When running a startup or small business, finding new revenue avenues can be significantly beneficial.
After all, building a brand isn’t always cheap, so any way that you can generate additional income should be welcomed with both arms.
That’s exactly what high-quality merch can do for you! Here, I’ll show you how to make and sell merch for your brand in 2025, expanding your business and making some additional funds along the way.
Short on time? Here are the key takeaways
- Step 1: Build a brand identity: Start by identifying what your brand is popular for and how that can be reflected in your merchandise.
- Step 2: Know your audience: Next, understand the buying habits and traits of your audience, as this will impact marketing efforts and designs.
- Step 3: Choosing what to sell: Select what type of products have a good profit margin and meet audience expectations.
- Step 4: Design time: Once selected, start designing the style you want to see from your merchandise.
- Step 5: Test and learn: Get samples of your first design efforts and ask friends and family for feedback.
- Step 6: Choose a manufacturer: Once you’re happy with them, organize manufacturing and start stocking your merch, ready to sell.
Firstly, What is Merch?
Before we jump straight in, I wanted to quickly touch on what I mean by the term merch. Merch is a common abbreviation for merchandise, and you’ll likely hear influencers, YouTubers, and streamers refer to it as one of their main sources of income.
In simple terms, the phrase ‘merch’ refers to any products that are branded in line with a company or popular personality and sold to fans of that business or person.
While it has often been popular with social media celebrities, it has become more and more popular option for more mainstream businesses as well, most notably coffee shops, bookstores, or other locally run businesses.
Why is merch so popular?
The popularity of merch doesn’t just come from one key reason; there are actually several reasons why customers would opt to purchase a brand’s merchandise.
One of the main reasons is that it is a great way to show support and loyalty to that brand and allows them to feel a little bit closer to the inner workings of the business.
That’s why merch is so popular with shops that operate locally in the community, as people appreciate that running a small business can be challenging and purchase merch as a show of their appreciation.
It also offers sentimental value, as it can be seen as a memento from a memorable experience, such as a t-shirt from a concert of your favorite brand. Speaking from experience, I have several Sam Fender t-shirts that fill this reason, and also a t-shirt from a coffee shop I have many fond memories for that closed down in 2020.
It also allows customers to not just show support but also personality. People want to wear clothes that represent who they are and what they like, and what better way to do that than by purchasing merch from their favorite brands?
As you can imagine, setting up a successful merchandise shop can be incredibly successful. Because of this, many brands and influencers are also attempting to get into the merch game, so it is crucial that you create the sort of products your audience want to see, or you will struggle to get a foothold in the market.
Your 6-Step Plan to Selling Merch Successfully
With all that in mind, here is a very quick six-step process that you can follow to start selling merch successfully. For a more detailed approach to selling and scaling, be sure to check out Gretta’s fantastic course on the subject in this free training video.
1. Build a brand identity
Before you go ahead and plunge valuable funds into your merch adventure, you need to ensure that you have an audience that will be receptive to what you put out.
After all, your customers might be happy with your IT solutions, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they want your brand plastered on their tote bags and mugs.
You must, therefore, ensure you have established a clear and exciting brand identify first. That’s more than just an eye-catching logo, though. It’s also the image and personality that is related to your brand and what people think about when they see your branding.
Some of the most successful merch sellers are trendy coffee shops, popular influencers, and cool content creators. That’s because merch for these brands allows customers to show off their love of the brand while also projecting to other people that they are cool because they are fans of those brands and personalities.
Here’s a quick guide to creating a quality, authentic brand.
- Define your core values: Identify the principles that guide your brand and ensure they align with your mission and audience expectations. Authenticity comes from staying true to these values in all aspects of your business.
- Know your audience: Understand your target market’s needs, desires, and pain points. Speak their language and create content that resonates with them on a deeper level.
- Craft a unique brand voice: Develop a distinct tone and messaging style that reflects your brand’s personality. Consistency in voice builds trust and recognition.
- Design a memorable visual identity: Your logo, colors, and typography should reflect your brand’s essence and make a lasting impression. Cohesive visuals help reinforce brand identity.
