Selling T-Shirts Has Made Me $1,000 in 2 Weeks

18 replies
I've always been one to say that communities are where the money is at, with little work once you get them going and one of my recent case studies proves that.

I'd like to first note that money isn't my driving force for any of this. It's been on the back of my mind since I started in 2 very different industries.



1. Motorcycles

I started a motorcycle community in 2009 that has taken off and typically we have meets with about 30 people every Saturday and Sunday. It's grown nicely and my goal has never been to profit from it. In fact I've invested quite a bit of my own money into it without asking for a return. T-shirts are a great way for me to profit, help the community grow and raise money for charities.

Starting 2 weeks ago selling t-shirts, I was able to sell 72 total. I'll relaunch this campaign with a slightly different design in 3 months.

2. Video Games

My gaming communities are quite massive, with over 300,000 fans of my own. The community isn't as tight as the motorcycle community, but it is definitely there. I've profited off of this industry quite heavily with sales of video games, game consoles and advertising for companies.

Last night I started a new campaign trying to sell t-shirts which has already sold 12. That's a pretty big achievement in my opinion as video game and console sales usually sold about 5 in a day (but sold consistently) the fact that I was able to sell 12 without heavily promoting it is exciting to me.

Anyways, there are my case studies, Take them as you may but understand that communities hold a lot of value. I've done a lot more with vinyl stickers, custom equipment and other techniques as well.
#made #selling #tshirts #weeks
  • Those are some promising results.

    I hope you continue to profit from t-shirt sales to your gaming and motorcycle communities!

    Do you think you'll scale up and go into more communities to sell even more shirts?
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  • Profile picture of the author John Rogers
    Community is huge. Paul Wheaton is one of my favorite examples of this. In less than a year he funded three Kickstarter campaigns to the tune of $65k+ each (total $225k+). How? He runs a popular permaculture forum, which is where he promoted the campaigns.
    https://www.kickstarter.com/profile/paulwheaton/created
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  • Profile picture of the author brocknallen
    Inspiring results. One question--- Are you simply creating custom community branded/niche related designs and displaying them on PPC?

    (ie: for your moto communities you'd display teespring ads for motorcycle-related tee's and so on?)

    Would appreciate your response, thanks!
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    • Profile picture of the author Justin Lewis
      Originally Posted by brocknallen View Post

      Inspiring results. One question--- Are you simply creating custom community branded/niche related designs and displaying them on PPC?

      (ie: for your moto communities you'd display teespring ads for motorcycle-related tee's and so on?)

      Would appreciate your response, thanks!
      I've already built the communities via Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Google+, etc. and plan on testing out a lot of different practices with them in terms of t-shirts/hoodies. I don't spend any money in order to promote them, unless it's a $5 short promo to my already existing audience via boosting posts on Facebook.

      Overall my expenses were $10.
      Signature

      My name is Justin Lewis. My digital marketing company has been in business for over 10 years with multiple six-figure years. We do provide a premium web design service.

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  • Profile picture of the author Oliver13
    What does you mean by "community" ? Like a facebook fanpage?
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  • Profile picture of the author berexilim
    Will I have problems if I sell t-shirts with the logo of FC?
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  • Profile picture of the author JensSteyaert
    These are great results, but as you mention you have active communities who follow you and who are passionate about the niche. So that makes it a little easier (well a lot).

    But this might be interesting for people who are also have large active communities in similar niches, some nice easy money if you have some great designs.
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    • Profile picture of the author Justin Lewis
      Originally Posted by JensSteyaert View Post

      These are great results, but as you mention you have active communities who follow you and who are passionate about the niche. So that makes it a little easier (well a lot).

      But this might be interesting for people who are also have large active communities in similar niches, some nice easy money if you have some great designs.
      Yep, that's why I made sure to be transparent about it and not act like I had no followings. The point I'm really trying to push here is for people to start working on growing communities in one way or another.

      The value is there, it's all about building relationships and trust.
      Signature

      My name is Justin Lewis. My digital marketing company has been in business for over 10 years with multiple six-figure years. We do provide a premium web design service.

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      • Profile picture of the author Diana Lane
        Originally Posted by Justin Lewis View Post

        Yep, that's why I made sure to be transparent about it and not act like I had no followings. The point I'm really trying to push here is for people to start working on growing communities in one way or another.

