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With smarter marketing tools and a variety of new ways to sell,
Whether you鈥檙e a recognized industry expert, a beauty blogger, or a high school student with a few funny TikTok videos, 黑料门 can help you turn your follower base into new revenue streams. Read on to learn how to create and sell your own branded merchandise in minutes, right from your computer or smartphone.
What You Need to Know About Branded Merchandise
Branded merchandise is a type of product with logos or original lettering that鈥檚 connected to or advertises a popular persona, organization, or event.
Music bands鈥� apparel is the most popular type of merchandise
Almost every popular musician has their own merchandise — from Metallica to Kanye West. Social media influencers have also been known to sell merch. In fact, , YouTubers that sell merch can make up to 10 times more revenue than those who profit from ads alone.
YouTubers that sell merch can make up to 10 times more revenue than those who profit off ads only.
Any product suitable for printing can be sold as merchandise. It鈥檚 often products people can wear for promotion. For example, if one of your followers wears a cool
The most popular forms of branded merchandise are:
- clothes:
T-shirts, hoodies, tank tops; - accessories: bags, caps, beanies, cases for gadgets, wraps;
- souvenirs: mugs, pins, notebooks, charms, mouse pads.
Beauty bloggers often partner with famous brands to make their own makeup lines or perfumes. Fitness bloggers sell clothes, accessories, and shoes for exercising.
Kayla Itsines sells accessories for workouts
Others go even further to sell anything from food to furniture. The German magazine 032褋 sells branded socks, duct tape, laces, and scrunchies.
A roll of duct tape with a logo of 032褋 magazine
Rock musicians are often people with great imagination. Kiss sold wine, knives, coffins, and funeral urns with the band鈥檚 logo. NOFX used inflatable sheep to support one of their albums, and Rammstein started selling bicycles in 2016.
A Rammstein bicycle
As a matter of law, the rights for merchandise belong to the author, which means your merchandise also can鈥檛 be copied.
No one can use your photos or original images and prints — for example, pictures that were especially designed for a piece of merchandise — without your permission as the copyright holder. Your work is protected by copyright from the moment of creation, though you may be required to prove your authorship in order to enforce your copyright.
The name of a band can be registered as a trademark in the United States Patent and Trademark Office. It will protect your rights in case of a legal argument.
If your products portray commonly used words or phrases, it will be more difficult to protect your right of authorship.
Legally, an author, as well as any other brand that has bought the right to use elements of the author鈥檚 brand, is permitted to sell merchandise.
Represent鈥檚 official merchandise
How to Create Merchandise
A lot of things depend on the product you want to sell. Each item is produced differently. For example, you can鈥檛 use the same method of printing on
Step 1. Decide what you鈥檙e going to sell
Choose the things that are relevant to your audience. For example, if your band is popular among bikers, think about selling motorcycle apparel.
Or if you鈥檙e brave enough, create merch that isn鈥檛 relatable to your audience at all. For example, items with unusual sayings, funny illustrations, or anything else that highlights your style and personality. The White Stripes sold sewing kits.
A sewing kit by The White Stripes
Any printed product can become merchandise. It can be a commonly used item or something only your fans would understand. Is it something your audience would buy? If the answer鈥檚 yes, it鈥檚 the right product.
Aphex
Brainstorm several good ideas, then estimate which would be the most profitable. Review your suppliers鈥� prices to calculate the prime cost. And if you鈥檙e limited on time, money, or ideas,
Step 2. Create the design
You can print a logo, a photo, a catchphrase, or an image on your merchandise.
Ariana Grande鈥檚 merchandise with the title of her song on it
Your prints have to be exclusive. People can buy cheaper mugs and
The easiest way to evaluate future demand for your merchandise is to offer a
黑料门
Artist Ketnipz made this hoodie because the majority of his followers voted for it on Instagram Stories
Step 3. Order a mockup
First, you need to find a designer that will prepare a mockup of your image for the print. You can look for freelancers at websites like and or art communities as or . The cost of the work depends on the intricacy of the image and a designer鈥檚 expertise.
