Category: Creators

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Revolutionizing fitness: How Champsworth’s gym went digital

Fans will be preparing globally for 2021 over the coming weeks by planning their fitness and wellness goals. With gyms closing and social distancing in place, health and fitness creators are finding perfect opportunities to help their communities achieve the same results independently indoors.

LA based creator and fitness instructor Champsworth Online & Uncensored is living proof of how digital products are game-changing for his industry. Stick with us and find out how.

@teespring

Fitness creator Champsworth Online & Uncensored shares how after his gym closing, he dropped a digital fitness program for fans to work out at home.

♬ original sound – Teespring

Keep calm, drop a digital fitness plan, carry on

After Harris Martin, founder of Champsworth Online and Uncensored discovered the chance to continue earning by offering his services and content digitally. Having to close and re-open his gym several times forced him to consider other options. Not being able to train clients or deliver fitness plans face to face meant digitizing his content and profession meant keeping his hustle moving, setting him up to keep profits going in the new year.

  • The ability to keep fans (and himself) active social distancing restrictions and regulations changing regularly
  • Guiding and encouraging clients to achieve their goals independently through his thorough content without being physically there with them 
  • An opportunity to keep generating income and continue doing what he does best—helping his followers become better versions of themselves, despite the obstacles of 2020
  • Instant delivery. With a simple download, fans can get going right away while they’re feeling motivated, without any excuses.

In it together and getting fit from home 

What’s so smart about the content included in the program is it’s tailored not only for individuals with real goals and determination, but it’s designed specifically for working out at home. His content taps into his entire community’s needs (and beyond), from beginners to fitness fanatics—plus, no weights are needed and no goal set is unreachable. 

The downloadable fitness program bundle includes 9 workout videos, a nutrition plan, biweekly weigh-ins, and fitness examinations. Above the fact that Harris is able to share his expertise and positivity through his product, promoting on social media platforms such as Instagram has reaped insane success so far. 

The digital fitness bundle gives fans a sense of community in sharing their fitness journeys, tips and experiences together on social media. Harris and his fans are going through the same experience right now, so launching a digital product was the perfect way to adapt, stay fit, and keep connected. The Digital Launcher was everything he needed to make his gym, services and concept accessible to anyone.

We’re obsessed with the tenacity of this creator and everything he’s achieved (despite the obstacles) with determination to make his digital fitness program not only keep himself afloat, but support others. Thank you to Harris for sharing his story. Find Champsworth Online & Uncensored on Instagram, or head straight to his store. 

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Halocene: music, merch and more with UNLOCKD

Joseph, Brad and Addie are a three piece band from Phoenix, known as Halocene. With 4 original albums, over 300 covers on YouTube, and live concerts streamed on Twitch 3 times a week, they have built a loyal fan base that continues to grow.  

Merch inspired by a deeper message 

In conjunction with the release of Halocene’s new single “Devil Inside Me”, the band decided to create a new line of merchandise. Both the music and the merch raises awareness of an issue that affects so many lives in different ways—the never ending loop symbol speaks of struggling with addiction.

“In our music video, mine and Brad’s stories are constantly interlocked. What’s unique about this song is that it’s our first duet, and we play with the concept of having two voices speaking to each other throughout the song.”

Halocene x UNLOCKD

Halocene’s exclusive design is screen-printed on Champion’s premium garment range, as a part of Teespring’s UNLOCKD program. Fans will be able to purchase the design on both Champion’s double dry eco hoodie and unisex t-shirt. The signature Champion ‘C’ is also embroidered on each garment for authenticity.

“As independent artists, we’ve spent years making this band the best that it can be. The fact that we’re able to launch merch printed on Champion branded products is something we never even imagined would be possible.”

UNLOCKD is Teespring’s brand partnership program—recognizing talented creators like Halocene, giving them the opportunity to drop customized products from iconic and recognizable brands. Allowing the band to create unique merch in partnership with Champion allows not only an elevated commerce experience for their followers, but means they finish up with merch their community won’t want to miss out on.

