If you have thousands or even millions of followers online, the next natural step would be to use your popularity to increase your earnings. Many YouTubers have paved the way for us smaller content creators to take advantage of our online following. The most popular YouTubers usually offer a bunch of products to gain some extra income and have their followers represent them in the physical world. YouTuber merch is one of the ways to monetize their channels.
It’s important to carefully curate your personal merchandise to match the interests of your audience. Your merch also has to reflect your brand. As a novice, the most brilliant move you can make is to take from already established YouTubers and study their entire enterprise.
In this post, we’re going to look at the ten most successful YouTubers ever and how they capitalize on their virtual fame by selling YouTuber Merch. Once you grasp what they all have in common, you’re well on your way to making more money by selling your own merch.
YouTubers and Their Merch
Markiplier
Markiplier is recognized for his crazy antics and iconic mustache logo. His merch store features clothing adorned with this easily recognizable emblem, making them the perfect novelty items to gift or use yourself.
He might be making hundreds of thousands of dollars with his YouTuber merch store alone, but he didn’t start as an instant success. Mark Fischbach was born in Hawaii but moved to Cincinnati, where he cultivated a love for gaming.
It took him years to get the impressive viewership that he has now. When he first got his first 1,000 followers, he decided to invest in better equipment and drop out of college. For a while, he experimented with reaction videos on top of his usual commentaries and walkthroughs.
Because of his humble beginnings, more and more people noticed his work online, and the money just started pouring in for Mark. All to Google’s AdSense program, he rose to the top and established himself as one of the most successful international YouTubers. It’s also nice to note that he’s a philanthropist who donates to charity, all pulled from what he earns online.
Related Reading: How much do sponsors pay YouTubers? See Here.
Grace Helbig
Grace is a famous YouTuber and podcaster. Her YouTuber merch is mostly hoodies with an upside-down smiley face and the sentence “I don’t know” printed on them. They don’t bear her name or have anything very identifiable about them other than her signature catchphrase.
Grace is considered the “Queen of Comedy” in the YouTube World. She propelled herself into the limelight by putting out hilarious and informative videos directed towards women and young girls. Many of them consider Grace as an unproblematic role model.
How did she manage to capture her audience? She stayed true to herself. Grace is known for being awkward, but she lets her true colors shine on the internet as if she’s interacting with close friends. It turns out that a lot of people can identify with her personality and self-deprecating humor.
She banks on how her fans feel like misfits in the real world and how they’ve found an online community of like-minded individuals. Her merch is also easy to sell because it’ll fit right into your hoodie collection. There’s nothing too distinct about them aside from the inside info that her fans have about her.
Jacksepticeye
Senas McLoughlin’s merch store reflects his bright and energizing personality. On there, you can find anything from clothing to toys, all decorated with his iconic eye logo. Sean’s logo is hugely recognizable because of its simplicity. You may want to take a leaf out of his book and design your logo based on what works with today’s modern audiences. He’s a great example of YouTuber merch and what it can be.
Hailing from Ireland, Sean is high up on YouTube’s most subscribed channels list. He initially studied hotel management but discovered that his true passions lie in gaming. So what’s with the eye? To fashion his logo, he drew inspiration from an eye infection that he had as a child. It’s fascinating to note that something so personal can turn into a multi-million dollar online enterprise.
Fernanfloo
Fernanfloo is a popular gamer from El Salvador. His high-energy videos attract gamers of all ages. The thing to note about his merch is that they’re all green-themed. It’s essential to stick to one color or a theme to make your stuff more unified and recognizable.
VanossGaming
The trick to having a successful merch store is to offer unique products to your audience. You have to make sure that all your items stand out from the sea of merchandise available for everyone to purchase. VanossGaming did precisely that by designing a distinct avatar for himself that he slaps onto his merchandise.
Evan Fong started his online store back in 2011, just when he was 19 years old. He continued to work hard on his videos, and now they have garnered billions of views from all over the world. In 2018, his paycheck from his online endeavors was a whopping $15.5 million.