- Tell a compelling story: Share your brand’s origin, purpose, and journey in a way that connects emotionally with your audience. People engage more with brands that feel human and relatable.
- Be consistent across all platforms: Whether it’s your website, social media, or packaging, maintain a unified look, voice, and experience. Consistency builds trust and recognition.
- Engage and listen to your community: Foster meaningful interactions by responding to comments, gathering feedback, and showing appreciation. A strong community reinforces brand loyalty.
- Deliver on your promise: Quality and reliability are key to building an authentic brand. Ensure your products, services, and customer experience align with your brand’s messaging.
- Showcase real people and experiences: Highlight customer testimonials, behind-the-scenes content, and real-life brand applications. Authenticity is strengthened through transparency.
2. Know your audience
Once you’ve nailed down your branding, it’s time to get more familiar with your audience. Understanding your audience’s behavior, wants, and needs will greatly help when it comes to choosing the type of products you should be selling.
If you already have a group of loyal customers, gathering this information should be quite simple and can be done by reviewing feedback, reviews, and engagements on social media.
If you haven’t got a large dataset just yet, you can pull together all the information you have on your existing audience, running it through ChatGPT to glean more insights and expand on the limited data you have available.
If you do have the audience size necessary, running surveys or asking for comments on social posts is a great way to take the guesswork out of product selection.
Failing that, review your current customers, establish their other likes and dislikes in your industry, and see what those competitors seem to be selling and to what level of success they are doing so.
3. Choosing what to sell
Next, it’s time to pull those product ideas together and identify what you want to sell. While most of the information you will use for this will be based on audience preference, you will also need to factor in costs, profit margins, and availability.
Melisa Vong has a fantastic free masterclass on How to Find a ‘Hot Product’ that you should definitely check out for inspiration!
Here’s a quick breakdown of some of the most popular choices that many businesses and individuals opt for:
- Hats
- T-shirts
- Mugs
- Phone cases
- Hoodies
- Sweatshirts
- Tote bags
4. Design time
This step is perhaps the trickiest, as it doesn’t matter what merch you have lined up if the designs are no good! Create designs that you know will resonate with your target audience, leaning heavily on your brand colors and only using the highest quality imagery and graphics.
I always suggest to brands that they keep things as simple as possible, focusing on clear and easy-to-read fonts and easy-to-recognize designs.
5. Test and learn
Once you’re happy with your designs, it can be very tempting to quickly rush to get your products to market, but this is one of the biggest mistakes that you can make.
After all, what if you’ve made a horrific spelling error? Suddenly, your ‘Getting Your Ducks in a Row’ hats might not be so child-friendly!
To prevent such expensive problems from arising, chat to friends and family for honest advice on your efforts. You need to choose people that you trust will tell you what they really think, as purchasing stock is not cheap.
Feedback is the best way to identify what is most likely to work and what isn’t, and gives you the confidence you need to sell your products online.
6. Choose a manufacturer
Once you’ve got your honest feedback, swallowed your pride, and made any necessary changes, it’s time to turn your merch ideas into tangible products!
When it comes to producing and stocking your merch, you have two main options to choose from: Print on demand or via a Manufacturer.
Each has its own benefits, so it’s important to research both in as much detail as possible. Print-on-demand allows you to keep costs low and reduces any inventory concerns you may have, which can be very helpful for anyone who is unsure how well their merch will be received.
For those who are confident they will sell their merch quite quickly, you may want to opt for a manufacturer, as purchasing in bulk is often significantly cheaper than a print-on-demand alternative.
Want to learn more about creating the perfect product blueprint? Check out Kian Golzari’s brilliant course on this subject.
Create and Sell Your Own Merch with Foundr+
Want to launch a successful merch brand? Foundr+ gives you everything you need to make it happen. For just $1, you’ll get instant access to 30+ expert-led courses and 1,000+ lessons covering branding, design, eCommerce, and marketing.
From crafting standout designs to choosing the right suppliers and growing your audience, Foundr+ equips you with the tools, strategies, and community support to build a profitable merch business.
Don’t wait—start creating and selling your merch today.
