mrchgrl merchandising + design

Question & Answer: Popular Items

2009-02-08T03:00:00.000-05:00

Brian P. from the band Tenth Planet asks:

Other than the staple merch item of shirts, what are some other really popular things people ask for at shows to purchase?

Mrchgrl says:

This is a great question and one that I get asked quite frequently! Obviously T-shirts are considered a merch "staple" but there is such a wide range of options when it comes to merch! One of the things people ask for often is actually something to carry their merch in (i.e. a bag) so Tote bags are definitely a cheap option that could garner a couple extra bucks of sales per customer which adds up pretty quickly. Tote bags can also be a pretty inexpensive thing to make and you have a lot of options as far as fabrics, printing styles and locations. You can opt to be eco-friendly or wallet-friendly!

Another item that gets requested a lot is patches. Primarily for bands that play to a teen demographic, these small pieces of fabric are not only super easy to make & print, but fully customizeable!

More oft-requested items include: hats, stickers, posters, toques, necklaces, bracelets or cuffs, baby onesies and buttons.

New Layout?

2009-02-08T00:21:00.001-05:00

I think this layout is a LOT less eye-boggling, but I'd love to hear your opinion!

Leave a comment!

xo mrchgrl

Twitter for BANDS made SIMPLE!

2009-02-07T13:27:00.000-05:00

@iheathen (http://twitter.com/iheathen) just wrote a great article on his blog about twittering for bands. As you may already know, I use twitter quite frequently as a way to get my brand out there and communicate with new potential clients. I also use it to collect feedback about my business and the things I could/should be doing with it.

I would recommend that anybody interested in getting into the online game check out this article to learn how it's done effectively. Click here to check out the article!!!!
New Q&A's coming soon!!!

http://intrsctn.com/

Question & Answer: Give Aways

2009-02-07T03:00:00.000-05:00

Helmut K. from Dead But Dreaming (www.myspace.com/deadbutdreamingtheband) asks:

im really hype on promotiong...we have a cd for sale and also starting soon i wanna have promo cd samplers with 3 songs on them to give out for free at shows.

burned cds and given out at shows with the myspace and email address on them...for buzz factor.

what do you think?

Mrchgrl says:
Honestly, people never listen to cd's that are given to them for free. I'd say one out of 20 people you give them to might actually listen.

Your best bet? Do something different. Don't try and be like every other band out there, handing out samples and praying someone hears your stuff. The bands that are successful are the bands that let the fans and the success come to them, they dont need to seek it out because they are already great at what they do.

My advice is put on a wicked live show, write good songs that people will like and if you want to spend time/money/energy on giving something away, be unique.

A good option? USB Keys
have your band logo printed on the side, have your demos, publicity photos, bio, epk, award info, whatever uploaded onto them and ONLY Give them to industry people you want on your team. You can SELL them at your merch table if you have the album on them and the best part? They are reuseable!

More Info;
Giving away stuff to promote your band is a great way to gain new fans and get yourself out there! Helmut definitely has the right idea, it’s just the approach that could be different. Every band wanting a shot gives out demos, people accept them because it’s the polite thing to do, but don’t ever listen to them on most occasions.

Having free demos is a great idea, just don’t walk around giving them out. Have them available for free at your merch table and announce while you perform that you will be giving away a couple free songs to the first 20 or 50 people at the merch table. Not only will that get people over to your merch table which could equal more sales, but it also assures that only the people who WANT the demos will get them.

Other options for freebies to get peoples interest include but aren’t limited to: Lighters, Matches, Condoms, Bottled Water, Stickers, Magnets, Buttons, Pens, Lanyards, Toques and more! All of these things can be sold or given away for free because they aren’t super expensive to make.

Excuses, Excuses!

2009-02-06T15:31:00.001-05:00

Quite likely the most frequently used excuse I hear from bands and artists about why they aren’t getting [new] merch is that they don’t have the “funds” to get merch made. “We want to wait until we have more money until we get merch” is unfortunately one of the lamest excuses in the book. I don’t mean to be harsh about this and after all, it is my job to get you guys to understand what you don’t already, right?
Making a budget (and sticking to it) is quite likely the most important thing a band can do. It shouldn’t be difficult to raise the money necessary to get a run of merch going in more than two to four months. Every show that your band plays without merch should be considered a show that loses money. It’s a missed opportunity for your band, not just to make a bit of extra cash (which could go towards making more or better merch) but it’s a missed opportunity for advertising, for a connection with the people in your audience, and for business opportunities.

It is as easy as each band member putting $50/month into a bank account. After one month? Maybe $100, maybe $250... after two? $200 to $500... four? Potentially over a thousand bucks... that is more than enough to get a first run going. Use that first collective amount to get some GOOD t-shirts. Don’t get the cheapest tee’s you can find and don’t save money on printing, spend less, get less. Spend more, make more. Invest in quality t-shirts and quality printing.

In the meantime, while you’re building up your savings, research what kind of prints would work best for your band. Pay attention to what the kids are wearing at your shows. Utilize the things you see around you to your advantage! Be funny, be creative, ask questions and promote, promote, promote!!! Let your fans know there is new merch coming! Tell them it’s limited edition, you’re only doing 100 of these t-shirts and then NO MORE! What is going to be more enticing than a limited edition t-shirt from your favourite band? Offer to let them PRE-PAY for their t-shirts, that way you can make sure you get their sizes, and then put that money into your budget as well. Congratulations, your t-shirts aren’t even printed and you’ve already made a profit!

When your money is all saved up and your designs are ready to go, don’t start half-assing it, there! Hire a merch person to sell your merch, upsell everything and keep all of your profits! Divide all of your merch earnings, don’t pay out the band with that money, put it BACK into your piggy bank and use it to make MORE merch!

The second printing, instead of printing 100 t-shirts, do 250, or 500, or 1000 if you can afford it, it will be cheaper per unit costs because you are ordering more quantities! Do different types of merch, more items at different prices. Give your fans options but keep it consistent. Keep production going, keep selling and listen to what your fans have to say. Before you know it, you’ll be making enough money to pay for touring and take a bit home.
Congratulations, now you know how merchandising should work!

What does the Recession mean for Merch?

