or: How To Sell T-Shirts Online

Most people interested in making money online start out by selling services, as affiliate marketers, play with AdSense, or resell info products  like eBooks in whatever niche they are in. Usually the goal is to one day sell an actual physical product such as DVD which has a much higher perceived value (= profit) than any product you can download.

The way I started out is almost reversed – my first product was actually a physical product: I sold geeky t-shirts with unique designs. Well, I haven’t touched these shirt sites since I set them up years ago but I am still selling them on autopilot. And the best: except for investing into domain name this was down for free.
Let me explain…

Back in 2002 I was inspired to design Mac related t-shirts. At the time I had ordered some cool shirts from the legendary MacSurfShop.com and was frequently asked by strangers where to get them. Since MacSurfShop.com closed a few months later I started designing my own t-shirts and offered them through two sites: Zazzle.com and CafePress.com. All I had to do was design a graphic or slogan, upload my graphic file, and pick a product like t-shirts, mugs etc. I wanted to feature my design. I compared the product quality of both sites and decided at the time to go with CafePress.

The Mac related designs were simple (or should I say embarrassing…) and did not sell. Ironically, another design that I had created just for myself with no commercial intentions caught some attention and started selling instead… Its the design of a the structural formula of a caffeine molecule – and it’s still selling at CaffeineShirt.com.

I did not use the “shop” or “premium” option with a dedicated website and monthly fee – instead I used the free accounts and build my own simple shop website featuring the products. Next step was an AdWords campaign to drive traffic via CPC (cost-per-click) to the site…
Years later I added related designs I liked and that were selling as well at CafePress.com to my site: if people didn’t like my design chances were that they clicked at least on the other designs. Ended they buying one of those shirts I would get a small affiliate commission. This simple change to my website doubled the income from the site within a few days. It was also my first experience with affiliate marketing.

While this single site didn’t make me rich it’s a constant source of income – even 7 years after the initial setup. Once the design is done and the products set up CafePress.com takes care of the rest: taking orders, production, shipping, customer service etc.

If you are somewhat creative and interested in starting something similar – here a few tips:

* In the meantime there are many more sites offering similar services. Cafepress.com and Zazzle.com offer a wide variety of products but if you are interested in focusing on t-shirts check out this blog post at webdesignerdepot.com – it lists 26 examples of online t-shirt shops. Always check t fine print reg. the rights of the designs you upload!

* When designing it’s an advantage to keep it simple: use only a few colors. This way you can go with “screen printing” as a production method which is cheaper and more durable than the heat transfer method used for more photo realistic designs. This way you also keep your options open – you could to get them manufactured at other places for very little money and sell them yourself directly. Of course then you will have to deal with inventory, shipping etc… While you might increase your profit drastically you would eliminate the “auto pilot” aspect…

* Usually the “store” or “premium options” at these sites are not that interesting (because too expensive) – especially when starting out. Unless you have a killer design you will be struggling to make any money.

* CafePress.com i.e. offers newsletter signup boxes: this allows potential customers to subscribe to your newsletter BUT you will never have real control over the list you build this way – i.e. there is no way to see or export these email addresses. So, instead I recommend to use your own auto-responder service to build a list of potential clients that’s truly yours. Of course this is also something you can also only do with your own store front website.

* Once you found a design that sells go ahead and duplicate I never did (don’t ask me why) – BIG mistake…

I hope this example shows you the variety of opportunities out there – that often can be started on a tiny budget. Personally I learned a lot from this experience – without even realizing it at first: from picking a “niche”, affiliate marketing, to list building.

Whichever route you chose to go: make sure not to get stuck in the research phase but take action and implement!

Best – Christoph

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The key to success is knowing how and where to start. Without the right starting point you will waste precious time and in the worst case spend a ton of money online rather than making any. Chances are, once you start looking into “make money online” opportunities you get overwhelmed by the endless ways and business opportunities that are offered.

I remember when I discovered Internet Marketing (IM) I was like a kid in a candy store:
There I had been online for more than a decade but somehow managed not to stumble upon the IM scene. I was amazed by the methods and promises. I signed up for every free offer and trial there was. Soon (very soon actually) came the point where I was downloading information and products faster than I could digest. Maybe it’s human nature maybe it’s just me with the pack rat gene. So, there I was filling up my hard drive with everything I could find and at the same time I was bombarded with all the newsletters I had subscribed too – most of which were urging me to get even more tools…

When you are at this point – also known as “information overload” – usually one of the following scenarios happens:

A) like paralyzed by all the choice you cannot decide which way to go – and end up not doing anything.

B) you keep yourself busy with downloading material and chasing the latest trends & offers. You feel you are working hard but are not  getting anywhere because you are not implementing anything – don’t take focused action. Unfortunately, I know this one very well! I was stuck in this phase longer than I care to admit…

C) you start with one method or program, don’t get the results promised, give up and jump to the next opportunity only to fail again. Eventually, you are so frustrated that you give up. I went through this phase too but never got to the point where I wanted to give up. If you go this route you probably invest a lot of time and money – which in return might lead you to believe that everything is a big scam. Part of the problem here are the hyped promises but often also the misconception that making money using the internet doesn’t require any work.

So, if any of these scenarios sound familiar don’t worry – you are normal

The solution to all this mess is easy – at least in theory:

1. Read a few select books or eBooks that give a good overview about the different ways of making money online.

2. Pick a method that you feel the most comfortable with. It doesn’t matter if it is using Adsense, eBay, Affiliate Marketing, creating your own product  – just pick one and implement. Once you are making money with that  method either duplicate it or if this sounds too boring, pick another method.

An excellent starting point is Holly Mann’s “Honest Riches” (245 pages). In fact, this was my first (and best) eBook purchase ever. Writing a detailed review is on my to do list.

Another common problem I observe – and experienced myself -  is that people get sucked into the internet marketing niche. This to the extend that they forget to take the methods used in the IM field and apply them to completely different niches. The IM scene is fascinating and attracts a large crowd but its safe to say that the competition is also much stronger than in most other niches.

I consider myself extremely lucky: the marketers and people I found during my first steps into the IM world turned out to be honest and for the most part gave great advice. Did I get cheated or scammed during the 3 years I am pursuing Internet Marketing seriously? Oh yes, and I am still mad – at the (former) big name marketer and also myself for falling for it.
But this is for one of the next posts…

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