Generating hype with merch drops 

Using branded merchandise as a tool for music promotion has a long-standing history in the industry. Selling customized products to fans allows artists to create conversations, spread the word, and encourage excitement. This Champion branded merch gives Halocene’s fans the perfect opportunity to show their support and loyalty by wearing the band’s designs.

We’d like to thank Halocene for sharing their experience with us and wish them the best of luck with their newest awesome single “Devil inside me”. 

Be sure to check out Halocene’s merch, Instagram and YouTube channel.  

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Creators

How Sanne Vander built a successful merch brand on YouTube from her bedroom

Lifestyle YouTuber Sanne Vander is passionate about creating health and fitness content for her community. Sanne’s wellness–focused channel educates and inspires viewers with beauty tips, healthy living and fitness plans.

Continue reading to discover how Sanne built her brand (VNDR), created a dedicated community of fans (a.k.a. her “Vander family”), finds design inspiration, promotes her products, and more.

Building a relatable brand

“I fell in love with the concept of being able to create video content, upload it from your bedroom and share it with the world. Whether you are making videos or merch, all creative processes start with a story. What message do you want to get out to the world? Don’t be afraid to change your direction along the way.“

Sanne’s brand VNDR official has rocketed since growing her following across YouTube and Instagram. The secret behind her success is being able to engage with fans on a personal level. On Sanne’s YouTube channel you’ll find the “girl chat” playlist, discussing her personal struggles—covering everything from mental health to periods and shaving. Opening up in such a genuine way helps her connect with viewers, building trust around her brand. Fans are able to join Sanne on her fitness journey too, following her work–out experiments and transformation challenges. Her engaging, relatable video content has enabled Sanne to establish a large, loyal following of people who are proud to wear the products she creates.  

Designing products fit for ‘Vanders’

“Creating merch with Spring is super easy and efficient. I use the launcher to create designs directly without using other software like Photoshop or Illustrator.”

By creating her own sleek storefront, VNDR official merch, Sanne joined a network of thousands of influential, young entrepreneurial women using Spring to grow their personal brand.

As well as making design concepts personal to her story and identity, a lot of Sanne’s merch inspiration comes from her fans directly. Sanne’s products include not only variations of her branding, but uplifting messages on her clothing and accessories. For example, her Let’s Glow hoodie features two dragons on the back, encouraging Vanders to “become the strongest, most powerful” versions of themselves. 

Selling a range of products from athletic wear to hoodies, Sanne motivates followers to get #vanderfit and wear them while following her workouts. Take note–she’s successfully integrated top trending loungewear and is seeing promising sales from new products like fanny packs, sports bras, socks, and beanies. 

‘Glowing up’ social media to promote merch

Sanne excels at promoting on social media. She’s got Instagram totally figured out, taking full advantage of the platform’s full range of useful tools and features. Sanne follows promotional techniques on Instagram like highlighting her store link within her account bio, using Instagram stories to feature fans wearing VNDR products, as well as posting photos and videos wearing her own products too.

“My Vanders share a lot of photos of themselves wearing VNDR official merch on social media. It makes me happy seeing how amazing the designs look on them.”

Sanne also effectively promotes her products on YouTube. She’s set up the Teespring x YouTube merch shelf integration to showcase products and increase sales. She’s also optimized her channel banner to feature merch images and most importantly, wears her products in her video content too. As viewers watch her content they’re able to preview and purchase the same product from her merch shelf below the video.    

Thank you to Sanne for sharing her story! You can check out Sanne’s merch on her VNDR storefront, join the #Vanderfit club by subscribing Sanne’s Youtube Channel or check out her VNDR official instagram.

Get started on building your brand and designing your merch below.

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How conservationists are combatting COVID-19 setbacks with merchandise

Deon Appelcryn, the director of Untamed Brewing Company, has one mission—to save Africa’s wildlife, one beer at a time. Centering their work around conservation and inspired by the African wild dog, they collaborate with non-profit organizations. Using income from sales, they support the ongoing struggle to preserve endangered animals and their habitats. Untamed Brewing embraces their passion for beer, Africa and wildlife to fuel their business, vision and product collection. 

