Category: Creators

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Creators

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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Creators

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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Creators

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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Creators

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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Creators

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]

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Creators

Teespring partners with Famebit for global Merch Shelf rollout!

After a successful launch and $1M investment  in the UK creator space, we’re setting our sights on further global growth. We want to bring the power of YouTube’s Merch Shelf to creators worldwide!

In 2019 Teespring will strengthen its presence in Canada, Australia, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Portugal, Ireland, and Belgium in tandem with the expansion of YouTube’s Merch Shelf. We’ve teamed up with Famebit to create quality video content and spread the word about the Merch Shelf going global!

Are you on Famebit?

We’re calling all creators to check out our campaign and apply. We’d love to feature your video content in our marketing campaigns and help raise awareness that this tool is available to creators worldwide.

[button href=https://famebit.com/app/sponsorships/public/126059/viewCampaign target=_blank]Apply now[/button]

If you’re not on Famebit and/or already have video about your merch let us know. We’re looking to feature your video on Teespring’s social media and advertising channels.

Merch Shelf in action

See how other creators are using the Merch Shelf to monetize their channels and connect with fans in the videos below. Learn how you can partner with Teespring and access this powerful tool today—visit the official Merch Shelf website now.