2009-01-06T16:36:00.000-05:00

Sadly we are at the beginning of what seems to be a downfall in the economy, the dollar is low everywhere and people are losing their jobs left and right; nobody seems to have much disposable income to throw around these days, so does that mean bands will stop touring, concerts will halt production and nobody will go see shows anymore? No. So where does that leave us in the world of merchandising?

Despite a year of record lows for the rest of the world, the concert industry seems to be doing better than ever, as indicated by this article by the associated press. I strongly believe that people use music as an escape from their everyday lives and put so much value on their favourite bands/artists/tunes that what little money they have, they'd most often rather use to go see a concert than on some other frivolous items. And what people are failing to understand is that this isn't heading into a 30's era depression with kids wearing cloth diapers and people losing the clothes off their backs. People will obviously have less money to work with and need to budget appropriately, but their wont lose all of their worldly posessions or have to give up all of their luxuries.

Our job in the industry is to fulfill the needs of our customers, in this case, the concert audience, while still giving them options for supporting acts on the road. Cheaper tickets to shows, more affordable items to buy at the merch table, dropping prices back down to reasonable rates. (You can still make a fair profit on a $15 dollar t-shirt, there is no reason for it to be $35 and chances are you'll sell a lot more!)

I think the concert and merchandising industry will manage to make it through the recession, so long as we put our money where our mouths are and drop prices to rates that are affordable. This doesn't mean losing profit, it just means we need to re-assess the way we make/sell merch.

A New Year, A New Blog Post!

2009-01-06T16:04:00.000-05:00

happy new year everybody! sorry it's been a while since I posted, I have been epicly busy quickly followed by epicly sick! Right now I am sitting at a local cafe watching a crazy lady with mimi-makeup harass a smoking patron outside and it got me thinking that it was time I started harassing you people with my amazing wit and colorful language once again.

I hope that you all had amazing holidays! Mine were good, but very busy. And I am pretty happy to be getting back into the swing of things again.

Just a few updates and then I will go work on a new [real] blog for you.

Once again, Congrats to Tenth Planet on their big win for the Christmas giveaway, and thanks to everybody who voted! I hope you keep checking back on the blog to learn more about merch!

Also, the "h" key on my keyboard is broken, it makes me very sad. I want your pity now.

And finally, 2009 is going to be a BIG year. Lots of work and epic adventures and I can't wait to get started!

Once again, I love getting feedback from you guys and when you let me know what you are wanting to learn about from this blog, so don't hesitate to ask!
I have been twittering like a fiend, so if you aren't currently following me, please add me @mrchgrl !!!!

happy new year!!!!

Tenth Planet Wins!

2008-12-24T15:30:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to Tenth Planet for winning the Mrchgrl Christmas Giveaway!

They win a FREE mrchgrl custom T-shirt Design for their band!

Thanks to all of the bands who participated, and never fear, you will be getting something, too! Both Dr.Pants and the New Nationals will be recieving 10% off their first mrchgrl order for the year of 2009!

Congrats, Tenth Planet and Merry Christmas everybody! xo

Mrchgrl Giveaway Contest - VOTE NOW!

2008-12-15T09:57:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the bands who've signed up. Please choose the band you wish to win the contest in the poll on the right. You can only vote once, so make your vote count!

If you are in a band and still want to sign up and get votes, you can do so by looking at the requirements at the post below!

In the Running:

Dr.Pants
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/drpants5

The New Nationals
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/newnationals

Voting will end on Dec 24th at 12:00am! Please get your votes in NOW!

mrchgrl christmas giveaway!

2008-12-08T22:02:00.000-05:00

Don't say I never did anything for ya, okay?

Mrchgrl.net is offering a special giveaway offer to ANY band ANYwhere for a limited time only!

One lucky band will win a custom limited edition design from mrchgrl merchandising for FREE!

What do you (the band or artist) have to do to win?
- Become a fan on Facebook (see link in the left menu? go THERE!) *update* and write on the mrchgrl fan page wall to let us know you've joined up!
- Be our Myspace Friend and put Mrchgrl in your Top Friends! (see the link right below that?)
- send your friends and family to the mrchgrl blog to vote! Voting starts on Dec. 14th so HURRY and sign up!
- Send us an email with a link to your myspace page and facebook profile, telling us why YOU should be the band that gets chosen to recieve a free t-shirt design! (email to mrchgrl@mrchgrl.net, subject: BAND NAME, Christmas Giveaway), Please attach any logo you currently have that may be used in the design - Hi-Res JPEG, PNG, PDF or EPS format

It's as simple as that!

What do you (the band or artist) win?
- One custom mrchgrl t-shirt design (1 or 2 Color Print) (digital files: PDF, PSD, PNG MOCKUP)- Value $150
- $50 off any Premium Package #3 or higher
- One promo blog about your band featured on mrchgrl.net, mrchblog, myspace, facebook and twitter
- A direct link placed on mrchgrl.net website & mrchblog blogroll

The winner will be assessed by mrchgrl.net and announced on December 24th, 2008 @ 9:00PM EST via MRCHBLOG, MRCHGRL.NET, TWITTER, FACEBOOK and MYSPACE

Merry Christmas and Happy Freakin Holidays!!!

Merch:101 - 360 Deals vs. Merch

2008-12-06T02:04:00.001-05:00

Lesson 7: What is a 360 deal and could it work for you?

You don't know how much it aggravates me when I meet a new independent band and the first thing out of their collective mouth is "When we get signed..." I just want to shake them and say "Get signed? Why on EARTH would you want to get signed?"

You see, what most bands don't understand is that Record Labels, like the rest of the free world at the moment, have no money. And what little money they do have, they spend on promotional fees and outdated advertising campaigns to shoot their mediocre talent to the fame equivalent of the stratosphere only to drop them on a dime when their albums don't sell. It's a broken system, and although, granted, there are some small gracious labels out there doing it right, they are few and far between and the ratio of talent to quality labels is somewhere at about 1 zillion to 1.

360 deals work for HUGE performers like Jay-Z and Madonna because they can negotiate their own terms. They (and their team of 100 lawyers) decide how much they make, how much they work and how long they are obligated to do so. The companies (i.e. Live Nation) putting out the money for these huge deals for these artists have complete faith that they will continue to be successful and they are willing to make sacrifices to get those names on their roster.

