system in August 2007 and initially have chosen to focus their efforts on youth sports leagues and minor league franchises. One of their first marketing attempts involved attending youth soccer tournaments.

In addition to attending soccer tournaments, Dominguez also is doing as much networking as he can as well as trying to generate word of mouth exposure.

He also has used a full-color flier, which is available from BallStars, with contact information stamped on it. “We have used almost all of the marketing materials provided by BallStars,” says Dominguez. “The marketing materials helped us to attend our first games with less worry about our presentation.”

Dominguez also has used the BallStars gift packets. (These are preprinted packets that you sell to the customer. The customer then goes home, chooses a photo, fills out the order form, and mails it into the licensee for order fulfillment. Orders can then be picked, delivered, or mailed to the customer.)

“We sold some gift packs at the games. I also have tried to put them into some stores, but arranging the meetings with them is taking a little longer,” says Dominguez.

When it came time to put together a marketing plan, Marc and Monica had an advantage. Monica has a master’s of business administration degree, and Marc has nearly completed his, so both are well grounded in how to run a business as well as marketing and sales techniques. As is often the case in a new business, the original marketing plan is evolving from its original form as they begin to learn more about their market.

“I budgeted money for print, point-of-sale materials, and the Internet,” said Dominguez. “But I have since reduced my Internet marketing budget to $50 because I was not seeing a return on that expenditure. The cost per click (CPC) was too high. I was getting clicks, but no sales. I have since determined BallStars balls are a sale that needs to happen in person. Customers need to touch the ball and be swept up with the emotion of the knowledge that their child just won a game.”

26 Year Industry Expert Deborah Sexton Joins BallStars

My name is Deborah Sexton. I will be a regular contributor to the Ballstars blog. I do marketing and public relations for Ballstars on a freelance basis. I have been in the decorated apparel industry for 26 years. I started out as an assistant editor for IMPRESSIONS magazine in 1981 and was editor in chief of IMPRESSIONS from 1994 to 2001 when the company made the decision to move its offices from Dallas, where I live, to Atlanta.

Since 2001, I have been running my own freelance business writing press releases, newsletters, and Web copy for companies like Ballstars. I also continue to write for many industry trade publications such as IMPRESSIONS, Printwear, CorelDraw Pro, Stitches and some of promotional products publications such as The Counselor and PPB.

On a regular basis I will be posting stories about licensees, marketing info, and any other tips or tricks I can find to help people get started and be successful with their Ballstars photo transfer ball system. If you have any type of info you'd be specifially interested in, please e-mail me and let me know. My e-mail address is dsexton@sbcglobal.net. I'm also interested in any licensees who might be willing to chat with me about what they are doing. It is through networking and sharing experiences that others can get new ideas and try new ways to sell and market Ballstars products. Do not feel like you have to be selling a million dollars worth of balls a year or that you have nothing to say. The two most recent people I interviewed, Mark Dominguez and Marshall Lewis, just purchased their systems but they were willing to talk about what it has been like getting started.

Also, I will be at the Long Beach ISS show in January. This show will have all kinds of suppliers of T-shirts and other types of apparel, screen printing equipment, embroidery equipment, and much more. If you'd like to check it out the Web site is http://www.issshows.com/. If you are coming let's hook up to say hi. Just email me and we'll set up a time and place to meet.