Last updated on February 9th, 2023
It’s much easier to sell fitness merchandise during these times when everyone is following a physical exercise routine to stay fit. But, people prefer to go to the gym or a fitness club in style as well. They like to show off their hard work and flaunt themselves. That’s the reason markets have plenty of stylish fitness clothing and accessories to meet the demand. As a fitness influencer, this is your opportunity to create and sell your own merch and turn it into a roaring business. In this post, we have shared how to make and sell fitness accessories and merchandise as an influencer. Have a look.
You may be a fitness YouTube sensation with millions of followers, who enthusiastically follow your tips on how to exercise and keep fit. You may also boast of millions of followers of your Instagram account where people come to see your latest fitness related pictures.
Or, your Facebook and Twitter account may also have many thousands of followers who learn from your fitness tips. But did you ever think of turning your solid base of loyal followers into buyers of fitness products?
Like many fitness influencers, you also can start selling merch to followers and make money regularly. If you are one of those influencers who have no ideas about how to create custom merch and sell online, then get some advice from experts and start making money by selling fitness merchandise.
Know that the fitness industry is growing fast due to the ever-increasing demand for fitness clothing, equipment, and accessories. Take for example the sportswear industry in the US.
In 2020, the US sportswear industry is expected to generate $66.92 billion in revenue which is estimated to skyrocket to $106.93 billion by 2025. The fitness clothing market is expanding rapidly, an indication that you can sell merch and make money regularly.
But, fitness influencers should not take their status as granted when it comes to selling merch to audiences.
They should first consider all aspects of creating merchandise that people like to use. Surely, if planned well, the combination of your influence and usefulness of the merch can win the buyers’ hearts.
What is fitness merch?
Fitness merch is the clothing and accessories that fitness enthusiasts wear during an exercising regime.
So, all the athletic wear such as T-shirts, hoodies, sweatpants, sweatshirts, etc are fitness merch. Other major fitness clothing merchandise includes custom long-sleeve shirts, racerbacks, sleeveless T-shirts, sweatshirts, and sports bra.
You can choose to sell from various types of influencer merch. You should sell only those merchandise that your followers want to buy from you. There are many other aspects to keep in mind when you start making and selling merch as a fitness influencer.
Here Are The Top Considerations To Make Merch As A Fitness Influencer
01. Find Out What Merch Your Followers Want To Buy – What Excites Them
The first thing to make sure is to know your followers’ choice when they go out to buy fitness merch. Not all of them are looking for the same merch that you have in mind.
As an influencer, you may boast of having millions of followers or you may be a micro-influencer who has only a few thousands of followers. But in both cases, you cannot confidently say that your followers will buy whatever you sell to them.
To find out what type of merch your followers are looking for, you can start a poll on your social media. Ask them about their choice of merchandise.
They can even reveal their preferences for custom hoodies, custom T-shirts and other clothing in the comment section of your blog or YouTube channel.
Or, simply Google about what fitness merch is trending these days amongst young people. You can even post some photos of merch and ask followers if they would like to buy.
Most importantly, find out if they are interested in buying from you. To know this, you should check their engagement level with your fitness blogs and other content.
If they are actively giving their opinion about your blogs in the comment section, it is a sign of them engaged with your brand. If they just read or view your content and do not comment, then revisit your content strategy and make it more engaging.
That is the preparation you need to make before starting and making merch as a fitness influencer.
02. Open Your Online Store
After you have zeroed in on the type of fitness merch that your followers are likely to buy from you, open an online store. But, choose the online print-on-demand platform to open the store carefully. These platforms come with a lot of features for the sellers.
So, compare them first for their features, fees, shipping charges, and how much profit you can make. Settle for the one that lets you open the store with minimum formalities and free of cost.
After you create merch such as T-shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies, etc. fitness merch, you can then order the POD platform to print your design on the merch.
The site will also ship the merch to the customer on your behalf. So, compare such platforms extensively to open your online merch store to create and sell merch.
03. Start With A Small Budget
Make sure that you have set aside a small budget to create your fitness merch and sell. But keep the budget small in the initial stage. Do not invest a larger amount of money as you have no idea about how the business will take shape in the future.