What is a 360 deal exactly?
360 deal is a term used to describe a contract that a company or record label offers to an artist or band. It is called a 360 deal because it covers everything that artist earns, not limited to only recordings or merchandise or appearances, but the whole she-bang. Usually the artist or band is offered a lump sum up front (varies depending on success of artist and earning potential) and a percentage of total earnings throughout the allotted time of the deal. The company would front the money for everything involved in promoting and managing the artist such as tour costs, recording costs, merchandise manufacturing costs, marketing costs, radio airplay costs and any incidentals. Whatever the artist earns from touring, album sales, digital downloads and merchandising would all go directly back to the company and the artist would earn a percentage of all of it as per the contract.

So that seems good, why wouldn't I want that for my band?

Here's the thing. When you don't own any of the material you put out, you can't control the material you put out. In this day and age, 360 deals are almost a step backwards in the evolutionary process. When we have all of this amazing and often free digital media at our fingertips and are able to be more lucrative independently with a little more hard work, why would you want to surrender the majority of your potential income over to some company just because they're willing to give you a modicum of that up front?

In addition to that, factor in the fact that the majority of artists aren't hugely successful and can't negotiate a large percentage of their earnings for themselves, chances are by signing a deal like that you will be forfeiting a large amount of money that could have been yours.
Sure, by agreeing to a 360 deal you will most likely get a sum of money nobody can shake their head at, but money doesn't last forever and most artists prefer to have control over the way that they are represented in the media and in their music. 360 deals are basically the music industry equivalent of selling your soul to the devil, except the devil is a middle aged businessman who knows nothing about music.

But what does this have to do with merchandising?

Good question! Pretty much everything. You see, most often when a band or artist signs to a record label, the label handles the cost of producing the album, promoting it and distributing it. This is called a P&D (production and distribution) deal. Sometimes the label will cough up tour costs. Sometimes they will offer artist development like media training and makeovers. Most often (especially now that they're all basically one album away from bankruptcy) they just offer P&D deals and expect booking agents and management teams to take care of the rest. This means that although they aren't coughing up any money for merch, they also can't collect any money made from merchandise sales, so the majority of that financial income goes directly back to the artist. This comes in handy when your publishing money has run out and you are in the middle of Saskatchewan on tour in need of a Sandwich!

Merchandise is basically the only remaining portion of income that a record label often can't touch, and not only that, but its quite easy and often cheap to build a financial income from it if you follow the right path and make the right investments. Its generally the only money you'll be taking home at the end of a tour, so you've really got to take into consideration how much of that you'd be willing to compromise for a little bit of cash up front.

There are definitely pro's and con's to both sides of the coin. I think it boils down to the type of artist you are and the control you want to have over your own brand. Seems simple enough, right?

Sick :(

2008-12-03T18:03:00.001-05:00

I just wanted to apologize to everybody who has been waiting for another blog to come out. I have been in bed for over a week and finally I can breathe again! :D
I will do a new blog tomorrow for Merch:101. And please make sure to check out the new website, I've been busting my butt putting it together, so let me know what you think in the comments section!

xo
-mrchgrl

MRCHGRL WEBSITE!

2008-11-28T02:17:00.001-05:00

Huzzah! Huzzah!
The day has finally come!

I've been waiting what feels like forever to have a fully functional website for mrchgrl up and running! And after staring at my computer for eternity, I can finally let everybody know that the website is here!

Dun Dun Dun!!!!

MRCHGRL.NET!!!

Check it out. Bookmark it! Check back daily!

For all of you mrchgrl blog fanatics (hey mom!) don't worry, I will be updating new posts just as often, if not MORE often now that the website is up and running. And as always, please pass on the site to people you think may want/like/need/worship it!

Cheers!

xo
-mrchgrl

Mrchgrl Client Services

2008-11-25T03:12:00.000-05:00

Want to learn more about the mrchgrl services?

Please click here to see all of the services that mrchgrl currently offers.

Merch 101: Moving Your Inventory

2008-11-24T23:20:00.000-05:00

Lesson #6: OLD MERCH

A lot of the artists that I talk to want to get new merchandise but feel the need to get rid of the old before they start with the new. Although I can completely understand the feeling of throwing money down the toilet by essentially giving up on your old merch; sometimes bringing in something new before the old stuff is gone is a great way to jumpstart sales.

If your fans have come to a show but have already purchased one of your "old" shirts or hoodies or what have you, chances are they aren't going to want to buy another one. However, adding something new to your merch display may entice them to buy something sooner rather than later. And let's not forget the fact that the more people a band has buying merch, the more people are going to want to buy merch, so it could even enduce sales of old stock.

Investing in merch seems like an arbitrary thing to some artists. Why should I have to buy new merch when I still have merch left over? It's better to have merch that will sell and continue to sell than merch that is just going to sit around and collect dust while you wait for it to move. If you had a previous merch order and already sold half of it but it isn't moving as fast as you like, you should probably consider trying a new design. It seems like a waste of money, but there is no law that says you can't sell the old merch too and still look professional and it may be worth the additional money if it means sales, after all you are making a profit off of your merch, aren't you?

If you sell ten shirts at a $10 profit per shit then that's $100 of profit, but if you have 20 old shirts that may have been cheaper to make (say a $15 dollar profit, instead!) but have only sold 2 pieces, you've only made a $30 profit. So what is the best option for you and your band?

As always, mrchgrl offers free and cheap consultation sessions with new and old bands in regards to profits, merch management, inventory, budgeting, price points and merch touring. Please feel free to email me at mrchgrl@gmail.com to set up a consultation with your band today!

Buy This Design!

2008-11-21T20:55:00.000-05:00

A brand new design for you to check out! This is "Praying Skeleton" and would probably be best suited to a harder rock/metal/screamo/etc. band. As you can see this is a two colour print, would work on dark or light coloured garments and is approximately 15" wide.

The band's name would be written in script along the bottom.

This shirt design will be selling for $150. As usual, if you are interested in a design you can email me at mrchgrl@gmail.com!

