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How To Sell More Shirts!

Strategies, Tips and tricks to help you sell T-Shirts online with Merch by Amazon,
Redbubble, Etsy and more.

2017 by Michael Essek

Second Edition

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without
permission from the publisher, except as permitted by copyright law. For permissions
contact:

michael@michaelessek.com

Disclaimer: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing
this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or
completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied
warranties or merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be
created or extended by a sales representative or written sales materials. The advice
and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should
consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall
be liable for any loss or profit or any other commercial damages, including but not
limited to: special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

Michael Essek

michael@michaelessek.com

www.michaelessek.com

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 Table Of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Different T-Shirt Markets & How To Tap Into Them
3. T-Shirt Math For Dummies
4. One Super Easy Way To Find Shirts That Are Selling
5. Tips And Advice For Selling On Redbubble
6. 3 Tips On Niches And Idea Generation
7. Why Your Text-Only Shirt Designs Are A Liability
8. My Halloween Sales & Why You Must Be Original
9. 3 Ways To Level Up Your T-Shirt Designs
10. How I Organise Hundreds Of T-Shirt Designs, And Why It
Matters
11. How A Stolen Design Made Me Money
12. 3 Easy Ways To Stand Out In Trending Niches
13. One Simple Way To Find Low-Competition Ideas
14. 3 Common Mistakes That Are Hurting Your Sales
15. How Can You Generate More Sales On Merch By Amazon?
16. TeeSpring Questions Answered
17. Bonus - Q&As
18. Final Thoughts

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 Introduction
Do you want to sell more T-Shirts?

Maybe youre an artist or illustrator who has started designing T-Shirts in the hope of
generating a regular side-income.

Or perhaps youre an experienced online seller, looking to get a piece of the online T-
Shirt pie.

Whoever you are and whatever your experience, I want to help you make more money
from your T-Shirt designs - and grow a sustainable, long-term T-Shirt business.

My Story

I am a graphic designer by trade who started designing T-Shirts in 2013 as an attempt to

develop a side-income - via print-on-demand sites like Redbubble and Society6.

Over the past 3 years (I am writing this in 2016) I have had designs featured on major T-
Shirt sites like TeeFury, BustedTees, ShirtPunch and others.

But the vast majority of my earnings have come through Print-On-Demand websites like
Redbubble, Teepublic and most recently (and most importantly) Merch By Amazon.
These sites are open to all - so anyone with a design file can upload it immediately and
potentially start making money - right away - from their work.

It is thanks to these sites that I am now able to focus full-time on my T-Shirt business -
and am able to make a decent income from my work - even though I wouldnt describe
myself as anything more than a competent graphic designer.

I believe that anyone with competent design abilities can achieve similar (if not much
better) results, thanks to the ever-increasing opportunities for creative individuals to
make money online. Furthermore I believe these opportunities will continue to grow and
develop over the coming years.

And these opportunities are not limited to artists and designers. If you are willing and
able to commission original artwork, then you too can make a good income from T-Shirts
online, even if you have no creative talent of your own.

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 About This Book

In August of 2016 I began writing a public blog to chronicle my progress, and to share
advice with others who are trying to develop an income from selling T-Shirts on the
internet.

Separately, I launched a private email newsletter to share some more practical

information and ideas with a smaller group of engaged readers.

This book is a collection of those emails - dating from August 2016 to January 2017 -
edited, tweaked and improved for readability.

A Few Things You Should Know

Firstly, this is not a Beginners Guide to print-on-demand, or to platforms such as Merch

By Amazon.

I will not be explaining how these sites work, walking you through the process of setting
up accounts, or telling you how to use Photoshop.

Instead this book is for those who have already started selling Shirts online - who know
and understand the basics - but want to take their sales and earnings to the next level.

Secondly, the majority of my income currently comes from Amazons internal print-on-
demand program: Merch By Amazon.

As such, a lot of the advice in the following chapters relates directly (and in some cases
exclusively) to Merch. However, many of the principles I share are also applicable to
other print-on-demand websites.