How did he do this? By using his “Night Owl” model to unify his content. See, you need specific images you want your audience to associate with you. When enough people like you, they will want to represent you by buying stuff they can use every day.
Related Reading: How To Make Money On YouTube Without Making Videos – Read Here.
H3H3
Ethan and Hila Klein are popular vloggers and podcasters. They make commentaries on the latest happenings on the web and in the world. Their fans love them for their humor and willingness to make their lives transparent.
Their store reflects their personalities, filled with humorous apparel and items like a candle with “This Smells Like My Butthole.” It looks like they put a lot of work into the designs of their shirts, featuring the pop culture references that they use all the time. The idea behind these products is that they offer YouTuber merch so their fans can feel in on their lives and fun banter.
Rhett and Link
Rhett and Link make up the duo that started and still stars in the internet show Good Mythical Morning. Working on the show for 15 years, they supplement their YouTube career by having a Mythical Store. Their store carries quirky printed t-shirts and personal grooming products that they claim they formulated themselves.
Now the internet juggernaut Mythical Entertainment, they’ve branched out to more channels to share other types of content that their viewers enjoy. Rhett and Link’s products all have a retro feel to them, which is on-brand because they have a lot of nostalgia content.
The Mythical Store works so well because they feature products that buyers can actually use. These products also run out, so their fans have to keep buying more. You don’t also have to be a fan to enjoy their products, making them perfect gift items as well. Solid YouTuber merch examples.
Dude Perfect
Dude Perfect’s online store is set up like a professional clothing e-commerce website. Their products are intended for folks who enjoy shopping for clothing to wear while working out. Run by five friends, the Dude Perfect channel is set up to promote their merch because they use what they sell.
With clean and crisp graphic elements, it’s hard to say no to these products even if you’re not their biggest fan. As you can see, it helps when your products have that kind of versatility.
Dan & Phil
Dan & Phil nurtured their fandom by putting out helpful and, most importantly, entertaining videos. Their audience is mostly girls who enjoy cute and funny stuff. That’s why they filled their merch store with novelty items that these young girls would want to wear and give their friends.
Dan and Phil hail from the UK, and their partnership didn’t get much attention until 2012. They started off as individual YouTube channels, but when they collaborated, it turned out to be a match made in heaven. They became so popular that they toured the United States, stopping in 37 cities.
Smosh
Smosh popularized YouTube as a platform for comedy and skits. Their videos are intended to be uplifting, so it’s no wonder that people gravitate towards them. Their store features everything from calendars to socks, so their audience is bound to find something that they want.
One of the OGs of YouTube, Smosh, was founded by Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla. Right now, their merch empire is valued at $12.5 million.
Popular Merch Designs You Can Use To Spiff Up Your Own
What’s in right now might not be in next year, so keep track of what designs are trending right now. Here’s a bunch of designs ideas if you’re creating your merch right now:
Pocket Prints
If you’re stuck on some T-shirt designs, one trend right now is to replace pockets with graphics. This is a good advertising technique because your logo would be right at chest level. When someone dons your merch, they essentially become a walking billboard. It’s enough for these designs to be around 4 inches to make a subtle yet impactful advertising message.
Abstract Drawings
Our eyes are naturally attracted to abstract drawings and modified popular symbols. These drawings may be simple, but you never want to overcomplicate your designs. Simpler designs are more recognizable, and this is what you want when establishing your brand.
Side-aligned Typography
Side-aligned typography or any other retro typography is all the rage now. It’s a great way to use minimal designs using unique fonts and placements. It lets your audience know that you design your merch according to the current fashion trends.
Achieving Success With A Merch Store
Final Thoughts
We can learn a lot from YouTube success stories and practice effective plugging of merchandise across all platforms. If your dream one day is to see people on the streets donning your merch, it is certainly possible. All you have to do is create merchandise that will suit the tastes and interests of your audience.