Mrchgrl SALE Extravaganza!!!!

2008-11-19T13:20:00.000-05:00

Get $50 off ANY combination of T-shirts, MENS and WOMENS Styles for Premium Package # 3!

Offer is only good for the next 7 days, so if you were thinking about ordering t-shirts, now is the time!!!

Want 50 mens and 50 womens? We can do that!!! Want half black and half white? We can do that too! Want 10 pcs of each color and half of 'em mens and the other half womens? Totally cool with me, as long as you ORDER NOW!

Email to: mrchgrl@gmail.com

Subject: $50 OFF PP#3

Coupon Code: CRAZYSALE

I do these things because I love you!
xo

Buy This Design!

2008-11-18T12:55:00.000-05:00

That's right, kids! It's time for a new installment of "Buy This Design!" This time we have a great submission for an indie-rock type band, this design is best printed on light to medium dark shirts with a dark print. Variations of the same shade look really great together, like the example above, Dark Grey on Slate.

If you don't know how Buy This Design works, basically I put up various designs that I have done without any particular band in mind and if you think it fits your band's style you can purchase the design from me, no strings attached, for however much I am asking for it. The process is first come first service, so once I've sold a design I can't sell it again, meaning that the band that buys it owns it forever.

Today we have the "Dover Deer" design. A very intricate design with a buck and some dover-style antique elements.

I'm selling this design for only $100! I recommend printing it on a high quality ringspun tee with a no-feel low-density ink.

Indie Can Radio interviews Mrchgrl!

2008-11-15T16:52:00.000-05:00

http://www.indiecan.com/107IndieCanRadio.mp3

Click THERE to listen to the Indie Can interview!
I start in at 46:00mins, but I recommend listening to the whole shebang! They're are some pretty rad bands on there! Especially Pavolv's Dogs Orchestra! <3

Interview: MyMusicSite.com

2008-11-13T11:23:00.000-05:00

Attaining a career in today’s music industry is within arm’s reach to almost anyone who wants to give it a shot these days. Take for instance, artists likes Imogen Heap, Crystal Castles and Lily Allen: they have one thing in common and that’s the fact that they took their careers into their own hands and pushed their way onto the scene via online communities and networking sites like Myspace.com. With the technology that everybody has at their fingertips we are getting closer and closer to making Andy Warhol’s idea of 15 minutes of fame come true. As more and more online communities start cropping up as the new internet fad an industrious artist might try to use them all to promote their music, but the key is to focus in on the demographic that is most relevant to you and your music and to do what it takes to get it into their ears. Many sites focus on promoting free music, and many others have a pay-to-play set up, but how does the user decide what works best for them?

In my opinion music is more than just free air streaming into your headphones, it’s long hours of hard work and dedication being made into a sonic stamp of a representation of something tangible. Music has no weight, no visual connection to our lives so we often neglect to think of it as what it is: Art. So who are we to put a price tag, or lack thereof, on something that is literally made with the blood, sweat and tears of another person’s efforts? If you slaved all day over an oven to make scrumptious cupcakes to serve to the world, you wouldn’t expect someone to hop into your bakery, swipe a cupcake off the counter and hop back out without paying, would you? So why then, is it okay for people to take music as if it were nothing? In reality it’s not, but when something is available for free why would someone want to pay for it somewhere else? This drives down the cost of market value on this item, thus making it as cheap as possible.

Sites like iTunes.com try to be innovative by offering cheap music that is attainable. But how much of a cut are artists really making when their song is being sold by a mega-corporation for less than a dollar? After the distributor’s cut, the management company’s cut, the record label’s cut and the divvying up of the publishing rights, whats left over may equate to somewhere around $0.04 on the dollar. So how many songs would an artist have to sell to actually EARN a dollar? Yeah. A lot.

That’s why websites and company’s like MyMusicSite.com are so refreshing, a significant of each sale cut goes directly to the artist. Because a majority of the artists on the site are independent, this cut isn’t being divvied among record and management companies, it’s going right into the pockets of the people who are actually creating the music. I sat down with Alexandria of MyMusicSite.com to discuss what they think their role is in today’s music industry and why an artist may consider signing up for their service.

Mrchgrl: How did you start mymusicsite.com and what made you want to provide a service like this for artists?
MyMusicSite.com: The founder Brad Turk used to have an independent record label. He noticed that there was so much talent in the world that would probably go undiscovered and never get a record deal. He felt these people should have the ability and a platform to be heard. With the advancements in technology; today almost any artist could have a career and fulfill their dreams without a record label. We are now in the digital age where everything is being done online and with computer. An artist can produce a song for practically nothing and can promote it in ways not available years ago. We have seen an unknown artist name Cassie promote and create a hit single right off of her Myspace page. We have seen a self promoted Tila Tiquila find millions of friends and be offered a national television show. With the ability to promote online as well as the inexpensive ways of creating music; everyone can now have a shot at being a successful recording artist. MyMusicSite.com provides that vehicle for these artists to attain their goals.

Mrchgrl: How many artists currently use your website?
MyMusicSite.com: We already have over 4,000 Artists, Bands, Comedians and Producers on the site.

Mrchgrl: What do you think is different about the service you provide vs. companies like CD Baby and Indie Pool?
MyMusicSite.com: I think the 2 key differentiators specific to the sites you mention are 1) MyMusicSite.com is set up in a social networking environment. Users can fully customize their profile pages and use all of MMS resources to help them promote and sell their music. 2) We are proactive in marketing and promoting the artists on the site.

MyMusicSite is not just a music store. MyMusicSite is a culture.

Mrchgrl: How does an artist get started on your website? What do they have to do?
MyMusicSite.com: Very Simple. All an artist has to do is sign up for a free account. Once they have registered, they create an artist profile page with their music and pictures. The MY ACCOUNT section basically walks them through the steps needed.

Mrchgrl: Where do you think the music industry will be in 5-10 years and how will the service you provide reflect that?
MyMusicSite.com: In my opinion, record labels as we know them will be extinct in the next 5-10 years. The music industry will be digital and sites like MyMusicSite.com will be the main platform for artists to sell their music on.

