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How Merch Helps Your Side Hustle

Looking to take your side hustle to the next level? Merch can help!

Launching your own Spreadshop can open up so many opportunities for you and your business. Merch gives you credibility when you’re connecting with potential customers and business partners. It shows you have a solid understanding of your brand and that you want to see it grow.

Read on to learn about the ways merch can help you up your side hustle game!

A Solid Foundation

Just having a Spreadshop signifies that you want to expand your side hustle. Brand identifiers like colors and graphics are key to solidifying your brand, so why not seal the deal with themed merch?

Take the components that represent your business and put them on items to use for promotion and profit. Upload your logo and even toggle off product color options that don’t go well with your brand. Born in a Barn Boutique out their logo on merch to help promote their restoration furniture business. And it would look great in a photo op when you’re promoting your side hustle on socials!

Some common and successful merch items you can sell through Spreadshop include t-shirts, totes, stickers, and water bottles. We have hundreds of merch items to choose from.

Get Creative

Your merch doesn’t have to look like the standard marketing fare. Get creative with your design style and make merch only your followers/supporters will understand.

Emily runs The Kind Mind Project, a podcast all about supporting women and helping them move mountains. She could have uploaded a logo to her merch and been done with it, but she wanted to create something that was stylized and felt true to her message.

She has phrases like “Put more honey in your head” or “Honey head” that tie directly into the purpose of her brand. Those are the kind of things that will provoke a reaction from people and get them to ask questions. It’s going to be more effective than just slapping your logo on different products.

Networking Made Easier

Merch makes it easier for people to identify your brand, and that includes potential partners and customers. It really is the new business card. It’s personal and will leave a bigger impact on people than a tiny piece of paper.

People want to know that they can trust your brand, that you’re legit. If you have merch you can show to potential partners or investors, it’s going to prove you’re serious about your side hustle. That whatever service you provide is reputable.

Whether it’s in your community or the niche group your business is in, it’s important to stand out from competition. Merch gives you that edge. When others continue to do the bare minimum, diversify your business with t-shirts, sweatshirts, stickers, and more. It’s important to set yourself apart!

Got More Than One Side Hustle?

If you have too many side hustles or hobbies for your own good, we’ve got great news! When you create a Spreadshop account, you can open up to 10 shops with it. Think that’s an unnecessary amount? It’s a nice option to have when you want to start a fundraiser or run a business that’s seasonal.

Having these shops under one account makes it easy to track your earnings and access the backend of all your shops. You don’t need multiple usernames and passwords – it’s that simple.

Start growing your side hustle with merch and open your own Spreadshop. It’s FREE!

Create Your Own Content Compass

Today, we’re pleased to release our first in a series of “Creator Compass” workshops designed to help creators live a more sustainable creative life, and ditch the hustle culture. This workshop couldn’t come at a better time for creators considering May is mental health awareness month.

At Spreadshop, we believe creators are more than just a “commodity” or a buzzword to be exploited. We’re raising an early red flag on an issue that is turning into a real mental health crisis for many creators. In the age of the “creator economy”, there’s more pressure than ever to produce and feed the “content machine”. That pressure also with comes anxiety, creative depression, burnout, and even worse.

Brands and middlemen try to tell you what to do, how often to do it. Gurus of the “hustle culture” want you to post content hourly or sacrifice all to try to beat an algorithm that is ever changing, and in all actuality, unbeatable.

We know this because you, the creators out there, our friends, have told us this personally. Many are also beginning to feel lost, like they forgot why they started. They need to find their compass.

Our first “Creator Compass” workshop is hosted by Modern Millie, a well-known influencer coach who will help you find and develop your “Content Compass”. By completing this workshop you will be able to:

– Establish and stay on track with hitting your ultimate goals/dreams.

– Stay true to YOU as you grow as a creator.

– Maintain healthy boundaries to prevent burnout.

– Stay on track with your content without added stress.

The workshop is completely FREE to watch, and best of all, you can work at your own pace.

Join the community group now to get started!

