Creating a product is the first step. Now it’s time to share product newness with fans. Create engaging promotional content by featuring samples of your products. Show them off. Chat about them. Take photos. Create some hype.
Our advice?
Order samples of your product
Announce your launch on social media
Include links to your product
Share, and share again
Check out examples of @ashleyooacevedo’s promotional posts on Instagram.
By featuring samples in your content, you’ll be 6x more likely to get a sale compared to those who don’t. See how @workforyourbeer does it below.
Spring and Instagram are expanding access to Shops on Instagram to 350,000+ US creators, just in time for the holiday season. From today, they can earn 100% profit on all sales driven through the shop integration until December 31, 2021.
This unprecedented move means that creators will earn more than ever before: if a creator sells a hoodie for $40, they will keep all $40. This initiative will support creators even further as they ramp up sales in upcoming weeks—using powerful promotional tools like tagging products in posts, stories, reels, and more.
The initiative spearheaded by Spring and Instagram, is intended to further accelerate the creator economy for both aspiring and established creators. Historically, we’ve seen many make more sales during the holiday season than the entire year combined, so we’re looking forward to seeing this groundbreaking opportunity benefit thousands.
We’ve added black mugs to the launcher—but there’s a few differences you should know when creating your design.
Long-awaited black mugs are here. Read through the tips below to make sure your design looks exactly as you imagined.
The printable area
Let’s start by explaining how it works. The entire mug is black, but the actual printable area is white. During the sublimation process, the white sublimation area is filled with your artwork, and the “negative” areas of your design will be printed black to match the mug.
Use an off-white color palette
If there are white elements in your design, those areas will not have any ink applied. They’ll be treated as ‘empty’, meaning the white printing area will show through instead. Ideally, you don’t want this—ink may also bleed into the white background area. If you have white in your mug design, we recommend making it off-white, rather than a true white color.
Keep it simple
Since any negative space on your design will be filled with black ink, intricate prints may appear less crisp due to bleeding from the black ink. Keep your design bold and simple—this way, it will look more effective once printed.
Design effect don’ts
Also, we know it’s tempting, but refrain from applying effects when preparing your design. It won’t look great when applied to your mug and will often degrade the quality of your print. Examples of these effects might include:
Drop shadows
Spray paint effects or gradients
Low opacities—stick to 50% or higher
Avoid designs with straight edges
If you can, try and avoid using designs with perfectly circle or square shapes. They may look warped when placed on a round, cylindrical product like a mug.
That’s everything you need to create a 10/10 design. Head to the launcher below to start.
If you’re here, you’ve received an exclusive invite for our new service: custom product imagery.
There’s something magic about seeing products in the wild. That’s why we’re offering custom product images for select creators. But don’t delay, this is a limited time service. You have until November 10 to submit custom product images for this round of beta testing. Learn how to get started.
How it works is simple:
Order a product sample
Take a photo
Submit to our team (you can send up to two images)
Rake in the sales
So far, we’ve seen several creators who’ve added custom product images triple their sales. If you haven’t ordered a product sample, you can learn how here. It’s pretty simple.
Also note: We’ll keep all your “flat lay” images so fans can see what your product looks like.
Tips for taking product photos
There’s just a few ground rules you should follow.
Use real photos you’ve taken. Stock images will not perform well—your fans want to see you in your custom images.
Only submit PNG or JPEG file types. We cannot accept other file types e.g. HEIC
You can submit up to two custom images, photos must feature the same product and color option. We’ll keep two of the original product mockups so fans can clearly see what products look like.
Show your design clearly. If your design is featured on the front of your hoodie, make sure you’re facing the camera. Make sure your brand (and not any others) are the main focus of your images, too, and not being obscured.
Focus on photo quality. Take your photographs in a brightly lit area and ensure your photo is in focus.
Do not alter or add filters. This may cause the colors of your auto-generated flat-lay image to differ from your custom product image.
Send in a square image. We recommend 1000 x 1000 pixels.
Get started below.
