So one of my followers on my Facebook Fan Page is into selling children’s clothing!
We’re all moms so we tend to gravitate to what our children will like.
I know a mother who started an organic store because her daughter was allergic to EVERYTHING!
And when I saw everything I mean everything.
So recently when I was at the No Excuses Summit, Las Vegas one of the speakers was talking about selling merchandise!
And what do you know. Selling children’s clothing is what exactly ?!?!?!
Merchandise.
So I decided to pull out my notes and share with you some of the tips he had for us.
One of the big take-aways from his presentation is that selling merchandise has become easier for the small man – or woman in our case.
No longer do you have to hold tons of stock on hand or ship tons of stock to Amazon while using the site.
The best part about this model is that you can sell directly from Facebook FanPage!
See why I love Facebook so much!
Now his example dealt with selling T-shirts online. It’s one of the fastest growing markets right now.
But we all know so long as people continue to have children they will need to clothe them!
So here’s what you need
Step 1. Create an account with an outsource agency.
Examples include Represent, Teespring, and Viral Style.
If you’re looking specifically at selling baby or children’s clothing; Zazzle or www.islandwholesaler.com
Basically these people are the ones that will be manufacturing your clothing line.
All you need to do is provide custom image designs to go on the clothing!
Isn’t that cool?
Step 2. Start your Campaign
Once you have an account or page set up then you want to Start your campaign.
Now with Represent and Viral Style a campaign is basically how long you plan on selling the t-shirts.
With Zazzle for Example they provide three ways for you to make money.
a) As a Designer
b) As a custom Maker
c) As an Associate
Either way you’re starting to build your designs and let to outsourcer know you’re ready to sell.
Step 3: Grab your Link to promote on Facebook.
With most of these companies you’re able to either create Facebook Apps or just grab a site link.
When using the site link you’re basically taking that link and adding it to your Call to Action on your Facebook Fan Page.
You can watch the video below if you can’t remember how to do that.
Once that’s done you can market this page in the same way you would any website on Facebook or Google.
Run Advertising Campaigns to your “seller site”.
Now there are a few down falls to selling through an outsourcer.
But I think the benefits out weigh the draw backs.
Drawbacks to using an outsourcer
1. Zero control over product quality
2. Zero control over delivery
3. Fees to pay when items are sold
But to me the pros out weigh the cons.
A Few Benefits to using an outsourcer
1. In the online merchandise space you will have virtually ZERO overheads!
2. You’re entering what’s called the “custom design” clothing space. Basically people are willing to pay more for these type of items so your profit margins are larger.
3. You’re also dealing with a third party which means liability falls on them not you! (read the fine print though).
4. You don’t have to worry about building a blog or website.
5. Neither do you have to worry about creating payment gateways.
So there are some benefits.
But you have to weigh the advantages and disadvantages.
Selling merchandise online has become much easier than it was.
Some people are even taking their stores and moving strictly to the online model because there is just so much more to gain.
I hope this has given you some insight to how you can start your own online clothing empire.
Have a great day!
I’m Hilary De Freitas The Marketing Mom
My Mission: to bring as many moms back home and still earning a living!
P.S
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