If you feel a bit overwhelmed or confused at the language and terms used, then you
may benefit from reading the following articles on my website:

- Zero To $10k A Month In Passive income from T-Shirts: 3 Key Principles

- Where Can You Sell T-Shirts Online? The Ultimate Guide To The Different Types
Of Shirt Sites
- Merch By Amazon Review: Merch vs. Redbubble vs. Teepublic vs. Etsy Where Is
My Income Coming From?

these serve as good introductions to the online T-Shirt market, and explanations as to
how (and where) I make my money.

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 Disclaimers And Notes

I hope youll discover some useful tips, tricks and advice in the following pages.

This information is provided as is - and because the internet moves fast - some of the
methods included may no longer be applicable or relevant, depending on when you are
reading this. I leave it to you to test out these techniques for yourself to see if they are
effective for you.

Beyond the practical advice and tips contained in these chapters, there are more than a
few articles that focus on general principles; in an attempt to help you think in a way that
leads to more sales. So even if every piece of practical advice contained within is now
redundant - you should still be able to glean some value from these pages!

Finally - and this may disappoint some readers - there is no get rich quick scheme
contained within this book. Selling T-Shirts online is just like any other business: long-
term success and reliable sales only come from delivering quality and value to the
customer, over and over again.

It took me 3 years to go from zero to quit my job levels - and although I think it is now
easier (and quicker) for someone to make the same journey, there is still a lot of work
that is required if you want to develop a steady and sustainable income.

In other words: if you think selling T-Shirts online is going to make you rich quick, youre
wrong.

Yes, it is easier than it has ever been for savvy designers to make money online. But that
does not mean it is easy. The barriers to entry have been forever lowered, and the levels
of competition in the space have consequently gone up.

The good news is that - if youre prepared and willing to learn and work hard - you can
win big, and not just in the short term. The principles and skills that are required to make
a successful T-Shirt business are also those that are required to make a success of almost
any business.

Where You Can Find Me

My blog is at MichaelEssek.com - and you can also find me on Facebook and Twitter.

My private newsletter includes new tips, tricks, strategies and big picture principles for
people who want to make money selling their T-Shirt designs online.

If you are not already subscribed, you can do so here: Michael Esseks Private
Newsletter.

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Finally if you have any feedback, comments or questions please dont hesitate to contact
me at michael@michaelessek.com

Alternatively, you can contact me via my website here.

Thank you for reading - I wish you the best with your T-Shirt business - and I hope I will
be able to contribute to your success, both now and in the years to come.

best,

Michael Essek

michael@michaelessek.com

michaelessek.com

twitter.com/michaelessek

facebook.com/mikeessek

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 Different T-Shirt Markets &
How To Tap Into Them
Originally published: 1st November 2016.

Merch By Amazon is not a market.

Its a way to deliver T-Shirts to customers.

Its a mechanism or vehicle connecting creators (designers - thats you!) to buyers.

Nobody is looking for a Merch By Amazon T-Shirt. Customers dont - and shouldnt -
even know what Merch is.

So thinking of Merch By Amazon as some kind of self-contained eco-system through

which you can easily make money is a misunderstanding that will limit your thinking and
your income.

If Amazon was a local indoor market, then Merch By Amazon is a T-Shirt printer working
behind the scenes to print Shirts on demand. Nothing more.

The real markets are not contained within Merch, or even limited to Amazon.

They are out beyond the borders of Amazon - they stretch all the way out to other
websites - and you can even see them in - gasp - the real world!

A Breakdown Of T-Shirt Markets

There are a number of different T-Shirt markets (but Merch is not one of them).

This is by no means exhaustive - but here are a few examples of what I would call broad
markets that exist within the larger T-Shirt market:

Commodity T-Shirts. These are practical, usually work-related Shirts that are motivated
by needs (rather than wants, trends or fashion). Examples: Staff, Security, Lifeguard. As
they are commodities, customers look for the lowest possible price. (Sub-$10 market).

Novelty T-Shirts. At the lower end this would include stuff that is just a slight step up
from commodity Shirts (stuff you wear once - think Bachelorette Party) - and at the
higher end may include Halloween Shirts and Funny Sayings for gifts or special
occasions. Customers in this market may not be actively seeking out the lowest price,
but are likely to want to pay the lowest price they can. ($10-$20 market).