Sustainability Merchandise: 5 Shops Make the Difference

Hotter summers, more and longer droughts, environmental disasters – the effects of global warming are already being felt in many parts of the world. Climate change affects us all, which means the time to act is now. Let us introduce 5 trailblazing Shops for you to source inspiration from.

These environmental stakeholder organizations have different issues at heart, but their common goal is to stop climate change – for a better future. This requires raising awareness of their cause and their projects. Selling merchandise really helps boosting their sustainability efforts with their Spreadshops. The money they earn goes directly to their projects, and they manage to draw attention to their cause. Here’s how they get their message out there:

KlimaKohleHoffnung – less CO2 through plant carbon

Too much carbon dioxide in the air and not enough time to take action. The KlimaKohleHoffnung (German for climate, coal, hope) project shows us how urgent it is to take action now. This means reducing CO2 emissions in the air is vital, and a great way to do so is by using plant carbon. Find out how exactly the carbon is permanently bound, from which input materials plant carbon can be produced and how everyone can become a climate savior! Among other things, this is explained on the project’s YouTube, Instagram and Facebook channels. The goal is to double the use of plant carbon in the next couple of years, and everyone’s attention and support is needed for plant carbon now.

With the KlimaKohleHoffnung Spreadshop, the trade association is taking an important step towards achieving just that. Their designs have a clear message: there is still hope, but we can’t waste any time. This is why their Install Update design shows a mouse pointing at the “Now” button – and not the “Later” button.

On their designs, the world can briefly cool down in a cold bathtub. Unfortunately, this doesn’t work in real life – unless we pay more attention to plant carbon now.

Earth Day – not just a day, but a movement

Diversify, inform and activate: EARTHDAY.ORG is the world’s largest environmental movement to create change for us humans and our planet. How? With bold, creative, and innovative solutions.

Behind EARTHDAY.ORG is a coalition of people around the world. Every individual or organization can make a difference! Since 1970, over 1 million people have joined the movement. Numerous people also follow their work on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

The merch in the Earth Day Spreadshop is partly based on their projects. They have a Canopy project that sees to planting trees around the world, and 10 million trees have already been fostered since 2010. The locations chosen for these trees have a direct and positive impact on climate change in the affected areas.

The slogan “Make every day Earth Day” sends a clear message. International Earth Day on April 22 isn’t the only day we should be aware of climate change. When we live every day in an environmentally conscious and sustainable way, we can make every single day Earth Day.

National Parks Conservation Association – protecting national parks

The National Parks Conservation Association – or NPCA – is the voice of America’s national parks, aiming to protect and preserve its most famous places for present and future generations. On the ground, in the courtroom, or on Capitol Hill – more than 1.6 million members work tirelessly to defend the parks. Together with policy experts, dedicated volunteers, community organizations and communications professionals, they inform and inspire the public on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

The sustainability merchandise from their Spreadshop gives supporters the chance to send out the message, for example with a cap that reads “NATIONAL PARKS ADVOCATE”.

Their “PROTECT YOUR PUBLIC LANDS” merch says is like it is – a clear message to make more people aware of what’s at stake.

Beachcleaner – for a healthy ocean

They provide education, offer simple plastic alternatives, and initiate projects that prevent the destruction of ecosystems through plastic waste. Beachcleaner from Nuremberg, Germany are aspiring a plastic-free environment and sustainable (waste) culture. On Facebook and Instagram, they share footage of clean-ups, draw attention to grievances, and demonstrate how a plastic-free life works.

Their Beachcleaner Spreadshop offers lots of merch with their red-lettering logo and two waves underneath – maybe waves of hope?

What’s really cool about their sustainability merchandise is that it looks great while helping to avoid plastic waste and sending a message to protect the environment. To get an impression, check out e.g. the Beachcleaner insulated bottle.

