This story was originally published on Passionfruit.
One important way creators monetize their content is by selling merchandise. Merchandise includes any product one can think of that is tied to a creator’s name—T-shirts, hoodies, mugs, koozies, and so on.
Selling merchandise is a marketing strategy often employed by creators to raise brand awareness, build community, and make some extra money. The stronger a creator’s community is, the more likely they’ll be able to make merchandise sales a viable stream of income.
It’s easier than ever before to outsource the creation and sales of merchandise. Many “print-on-demand” merchandise companies now allow a user to upload designs to their websites and print them across a variety of products. The company will usually take care of order fulfillment and shipping once a customer has decided they’d like something from the store. It’ll even handle customer service for handling returns and refunds.
