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How to Run a Successful Sale

Shop owners can learn how to run a successful sale by following our three easy steps. When you know how to market your merch and share discounts effectively, engagement and an increase in sales will naturally follow.

Promoting your Spreadshop shouldn’t feel forced. The better you know your shop, the more people are going to be able to identify with you. Understanding your audience and their wants is key to running a successful sale.

Speak to your followers in a natural, non-marketer way that is relevant to the rest of your content. Know what the promo offers are and most importantly: TELL YOUR FOLLOWERS! Running a successful sale should be easy when you follow these steps.

Fit Sales Into Your Schedule

Posting on your socials is likely already a part of your daily routine. You should have a schedule where you post about shop updates or provide behind the scenes content. This keeps followers invested in your merch. To run a successful sale, this content should feel cohesive with the rest of your social posts.

Plan for promo offers ahead of time so you’re not scrambling to make content at the last minute. Scatter posts for a Holiday promo a couple weeks before the big sale. Do this through multiple forms of media: Instagram stories, static posts, mentions in captions and direct links to your Spreadshop. It’s important to generate interest ahead of time without overwhelming your followers with information.

Even when there’s a big sale, you don’t want to bombard your followers’ feeds with reminders. That’s going to turn them off more than anything. You’ve got to talk to them in a way that feels engaging, yet authentic. You want to build a community.

Stay informed about upcoming promotions

Twice a month, we offer promotions in your shop so that you can generate a higher demand for your merch. Free shipping and discount offers like 15% or 20% off are the most common promotions. If you’re signed up for the Spreadshop newsletter, you’ll get details for each promo in advance so that you’ll be prepared to spread the word.

To apply the promotion, your customers will simply click “redeem” in the banner that will display at the top of your shop. They will see the discount applied to their basket during checkout.

Staying updated about your promos also gives you the opportunity to plan for additional marketing. One great tactic is to release limited edition designs or products during a promotion. Having merch available for a limited time creates major FOMO. Paired with a promotion, this is a perfect combo to increase orders in your shop.

Tell Your Followers

Your followers aren’t going to know about these promos if you don’t tell them they’re happening. This relates to the point of fitting sales into your schedule, but is more about the messaging behind those posts. You’ve got to find creative ways to market your merch. And there’s plenty of ways you can do it for FREE.

It’s important for the growth of your shop to have a presence on multiple social platforms, but some might work better than others. If you’re good at putting together creative visuals, Instagram is the move. Twitter is great for sarcastic, meme-able marketing. And Youtube is the OG for content creation that creates that bond best.

Running a successful sale relies on targeted marketing. You may have followers on all these platforms – but depending on the platform they’re going to engage with the content differently. Keep that in mind when crafting messages that feel authentic to your brand.

We hope these tips make you feel more prepared to run a successful sale. There’s plenty of opportunities to do so in 2022!

Don’t have merch with us? Launch your Spreadshop today!

5 Must Have Holiday Merch Essentials

Spread seasonal cheer with merch from Spreadshop! Our 5 Holiday merch essentials are must haves during this time of year.

Teddy bears and Santa hats look great under the tree or stuffed into stockings. Keep cozy in the winter months with comfy pajamas and a cup of steaming hot cocoa.

Place your orders by Dec. 13 to guarantee it arrives in time for the big day. Shop our Holiday merch essentials now before it’s too late!

Santa Hat

Give a Holiday merch staple an upgrade this season. Our Santa hat is perfect for personalization and festive designs. It makes those photo-ops and Holiday cards with family and friends even more special.

Available in red, black and evergreen; there’s a color that’s right for you! Use existing designs in your shop or make something exclusive to create demand. Having trouble coming up with designs? Canva has Holiday templates and graphics that help inspire you to create something original.

Our Santa hat is meant for Holiday use, but it’s something you’ll bring out year after year. The Holidays are all about making memories, why not do it in style?

Camper Mug

Our camper mug is made for transportation, even if it’s just moving from the kitchen to the couch. It’s durable design and signature look is guaranteed to make you feel like you are lodging in a log cabin all winter.

The vintage feel of the mug gives any design you put on it a retro feel. Go for classic festive design elements like peppermints, trees and wreaths. Your mug will always be in fashion and be a staple during the winter months. Holiday merch and hot cocoa never looked so good.

Pajamas

We sell pajamas. If you’re surprised, you wouldn’t be the first. Our unisex pajama set is essential cozy wear for the winter season. The red and green color options make it all the more festive.

These pajamas favor festive designs, whether they’re graphic or text based. This pajama set is ideal for curling up in front of the fire or keeping warm under the covers. Festive loungewear is ideal Holiday merch. Spend your winter vacation in a cozy and comfortable state of mind in personalized pajamas.

