How can I start selling my designs as merch and make money tomorrow with little or no investment?

10 replies
I know that's a very nebulous and vague question and maybe it's not even possible.
But I hope it is possible.

Hi all, I'm new to the forum and marketing in general.
Marketing has always been an unslayable, terrifying beast for me. But I need to bite the bullet and learn it or I'll never have my own small business.

Here's my story.
I'm a webcomic artist.
My cartoons are very edgy, simple and minimal and deliver their messages without words.
They're perfect for t-shirts, mugs, throw pillows and all kinds of merch.
I've spent over a year toiling away on my designs but never got any traffic because I didn't do marketing.
I stopped for a while and want to take it back up again but I'd like to actually make money from the merch this time.

I intend to dig in to warrior forum but even still I just don't know where to begin.

So in summary:
Is it even possible to start making money (even a little) almost immediately?
Can someone suggest a general plan of attack?
What are some of the big picture steps I would need to take?

Thanks much!
#designs #investment #make #merch #money #selling #start #tomorrow
  • Profile picture of the author rihan123
    you can sell your designs on freelancer sites like freelancer,elance and odesk
    or another way is sell on warrior for hire section but you will need $20
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  • Profile picture of the author ChrisWrok
    Hey Lee, welcome to the Warrior Forum.
    It's a huge place and can get a little overwhelming to new people.
    I "lurked" for a few years before even joining.

    So, you've "already" have a product you can start selling immediately.
    so you are ahead of the pack!

    you could start at fiverr.com for free, and it's really easy.
    There's some strategies for fiverr that DO work and I can point you in the right direction.
    So as the poster above suggests (and I agree) freelancing your work is one way to do it.

    or you could join the "war room" and post an ad or run a WSO for $20 a day and see what happens

    You could write articles and submit them to ezine.com or like sites,
    and possibly get some free traffic that way, assuming you have a website...
    (you can even do that with out a site).

    "realistically"
    Without a budget, I could probably teach you (via daily emails) to get sales within a month..
    With a small budget you can get it going in a couple of weeks.
    With a larger budget, 1 week or even less.

    If any of that sounds interesting, you can contact me via PM or visit my site (in my signature)

    Have a great tonite and tomorrow
    Chris
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  • Profile picture of the author ChrisWrok
    P.S. I could always use a graphic artist from time to time,
    as I provide graphic art work to clients as well.

    Perhaps you'd be interested in putting together a portfolio for my website?
    I'd get the contract and hire you to do the job.
    (I am a bit of a graphic artist myself and also employ a few
    but none of us are into the "cartoon" look persay)

    Cheers!
    Chris
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  • Profile picture of the author moneywithtim
    If your sure about the product and that it will sell good, I should invest $20 to sell it on warrior forum.
    Signature
    Tim Roosendaal - Online Affiliate Entrepreneur

    [MUST WANTED] Six Figure Income Online eBook!
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  • Profile picture of the author Ghoster
    Envanto Marketplace.
    Signature

    On the whole, you get what you pay for.

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    • Profile picture of the author leetheguy
      Thanks for all the great responses guys!
      You've given me a lot of food for thought.
      I think I wasn't quite specific enough.

      I have a very distinct and unique style that all of my designs fall under.
      It's almost like my art is my brand and vice versa.
      I'm not a graphic designer or cartoonist per se.
      I can do some graphic design, but it's not my strength (I'm actually a programmer), so selling my designs directly isn't quite an option.
      My designs are very technical in nature as that's my background.
      They're like super retarded instructional diagrams.
      You kind of have to see them. Once you do, it will click.

      Besides, I'd rather sell a few hundred thousand t-shirts than a few dozen drawings.
      And I am sure they will sell, because, although they're kind of niche, they can be sold globally as there are few or no words.

      Here are a few of my favorite examples from my comic:
      slow children
      price range guide
      how to picnic

      So basically, let's say, I have a t-shirt drop shipper / printer set up, and I have a shopify shop set up and I have a web comic set up and twitter and facebook and all the infrastructure in place.
      My question is how do I go from that to profit?

      Thanks again!
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  • Profile picture of the author fin
    You could always start an ecommerce store with Shopify selling your own designs.

    Or you could set up a site selling your designs and promote in places where people with ecommerce stores will be looking.

    I think your main problem is positioning and you just need to choose an angle to attack them go for it.

    P.S. I know you won't be able to PM, but send me a message on the contact form on the site in my sig telling me how much your designs cost.

    I was researching ways to set up an ecommerce store selling t-shirts as I have a domain name I like, but the design issue was the only real one I came up against.

    My long-term goal is actually to build an ecommerce store, but it's giving me a brain fart so I was going to put it off for a few years ha.
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  • Profile picture of the author georgeuk
    It's great that you already have a product.

    If you seriously want to make money immediately, with low budget, I would consider the following if I were you:

    1) Set up an account on Design Templates - Fonts - Logo - Icons | Customizable | GraphicRiver
    *Envato is a great marketplace with thousands of digital products. Some designers made $100,000s

    2) Publish your products

    3) Find a hosting company with 30 day trial and google voucher bonuses

    4) Set up Google Adwords account, use the voucher to have $100 starting ad balance

    If you target the ads right you should make good amount of sales in the first few days. The more sales you make, the more people will buy from your on Envato, if your work is good.. Btw, you can cancel the trial from the hosting company, you only needed it for the voucher.

    Hope this helps
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  • Profile picture of the author alexandermadison
    There are so many freelancing site, you will be really welcome there. Even here there is a hire for warrior section, Fiverr, odesk, elance or, something like these, you can work as a freelancer. you will be able to sell your design there.
    Signature

    Do not be crazy.

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  • Profile picture of the author Bluewiremktg
    Wow, that price range guide was edgy, but funny! Picnic was funny too.

    So, I'm kinda new here, but if I can add my 2 cents, here's what I would say...

    It sounds like you want to do the t-shirt thing. I could see your designs on a t-shirt. If so, there's a site called teespring that a ton of people seem to love for selling their shirts. You just upload your design for the shirt, and then advertise your t-shirt on Facebook. They take care of everything from printing, shipping, payment, and all that. They make a set amount per shirt, and then everything above that is your profit.

    As far as Facebook advertising, you could figure out who your target audience would be. Who would LOVE your shirts? What else do they like on Facebook? What age group? What type of person? Then use the targeting power of FB ads to zero in on those people and promote your t-shirt to them using a FB ad. You can set your budget down to $1 a day.

    I've seen some software programs that can help you make awesome t-shirt ads for Facebook. It helps you stay within the guidelines for what an ad has to look like so your ad is almost always approved by FB. Dang! I can't think of the name of the software off the top of my head... Maybe someone else on here knows the name of a good one...

    Anyway, to recap, use teespring to sell your shirt and use FB ads to promote your t-spring campaign and make money.

    Hope this was useful.
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