If you just started selling at Threadless, then you’ve probably read a ton of success stories on how independent designers became best selling artists, and you are willing to do whatever it takes to reach that level of success. Luckily, this guide will go over the five steps you need to follow to promote your Artist Shop like the pros. Read on.
Whether you swim with or against the flow, it’s important to know what’s going on out there, what trends, styles, themes, and topics are building popularity.
Making a Valentine’s Day tank top won’t affect your brand’s identity, and joining this seasonal trend can be a great move to promote your Artist Shop.
Want to make it easier for people to find your artwork? Step up your SEO game, here’s how:
Find the right keywords (try Keyword Planner) and use them on your product’s description and title. Make sure to target both broad and long tail keywords. E.g. t-shirts and Game of Thrones t-shirts.
Start a blog. Make frequent posts on topics relevant to your brand, your processes and the t-shirt selling industry. Guest posting is also a good practice, especially if you trade posts with a blog with a similar audience as yours. If you write about “Making a Passive Income by Selling T-Shirts,” it doesn’t make sense to do a guest post with a foodie or traveling blog, regardless of its popularity or rank.
Make relevant sites link back to your site and blog. This sometimes means spending money to be featured on a list, post or directory but hey, if the site is important enough, it pays off.
Encourage your clients to spread the word by sharing links to your Threadless shop, website or articles. You can do this through social media.
Tip: Read MOZ’s Beginners Guide to SEO.
If you plan on promoting your artist shop through social media, you’ve got to have compelling visual assets to accompany your adverts and make sure they meet the results you are expecting.
Before spending time and money on adverts, make sure to think about what you are most likely to re-share on Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest; then go and make shareworthy stuff yourself!
A quick tip is to make different audiences based on topic or demographic. For example, if you make an ad about a beachwear sale, select your audience based on related interests, and so on.
Tip: Read more about Facebook Custom Audiences.
Join Facebook Groups about selling t-shirts online. You’ll be surprised about how much great insight you can find from fellow artists and designers looking to promote their designs and websites. Here are a couple to get you started: T-Shirt & Apparel Masterminds and T-Shirts Strategy, Tips and Tools.
Dive into forums! It may sound like a 2008 move to make, but there are tons of subreddits, threads, and forums for t-shirt artists out there. Not to mention the ones at Threadless itself.
Here’s the thing about forums: you’ve got to be helpful, honest, and respectful. Remember there are all sorts of people here, from successful sellers to newbies and enthusiasts; keep a positive attitude, share and listen to as much piece of advice as you can, the community will appreciate it, and your Artist Shop will eventually be rewarded.
“Respect the artist and trust the community” –Jake Nickell, Threadless Founder and CEO
Do you enjoy watercolor painting? Is Illustrator your go-to tool? Are clever graphic tees your thing? Whatever your talent or interest may be, be sure to pursue it and have a good time while doing so.
• Threadless is a marketplace, but it is also a community, join and be nice.
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