Coffee Mug

Start your day off right with one of our coffee mugs. The contrast coffee mug in the white/red color way is perfect for the season. Use green and gold graphics to create a Holiday color scheme that makes waking up worthwhile.

These mugs also look great on display. Keep them up year round and add seasonal touches when decorating for the Holidays. Store hot cocoa mix, candy and small decorations in them to create a jolly looking coffee bar. Your house will be the new neighborhood hangout in no time.

Teddy Bear

You can’t go wrong with our Teddy Bear plushies. Outfitted in tiny t-shirts, your merch has never looked more adorable. They make for great snuggle buddies thanks to their extra soft texture. And they’re great to give us gifts, too!

Put them under the tree or stuff them into stockings. If you have nieces, nephews or young cousins, consider personalizing them with their name. This makes for a great keepsake. They also look just as cute in festive imagery.

Open your Spreadshop now to get in the seasonal swing before it’s too late!

How to Create Designs Without Photoshop

Photoshop isn’t the only tool out there that produces high quality merch designs. You can create designs without Photoshop through an app that best suits your needs. It could be a paid or FREE version.

Each app has their own set of tools that can supply you with print-ready merch designs for your Spreadshop. Get inspiration from templates and graphic elements that can help shape the vibe of your merch. Upload your own images or get inspiration directly from the source.

Create merch designs from any device thanks to these tools. There’s bound to be one that’s right for your shop. Photoshop is far from the only design tool out there!

Canva

Canva is a fresh, fun design app that’s easy to use and is multi purposeful. It’s a great resource for small shop owners and businesses that want to craft a unified branding message. Merch designs aren’t the only function of the app, though.

You can also create promotional tools for your shop: business cards, flyers and social content. Even upload brand colors and logos to help strengthen your brand recognition. Your Spreadshop designs will be more identifiable if you have a consistent look to them.

Canva is stocked with a bunch of graphic elements and images you can use to build your designs. Unlock more options with a paid account – $9.99 a month. Take advantage of these preset graphic options when making seasonal or Holiday-themed merch. You can start to think about how you can take these options and make them your own.

Placeit

Play around with more design options on Placeit. Like Canva, Placeit gives you design templates to choose that form the basis of your merch designs. The app allows you to make mockups that work better for things like apparel. That’s good news for Spreadshop users!

Placeit is the go-to destination for gamers who want to create a logo they can use on merch and as their Twitch icon. They have a whole section of their website dedicated to gaming; providing examples and icons you can use to build something totally your own. These kinds of logos and brand identifiers apply to all markets. You need to embrace your niche to succeed.

They have a FREE version or you can pay $14.99 a month with a subscription. The paid version will allow you to utilize more features and take your designs to the next level.

GoDaddy Studio

GoDaddy Studio (formally known as Over) is the go-to option for beginner or novice designers. The FREE version of their app gives you everything you need to make print-ready t-shirt designs in minutes. These designs not only work for t-shirts, but every item in your merch shop: stickers, mugs and more.

GoDaddy Studio’s navigation allows you to easily build designs for your Spreadshop without Photoshop. You’re not overwhelmed when you open the app – you’re inspired. They have a huge library of images available for copyright free use.

If you need some design inspiration or don’t want to start from scratch, GoDaddy Studio also has templates. Unfortunately, you can’t add template elements to your designs. But it’s nice to see how they are coordinating text and graphics to create layouts. You can even build your own logo.

Pixlr

Easily edit photos and create merch designs with Pixlr. They have professional templates to help fulfill all your design needs beyond merch. Create a banner for your channel, tweak your profile photo and create social posts all in one place. You can transfer the colors and feel of your designs to these elements. It will help build your brand awareness.

Upload images you have in your camera roll and tweak them to best fit your merch. Remove backgrounds in just one click. Add filters and effects to transform them. Make a moodboard for your merch with their collage templates. This design would look great on hoodies, totes and even water bottles.

Photoshop is no longer the go-to destination for merch designs. There’s free and paid design apps that are easier to use and have better features. Designing your merch shouldn’t be a headache; it should be a creative outlet.

Need merch? Launch your Spreadshop now!

New in: Beary Cuddly Santa Teddies (EU only)

With his button eyes, Santa hat, and cute little T-shirt, the one and only festive teddy bear is here just in time for you to add to your holiday Shop. This cuddly little pal is sure to get plenty of hugs when he’s discovered peeking out of stockings or hiding under the tree.

His little white T-shirt is printable… Do you already have ideas for which of your designs would suit him best?