Mrchgrl: Artists spend months, sometimes years cultivating songs and yet people are rarely willing to pay money to download or buy them because they feel it is too expensive, if you could say something to artists or just regular people, to show them how important it is to buy music, whether electronically or physically, what would you say?
MyMusicSite.com: I would say... If you like music...and you don't buy music...don't be upset if the music goes away. You will have less people willing and able to create music if enough people are not buying it. If you really like music you need to support the people who are creating it. Music has become so cheap and can be obtained instantly. I don't think $0.99 or $9.99 is a lot to pay for something that gives you so much.

Mrchgrl: Many bands and artists these days are steering in a more independent direction and gaining a fan base through web-based communities like MySpace and Facebook, what kind of benefits does your website offer to artists who want to pursue independent careers?
MyMusicSite.com: We basically guide them through the process. We truly believe that steering in a more independent direction is the way to go. We have seen artists Like Madonna and Jay Z get out of their record deals (signing to LiveNation and not a record label). Major Labels take a majority of your money (around 90% after you recoup). That made sense when it cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to put out an album. But it no longer costs that much money to put out and an album and promote it. It is now the artist time to take their fate in their own hands and MAKE MOST OF THE MONEY while doing so. We provide an artist with a vehicle to sell downloads of their original music, ringtones and a platform to promote and market that music.

Mrchgrl: Do you promote the music on your website or is that up to the artist to promote the sales of their own music?
MyMusicSite.com: We promote the music on our site as well as give the artists tools in which to promote. Most of what we do is free for the artist but if an artist needs that extra push we also have additional marketing and promotions services that we offer. We are also doing extensive marketing and promotions for the site itself which give the artists on our site exposure. We have full page ads within CMJ’s New Music Report, Indie-Bible Book (coming out on November 08), ASCAP’s Playback Magazine and have recently put up a 20 foot by 20 foot banner in NYC (On 196th Street off of Broadway).

Mrchgrl: Do you have any tips for artists who are interested in using your site?
MyMusicSite.com: Yes. Plenty of tips. But I will give you a couple. 1) Sign up!!!!!!!!! As an artist who is trying to promote yourself you should try everything and anything that might help further your career (especially if it is FREE!!). 2) If you already have an established site you use like Myspace or Facebook, put your MyMusicSite.com link on that page and let people support you and buy your music (this link is located on your profile page - all you need to do is cut and paste it - it doesn't get much easier than that). 3) The more you put into it the more you will get out (that holds true to anything in your life -not just your music).

We look forward to helping you promote and sell your music!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Frequently Asked Questions

2008-11-10T16:17:00.000-05:00

YOU: Hey, you do merch? How much would it cost us to do 100 t-shirts?

ME: That depends, do you want 100 basic t-shirts or 100 good quality t-shirts? Do you want one colour print on a light shirt or on a dark shirt? Do you want more than one print colour? How big is your design? How many locations will you be printing on?

YOU: Uh, I dunno.

ME: Then I dunno either.

I don’t know prices off the top of my head unless you give me all of the variables that are included in that price quoting. I’d love to bounce numbers at you, but even when I do, this happens….

YOU: How much for 25 black t-shirts with a 1 color print on the front?
ME: Cheapest? About $300 bucks.
YOU: That’s 12 bucks a t-shirt! My buddy can do ‘em for 5 bucks a t-shirt!

ME: Then why are you asking me? Clearly your “buddy’s” t-shirts are of the highest print quality and style, the phrase “you get what you pay for” clearly doesn’t suit him and his basement print shop, right?
YOU: Uhhh….

A band shouldn’t be making t-shirts just because all the other bands have t-shirts and it seems like an easy way to make some money without spending much. Truth is, you have to spend money to make money and a crappy design printed on a crappy t-shirt probably won’t see daylight. Even if you do move product at your show because your fans are awesome and will buy anything just to support you, chances are you could be moving 20 times MORE product if you were selling GOOD quality t-shirts with a fashionable print. Then even the kids who kinda thought you were okay would probably wanna pick up tees just because they’re rad. How ‘bout them apples?

ME: Hey! I sell merch for bands at shows!
YOU: Cool, I’m in a band!
ME: Have you ever hired a merch person before?
YOU: Nah, my [girlfriend/brother/uncle/dad/sister/cousin/buddy/grandma] sells it for us.

ME: Oh cool. Tell me, how much merch do you sell on average?
YOU: I dunno.

ME: Hmmm… indeed.

If you treat your music like the business it is you will find that merch is a band’s most proactive way of earning a financial income. A financial income that can pay for important things like touring, photoshoots, more merch, video expenses, recording expenses and often even living expenses. If you owned a store and needed someone to manage it, would you honestly hire your Grandma or your Girlfriend? Probably not. No matter how much you love them, you’d probably hire somebody with management experience who you’d probably have to pay more than say, er, NOTHING, but at least you know they’d be getting the job done properly, right? A professional merch person keeps count of inventory, takes care of budgeting and often will do both merch and tour management at once. They will take all of that extra weight off of your shoulders so all that you have to do is be the rockstar you are! If you really want to take your girlfriend on tour, there’s always the position of “wardrobe”!

Mrchgrl Easy Menu!

2008-11-07T11:59:00.001-05:00

(click to enlarge!)

Yay! I just finished drawing up the MRCHGRL EASY MENU!

If you click on the images above you can get a full view of the whole menu, one at a time of course! I added a lot more variety of stuff that is available along with more options for printing! :D
If you want to save the picture, click to enlarge and then right-click and save as!

Updates!

2008-11-07T00:32:00.001-05:00

Hey kids!

Been busy working on LOTS of new stuff for you guys! I'm working on a BIGGER, BETTER merch menu! It'll have a lot more resources on it, so that's something to look forward to! Also got quite a few more merch 101 lessons coming your way. Again, if there is anything in particular you'd like to learn about please feel free to comment or send an email and I will do my best to get it up there as soon as I can.

I am also going to start putting together customized merch kits for bands as I've gotten a great response about those but people are a little weary of doing it themselves. So basically if you want a merch kit put together all professional-like you can come to me and I'll hook you up, as they say.

Anyways, thanks for checking out the blog. See ya soon!

xo
Ella

Calling all bands! Calling all bands!