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 Viral Trends. These might be a little higher priced than your standard novelty Shirts - if
only because there is a sudden rush towards a trend, and so you may be able to charge
a higher price - as long as someone isnt under-cutting you from the get-go. Ive had
viral stuff that sold at $25 or thereabouts in very large volumesbut usually after a few
days the competition moves in and prices come down. ($15-$25 market).

Pop Culture, Movies, TV, Music, Games. Think TeeFury / BustedTees and other such
websites. In general such designs sell at around $20, but are often discounted in sales
and promotions. The subject matter is often parody-type stuff, in an attempt to swerve
potential copyright infringement issues. Usually fans of a particular Movie or TV Show
will happily pay $20-$25 for a Shirt related to it .

Niche Interests. Im distinguishing these from the previous category only because
Movies and TV Shows are unsafe areas to play in (because of copyright issues) - whereas
Niche Interests (eg. Ultimate Frisbee, Craft Beer, Drones etc.) are generally safer. People
are usually proud of their hobbies, and so you should be able to charge around the $25
in this market without much difficulty.

High End. There are a lot of T-Shirts that sell above the $30 mark - but its quite difficult
to get sales at that level in the world of Merch and other POD platforms. Where might it
be possible? In spaces where there is little or no competition - low sales volumes - very
specific niches (no mass market appeal) - or where the motivation to purchase is tied to
the designer/artist or brand behind it. ($25+)

as I said, this isnt an exhaustive list - its just my rough observations after a few years in
the game. (If you have something to add to the list, Id love to hear it!)

One thing all markets share: they are made up of people who want a particular product -
have a particular reason for wanting it - and have a certain price they are willing to pay.

If you dont understand those fundamentals, then selling T-Shirts is a whole lot harder
than it could be.

Put The Customer First

Think of it this way: somewhere out there is a person who will purchase a T-Shirt today.

They do not do this because some magic t-shirt buying voodoo fell upon them.

They have to have a reason - a motivation - a need - or a want - that moves them towards
that purchase.

Some examples of those motivations could be:

wanting to show support for a presidential candidate

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 needing a last-minute Halloween costume

requiring a birthday gift for a family member or friend

wanting that cool T-Shirt they saw someone else wearing on the bus

and of course literally hundreds (or thousands) of other potential reasons.

If you look on Amazon and find a T-Shirt that is selling well - you really only know one
thing: people are buying this T-Shirt.

You dont really know why they are buying it. They could be buying it for a friend. They
could be buying it ironically as part of some big internet-wide joke.

They could be buying it because a famous person just wore it and it went viral, or
because someone just posted a link to it in a little known online forum. It could be that a
Merch seller has connected with a local sports team and placed a huge bulk order.

But if you want to get ahead of the competition and produce designs that sell - before
anyone else does - then knowing something about the motivations and reasons behind
a potential sale are essential.

You need to understand why certain people buy certain T-Shirts.

Once you know this, you can:

create the kinds of designs that meet the needs and wants of the customer

use the right kinds of words and key phrases in your titles and descriptions that will get
your Shirts ranking well and lead to more sales

successfully market to potential customers in ways others dont know about

and so much more.

You cant get a head start on the competition when you simply re-create designs that are
already selling. By definition - you are a step behind!

Now Im not saying you must always know everything about a certain niche, or
community, in order to make sales to those people. But in general its going to be a big
advantage when you have knowledge about an area that others dont.

Others can come and copy your designs, your titles and your descriptions - but they
cant replicate your knowledge or your ideas.

I think you'll find that when you design for markets and people you know something
about, your sales will be much higher.

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 T-Shirt Math For Dummies
Originally published: 29th November 2016.

Do you have goals for your T-Shirt business?

Im not really much of a goal setter.

When I started designing T-Shirts I had a 'vague' plan.

The plan was this: I would just add more and more designs, and eventually (hopefully)
my income would be enough to let me quit the day job.

That was it.

I had no idea about the number of designs I might need to hit such a target, how many
sales I would need to make on a monthly basis, how long it would take me to get there
none of that stuff.

