After my post earlier in the week on making money by selling T-Shirts from your blog – a regular reader by the name of Chris (from Poker Geek and Jedi Scribe) sent me a message saying that he’d done ok out of T-Shirts himself and that they were definitely worth getting into as another income stream for your blog. Of course I wanted to know more and asked if he’d consider writing his tips up as a post. He kindly agreed so here is what he has to say on the topic of selling T-Shirts on your blog (by the way you can check out his latest T-Shirt here.
If your blog isn’t pulling in the hit count neccessary to make ad revenue that lucrative, it’s definitely a wise idea to consider something along the lines of t-shirt sales or other merchandise. Blogs that have smaller amounts of traffic (250-1000 hits a day) still can count on devoted readers who enjoy the content and won’t mind supporting the site for something in return
A few notes that I’ve learned:
-Cafepress is something to avoid like the plague. It reeks of low quality and you will take a hit in sales just for using it. There are some exceptions out there, but generally you are not going to have the flexibility, communication, or variety that you want from a merchant that you’re working with.
-Get more creative than simply putting your website logo or name on a shirt. People want something to wear that nobody will understand except themselves. Offer something that reflects the spirit of your site without catering to it. If you have any design or writing experience (and if you write a blog, you probably do), you can think of something clever and visually interesting.
-Shop around online for a good printer. A simple one or two color printing on a high quality Tshirt is cheaper than you think, especially if you have the ability to order in bulk.
-Don’t be afraid to set an aggressive price point. You are doing this to put some money in your pocket. Make sure you’re making more than a dollar or two per shirt. People are buying because they want to help you out, not because you’re undercutting competition.
So – would anyone buy a ProBlogger T-Shirt???