Diversifying income with their social store

Unfortunately, like many other small businesses worldwide, COVID-19 has severely impacted Untamed Brewing. Being locked down for several weeks has forced the company to close its doors, unable to sell alcohol or even distribute merchandise to their international customer base. Despite their recent hardships, the team is finding new ways to keep themselves afloat and stay active with conservation efforts through merchandise. 

“COVID-19 has already caused a huge impact on our business, so if it’s extended further, we don’t know how we will recover. However, we have plans in place and are positive we will see this through. In the meantime we can continue to sell our merchandise globally through Teespring to fund our business and raise awareness.”

Finding ‘wild’ inspiration 

Untamed Brewing’s products are created around the face of the business—the African wild dog, making their most popular design the ‘Logo Dog Range’. Deon’s volunteer work with the species is the inspiration and story behind Untamed Brewing’s merch designs. Apart from their popular t-shirts, they offer sweatshirts, hoodies, athletic wear, and kids clothing too. Based on recent sales trends they’ve also expanded their collection to include a range of homeware and accessories like mugs, pillows, wall art, phone cases, bags and socks.

Selling on social media  

As a passionate, global group of supporters on social media, Facebook is their primary platform for promoting merch. By following our Facebook promo guide, they are able to generate high engagement and click through rates on the content they share. Notably, the team also wears samples of their products regularly to raise awareness for their brand, conservation efforts, and drive sales.  

 

“We use Facebook adverts as well as selling merchandise at events. All staff are always wearing branded clothing. We get people stopping us on the street asking for shirts! Our adverts on Facebook cause spikes in sales on Teespring, so we’re pushing those more and more.”

Building a conservation community

From connecting with locals at events to spreading awareness of their work (and beer) on social media, Untamed Brewing’s story demonstrates how you can turn a passion (or two) into a successful business that makes a real, positive impact in real life. Their merch enhances brand building by creating opportunities for followers to support their business, contribute to a worthy cause, and raise international awareness. 

“Creating a custom store on Teespring provided the best option–from fast products to customer service. It enables us to build our brand and sell products at scale without having to worry about fulfillment logistics and customer support.”

Despite the challenges posed by the global pandemic the Untamed Brewing team maintains a positive mindset and looks to the future. We’d like to thank them for sharing their story and wish them the best of luck in the future!

Want to support Untamed Brewing Company and their ‘pack’?

Check out their store, follow @untamed_brewing_company and visit their facebook page Untamed Brewing.

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Chef Christian’s tips on creating profit with merch during COVID-19

Christian Hayes is passionate about food. After starting a successful catering company with his wife, Christine, the couple decided to open their restaurant, The Garrison. Located in Yarmouth, Maine and surrounded by the rushing Royal River, their restaurant serves ‘thoughtful food’ and prides itself on having a brilliant and kind team. 

Generate pure profit

Business was booming until COVID-19 spread across the world. Like many small businesses, social distancing and lock downs have hit The Garrison hard and forced Christian and Christine to make some very difficult decisions. 

“It’s been awful. Restaurants, hospitality, and catering are all centered around the pretty basic concept of humans congregating. When a pandemic’s direct response is for people not to gather for an unforeseen amount of time – that decimates our industry. We already function on the slimmest of margins. One week off, and you start to feel the pressure. Having to lay off our invested staff who have built these companies beside us was heartbreaking.”

Despite the hardships Christian and his family continue pushing forward. He’s committed to finding new ways to generate income until this passes and life returns to normal—including creating branded merchandise.  

“Business is about playing offense and defense, and adapting. You got to pivot. Teespring allowed us to add a revenue stream of pure profit, with no expenses. That’s invaluable in times like these.”