You should begin a small trial run and see how it turns out to be after a few weeks. It is only after your business picks up that you should start investing more.
04. Come Out With Unique Merch Ideas
One of the key factors to run your business successfully is that it should be unique in many ways. If people find a product useful, they will buy it. When it comes to fitness merchandise, they will buy it only when its design stands out from a lot of other merch designs.
They want to wear a merch T-shirt or any other sportswear for its design and style. So, lure them with something attractive, stylish, and fashionable. Give them some reason to buy your merch.
For instance, use some catchphrase and get it printed on the custom T-shirts as part of your overall merch design.
People will buy the tshirt for its unique and exciting slogan, motivational quotes, catchphrases, or illustrations. For them, such fitness clothing becomes a means of expression of what they have in mind.
Rather than depending on a generic design, create merch designs that people find appealing. They must connect well with the design. Such a merch should reflect the personality of the target audience.
05. Take Help From Professional Designers
You may not be an expert graphic designer. If so, then hire the services of an experienced professional designer who can create outstanding merch designs for you.
Do not try to randomly generate something in the name of the design, as it may ruin the prospects of your business. Or, if you want to do the designing job on your own, then at least train yourself first.
You can also use design software that has a drag and drop features. Such software makes creating design much easier for amateur designers like you.
Some print-on-demand platforms are also equipped with the features to let you design your merch. So, if your online store sites let you design merch as well, then explore those features. But make sure that your merch stands out in its design, slogans, quotes, and other features.
06. Create Merch That Stands Out
Make sure that your fitness brand’s clothing meets two basic requirements. First, its design should be in line with the trending fashion and style. Second, the design must stand out.
First, do some research to find out what other merch designs look like in your niche. Compare as many T-shirt designs in your fitness niche as you can.
The research will help you know about the trending fashion styles. Then, come out with a design, slogan, or illustration that people have not come across before.
You will need to brainstorm a little to get some exciting fitness merch ideas. Shortlist such ideas and work around them to create something new for your target audience and buyers.
One of the surefire ways to catch people’s attention is to create merch related to a current event, or milestone. If there is some sporting event taking place in your city, create fitness clothing with the event theme. People will love to buy such clothing to support the event.
Similarly, if, as an influencer, your channel achieved a milestone, create your merch design to celebrate it. For instance, your channel’s number of followers reached up to a certain mark or you got an award for your works.
Then, create merch around such achievements. Your followers would love to buy the custom branded merchandise as they are your fans.
07. Promote Your Fitness Merch
Now that you have finally come up with some unique branded merchandise ideas, it is time to promote the merch aggressively. The more you prompt it, the higher are your chances of selling it to your prospective buyers.
Since you are an influencer, why not wear the custom clothing such as the T-shirt during appearing in your YouTube channel.
When people see you wearing the merch, they will like to have the one for themselves as well. So, wear the merch that you created recently to influence your followers’ buying decision.
Another promotional tactic is to share pics of your followers wearing your merch. Share those pics on your social media channels such as Instagram and Facebook extensively. This encourages other people to buy the merch.
These are the major points to consider when you intend to sell merch as an influencer. Pay attention to these basics, and you will soon be selling a lot of merch.
Where to find the right Print-on-demand platform to sell fitness merchandise?
When opening your online store as a site to sell merch, think of a reliable POD platform such as PrintShop from Designhill, a leading creative marketplace. At this site, you can create designs on your own.
Then, you can choose merchandise out of many clothing such as t-shirts, hoodies, sweatshirts, etc. You can also pick branded clothing from reputed companies.
After that, you can ask the site to print your design on the choice of the merch. The site will deliver the merch to your customer. With PrintShop, your profit margin is attractive as well.
Wrapping Up
If you are an influencer with millions of or even thousands of followers, you can earn a decent income by selling fitness merchandise. Many of your followers will love to buy custom sweatshirts, sweatpants, T-shirts, hoodies, and other fitness clothing when you recommend them.
You can create a unique merch design and sell it at an attractive profit. But follow the basics of selling merch as an influencer. You should research what merch designs and styles your followers prefer. Also, open an online store at a dependable POD site. You need to promote the merch to sell more to the buyers aggressively.
