9 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
9 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

17 Failed Teespring Campaigns Before My First Success. Here's what I've learned:

by stefpdt
6 replies
Just wanted to remind everyone that anything is possible online and it's up to you to pursue your successes - only you. There will always be haters and people who say that there's no money left in Teespring or other internet ventures. Ignore them.

I'm honestly not looking for praise here, I don't deserve it (yet). I just want to remind everyone that persistence is everything. Over $13 Trillion USD exchanges hands in international markets every single day. That's $13 TRILLION dollars. Don't tell me that you can't get your hands on $100 of that $13 trillion in one day. Or maybe $1000. Or eventually, $10,000.

I failed at 17 Teespring campaigns and spent hundreds of dollars learning the game before a campaign finally tipped with a low 1.5% CTR. I broke even on the campaign, and didn't make much money from it, but it was finally a success.

Here's what I learned:
  • Your overall campaign has to be amazing to work. Not just okay. Your design has to be great. People have many options and they don't always need to buy your T-shirt. Why should they buy yours when UrbanOutfitters, Nike and thousands of other clothing lines put out amazing T-shirts every day? Your design has to be killer and marketed very well to the right people.

  • Your advertisement is extremely important. Its colors should contrast with Facebook's blue background if you're advertising on FB.

  • Use a tracking pixel if possible, in combination with OCPM.

  • Riches are in the niches. Teespring has become highly saturated but that isn't a bad thing. The online public recognizes and has become more familiar with Teespring, and trusts it. Hit the niches if you want to keep things fresh.

  • Some specific locations just aren't worth advertising to. I couldn't get anyone in Louisiana to buy shit from me regardless of how precise my campaigns were designed and marketed. Some locations simply aren't as open to buying online as more progressive cities.

  • Be careful about copyright. I used an image that "belonged" to my hometown (it was sort of a public city landmark) and the campaign did very well, but a city council member hit me with an online cease and desist letter. I had to call off the campaign after wasting like $50. No legal actions were taken, but now I realize that it's not worth dicking around with others images/property.

  • Overall, there are still many millions of dollars to be made with Teespring, and their business model is very fair to internet marketers. I'd imagine that they split revenues 50/50 with IM'ers (not positive about this, but it seems right).

  • One final suggestion: If you can make enough money off of Teespring, find an exit strategy. Start your own version of a company that uses a business model like Teespring's. That should be the end goal for everyone, right?
#campaigns #failed #learned #success #teespring
  • Profile picture of the author JCorp
    Good stuff, and I'd agree with most of what you stated.

    And for most people, I'm seeing that after 20, 30 or so campaigns, they finally hit a campaign that tips.

    It can get discouraging, but it teaches you that this is really a volume business, UNTIL you come up with a system where say 1 in 5 of your campaigns tip and makes you good money ($500 to $1K NET or more in 1 campaign).
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9284288].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author stefpdt
      Originally Posted by JCorp View Post

      Good stuff, and I'd agree with most of what you stated.

      And for most people, I'm seeing that after 20, 30 or so campaigns, they finally hit a campaign that tips.

      It can get discouraging, but it teaches you that this is really a volume business, UNTIL you come up with a system where say 1 in 5 of your campaigns tip and makes you good money ($500 to $1K NET or more in 1 campaign).
      Thank you for the feedback. I completely agree. I also get the feeling that the more you play with Teespring and Facebook's Power Editor, the more likely you are to figure out those $1K net campaigns within only 5 or so tries.

      I'm working hard towards a $500 campaign for my next step
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9284355].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author letsmakeit
    How many days or weeks did it take you until you found that working campaign?
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9295659].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Elenny
    I just ended my 19th failed campaign in one month. But it's getting better. The last 5 campaigns have reserved between 5 and 7 shirts. One campaign had 8 reserves, and I bought the last 2 shirts to tip it at 10. Ended up breaking even on that one. But I'm learning more every day. Thanks to everyone that shares their lessons learned.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9296124].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author pnglifesolutions
    very useful information. I am a bit wary of jumping onto Teespring bandwagon since the cost of learning is rather high I suppose. Thanks for saving the learning curve. btw what is OCPM?
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9296359].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author mrozlat
    Originally Posted by stefpdt View Post

    One final suggestion: If you can make enough money off of Teespring, find an exit strategy. Start your own version of a company that uses a business model like Teespring's. That should be the end goal for everyone, right?
    i noticed that you can send buyers a message... so sending people a message to signup to your list for 'more great gear' would be one way to build up a database of buyers and then you may not only sell tshirts but also other stuff like stickers and caps and jewellery or whatever niche your passionate about and building a business in
    Signature
    CLICK HERE To Submit A Guest Post On A Popular Health Website
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9307282].message }}

Trending Topics