2008-11-04T14:21:00.000-05:00

I have an AMAZING idea for a t-shirt, but I need a band or artist who is willing to do it! The reason I need a specific band is because I'll be using the band member's faces on the t-shirt.

It's a REALLY rad idea, so if you are up for it, I'll even cut the design price in HALF for you! Only $75 smackeroos! (it's usually $150! - dur!)

It'd be cool if the band had 3 to 5 members, but the shirt will work no matter how many members the band has.

Come onnn, you know you want to! ;)

Here's a hint: What do Suge Knight, Paris Hilton and Hugh Grant have in common?

Merch 101: Merch Kits

2008-11-03T10:00:00.001-05:00

Lesson 5: How to Make a Great Merch Kit

To run a successful merch table there are standard supplies that everybody needs, but the better stocked you are the better things are going to run. Here is a breakdown of some of the things that are essential to an organized and efficient merch system.

Organization

Plastic Storage Bins

These heavy plastic packing containers often come with snapping lids and dividers. The better quality the container (i.e. thicker plastic, snapping lids, handles) the easier load in, set up and tear down will be. These containers make packing and travelling much easier as they aren’t as susceptible to weather (rain will break down cardboard) and can be easily packed and stored.

Depending on the amount of merch and the size of the bins you should be able to store most of your merchandise into these bins. Now, these are better used on small to mid-level bands as high level bands quite often go through merch so fast and have so much to sell it wouldn’t be prudent to use a bin like this for t-shirts, though it may be for smaller merchandise like bandanas, belt buckles, etc. that are heavier or are more expensive. Also note that if you use heavy duty storage bins they can double as step-stools and chairs when a venue lacks that sort of stuff!

Smaller "Merch Kit" Container

A smaller container to hold all of the stuff that will make up your "merch kit" is essential. Something that clasps shut and has a handle is ideal but any plastic container will do. This will carry all of your day-to-day merch essentials which we will discuss below, so organization is key. Things that often work well are professional make-up boxes as they have lots of compartments and are easy to organize.

Merch Kit

Grid Panel
A grid panel is a metal grid that you can attach to or hang up on the wall to clip up t-shirts and other sellable product so that fans can see the product clearly. Often mid-size and smaller venues don't have anything to attach product to, so to look professional you can bring your own panel for display purposes.

Butterfly Clips
These little clips help attach t-shirts to your display or hang up posters/pictures/cd's etc. They come in a wide range of sizes and come in very handy for a lot of things.

Flash Cards

Flash cards are a great way to display what sizes you have available if you have a lot of stock in various sizing ranges. Write the style name and the size range on the flash card and as you sell out of styles you can cross them out. This will help for when people ask what sizes you have. You will often still get the same questions but at least you have a reference to point to when the venue is loud! I usually attach these right to the t-shirts or wall underneath the t-shirts with straight pins or thumb tacks, tape also works.

Printed Merch Pricing
A sheet with each individual item for sale and it's cost comes in pretty handy when you have a long lineup for merch! These are good to put up all over your merch area so lots of people can see them!

Clear Plastic Picture Frame Stands
To display your merch price lists on the merch table these picture frame stands can be helpful. Usually they are plastic and come in an 8.5" x 11" size for regular sheets of paper.

Binder - Sell Sheets / Inventory List
Your binder is a very important part of your merch! It keeps records of sales at each show so you can track how well your sales are doing. You can also keep settlement sheets from venues when you have to give some of your profits to the house and it also comes in handy for keeping track of inventory for when you need to order more. This way you know which sizes and items you sell out of first, thus making it easier to know which sizes to order more of next time!

Plastic CD Stands
You know when grandma's have decorated plates displayed allover their little houses and some are standing up on a shelf or a mantle? Usually they are propped up with a plate display stand of some kind. These can usually be purchased at dollar stores and come in really handy for displaying CD's and books!

Other "Supplies":
Stapler / Staples
Sharpies (ALWAYS a necessity!)
Mechanical Pencils
Pens
Pencil Case
Thumb Tacks
Duct Tape / Electrical Tape / Masking Tape / Scotch Tape (Any kind of tape is helpful!)
Hangers (For displaying tees when you don't have a grid panel!)
Lighter
Scissors
1-Hole Punch
Ruler
Measuring Tape
Note Pad (for making notes when working or writing down information you may need later!)
Plastic Carry Bags (people won't ask for bags often but when they do it'll be handy to have them!)
Small Hammer / Nails

All of these items will come in handy when setting up your merch area. Keep in mind that the neater your area is and the more you do to customize it, the more professional it will look and professionalism is important!

Strong Enough To Break - The Documentary

2008-10-30T16:59:00.001-04:00

I have been a part of the music industry for a few years now and have met some amazing people in that little amount of time. I spend a lot of time talking about merch because that is my job and what I love doing, and although it is a major part of the music industry as we know it there are many other facets of it to be looked at. One of the bands who have inspired me the most musically and professionally is Hanson (http://www.hanson.net) . Not only are they the #1 most profitable band in merchandising (Seriously! I know!) and holders of literally dozens of more music-related world records (#1 Independent Album Worldwide, #1 album in the most countries consecutively, etc.) but they also spend a lot of time doing charity work on behalf of the AIDS Crisis in Africa (http://www.takethewalk.net) as well as promoting their own music.

A topic of interest where Hanson is concerned is the making of their 3^rd Studio Album, Underneath, and the trials and tribulations it took for them to get it out to their fans. They started filming a documentary to showcase the ins and outs of making a record and ended up documenting the breakdown of their relationship with their record label and subsequent move to producing their music independently. Strong Enough To Break (the documentary) has been added to the curriculum of many entertainment business programs in college-level schools throughout North America because it provides an interior view of what happens when a capitalist regime takes over an existing record label and starts to put pressure on its own artists. It’s incredibly thought provoking and a really great picture for anybody interested in pursuing a career in the mainstream market to watch. You can download 13 consecutive episodes for free in Podcasts on iTunes (http://www.itunes.com). The documentary is called “Strong Enough To Break” and is produced by Hanson and directed by Ashley Greyson.

