T-shirts generally don't sell unless an audience already has a positive association with whatever is on the T-shirt, or "brand awareness" in marketing speak. You really do have to experiment and learn-by-doing, but generally I think T-shirts with clever sayings or characters would sell better than a company shirt. No one will walk around as (basically) an unpaid billboard for a company unless they really care about you or your brand.

I think T-shirts with clever sayings or characters would sell better than a company shirt

I have a lot of ideas with this character, just don't know how to draw :D  But that gives me an idea for my next attempt.  It wasn't until after I launched and posted it on FaceBook that I realized the shirt needed a different design.  I have that bad habit of jumping first, then thinking through it later.  Hence my coming here for advice.

small budget and would rather spend the money on actual product not T-Shirt. I didn't look into the site you mentioned, but we were ordering them and keeping them in stock. It was very hard to know what sizes would sell best. Ended up with inventory I finally gave away as conference prizes.

Merchandise is very tricky.  I am the buyer for a museum gift shop, and have learned a lot of lessons while working here.  Tshirts don't become affordable untill you are ready to stock 144.  Small don't sell, so you only need 3 or 4.  Most popular sizes seem to be L, XL, and 2X.  I can't get women's cuts to sell at all.  And tourists are willing to pay up to $25 a shirt.  While a good graphic will sell, the best ones are simple 1 color prints for about $18.  That is what attracted me to this booster site.  They make only what is ordered and I collect the profit.  

Toying around with a wooden keychain through an engraver I know.  But here is where merchandising gets crazy.  The keychain that I will pay $3.50 for will need to sell closer to $10 for me to make any money, which should retail for about $6.95.  The problem is quantity, that price allows a minimum of 10.  

Take a small amount from each filming job and set it aside for the item/items you wish to purchase.

There lies the problem.  Earlier I mentioned how I jump into things, this was one.  There isn't a market for videos amongs my circle of friends and their friends.  I get a lot of "cute" remarks, but it is something expected for free.  And I went way too broad in my initial setup and presentation.  Which leads to:

 unless your business was performing at functions with the puppet or mascot

I am going smaller.  Going to focus on 5 puppets, Tyger leading the charge.  These 5 will do custom videos, but will also be used in other videos and live events.  Going to focus local with some internet, and grow from there.  I thought I could go pure videos until I took puppets to a comic convention.

I know you want a more professional looking puppet, but remember The Kermit, Miss Piggy etc didn't start out looking like they do now. Each time you build something, work at learning a new technique. You'll improve upon you character each time. Even wll known mascot upgrade that's what keeps them fresh.

This is something that...while I understand it, I struggle with it.  But it gives me hope as I move forward.  Going to attempt Tyger and see how it works out.  Probably do the other 4 first, since that was always the plan.  Just have to figure out what pattern to use and go from there.

Ironically enough, most of my problems are things Na warned me about. 

  

There lies the problem.  Earlier I mentioned how I jump into things, this was one.  There isn't a market for videos amongs my circle of friends and their friends.  I get a lot of "cute" remarks, but it is something expected for free.  And I went way too broad in my initial setup and presentation.

Don't market to friends. At all. For the time being, try offering a couple of 'trial' videos for companies you already have in-roads with.

Ironically enough, most of my problems are things Na warned me about. 

 

It's all a learning curve. Most of what I've "warned" you about is stuff I've learned the hard way, and I'm guessing most of the others would say the same. Like you, I struggle a lot with diving in without thinking and with finding a balance between 'heaps of ideas' and 'too much on my plate'. I guess the trick is to prioritise: figure out what is the easiest (aka cheapest) to start with as well as what might be easiest to market. My hopeful plans is to start selling cheap and easy wall decorations and then move on to the more elaborate shadow puppets and other things. But the easiest to market for me is largely to do with sparking a captive audience by tapping into a hot button topic. Something that starts a conversation will be more memorable and viral than a t-shirt with a brand that no one has heard about before.

Speaking of: You really need some sort of catchy phrase or image for your shirts to sell. I bought one once that said "iPuppeteer", silly but I thought it was fun at the time. And I did wear it proudly. I think to sell an unknown brand is difficult, but to sell a cute character with a funny phrase would be *much* easier. A picture of your puppet posed in a funny way, or an image captioned with something that speaks to a cause you want to promote. I recall you are interested in doing work with charities, so why not put one of your puppets next to a caption that says something about helping others? That way you're doing two things at once: branding your company with recognisable characters *and* visually connecting your company with the kind of organisations you'd like to work with.

... Just a thought.

I am glad Andrew chimed in.  I was thinking the same thing but was not sure how to word it.. he hit it on the head.  

Na thank you for the compliment.  I have never had much luck at all selling merchandise but I think maybe at festivals it may do better?

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Na thank you for the compliment.  I have never had much luck at all selling merchandise but I think maybe at festivals it may do better?

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You're welcome! And I certainly think you'd get a lot of interest at comic cons and similar. I always admired your work on caricatures and I think they'd be a hit at conventions where there are a lot of famous faces and/or people interested in famous faces.

You really need some sort of catchy phrase or image for your shirts to sell. I bought one once that said "iPuppeteer", silly but I thought it was fun at the time. And I did wear it proudly. I think to sell an unknown brand is difficult, but to sell a cute character with a funny phrase would be *much* easier. A picture of your puppet posed in a funny way, or an image captioned with something that speaks to a cause you want to promote. I recall you are interested in doing work with charities, so why not put one of your puppets next to a caption that says something about helping others? That way you're doing two things at once: branding your company with recognisable characters *and* visually connecting your company with the kind of organisations you'd like to work with.

I have commissioned an illustration from Beatriz Vega that I hope will do that, and set the stage of my restructured take on things.  When I launch that booster, a portion of funds raised will be given to Child's Play, an organization providing games and toys to children's hospitals. 

Thanks everyone for the tips!

Sounds good. Like your choice of charity, i am a fan of theirs too

Speaking of impulse, set up my third attempt:

www.gofundme.com/tygermin

If anything, I am getting a good feel of the types of crowdfunding sites.  Was toying with KickStarter when someone suggested GoFundMe.  Out of the ones I have tried, I think this will be my online choice for raising money for charities once Tyger is created.  There is no time limit and the fees are slightly better than the others.  It isn't as easily found in a search, but lets face it, going viral and attracting strangers is luck of the draw that can happen anywhere.  

What has me confused is that I haven't given up yet.  None of my other dreams have been this persistant.  

Since GoFundMe is targeted for friends and family, decided to have fun with a 3 perk contest.  Posted 3 $5 perks and the one that raises the most wins, affecting my FaceBook profile pic for 1 month.  Options are shaved head, 6 year old daughter cutting my hair, or daughter giving me a makeover with mommy's makeup.  I don't know if it will work, but it could be interesting.