All we need is the following:
Your image file
URL of the listing you’d like customized
If there’s more than one product in your listing, specify which one you’d like updated
She came, she created, she integrated—now, Christina Costa is reaping rewards from her shop on Instagram.
Christina Costa loves neuropsychology.
Not only is Christina pursuing her PhD from University of Michigan, she also teaches psychology to both undergraduate and high school students. On top of that, she’s written a book, given a TED talk, and regularly shares educational content with her fans. Even her dog is named Neuro.
Christina’s so passionate, in fact, that she started creating products to convey the messages most important to her: celebrating neurodiversity and promoting accessibility.
Sales were going well, and Christina was pleased. And then she integrated her store with Instagram.
On August 21, Christina posted a photo wearing her “Celebrate Neurodiversity” t-shirt she created with Spring. She tagged the product in her post, so fans could buy from her profile.
On that day alone, Christina racked up 150 sales of that shirt—her highest number of sales ever in a single day.
The best part—Christina’s not just spreading an important message; many of her proceeds from products are dedicated to cancer research.
“I love using the Spring feature on Instagram,” Christina says. “It makes it so easy to integrate the products on Instagram and raise money for cancer research!”
You can take advantage, too. Go to your profile and look for the “Add Shop” button. From there, you can tag products in posts, stories, and reels, making it easy for fans to buy right then and there—just like what happened with Christina. If you don’t see the “Add Shop” button, don’t fret—we’re still rolling this integration out for creators and it should be available for you soon.
Subject to all the terms and conditions, policies, rules, guidelines and definitions provided in the Spring “Terms of Service” available at: (https://www.spri.ng/policies/spring-terms-of-service), Spring is offering you an exclusive opportunity to purchase Creator Tools (defined below) during a limited 30-day trial period (“Beta”).
Participants in the Beta may purchase “Creator Tools” including Design Services, Design Guard and Internet Marketing (each service described below). Creator Tools may be provided by Spring or third parties on its behalf. Upon completion of the Beta, Spring may continue to offer Creator Tools to you at its discretion. Spring may terminate the Creator Tools at any time. To qualify for this limited Creator Tools Beta, you must acknowledge and agree to the following:
Payment. For any Creator Tools you wish to purchase, payment will be processed as set forth in the Price and Payment section of the Terms of Service.
Publicity. You may not make any public statements regarding the Creator Tools, including, without limitation, any publication, review, or evaluation, without prior written approval from Spring.
Feedback. If you have any feedback, comments, or suggestions for improving the Creator Tools (collectively “Feedback”), you will provide such Feedback to Spring at the end of the Beta. Spring may use, disclose and otherwise benefit from Feedback in any manner and via any media without restriction, royalty or any obligation to you.
No Warranty. All Creator Tools are provided “as-is” and are subject to the disclaimer of warranties set forth in the Terms of Service.
Spring Property. As between you and Spring, Spring retains all right, title and interest (including all intellectual property rights) in and to the Creator Tools, including its visual interfaces, graphical design, computer code, documentation and all other elements.
Description of Creator Tools
Design Services: Spring can help develop customized designs for use in other Spring Services (“Designs”). Subject to Spring’s acceptance, Spring will perform design services described in one or more Statements of Work (as defined below). The specific details of the Design Services to be performed will be determined on a per-project basis, and the details for each project will be described in a mutually executed statement of work (each, a “Statement of Work”). To the extent the Designs will include materials provided by you to Spring (“Creator Materials”), you represent and warrant to Spring that you own or otherwise have the necessary rights and consents in and relating to the Creator Materials so that, as received by Spring and used in accordance with these Terms, they do not and will not infringe, misappropriate, or otherwise violate any intellectual property or proprietary rights of any third party or violate any applicable law.
Review. In the course of performing the Design Services, Spring will request input on Designs from you, and you will provide such input in a timely manner. You agree that you may only request up to three revisions per Design, and any additional revisions are subject to Spring’s sole discretion.