I know what you’re thinking! Hanson? That band from 11 years ago? MMMBop? How could that teach me ANYTHING about the music industry?? Well, in some cases it’s not that great to sign the first record deal that comes your way and hope for the best. Building a career that lasts over a long span of time and has ups and downs will benefit a band or artist a lot more in the longrun than the 15 minutes of fame most artists experience today. Hanson has been lucky to maintain a strong fan base throughout their entire career (more than 15 years!) which has allowed them to continue touring and making records, own their own record label and make a lot more money than you could ever dream of! Not only that, but they control their own career and are able to make decisions based on the values that are important to them. It’s a hard road to follow and somehow a band as understated as Hanson has managed to out-last and out-succeed most of the artists that were generated from that “era”.

Anyways, check it out, it really is both informative and entertaining!

It's Make-over time!!!

2008-10-27T23:36:00.001-04:00

Hiya Kids!

So I decided the site needed a bit of a re-do, something to spruce it up! Did a bit of work over the last few hours, so let me know what you think!
If you didn't notice everything I write about on the site is open for comments, so I'd always love to hear your opinions! I would especially love to know what you think of the new re-design, so let me know!

Things have been going awesome lately and there is a lot of exciting stuff in development right now. I'm always coming up with more new ideas to make things easier on my clients and I can't wait to share some of the new ones with ya!

I'll do a new merch 101 in a couple of days, so if you are looking forward to that stay tuned! And of course, if you have any ideas for things you'd like to learn about, Merch 101-styles, please feel free to drop a comment or shoot me an email!

I can't believe I've already hit 400 page views, I know they can't all be from me and my family, so I am glad that I am getting some readers! Thanks so much for stopping by to check out what I do, I hope that you find my site interesting and educational!

If you have a blog I'd love to do a link exchange so hit me up in the comments with your blog name and I'll be sure to publish it!

Look forward to hearing your thoughts! Thanks so much!!!

Love Ella
XOXO

CRUNCH CRUNCH! WHIRR WHIRR!

2008-10-27T15:28:00.001-04:00

Hello Boys and Girls!

Do NOT adjust your monitors! You are NOT experiencing technical difficulties! :P We are currently under a bit of construction so bear with us while things are being re-adjusted!

Merch 101: Know Your Printer!

2008-10-20T13:54:00.000-04:00

Lesson 4: No Bullshit!

One of the things I’ve found the most common when working with screen printers is the fact that in the end all they care about is how much money is in their pockets. I guess it’s important that people get paid, but one of the most aggravating things to me is when people couldn’t give two craps about their customers.

Screen Printers will lie, steal and cheat if it means they don’t lose money on an order. It’s important to be very focused on your order and your expectations when you go to a screen printer. Don’t worry about being nice because the screen printer sure won’t!

Here are just a few scenarios that happen incredibly frequently in the screen printing industry. What they will do and what you can do to prevent it or deal with it:

1 – Your order is a few days past the delivery date and the screen printer doesn’t know when you should expect it to be ready. Make it very clear that you gave more than ample time for your order to be processed. (Please note that it’s important that you actually did give ample time – 2 weeks is usually ideal.) If your screen printer wasn’t capable of printing your order within that time or was missing information and didn’t contact you for it, then they are responsible for the delay. I would recommend that you ask for some sort of compensation for this, free screen charge, no freight on shipments, something to prove that when you give a deadline date that is when you expect it to be finished. Most printers have a lot of extra padded pricing, so they can afford to knock off a screen charge or two without losing money on the order. But remember, Rush orders are bad news! Don’t give your printer an excuse to be late, plan ahead and make sure that you have provided everything a printer could need within at LEAST two weeks’ notice.

2 – You sent all of the finalized artwork to the printer, but something went wrong and it was printed wrong and they won’t admit it’s their fault. This is when it comes in handy to sort as much of the details as you can out by email – then you have a record of it! Make absolute SURE that you sent all of the artwork correctly, sized to printing size and with proper instructions. If you did all that and your order still managed to get screwed up then it is your printers fault. Printers often try to justify things by saying stuff like “Well I wouldn’t have noticed, even comparing it to the mock up, it looks close!” They are just trying to get you to agree with them. Don’t let their sly ways confuse you, Grasshopper! Stand your ground and make the printer pay for the damages and/or the new printing and blanks. Why should you have to pay out of your pocket for their mistake? Eh? Eh?

3 – You got your order back and several of the items are damaged and you were still charged for them. Many screen printers neglect that little thing called “quality” in lieu for “speed”. If you get an order and several (more than 2% of the items) of the pieces are printed incorrectly or are damaged bring them back to the printer. Show them each item and make a list of the total quantity, size, print, price and damage of each style. Add it up and ask them to order and fix any merchandise that was printed incorrectly. Anything less than 10 pieces ask for a refund for the items and call it even. The printer may try and offer you a credit, but FYI most printers keep horrible and out-of-date records and won’t remember the credit and will beat around the bush next time you order.

4 – You got charged a lot more than what you were quoted. In my experience, most cases like this are because the customer is incapable of basic math, however, in some cases I have seen printers throw in extra charges here and there because they under-quoted the job. But, just like at a store, the price you were given is the price you shall pay. NEVER, and I repeat, NEVER (!!!) go ahead with a print job without getting a complete quote on it. If you haven’t added anything to the order along the way, then the printer shouldn’t be either. Before the order is processed ask for an invoice or order sheet with the total charges pending everything in the order is printed properly. Save that invoice and make note of charges like Screen Charges, Art Charges, Film charges, etc. Talk to your printer about what each of these are and whether or not you will have to pay them upon reorder. If you feel like you were overcharged go over each item with your printer until you are satisfied.

Printers screw up all of the time, it’s a fast-paced environment and sometimes things get mixed up. Always allow for a 2% margin of error (make sure you aren’t paying for that 2% in your invoice, however!) and inspect all of your garments carefully. Try to keep your orders as uncomplicated and informative as possible.

