The Print Room is DecoNetwork’s free, bi-weekly virtual community for custom apparel printers, garment decorators, and print shop owners. Hosted by Zach Dewhurst, it is an open-floor discussion where industry professionals can exchange ideas about business, marketing, equipment, production, and the future of custom merchandise decoration.
Whether you are launching your first print shop or managing an established decoration business, The Print Room gives you a place to ask questions, share experience, and connect with people who understand the industry.
There are no membership fees and no costs to attend.
Register to join The Print Room and take your place in the conversation.
A Free Virtual Community For Print Shop Owners
Running a custom apparel printing business can feel isolating. Shop owners regularly make important decisions about pricing, equipment, hiring, production, marketing, and growth, often without an experienced group available to discuss them.
The Print Room was created to change that.
Hosted every two weeks, this virtual open-floor discussion brings together beginners, experienced decorators, and established print shop owners in one shared industry space. Instead of following a rigid webinar presentation, participants are encouraged to contribute to the conversation.
You can bring a question, share a recent challenge, explain what has worked in your shop, or listen to how other decorators approach similar decisions.
The Print Room welcomes professionals working across the custom apparel and merchandise industry, including:
- Screen printers
- Embroiderers
- DTF and DTG printers
- Heat printers
- Sublimation businesses
- Promotional product decorators
- Custom merchandise companies
- New entrepreneurs researching how to start a print shop.
Every level of experience can add value. New decorators can learn from professionals who have already faced common startup challenges. Experienced shop owners can compare strategies, discover different approaches, and build relationships with other established businesses.
The bi-weekly format also gives the community room to develop. Participants can return regularly, continue previous conversations, share progress, and learn from new topics as the custom apparel printing industry evolves.
Discuss Print Business, Marketing, And Equipment
The Print Room is designed for practical discussions about the decisions apparel decorators make every day.
There is no single path to building a successful print shop. A strategy that works for a large screen printing operation may not suit a new embroidery business or a growing DTF transfer company. Open discussion allows decorators to hear different perspectives and decide what makes sense for their own goals, customers, and resources.
Grow A Stronger Printing Business
Business conversations may explore how to price decorated apparel, protect profit margins, improve customer service, or manage increasing order volume.
Participants can discuss subjects such as:
- Creating accurate quotes and orders
- Improving print shop workflows
- Managing production schedules
- Hiring and training employees
- Outsourcing or offering contract printing
- Expanding into new decoration methods
- Building online stores
- Managing growth without unnecessary overhead
- Creating repeatable processes that reduce mistakes
These conversations are not based on theory alone. They are opportunities to hear how other shop owners handle real production, financial, and operational challenges.
Find Better Ways To Market Your Print Shop
Producing high-quality decorated apparel is only part of building a successful business. Print shops must also attract customers, communicate their value, and create relationships that generate repeat orders.
The Print Room gives participants a place to discuss print shop marketing ideas with other industry professionals.
Topics may include:
- Finding the right customers
- Positioning a print business in a competitive market
- Improving a print shop website
- Using email and social media marketing
- Following up with leads
- Building customer loyalty
- Creating local business partnerships
- Selling through team, company, or fundraising stores
- Developing a recognisable custom apparel brand
Instead of presenting one marketing formula as the answer for every business, the discussion can reveal how different strategies perform across various markets, customer types, and decoration services.
Make More Informed Equipment Decisions
Choosing printing equipment can affect production capacity, print quality, labour requirements, and long-term profitability.
The Print Room creates space for honest apparel decoration equipment discussions between people who use printers, presses, embroidery machines, and production systems in real businesses.
Participants may compare experiences with:
- Screen printing equipment
- DTF printers and powder systems
- DTG printers
- Embroidery machines
- Heat presses
- Sublimation equipment
- Dryers and curing systems
- Print shop software
- Supporting production equipment
The group can also explore when to purchase equipment, when to upgrade, and when outsourcing may be the smarter business decision.
This peer-led perspective can help decorators look beyond equipment specifications. They can consider maintenance, training, workflow, available space, production volume, and the type of work their customers actually order.
The objective is not to promote one machine or method. It is to help shop owners ask better questions before making decisions that affect their businesses.
Build Relationships Across The Decoration Industry
The Print Room is not simply another online event. It is an opportunity to build a stronger professional network within the custom apparel decoration industry.
Some of the most valuable business relationships begin with a shared challenge or a useful conversation.
A screen printer may connect with an embroidery specialist who can fulfil work they cannot produce internally. A growing shop may meet an experienced contract decorator. A new business owner may find someone willing to explain a process that once felt overwhelming.
These relationships can lead to:
- Knowledge sharing.
- Professional referrals.
- Outsourcing partnerships.
- Contract decoration opportunities.
- New supplier or equipment insights.
- Mentoring and peer support.
- Long-term industry connections.
The Print Room is built around cooperation rather than competition. Participants can learn from one another while recognising that every shop has different strengths, markets, and goals.
Beginners do not need advanced technical knowledge before attending. Asking a thoughtful question can create a valuable discussion for the entire group.
Experienced decorators also have an important role. Sharing a lesson, mistake, or proven process can help another business make a better decision while strengthening the wider industry.
Over time, each conversation contributes to a more informed and connected custom apparel printing community.
Join The Conversation In The Print Room
The Print Room gives custom apparel printers, garment decorators, and print shop owners a premium industry space to learn, contribute, and connect.
Every two weeks, participants can discuss the business, marketing, equipment, and production topics shaping their shops. Beginners can gain practical insight, while experienced decorators can exchange ideas and form new professional relationships.
You do not need to prepare a presentation or have every answer. Enter the room with a question, an experience, or a willingness to listen.
Registration is free, and there is no cost to participate.
Register to join The Print Room and be part of the apparel decoration community.