        The value is there, it's all about building relationships and trust.
        I was reading a thread on here last night which was asking how everybody had made their first $100, and I got to thinking about how I had made mine.

        The net was still relatively young in 1999 (that sounds so much better than at the end of the last century!), and the money was made with a product review site which really pushed the community aspect. Those of us who pitched in, made friends and built trust and even affection did a lot better than those who just wrote endless reviews and were only there for the money. I think I only wrote about twenty reviews the whole time I was there and those first hundred dollars ended up being joined by plenty more to keep them company.

        Some people seem to see 'community' as rounding up a large captive audience or infiltrating the Facebook feeds of the reluctant or unwilling, but it's not about that. It's about people with a common interest or purpose engaging with each other, getting to know what makes each other tick and ending up genuinely caring why. That's worth a whole lot more than anything your traffic stats or position in the SERPS can tell you.
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  • Profile picture of the author mahediblog
    I've uploaded 4 Tee design on Teespring but never sold.
    How could you be? Can you suggest any method how to make massive profit?
    Waiting for your reply.
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    Full-time Internet Marketer. PM me and let's connect!

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  • Profile picture of the author Carlos Stratton
    Congrats Justin!
    Those are nice results

    Good Luck
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  • Profile picture of the author jamescanz
    Good stuff Justin

    Seems like you got Teespring down (it really only takes 1 campaign to 'see the light')...

    From there it only gets better and better
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  • Profile picture of the author stealthtargeting
    Seems you have made good amount of money. Congratulation for your success. Is your campaign run for only two weeks?
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    Check out "Launch Cam" as well! wanna be in the next show? go! catch me if you can! ;)

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  • Profile picture of the author Tom Addams
    Fantastic post, Justin.

    You make 2 excellent points:

    1. User engagement.
    2. Traffic Volume.

    I push tees myself and I'm hoping your post will encourage newcomers to give it a try. Not only is it a lucrative model, it's a lot of fun.

    GRM
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    I Coach: Learn More | My Latest WF Thread: Dead Domains/ Passive Traffic

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  • Great thread. I too have been getting into teespring a lot. I've had a few campaigns skyrocket like yours did. I love doing something I have no clue about and then discovering later on how profitable it is. I'll take he advice on this thread. Great tips OP!
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  • Profile picture of the author Bel66
    I think some people don't get it right here.
    Justin already have an active and strong community wich he build for years.

    So if you have such a community I think this will work like a charm.

    Thanks for sharing Justin
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  • Profile picture of the author James Druman
    Hey Justin,
    Cool idea, and you got my creative juices flowing about some communities I'm involved with.

    I imagine you're just doing a made-to-order type of thing with an online t-shirt company that delivers for you, am I right? If so, did you pre-order a couple shirts for quality checking?

    My concern would be about fit (as in quality of fit, not size), which can be a problem with cheap t-shirts, and you wouldn't want to soil your rep in the community by selling a below-standard product.

    Also, did you start with one design in each niche or offer multiple ones from the get-go?

    Cheers,
    James
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  • Profile picture of the author Francisco PIW
    Originally Posted by Justin Lewis View Post

    2. Video Games

    My gaming communities are quite massive, with over 300,000 fans of my own. The community isn't as tight as the motorcycle community, but it is definitely there. I've profited off of this industry quite heavily with sales of video games, game consoles and advertising for companies.

    Last night I started a new campaign trying to sell t-shirts which has already sold 12. That's a pretty big achievement in my opinion as video game and console sales usually sold about 5 in a day (but sold consistently) the fact that I was able to sell 12 without heavily promoting it is exciting to me.

    Anyways, there are my case studies, Take them as you may but understand that communities hold a lot of value. I've done a lot more with vinyl stickers, custom equipment and other techniques as well.
    Congratulations! You are doing really well with it! =)

    I'm having a videogame niche website about a particular game, it generates 300,000 page views per day, but I struggle to monetise it in particular with sales and advertising for companies. Can you shre with us how do you promote sales of video games, game consoles and advertising for companies?

    Any website of network I can follow? Your answer would be very appreciated.

    I tried selling T-Shirts from Shareasale (Redbuble), but they only give 10% commission and I sell around 2 T-shirts per month.

    What is your secrets??

    Thank you!
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