So today I want to encourage you to think seriously about your goals for your budding
(or already well-established) T-Shirt business and run the T-Shirt Math - so that you can
know exactly what it will take to get you where you want to be.

What Does It Take To Make X Amount A Month?

Ultimately, we all start a business to make money.

So it makes sense to start with this goal in mind (the income target), and then work
backwards.

Lets say we want to make just $100 a month. What do we need?

Well, lets assume you are selling only on Merch By Amazon.

And Lets assume you price your Shirts at 22.99 (A very reasonable and achievable price
point, at least in my experience).

So now youre making about $10 on each and every T-Shirt sale (actually a little bit more
than that, but whatever).

How many sales do you need to make in a month to make $100?

Even if youre terrible at maths - this is a pretty easy one.

10 Sales.

How many sales is that a week?

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less than 3.

How many sales a day?

0.3.

Less than a third of a sale a day.

Is this possible for you?

Not only is it possible, its incredibly achievable, at least in my experience, once you
know the basics and can produce the necessary designs.

Even if all you know is the basics of a platform like Merch, you should be able to hit that
target.

So lets expand our numbers a bit (rounded up/down slightly):

To make $100/month - 10 Sales a Month. 3 a week. 0.3 a day.

To make $500/month - 50 Sales a Month. 12 a week. 1.6 a day.

To make $1000/month - 100 Sales a Month. 24 sales a week. 3 a day.

To make $2000/month - 200 Sales a Month. 47 sales a week. 7 a day.

To make $5000/month - 500 Sales a Month. 117 sales a week. 17 a day.

To make $10,000/month - 1000 Sales a Month. 233 sales a week. 33 a day.

To make $100,000/month - 10,000 Sales a Month. 2333 sales a week. 333 a day.

I dont know where you are at personally - or what you think about the numbers above.

Maybe you think a few sales a day would be amazing, or maybe you think 333 a day is a
low target.

Wherever youre at - my point is this: its just maths (or math, if youre American).

Whatever youre doing to bring in 3 sales a week (and trust me - you did do something) -
you simply need to times that by 10 - and youll be making $1000/month!

Maybe that means upping the number of your designs (by 10 times).

Maybe it means getting increased exposure to your designs online.

Maybe it means reaching out to more community groups and designing more Shirts for
them.

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(There is no single right way of approaching this problem - there are a lot of ways to
make money with T-Shirts - and even within Merch by Amazon. And of course you dont
need to just employ one tactic - you could combine a bunch of them.)

Whatever it is for you - it is do-able.

It will be work and it will take time, but if you are willing to do what it takes - nothing can
stop you!

And we havent even considered other Print-On-Demand websites (like Redbubble or

Teepublic) or other marketplaces like Etsy. Or considered the impact of paid advertising.
Or what your own Shopify store might be able to make.

Theres a lot of scope out there for you to make money - just from T-Shirts. All it takes is
an understanding of what you must do, and then the wherewithal and dedication to see
it through.

Where To Focus Your Attention

It doesnt matter what your goals are - if you arent designing Shirts that people want to
buy - and Shirts that you can get in front of those people - you arent going to make any
sales.

So where should you focus your attention?

How do you find niches and opportunities that are worth your time?

The truth is that theres a lot of different niches out there, and a lot of markets you can
make money in (and a lot of new markets today that werent there yesterday).

But its also true that certain markets are choc-a-bloc with competition, and are going to
be harder to make sales in.

Heres a diagram I put together to illustrate this point:

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How do you determine 'search volumes'?

No simple answer - but some possible answers are:

BSR Rank on Amazon T-Shirts (or other products). If a lot of people are buying, it means
a lot of people are searching.

Amazon Auto-suggested searches (usually derives from popular search phrases). This
is where you start typing in the Amazon search box and they auto-suggest the rest of
your search.

Bestselling Shirts on other websites

Popular stories or breaking news / trends that arent yet reflected in sales

Search indicators like Google Trends or Adwords Keywords tool

Trending topics on social media

And what about determining the level of competition?

That is a little easier - you would usually look for:

The number of search results for a given search phrase

the actual sales numbers (BSR) of those competition products

The quality of the keywords of the competing products (can you do better?)