If you use Printful and 黑料门, you can just upload the picture to the app and see how it looks on different products.
Step 4. Order a pilot batch
It鈥檚 better to start with a small batch. Some companies can do the whole job for you: buy products, print your image, and deliver the merch to you (or directly to your customers). In the case of Printful, you can make a sample order.
Awesome Merchandise is one of the sites where you can order custom printed products
Step 5. Calculate the prime cost
The prime cost is the price you鈥檙e going to sell your products at. It consists of a first cost and a retail margin.
A first cost of merchandise is a cost of production, advertising, and delivery. It depends on many factors: quality of the product, the complexity of the print, a number of copies printed.
The bigger your order, the cheaper the production and the printing. However, you need to pace yourself. For example, it鈥檚 cheaper to order 1,000 mugs than 100 mugs, but if you can鈥檛 guarantee that you can sell all of them, you might want to order fewer.
When calculating the first cost, keep in mind how much you want to earn and how solvent your audience is.
If you are not sure of your idea, run a crowdfunding campaign before you make the first lot of your merch. If you鈥檝e calculated everything right, you won鈥檛 lose anything (don鈥檛 forget to add the fee of a crowdfunding platform to the price). In case of a failure, if the audience is indifferent to your sweatshirts and
An example of a
If you use , you don鈥檛 have to worry about
Step 6. Expand your business
If everything goes like clockwork and the first lot is sold out, you can think about selling merchandise on a regular basis or even about running your own merch production, like making your own clothes.
In this case, you need to find a supplier so that you buy a lot of simple
Check out our guides:
- Where to Find a Wholesale Supplier for Your Online Store
- Checklist: How to Find the Right Supplier on AliExpress
It鈥檚 easier to make a limited lot of merchandise, for instance, 500 items only. Tell your audience it鈥檚 a limited edition — that trick can even grow your sales. Next time you can change the prints or products to keep the interest up. You can also sell several basic products and offer limited collections from time to time, when it鈥檚 a holiday or concert season.
How to Sell Merchandise and Where to Do It
Now that you鈥檝e decided what you鈥檙e going to sell, it鈥檚 time to think about how to do it. Social media helps to promote your merchandise, and an online store makes the order process easier for customers.
Social media and blog pages
You can sell a small lot of products
Colleen Ballinger posts a photo with her merchandise on her Instagram account
Throw contests with your merch as a prize. For example, run a repost giveaway on social media. This way you鈥檒l make your audience more active and introduce other people to your product.
Try selling through influencers — partner with bloggers or famous people you know to make ad posts. If you don鈥檛 know any bloggers personally, order advertising from the influencers you can find in your niche.
Promote your products on social media as the majority of your customers are your followers. Ads on search engines aren鈥檛 so effective if you鈥檙e not a celebrity. So try to wear your own merch more often, and offer it on all platforms.
Online store
Get an online store if you sell more than one product and want to have a permanent income from your merch. A store helps to get more traffic, helps to run promotions, and strengthens your brand.
If you鈥檙e new to creating online stores, one of the easiest options is to use 黑料门. There are two ways to do that. You can make a free 黑料门
If you already have a site or a blog, add an online store to it. 黑料门 works with websites on WordPress, Wix, Tilda, Adobe Muse, and more. For example, Molotov Jukebox sell CDs on their site.
An 黑料门 store of the rock band American Bombshell
Marketplaces
There are online marketplaces that sell other people鈥檚 products, like , , or . Selling your products on marketplaces helps to access a bigger audience. Keep in mind that these platforms have their own rules. Some of them take a commission on every sale they bring you, while others charge you a listing fee.
- Intro to Advertising: Where to Begin When You鈥檙e a Beginner
- 12 Ways to Make Your First Sale Online
- 14 Psychological Triggers That Will Win Over Customers and Increase Your Sales
Try to keep up the interest to the merchandise so that your sales remain high. Offer different new products, experiment with prints, expand the assortment, be creative. Give it a try! Hopefully, our guide will help you to start.