Create appealing designs

Christian was able to create a new merch collection, a custom store, and started getting sales within a week of signing up to Teespring. His designs are inspired by his love of rock & roll and motorcycle culture, and similar to his restaurant the aesthetic uniquely combines a high-end look with a bit of attitude. The main thing for Christian was creating products he would want to wear. 

The Garrion’s merch features several different design collections. Their most popular product so far is the premium tee in the Snake Bite design. Apart from tees, Christian also offers sweatshirts, hoodies, tote bags, tank tops, women’s tees, and die cut stickers featuring each design.  

Community is key

Christian’s merch collection has enabled his community and loyal patrons to show their support for the business. He’s utilizing social media to let people know about the products and has been overwhelmed by the response. Following promotional best practices like sharing visual posts is effective for creating engagement and driving sales. 

“Obviously social media is paramount, and staying ahead of the curve on those platforms is key. We have an incredibly loyal customer base who desperately want to help, so fueling the fire by creating things they can get excited about is priority. The way the community has gathered around us to offer support and words of encouragement has been so overwhelming and humbling. It reminds us that human beings are incredible.”

Never give up

While no one knows what the future holds, Christian plans to further diversify income through merch and creating new services at the restaurant like prepped meals, staple boxes with fresh ingredients, and more.  

“Stay up. It’s times like these that make us who we are, so keep swinging, and look out for each other. It’s the only thing we can do.”

Want to support Christian and his family? Check out his store and follow @thegarrisonmaine.

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PLASMA Magazine: Earth Day designs

Earth Day will be celebrated on April 22, 2020 by millions of people around the world. This year is the 50th anniversary of Earth Day and this year’s theme is “climate action”—the pressure is on to take action (and fast) and combat climate change! Earth Day aims to increase awareness of the planet, pollution, climate change, endangered species, and many other environmental issues to drive transformative change. 

With the recent launch of our Conscious Collection, now is the perfect time to create eco-friendly products in line with Earth Day 2020. PLASMA Magazine is an international publication that combines art + science to inspire curiosity and appreciation for the planet and the space that surrounds it. PLASMA have just launched their own Conscious Collection, so we caught up with them to learn more about their publication and how it inspires their designs.

Diana Wehmeier, CEO and Creative Director of PLASMA Magazine

Creating product collections

The team at PLASMA was initially drawn to Teespring’s sustainable business model, where products are only produced on demand. After seeing trusted companies use the platform for merch needs they decided to give it a try for themselves. 

After the success of several product collections, PLASMA has incorporated new items from the Conscious Collection into their store, which aligns perfectly with Earth Day. These products give buyers the chance to purchase apparel and accessories with reduced environmental impact while supporting environmental non-profits.

“Researching space exploration and planetary studies only bring us closer to our own planet and helps you appreciate everything a little more. There is no other place like earth (as far as we know). This planet is precious and the only home we have, it is imperative to save and protect it for future generations.”

PLASMA Magazine’s Conscious Collection

Finding design inspiration

The magazine’s content is designed to engage younger people and communicate science and technology in a more fun and appealing way. Each issue is jam-packed with stories, behind the scenes sneak peeks, photo series, posters, nerd guides, all things art + science, plus interviews featuring scientists from diverse fields  talking about their personal motivations and passions.

The magazine’s content is also what inspires the unique design featured on their products. 

“The latest science news and events is what influences and inspires our merchandise designs. For the focus of our eco-conscious collection we selected a few fan favorite pages that create an awareness not only for planet Earth, but also other celestial bodies like the moon and Mars!”

A page from PLASMA issue 5 that inspired one of their top selling product designs.

Promoting products

PLASMA successfully launches new products using a combination of promotion best practices. During the pre-launch phase they generate hype and interest by sharing ‘sneak peek’ sample photos with their online following.

“First we test with a teaser or sneak peek, by ordering samples and taking photos we can see the products firsthand and gauge the response on social media.” 

PLASMA also asks fans to share photos and videos with the products once they arrive. This enables them to collect social proof which can be used in the future to drive more sales. 

