You probably know your podcast followers like the back of your hand and want to provide great merchandise for them. This is a great source of revenue as you have a niche demographic who is willing to purchase from you. You can create a merchandise store with ease and provide cool products for your followers without taking away your focus from podcasting. There are tools available that make creating original merchandise quick and easy.
Creating Original Merchandise for Podcast Followers
When you decide to launch your own merchandise for your podcast, you can consider different platforms that will streamline the process for you. Many of these platforms have integrations designed for companies like yours.
Pick a Print-On-Demand Shop
You can choose a print-on-demand platform that helps you customize high-quality clothes with no up-front cost. With this approach, you can design your merchandise and appeal to your podcast followers, as you know them well. The print-on-demand store will manage all of the printing, shipping, and logistics. The purchaser picks the item they want to purchase and they are shipped the item, while you take a small cut of the total amount of the payment. You never have to worry about stocking items or inventory. That is all managed by the print-on-demand business model. Additionally, they can provide customer service. However, it is you who will be the face of the store and reaching out to potential buyers.
Pick an E-Commerce Platform or Host A Site
You can either chose to host a website or feature your store on an e-commerce platform. Both will work well, but the easiest and cheapest approach is the former. That is because e-commerce stores are designed for providing merchandise and will have many tools that will help build repeat customers. Making a self-hosted site from scratch takes time to create. Also, it can be a lot more expensive as you have to either do the graphic design, template design, and webpage building on your own. E-commerce stores are already set up to be easy to launch once you upload your products.
Select Your Most Popular Merchandise
The most popular merchandise for podcasters tends to be t-shirts, hats, pins, and stickers. For podcasters that really appreciate what you have to say, they would love to rock t-shirt designs with your brand name on them. Another item that podcast followers love is hats. Similar to t-shirts, a hat can have a major logo or icon on it which stands for your podcast. This can be fun and creative, even engaging for your followers to the sport. Pins are also a great product to offer, which can be placed on t-shirts, backpacks, or hats. You can add a slogan or catchphrase to a pin that only your followers can relate to. Mugs are a great product, and can also double as a gift for your followers. They’re also incredibly cheap and a great option for those who don’t want to spend much.
Design Your Products
The types of designs you make can be a graphic, words, or a combination of both. Create something that has a special meaning that only your followers understand. If your fans have a long history of listening to your podcast, pick something that is a throw-back that reminds them of the earlier times. This creates some sentiment between you and your followers.
Reward Your Customers
Appeal to your customers by giving them special access to products before they are launched in your store. You can also do limited edition items that are seasonal or are only offered for a short amount of time. Another idea is to give away free merch on rare occasions to increase your popularity. Competitions are a fun way for you to engage with your followers, which gives you the opportunity to provide free merch. Lastly, you can encourage your followers to keep checking your store for discounts and coupon sales. You can give your followers a unique code that makes them feel even more appreciated.
Get Started Releasing Podcast Merchandise
Make sure you work with a quality print shop. If you want to pick a great print-on-demand shop you can visit: printful.com/podcast-merch.
