If you have been thinking about selling merch online, then you might be onto something. A lot of people want merchandise from bands they like, movies they like, TV shows they like and so on so it would be a good business investment to make. However, there are a number of things that you need to consider before you can get started selling merch. In this article, we’re going to be looking at a number of things that will help you to sell your merch online. By the time you have finished reading this guide, you will know everything there is to know about it. Keep reading if you would like to find out more.
Design Your Page
The first thing that you are going to need to do is design your page. The platform that you have chosen to use to sell your items should have some kind of option that allows you to change the way that it appears. You want to make it as simple to follow as you can, while still making sure that the whole thing looks professional. It’s not the easiest of tasks, but certain platforms allow you unlimited options, where others ask you to pay for the service etc. Whether you have to pay for it or not, you need to work on creating a page that works for you, and entices customers.
One of the problems that a lot of people have with their business website or page is that it isn’t easy to follow, and it looks boring. Nobody wants to buy from somewhere that looks like it has been strung together overnight, which is why you need to pay special attention to putting together a site or page.
Show Buyers Who You Are
The next thing for selling merch online is to show your customers who you are as a brand. Buyers want to know you, and it’s important that you let them do this. They are going to want to know various pieces of information about you such as why you ended up doing what you do, how it came about, if you love it etc. The best thing that you can do initially is to have an ‘about me’ section so that they can connect with you this way. But, when it comes to marketing there will be more opportunities to let your personality shine through and take center stage.
The better you are at generating and maintaining this connection, the more luck you’re going to have finding customers that are loyal. If people feel as though they have connected with you and your brand, they are less likely to buy from anywhere else.
Write High-Quality Content
If you’re going to be selling merch online, there should still be at least some content on your page. This can either be about the merch that you are selling, or it can be something else depending on what your interests are, or what aligns with the merch you are selling. The content of the copy is less important than the fact that it needs to be well-written and engaging.
Engaging content will attract more people, which is giving you more chances at making a conversion into a customer.
Come Up With A Fantastic Strategy
Before you do anything, you should really sit down and come up with a plan as to how you want to make this work. Just winging it unfortunately isn’t going to win business plan of the year, and it is also going to leave you in a bit of a sticky situation should you experience any issues. The problem with not being prepared is that when things don’t go according to plan, you haven’t thought about this either, meaning that you don’t have a plan in place or a solution that can fix the issue.
It’s for this reason that you need to sit down and work on a strategy that is going to help you sell your merchandise. You need to think about how much it is going to cost, how you are going to market your new shop, and anything else that will impact how well the shop performs as a whole.
Choose Your Platform
Once you have an idea how you want to do things, you’re going to need to choose a platform so that you can get started. There are a number available, but Spreadshop is definitely where you should have your mind. There are a number of benefits to using Spreadshop over any of the other platforms out there, and one of them is that they take care of all the heavy lifting. What this means is that everything such as payment, shipping, fulfillment, and production are all taken care of at no cost to you. This is not something that you will find offered anywhere else right now, and will save you a lot of money.
As well as this, Spreadshop allows you to match your start page with your brand, making it more appealing to customers. The customization options that are offered aren’t difficult to understand, making the whole process pretty simple. Spreadshop is the ideal solution to make selling merch simple and straightforward.
Create Merch That People Want
You have got to make sure that you are creating the merch that other people actually want. It’s one thing to create things that you like, but this might not sell enough to make you the kind of money that you are looking for. You need to think about what other people want and cater to them as you are not the one who will be buying everything you produce. If you ever need inspiration, the internet and places like Reddit specifically are going to be great for content ideas.
If you look at the groups on Facebook, other message boards online and places like this, you will get a feel for what people want and then you can set about creating it. The demand is already there and it is not being met by any of the other companies, so you should swoop in and create what they have been asking for.
Also keep in mind though that there is inspiration all around you. There is probably always going to be something worth quoting or a picture that is worth capturing when you are out and about. You don’t have to exclusively focus on particular pieces, you can always change it up a little when the shop is a little more stable.
Find A Manufacturer
Don’t forget that you are going to need to find a manufacturer for all of the products that you’re going to need. It’s important that you aren’t just choosing the first person that you come across that looks remotely qualified simply because you are excited by the prospect of having your own store. You need to take the time to look at the reviews that have been left by people who have used this specific manufacturer before, and look at the services that they are willing to offer you. Of course, the price is also going to be a consideration so you need to decide whether it is fair based on the services offered and the reviews that have been left.
Once you have a manufacturer, you are almost going to be ready to start selling your merch online!
Don’t Forget About Word Of Mouth
One thing that you always need to keep in mind is that word of mouth is one of the most powerful marketing tools that there is. You want to keep the news about your new shop friendly and positive more than anything else, but you certainly do want people to talk about it. Make sure that you leave positive notes and send thank you emails when someone makes a purchase from your shop. A lot of companies don’t bother with the basic courtesies like this, and that’s where they go wrong.
If you want the word of mouth about your business to be positive, you need to do something to encourage it to be so. You might be wondering how this relates to selling merch online, and the simple answer is that the better your reputation is, the more likely you are to make a sale. Keeping an eye on this, and then driving people over to your store will help you massively. Using Spreadshop to create your store makes it simple and easy, but also as it is a reputable name on its own, this will also help you.
Use Social Media
Social media is essential if you want your store to take off. When you started your store on Spreadshop, you might have thought that it was only going to be something small, but it doesn’t need to be. Start a social media page for your store, and let people know that you are offering merch online that they should check out. Post regular content on here so that your customers and the people who like to read your page have something new to look forward to everyday.
If you follow the Spreadshop page on social media as well and sometimes post about the partnership that you have with them, this is likely going to be good for you as well. When people recognize a name that they know, they are far more likely to be trusted.
Integrate Your Store Everywhere
If you want to sell as much merch as possible online, then you’re going to need to integrate your store everywhere. This means that you need to get your name in as many articles related to the business as possible. You need to use link building to have people directed to your shop, generating more high-quality, authentic leads than you will have ever seen. The more you can integrate your store into things, the more likely you are to make sales.
You can do this with your social media too. You can include a button that takes you to the shop page, and brings people to where they want to be. Try to get different shop pages included in other articles as external backlinks so that not everyone lands in the same spot. After all, they’re not all going to be looking for exactly the same thing.
Get Customers Excited
If you want to sell merch online, you’re going to need people to get excited about it. Above, we’ve looked at a couple of things that need to be done for the marketing side of things, but you need to remember to make your customers excited about what you are doing. This could include doing something like a pre-sale so that they can see some of the things that you have been working on with Spreadshop. If they like what they see, they are likely to come back for the launch and make some purchases.
Or, if you don’t want to do a pre-sale, you could always run a competition and give away a few things to incentivize other people to get purchasing. Whatever you can think of that would get you excited about a new store opening up is something that you need to consider doing now that you are the one with the store.
Now, you should know everything that you need to know about selling merch online. It’s not too much of a task to do, but if you want to make as many sales as possible, there are certain things that you need to be willing to do. Whether you just want a little bit of extra cash, to wanting a full blown business to start from doing this is up to you, as long as you know that both of these are options as long as you follow this advice carefully.
Ready to start selling merch online? Spreadshop can get the job done in minutes. Get your free shop today.
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Makes me want to jump in. But What is the best product to start selling in your eyes?