“We often get mentioned in stories or tagged in posts or people send us lovely messages about their merch, that’s always very sweet and motivating.”

PLASMA fans and readers repping their merch

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Margaux’s tips for turning political passion into a successful brand

Margaux Pepper is a Chitown-based, Southern spitfire with a penchant for good food and bad puns. By day, she’s a brand strategist at a PR firm, and by night she’s a feminist lettering artist and clothing designer. For her, International Women’s Day is not only a moment to celebrate the progress made toward equality, but also a reminder of the work that’s yet to be realized.

Continue reading to learn more about Margaux and her personal brand, where she finds design inspiration, promotional tips and more.  

Building a brand

Margaux is one example of the hundreds of thousands of fabulous females building their own personal brands and businesses on Teespring. Following her role as a contributing artist for a feminist clothing collection, Margaux decided to go independent create her own personal brand, Pepper vs. Patriarchy. Teespring’s on-demand business model meant Margaux could create 50+ products instantly without any upfront costs or risk—she was able to combine her love of feminism and art, and turn her ideas into a full range of products to sell online. 

“I love the wide range of styles, colors, products, and extended sizing. It was important to me to offer my designs with the most options possible so that customers felt included and like they could find something they love!”

Finding inspiration

Margaux says design inspiration comes from friends and family sharing their ideas or making requests on what they’d like to see or wear. For example, her Women 2020 design was an idea her mom came up with, to support female candidates at all levels! This same technique can be used by other Teespring users who are designing for an existing audience—some of the most successful designs sold on are inspired by a creator’s fanbase.

Promoting products

Keep in mind using real samples in promotional content can increase sales by 50%, so it’s no surprise featuring product samples are Margaux’s preferred promotional method. She incorporates images of herself, friends and customers wearing products into her Instagram feed, stories, and highlights. These images not only create tons of engagement, they’re also examples of social proof which can influence other followers to purchase too. 

“It’s great to be able to order samples and take photos of myself in the products, but it means so much to me to see other people wearing and enjoying my designs in their everyday lives…One of my friends from college wore my Good Bi design as part of her coming out journey, which basically made my heart explode. It means so much to me that something I created could be part of a moment like that.” 

Margaux’s fans repping her products 

The future is female

When Margaux isn’t growing her brand on Instagram, she works as a brand strategist at the second largest Public Relations firm in the world. One of the main reasons she chose to explore a career in PR was because of the opportunities she saw for women at all levels of leadership within the agency, both in Chicago and globally. 

“When women are given a fair shot and a chance to succeed, the work they make, the teams they lead, and the culture they create ultimately benefits everyone.” 

This is the core message of Margaux’s personal beliefs and brand…and it’s the perfect mantra to celebrate International Women’s Day 2020. With that in mind, we’d like to take a moment to recognize all of the inspiring female and female identifying users on the platform—we’ve selected a range below for you to discover and get inspired by! Of course, we couldn’t include everyone, but don’t forget to check out our Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook where we are always featuring our amazing users.

Top row (from left to right): Moriah Elizabeth / Quiet Cool Kid / Shawna Lynn / Allison Bickerstaff

Bottom Row (From left to right): Ava Pearl / Jessica Kellgren-Fozard / Lehua Superfina / Sanne Vander

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Streamers increase sales with live merch alerts

We’re taking your merch sales to the next level by rolling out customizable, live merch alerts! Starting today, buyers can create personalized messages post-purchase that are visible to you and all viewers on-stream. Streamers who activate merch alerts are increasing their merch sales by an average of 32%. Teespring’s live merch alerts are available on every streaming platform integrated with Streamlabs—including YouTube, Twitch, Mixer, Facebook Gaming, and more.

Merch alert perks

Previously, fans were paying upwards of $5 just to have their message read on-stream. Now, they can pay $5, get a sticker (or other product), and customize a live merch alert!

