Nowadays, musicians can have a variety of income streams coming in, such as ticket sales, record sales, and performance fees. If you’re popular on social media, you might even be able to make money monetizing your channels.
But the most significant stream of income that most bands are sitting on is making and selling official merch.
Musicians tend to spend most of their time and energy promoting their music, which is fair–you don’t really have much of a band if you don’t have fans listening to your music. However, if you’re pushing fans to streaming platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, or even YouTube, your return on investment (ROI) is quite low. It is incredibly difficult for bands to make money off music streams.
That’s where the merch comes in. Selling official band merch gives you an income stream you can control. And if you have really cool merch, you could make a lot of money.
Get Started Selling Official Merch
One mistake many artists make with their merch is not focusing much of their energy on it. Sure, you can slap your logo on a cotton t-shirt and call it a day, and some of your fans will buy it. But many might not. And unless your logo is really cool, people who don’t know your band probably won’t even look at your merch.
T-shirts and hoodies are some of the most popular merch, regardless of genre, so that’s always a good place to start. Other good merch ideas for your band include hats, stickers, socks, tote bags, patches, and lyric books.
When creating official merch for your band, you want to focus on DAD:
- Design
- Audience
- Display
Design
When it comes to the design of your merch, you want it to look good. If your logo is just your band’s name, you really should consider expanding beyond just that for your merch designs.
The more attractive your merch is, the more likely people will spend money on it, even if they’ve never heard of your band. Do you think everyone who has purchased a “dancing bears” shirt has actually listened to the Grateful Dead? Doubtful. But when you have a cool design, it attracts everyone.
Audience
If you’re making official merch for your band, your goal is going to be to sell it to your fans, so you better have merch that they actually want. You can run polls on your social media channels to see what they’re most interested in (hats, socks, patches, etc.) and invest some time in niche marketing if you haven’t already.
Display
If you want to sell your merch, you need to display it attractively. Remember, if people can’t see what you have available, they will not buy it. If you are selling your merch at live shows, you will need to elevate your merch table. Make sure your display looks good and that all prices are clearly visible.
After your set, hang out at your merch table and interact with your fans. Not only will this help you sell more merch, but it will also help you understand your audience better and connect with them in a meaningful way.
Sell Official Merch Online with MerchBooth.com
One of the best ways to sell your official band merch is to have it available online. When you sell your merch online, it gives your fans a chance to support you even if they can’t come to a show (or if you sell out of their size at a show).
Online merch is also easier to promote in your marketing efforts because all you need to do is drop a link to your product, and if people like what they see, they can buy it with just a few clicks.
At MerchBooth.com, we know how important it is to be seen and make money, which is why we started a platform where musicians can sell their merch for free right from our website. All we really require you to do is have some kick-ass designs. Need a little help in the design department? We’ve got people that can help you with that.
We exist to help talented people get discovered, booked, and to make more money. Ready to make some money? Get in touch with us today!