Band merch is an incredible way to grow your following for two reasons…
1.) It provides a revenue stream, so you can keep the lights on (and hopefully reinvest into more promotion)
2.) It’s free advertising for your band… actually, it’s better than free since your fans PAID YOU for the privilege of advertising for you.
As a band, you should really be taking advantage of this unique opportunity to actually get paid to have your music promoted for you. There are only a few industries (primarily the entertainment industry) that get to experience the unusual benefits of having fans pay to advertise your product for you… so capitalize on this!
You could know all about selling music, but if you’ve never created had any t-shirts, hoodies, posters, or any stuff like that before, you might not know where to begin.
Have no fear!
It’s actually a lot easier than you think. In fact, you can have your own online store up within the next hour.
The best part is that it can be done without costing you a cent. All you have to do is create an account at one of these sites. They are free to set up and a great option for bands and artists that are just starting to develop a following. One of the great benefits is that you don’t really have to do any of the work besides telling people to go visit your store.
Once your online store is created, your fans can go select the items they want. Then the site will create the product, ship it, and take a commission. So they literally do all of the work, and you don’t pay them anything until the products are sold.
In reality, the fees are taken from the payment that is made by the customer, so all you do is sit back and cash your check.
So you make money, and all of your fans are out there promoting your music with stylish t-shirts and hats and stuff.
Image: merch table | Photo: FROreal /Flickr/Creative Commons License
If you decide that you want to sell the merch at your shows, you will have to pay for it up front, but you will also get a discount for buying in bulk.
Like I mentioned before, this is all free to set up. The only initial expense you might have is getting your logo and/or other designs created. Once again, don’t worry, this is extremely easy and doesn’t have to cost much at all.
Some Options For Having A Logo Created
The first option we recommend is Elance. On Elance you can post the details of the design you want, and a slew of designers will submit bids to create your design. You can usually get very professional work done for under $50.
If $50 is a little more than you want to spend, you could always try Fiverr. On Fiverr, you can get all kinds of stuff done, including graphic design, for only $5. However, keep in mind that you often get what you pay for, so you may run the risk of sacrificing quality to save some dough.
Lastly, I will mention 99 designs. This is a really good option if you have a little bit of cash to play with, and you aren’t quite sure what you want.
At 99 Designs, you will pay a flat fee (usually a couple hundred bucks) to run a contest where dozens of professional designers create a design for you based on your specifications.
Once the contest is over, you will have a ton of designs to choose from, and you simply select the one you like best. A great option, but also a bit pricey.
So hopefully now you have an idea of just how easy it is to create and sell your own band merch online. Click Here to choose a site to host your online merch store.
Featured Image: Merch Table | Photo: all that improbable blue /Flickr/Creative Commons License