Product details

Plastic button eyes
Velvety soft plush fur
Santa teddy with white T-shirt and red Santa hat
Height sitting: 20 cm (including ears)
Weight: 77 g
Material: 100% polyester
Brand: MiniFeet
Available colors: Beige (teddy), White (T-shirt), Red/White (Santa hat).

Print & Price

T-shirt printing area: 7 cm x 6 cm (width x height, front and back)
Print type: Digital Direct (DD), flex and flock printing, pixel and vector graphics possible (at least 4,000 x 4,000 pixels, PNG)
Prices vary

Do you have any questions or comments about our new product? Then leave a comment or write us in the forum.

5 Merch Hacks That Will Let You Design Faster

Looking for inspiration to speed up the merch designing process? Our merch hacks are to help you get your designs out to potential customers faster.

Staring at a screen for hours on end will only get you so far. Speed up the creative process by seeking out additional resources. Try FREE design software, hire a professional designer or even get advice from fellow creators.

At Spreadshop, we know how important it is to have a community you can rely on. Sure, you can build a community thanks to your merch. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have one behind the scenes, too. These merch hacks are going to help turn that into a reality and make your life as a shop owner easier!

Don’t Pay to Play

If you’re hesitant about paying monthly for design software, FREE software options are a good starting point. GIMP is a comparable option to Photoshop that has many of the same features with no cost. Fine-tune existing images so they’re ready to live on your merch.

Have a photo in your camera roll that stands out from the rest? Change the style of it to fit with the theme of your merch. Enhance certain features and play around with coloring. You can even use GIMP to create icons ideal for small merch items like stickers, or even a logo for your shop.

If you’re looking to replicate the results from Adobe Illustrator, Inkscape is the way to go. Create high quality images thanks to a wide range of features. They have flexible drawing tools that can take your designs to the next level. And their text tools really enhance your designs to give them a professional look.

Save Your Fonts

If you’re making designs that have text in them, make sure you’re saving those fonts somewhere. This is incredibly important if it’s a font that’s relevant to your branding. This is a font you want to take advantage of and use for your shop promotion.

If you have a consistent font, it’s going to make you more identifiable. Your followers will be able to easily spot you on their social media feeds. It’s going to make your merch feel consistent, but that doesn’t mean it needs to be boring.

Change up the color and tweak your font from season to season. The Holidays are prime time for this kind of seasonal style. You will be able to design faster if you have these fonts on hand, especially if you’re going to be using them a lot.

Join a Design Community

You can only stare at your computer screen for so long before losing your mind. It helps to have additional eyeballs to take a look at your designs and offer feedback. That’s where the Spreadshop Community comes in.

The community is a FREE platform where shop owners can connect and collaborate with other creators. Share the origins of your shop and the inspiration behind your merch. People are eager to engage on the platform, so feel free to ask questions. They can be technical and be related to different design software or just general input. Ask anything to help get your merch designs out faster.

Make a post saying you’re looking for someone to design a logo or graphic for your shop. Many of our shop owners are also artists and would be happy to help. You can get their contact information and negotiate pricing and other details with them. You should take advantage of the community and actively post there. You’ll become a better shop owner as a result.

Create a Moodboard

A Moodboard brings all your ideas together to create an engaging visual medium. It’s easier to find inspiration and design merch faster if you can see everything at once. And a moodboard can include anything: places, fashion, people, things. Pinterest can help take your moodboard game to the next level.

A Pinterest board consists of a collection of images (or “pins”) that revolve around a certain theme or vibe. They are whatever you want them to be. You can find particular images by typing keywords into the search bar. If you have photos of your own that you want to include, you can easily upload them as pins and add them to your lists.

It may sound like a silly thing initially, but it’s really going to get you thinking differently about your designs. Pinterest is a goldmine for inspiration and another channel to market your merch.

Get Someone to Design For You

If you don’t have time to seek out these resources, you can always hire someone to do the work for you. Graphic design services have a team of designers ready to work with you and fulfill your vision.

You may have heard of Fiver: a network of freelancers that provide their services to paying customers. Feel good about supporting a fellow creator and get pro-level designs when you use Fiver. Design Pickle is another great option. Many trusted companies have turned to Design Pickle to help them boost their brand.

Having an outsider perspective is essential for growth. They’ll also help get your merch designs out faster. While you’re waiting to hear back about designs, think about growing your shop in other ways. Map out a social strategy, consider tackling another side hustle and more.

These merch hacks will make your life as a shop owner less stressful. You’ll be able to get merch designs out faster to your customers.

Don’t have merch? Launch your Spreadshop today to start building your brand!