Ownership of Designs. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Terms of Service, all final Designs created for you by Spring, as between you and Spring, will be your sole property. Designs that constitute copyrightable subject matter will be considered “works made for hire” to the extent permitted under the United States Copyright Act. To the extent that ownership of the Designs do not by operation of law vest in you, Spring will assign (or cause to be assigned) and does hereby assign to you all right, title, and interest in and to the Designs, including all related intellectual property rights. You acknowledge that under U.S. copyright law, copyright in each Design extends only to that unique expression of ideas, and not the ideas themselves, and accordingly, agrees that Spring is free to use the same ideas to create similar designs and themes.
License to Designs. You grant Spring (including any third-party providers acting on Spring’s behalf) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, sublicensable, transferable right and license to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, create derivative works of, communicate, publish, publicly display, publicly perform, distribute, and otherwise exploit the Designs for the purposes of allowing Spring to provide, improve, and promote the Spring Services.
Design Guard: Spring’s Design Guard service provides you with a non-comprehensive report with links of potential similar designs.] The materials and information in a Design Guard report are intended for informational purposes only, are not legal advice, and Spring takes no position on whether any designs may violate third-party rights. A Design Guard report is not intended to create, and receipt of it does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship. You should not act upon Design Guard report information without seeking advice from a lawyer licensed in your own state or country.
Internet Marketing: Spring’s Internet Marketing services help optimize a Creator’s store in an effort to improve the quality and quantity of website traffic using search engine optimization and other digital marketing strategies. Spring’s Internet Marketing services may help improve traffic or sales but are provided “as is” without any warranties or guarantees as to increased traffic or sales.
In May, Spring announced our partnership with Bondly, allowing creators to explore the possibilities of creating, minting and selling NFT’s. The question is: are NFTs harmful to the environment?
Short answer: Sometimes. There are blockchain companies finding solutions for excessive energy consumption and offsetting kgC02 emissions associated with the minting of NFT’s. Taking steps towards significantly reducing damage to the environment, Bondly has teamed up with a company who mint NFT’s responsibly. Meet Polygon: a blockchain using just 0.002% of the energy that other blockchains use.
First, let’s start with the basics:
What is an NFT?
Just like digital products, NFTs can be anything. However, there are some differences. NFT stands for non-fungible token. With NFTs, digital products can be “tokenized” to create a digital certificate of ownership that can be bought and sold.
Non-fungible token: a unit of data stored on a digital ledger, called a blockchain, that certifies a digital asset to be unique and therefore not interchangeable.
What are the benefits of launching NFTs for creators?
NFTs allow you to make sure that you get paid a percentage (or royalty) every time your NFT is sold or changes hands. That means, if your work increases in value, you’ll see some of that benefit.
No one can copy an NFT. This gives you absolute ownership of your work. For example, anyone can buy a Banksy print, but only one person can own the original. The artist can still retain the copyright and reproduction rights of an NFT, just like with physical artwork.
Fans can financially support creators like you. Buying an NFT gives fans basic usage rights, like being able to post the image online.
The environmental picture: Polygon VS other blockchains
Since most NFTs use the same blockchain technology as some energy-siphoning cryptocurrencies, they also end up using a lot of electricity as a result. Bondly has recently teamed up with Polygon to integrate eco-friendly NFT minting and are setting up a fund to offset their carbon footprint. One NFT with Polygon uses x3 less energy than streaming a video online for 1 hour.
Granted, they’re new and the conversation around NFT’s can get complicated. NFT’s not your thing? There’s always a digital product. There are pros and cons to launching both digital products and NFTs.
We want to offer creators the opportunity to select their creative medium from a wide range of products, both physical and digital—including eco-friendly options.
Great for photographers and popular with lifestyle, beauty, and fashion creators, photo filters (such as Lightroom presets) are ready-made photo enhancement settings that fans can apply straight to their images to emulate your signature style.
Why should I sell presets?
Apart from the fact that digital products and services represent 74% of all online sales, there are a number of additional benefits you will love.
High profit margins
Immediate launch
Suitable for all types of creators
No inventory limits
Instant delivery to customers
Selling presets IRL
Sadie Aldis, a lifestyle and fashion creator, sold over 4,000 Lightroom presets in less than 6 months to her fans using Spring. The presets enable Sadie to connect and engage with her followers in a new way through their shared love of photography and creating beautiful Instagram feeds.