Glacier initiative – made of fossil energies

It is the organization’s aim to realize the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement, and to put Switzerland on a sustainable climate course. Because we all want a better world and a future worth living in, right? The Glacier Initiative is one of the largest projects from Verein Klimaschutz Schweiz, which in turn is part of a worldwide climate movement. They pursue the goal of creating a future without fossil fuels, in which man-made greenhouse gases are reduced to net zero emissions by 2050. The glaciers in Switzerland and everywhere else in the world are at risk of vanishing as a result of climate change, and this is why the phase-out is so important. Their Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts will tell you why and how.

In the glacier initiative’s Spreadshop, supporters find lots of merch like T-shirts, hoodies and bags, all printed with their colorful logo. The mantra “If we don’t act now, we will soon have no more glaciers” is embodied by their logo on products in different sizes in Switzerland’s official languages German, French and Italian.

Want to reach people with your message? Thinking about selling your own merch? What you need is a clear vision and your own logo. Your Spreadshop is just a few clicks away.

Open Your Spreadshop

Spreadshop Launches Shop to Help Spread Peace

Spreadshop is pledging to support freedom and peace in Ukraine with the launch of our official fundraising shop. 100% of profits from our Spreadpeace charity shop will be go to Caritas Internationalis, one of the world’s largest social service organizations. They are in the field in Ukraine to provide emergency assistance such as food, water, and other essential items.

As a print on-demand company, we firmly believe in freedom of expression and the power it has to empower, enrich, and bolster the global community. Clothing and accessories can be tools for change. We’ve seen an influx of shops made specifically to sell blue and yellow-themed designs that express solidarity with the people of Ukraine.

Our charity shop features designs that express feelings of freedom, peace, and hope. All proceeds will go directly to Caritas Internationalis. Caritas is one of the largest aid organizations in the world and has been active for many years. We are proud to partner up with Caritas and donate 100% of the proceeds from the shop to people in need. In doing so, everyone can make a donation through the purchase of a product and then further spread the message on t-shirts, stickers, and more – everywhere in the world.

Make and Sell Stickers

Spreadshop makes it easy to make and sell stickers. You upload the designs, and we take care of everything else! These small merch items can help generate big sales for your shop.

Many of our shop owners sell stickers and find success. They’re an easy sell considering the price and personalization factor. You can put them on anything you want: notebooks, laptops, phone cases, etc. Stickers are a great way to connect creators to their audience!

Get inspiration for your own stickers by checking out designs from different shop owners, and learn why they’re beneficial for your brand.

When people are first purchasing from your shop, they might not go for the t-shirts or hoodies right away. Stickers are a great introduction to your brand and allow people to feel connected to you at a low cost. Whether you sell them through your shop or in-person, stickers are an easy way to build your brand.

If you’re a small business and have a table at a local conference or market, lay out stickers on your table that you can hand out to attendees. Giving out t-shirts is a bigger cost you might want to avoid at first. Having stickers still gets your name at there and acts as a physical reminder of your brand.

Your customers have the power of personalization when they buy stickers from your shop. They can do whatever they want with them! We love seeing the different ways people get creative with stickers.

You can stick them on your planner for daily motivation, or put them on tablet/tech cases. Creating a collage on your laptop is always a fun thing. That way, you know no one else’s laptop is going to look like yours. We also like the idea of adding them to on-the-go items. Put them on reusable water bottles or card holders; it’s bound to spark conversation when you’re out and about.

Not to brag, but our shop owners have the best merch designs (and they look super cute in sticker form). You can do so much with stickers. Interpret your likeness in a fun, graphic style. Pat Lab from Netflix’s Making Fun is selling a wacky depiction of his workshop self. Trestles – an indie, surf rock band from Santa Cruz – made a hand-drawn sketch of their likeness for their merch.

You can never go wrong with simple graphics, though. Simone Studios turns her art into merch. She has designs that are perfect for the spring season. Her mushroom sticker is cure and trendy. Musicians and music enthusiasts will appreciate this corg-keys sticker from Miss April’s Music. We’re suckers for a good pun.

Making and selling stickers is easy and fun when you use Spreadshop. We can’t wait to see what you create! Open your own shop today. It’s FREE!