  • Grow your channel & brand presence via merch sales and notifications.
  • Activating merch alerts can increase sales by an average of 32%.
  • Encourage fan engagement and increase awareness of merch offering.
  • Viewers can purchase merch to send you custom messages that can be read on-stream.

Twitch streamer Janell Wheeler loves merch alerts.

Activate merch alerts

Activating Teespring’s live merch alerts is easy—you just need to set up Streamlabs OBS alerts within the ‘Integrations‘ section of your Teespring account. Once you’ve completed setup buyers can create custom messages that appear on-stream whenever they purchase one of your merch products.

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How @DogDads turned his passion into a business with Teespring

Daniel O. created his @dogdads Instagram account as a way to connect with other pet-minded individuals. In just 9 months, Daniel’s account grew from a passion project to a full-scale operation—complete with user submissions, a merch line, and 46,000 followers. Now, Daniel is sharing his story to give others insight on his design process and explain how you can stay true to your brand when creating merch.

Birth of the ‘Pawpas’

Daniel’s internet fame happened by accident, beginning by posting on Instagram in September 2018. The content he shared focused on his relationship and adventures with his dog, Indiana. Daniel noticed a steady increase in the amount of likes and engagements on his posts almost instantly. His personal Instagram quickly transformed into a forum where fellow “dog dads” could submit and share their own photos.

Daniel and Indiana

Selling merch without “selling out”

At this point Daniel began to consider the possibility of connecting his community of “Proud Pawpas’ with custom merch. His main concern was providing followers with custom, quality products they would truly love.

“A couple dog brands reached out to me asking [for] help promoting their apparel products. I honestly didn’t like what they were selling, and due to the right circumstances, I figured I could try and create my own designs. I see it like this; any company, brand or even just a Instagram account has a debt to their audience, and I feel my audience deserves an option of premium goods and creative designs, and I owe that to them.”

By staying true to his roots, Daniel continue to build trust with his audience and work on products they’ll actually enjoy. After discovering Teespring through work, Daniel began working on his merchandise.

A fan wearing a piece of Daniel’s merch.

Teespring’s ease of use is what first attracted Daniel to our platform, but he’s stayed for the quality of our products and the fun he gets from designing. Of Teespring, Daniel explains,

“Once I discovered your site, I understood the potential, and I thought to myself, this site is pure genius. The flow from the designed UI makes the creative process a joy to experience, bringing back the importance of imagination, inspiration, and enlightening focus on artwork.”

Currently, he is working with multiple designers to release new merch in line with the dog dads brand. His favorite thing about Dog Dads is the community he’s built, so much so that some fans use it as a dating platform.

Feeling inspired?

[button href=https://teespring.com/design-launcher/ target=_blank]Create a design[/button]

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We’re hosting a Sponsored Session at Vidcon 2019!

Just announced: we’re going to Vidcon! Vidcon will run through Wednesday, July 10th – Saturday, July 13th in Anaheim, California. Join your favorite creators and thousands of other attendees enjoying live panels, Q+A’s, live performances, and major brand announcements. As an official sponsor of Vidcon 2019, we’ll be hosting our own “sponsored session” discussing our top recommendations for selling merch while staying true to your audience.

“The secrets of selling merch, without selling out”

How do you create and sell merch without looking like a self-absorbed “influencer”? Learn from industry experts and creators who are crushing merch sales by creating custom products their communities love. Getting started with merch on Teespring is totally free, so whether you have 10 or 100,000 followers, you will leave the session with the know-how to create and sell awesome merch in minutes.

Panel Guests

Chris Lamontagne, Teespring CEO.

Draw with Jazza, YouTube creator.

David Berg, production manager for Aphmau (Twitch + YouTube streamer)

Samery Moras, rising creator and 6-time US National Champion in Taekwondo and Team USA Competitor.

Jack Farina, Creator Partnerships for Teespring.

Jared Fowler, Design Lead for Teespring.

Be sure to visit Teespring’s Sponsored Session for all of your merch questions. We’re excited to see you there!

[button href=http://vidcon.com/register// target=_blank]Get tickets[/button]