Check out Sadie’s video below for the lowdown on how photo-filters work and how fans can use them after purchase.
Ready to start?
Choose your favorite preset from our exclusive, unique preset catalog. Tell your Strategic Partner Manager which one you like and they will help you get set up.
Find the solution to your fulfillment needs with TeespringGo—an initiative that unlocks the ability for you to sell anything and everything. You’ll still get all the perks of selling with Spring like order fulfillment and fan support.
Our services
TeespringGo offers two core services: the first is fulfillment and the second is sourcing + fulfillment.
1) Fulfillment service
Spring can help creators fulfill orders for products you’ve already sourced. Send your products to our facility in the US and we’ll work with you to add the product to a listing on your Spring store (and Merch Shelf) so you can start selling.
What’s included: Send us your inventory and we’ll store it for you at our warehouse, create product mockups, launch your listing, fulfill orders, take care of your customers, and send you the profits.
What it costs: Our service fee is 15% of the product’s selling price (minimum $2). You’ll keep all the remaining profit.
What to keep in mind: Ensure you are sourcing products from a reputable vendor—we may require things like safety certifications in order to fulfill your products. Also please note that inventory storage is limited to 60 days from the launch date of the listing or from the last sales date.
2) Sourcing + fulfillment service
Want to sell something new but don’t know how where to start? We’re here to help. Tell us what you want to sell, and we’ll help you find a trusted vendor to source the product from.
What’s included: We’ll help you source a custom product from a reputable vendor, store your inventory, launch your listing, fulfill orders, take care of your customers, and send you the profits.
What it costs: Our service fee is 15% of the product’s selling price (minimum $2).
Option 1: Fan fueled listings are a popular choice for TeespringGo products. Not just because they help creators to avoid the risks of paying for inventory up-front, but they enable creators to create anticipation while connecting with their community. When the product is finalized, a pre-sale landing page will be built where fans can pre-order ahead of time. After the fan fueled listing ends, Spring uses the funds generated from pre-sales to pay for inventory. Remember, the listing has to reach the minimum order quantity, otherwise the funds will not cover production and orders will be cancelled.
Option 2: TeespringGo products are not produced on demand, and you may choose to purchase inventory before you can start selling. If this is the option you pick, due to the time and resources it takes to source completely custom products you’ll be asked to provide a deposit upfront before the research process begins. This deposit will go towards the overall cost of your inventory once you place your order. Lastly, remember that inventory storage is limited to 60 days from the launch date of the listing or from the last sale date.
As the constantly evolving leader in creator commerce, we’re introducing another way to give your community the best experience possible. By connecting a custom domain, you’re quite literally levelling up your brand. Here’s why.
Enhance your brand identity
A custom domain provides your community with a seamless, fully branded experience. Consistency is key—your brand is already ‘legit’, but a custom store URL allows you to really start owning a space for your products that you can be proud of. Connecting your own domain means fans needn’t leave your website to visit your store, making everything discoverable in one place.
Making a lasting impression for every single fan that lands on your storefront is crucial, creating seamless pathways between your social platforms and store. Above all, the aim is for you and your content to stand out and look flawlessly professional.
Put yourself on the map
This new feature bumps up your rankings on search engines, making it easy for your community to find your store, as well as revisit it. Plus, having your unique domain encourages trust. Fans are more likely to click on your promotional campaigns if they’re able to draw a clear connection between you and your store.
Choosing a domain for your store
Choosing a domain name is easy and it’ll be an obvious choice for most creators. If that’s not you, there’s just one rule—consistency is key. Make sure your domain reflects your identity and online brand across all your other platforms. Think about the name your fans know you by. It’s important to use wording they will recognize right away. What’s the easiest name for your fans to type into their search bar and remember?
For example, if your Instagram social handle is @TheCreator and your YouTube URL is https://www.youtube.com/thecreator, your domain name should be https://www.thecreator.com
Find out how to connect a custom domain to your store by visiting the custom domain guide or head straight to the stores section of your dashboard to get started.