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 The quality of the design of competing products (again, can you do better?)

certain features of those products - eg. are they prime eligable etc. (If not, then they
are a good target)

All those factors are worth considering before you go rushing into creating a design.

The ideal areas to design for are those niches and markets that have high search
volumes (or a large audience) - but low competition.

Even a market with medium search volumes and low competition is worth playing in.

Of course there are a lot of other factors that come into play that arent shown on this
diagram - for example the design quality of the competitionthe price points within
that marketetc etc.

But if you can at least start your research time with the mindset of decent traffic, low
competition - you are going to come out the other side with ideas and designs that are
much more likely to succeed.

Anyway - I hope this little blast of info has given you some fuel to think about your own
personal goals, and how you might go about achieving them.

Once you have those goals set - you just need to make regular (ideally daily) progress
towards them. Its not rocket science!

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One Super Easy Way To Find
Shirts That Are Selling
Originally published: 30th August 2016.

Are you struggling to find ideas for t-shirts that will sell?

There are lots of methods out there to find new ideas for designs - but it can be hard to
validate those ideas (ie. check if your ideas will actually sell).

I want to share one of my favourite ways of brainstorming new opportunities that will sell
- using Etsy.

If you don't already know about Etsy.com, it's a marketplace site with a big organic
audience. It sells a lot of fashion products, and T-Shirts do sell pretty well over there.

Anyway, here's how I use Etsy to find shirt ideas that are currently selling:

(here's a link to a screen recording to follow along)

1. Go to Etsy.com, and hover over the 'clothing & accessories' tab (first menu item)
2. Hover over the 'clothing' option - then go to 'womens' > 'tops and tees' (this will take
you to the womens tops and tees category, but you could also go to the guys section,
or kids)
3. Click the 'sort by' link to the top right of the product area, and choose 'most
recent' (This displays those products that have been recently re-listed on Etsy.
Whenever a product sells on Etsy it gets automatically re-listed in most cases, and so
this - for the most part - is a list of products that have recently sold!)
4. Find a Shirt that catches your eye, and once you land on the product page, click the
stores title to go to that store's main shop page.
5. In the left hand column of this page, you should see a number of sales (eg. '1030
sales') link above a 'number of admirers' link. Click the sales number link - and this will
display all the products that this store has recently sold - from most recently sold.

(Note: For some reason this feature isn't available for all Etsy stores - so for some shops
you will be able to see the number of sales but not the clickable link. If this is the case
you should be able to get a rough idea of recently sold shirts by sorting the shop page
by 'most recent' - as explained in step 3 above).

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So there you have it - if you see the same design appearing repeatedly in the 'sold' page
of an Etsy shop, then you know there is real demand for that design. And if it's selling
well on Etsy, chances are it will sell well on other platforms too.

Of course you should never copy or steal another persons designs - that is copyright
infringement, and could land you in hot water.

Instead, think about how you could use this information to create a design that taps into
the same market, or uses some of the same terms.

You may also have noticed that the store I chose at random in the video had a lot of
'feyonce' shirts - which is a term Beyonce is suing people over - so definitely stay away
from that one!

Final Thoughts

This tactic is not guaranteed to be around forever, and indeed Etsy may change things at
any point.

The real purpose here is not necessarily to find Etsy best-sellers (and copy them) but
instead to use Etsy to help inform our own idea development process.

By using Etsy as a starting point - and especially by working from a foundation of those
Shirts that are already selling - we should come out with sales-friendly ideas that are
more likely to appeal to customers.

Remember, its the idea that people are really purchasing when they buy a Shirt. Etsy is
just another platform we can use to gather and evaluate ideas.

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Thank You For Reading This Far!

There's a lot more info to come in the next

14 Chapters!

To get a full copy of the book please head over to:

MichaelEssek.com/sell-more-shirts-ebook

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For More Information

For more info like this, subscribe to my weekly email newsletter here:
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You can find my blog at michaelessek.com

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Comments, Questions, Feedback?

Id love to hear your comments and feedback on this book, and any questions
you might have.

The best way to contact me is to email: michael@michaelessek.com

(Or you can hit me up on Twitter or Facebook.)

I look forward to hearing from you!