Here is a basic checklist of information you should provide when making an order for screen printing:

Attach a Digital Mockup of the artwork on the t-shirts
Include all sizing & measurements exactly to scale (you don’t have to make things huge for them to look good, either!)
Make sure that if you are sending a file with a type font used that you have either rasterized or created outlines in the art, otherwise the printer may not be able to read it in the proper font. (Another option for this is to attach the font file with the artwork)
Information about the Style of Garment, Blank Colors, Quantities, Etc. (this is best provided in a purchase order for your own documentation!) – eg. American Apparel Style #2102 Ladies Fine Jersey S/S Tee in BLACK, 25/SM 20/MD 15/LG 30/XL TOTAL = 90 PCS
Send your art sized to spec at a minimum of 300 DPI (pixels per inch!) (this means if it is supposed to be printed at 10” W, then make the artwork 10” W! )
Don’t just say “RED” or “BLUE” for an ink color, there are thousands of variations of these shades. Pick specific pantone colors. If you don’t have pantone color info available to you, select these at your screen printer (this is ideal!)
Provide any and all contact info you have available: Name, Band/Company Name, Phone, Fax, Email, Website, etc.
Provide specific details about shipping instructions and Deadline date… *NOTE* If you need an order absolutely MUST have it by say, Thursday, make your deadline date TUESDAY. Always plan ahead.
Make sure you know your payment arrangement. If you are expected to pay a deposit, how much, when will you have to pay the balance and how?

If you can be prepared to give all of this information to your printer when you walk in to make an order, I guarantee there will be a much smaller chance of something going wrong with your order. 99% of the time the mistakes are made when there isn’t enough information provided.

Most importantly, get familiar with your printer and their facilities. Learn about the things they can and can’t do and their other customers. Pay attention to the quality of their shop and their showroom and how much care and effort they put into their company, because essentially that is going to be the same care and effort that they put into your product.

When it comes to merch you’ve got to spend money to make money, so make sure you are spending it somewhere good!

Indie Week 2008 Re-Cap

2008-10-14T11:40:00.000-04:00

I don’t think up until this point that there has been a week in my life that has gone by so fast and been so fun! Not only was Mrchgrl an official sponsor of Indie Week Canada 2008, but I was also the Assistant Co-Ordinator for the whole event. It kept me extremely busy while delegating my [awesome] volunteers, making sure everything was running smoothly and even stage managing a show here and there. Overall the week couldn’t have gone BETTER! Every single band that performed was a-mazzzzinnng and they all were so eager to learn about the music industry and the things that they could do to gain exposure and earn some money.

The winners of Indie Week were Walter Mitty & The Realists who came over from Ireland. I saw this band perform at the VIP Launch Party on the Tuesday before the event and even then I knew that they could take the cake. It has been a long time since I have seen a band perform with so much enthusiasm!

You couldn’t have asked for better bands and people to work with, everybody was more than happy to lend a helping hand and everyone who participated did an amazing job!

I made a ton of wicked contacts this week and I think that the next few months are going to be insanely busy for me! Looking forward to working with all of you again in the near future!

Love Ella, xoxo

Buy a ready-made design!

2008-10-07T15:28:00.001-04:00

Many bands don't know where to start when it comes to design, I always try to start designing a band t-shirt by thinking about the stuff that the kids in the audience already wear. If your demographic is hardcore punk, you aren't going to put a bunch of flowers and a picture of a pony on a t-shirt and call it a day (well maybe ironically, but still!), you really should "know" your demographic to have an idea of what they like.

Sometimes bands come to me and want to see what I could do for them, well, here is a new little addition to the site, this is called "Buy this design!" and it will feature designs that I have thought up but have yet to sell to bands or companies. Each design will have a price of how much it would cost for you to buy it from me and my solemn oath that once I've sold it to you it shant be used again by any other clients.

Yet another way Mrchgrl makes things easy peasy for ya!

---

Today's design is "Hipster Picnic" and it is an all-over print that would work best on a lighter colour shirt. (Dark on light printing is always best when doing large scale prints! -- there's your tip for the day!) It can come with any colour ink, but I would recommend something subtle like a grey/burgundy/darkblue etc. as it stands out but can really go with any colour of denim (yes you have to think of these things!)

Hipster Picnic is priced at $150 for the design. Printing and Garments are, of course, extra. If purchased with another design I would consider dropping the cost! Obviously the part that says "your band" will be changed to actually say your band's name and the font is also customizable!

If you would like to purchase this design, please send an email to mrchgrl@gmail.com with the subject line: SELL ME THAT DESIGN -- HIPSTER PICNIC

Do I hear $150? Going once.... still going once...

Love,
Mrchgrl

xoxo

Mrchgrl's have more fun!

2008-10-06T14:06:00.000-04:00

Sometimes I like to do fun random stuff, one of the things I love the most is hanging out with my besties doing horror/zombie related stuff!

This past weekend we participated in Toronto’s Scotiabank Nuit Blanche event which takes place all across the city from sun set to sun rise! It is basically a bunch of art installations put together to be viewed by the public en masse and a great reason to get out in the city before it starts to get freezing cold!

Me and my two girls as Zombies during Nuit Blanche! I kinda look like the joker! Creepy!
Vanessa, Me, Ashley

The installation we participated in is called Zombies in Condoland and was put together by zombie-enthusiast and photographer Jillian McDonald from NYC,NY. The piece is basically a zombie movie-set, where they are actually filming both volunteer actors (us) and other zombie folk in an indie zombie flick. Everybody comes dressed as zombie characters and they roam around the park below grand condos searching for brains and blood and spleens and they are filmed. The piece is also a metaphor for the way people make their way to large cities and buy up condos in a zombie-like manner. Basically a comment on consumerist culture.

I decided to go dressed as a 1980’s Michael Jackson “Thriller” zombie and I had a freaking blast! I loved being able to roam through the HUGE crowds in a zombie-like state and scare people and have a ton of fun! I did quite a few interviews with TV stations and Radio and Magazines (My friends and I were even featured in the Toronto Star – except they said I was 27! BOO! I’m 22!) and just had a wildly fun night! We zombie-d until about 1:30am and finally after literally painful dredging around for more than six hours and moaning and groaning I was free from my undead state to roam the streets and visit a few more installations.

Me in my "Thriller" Zombie gear! Whenever I gathered a huge crowd around me, I would start dancing the thriller dance, it was pretty funny! -- My concept was that I had died from being trampled by the other dancers during filming for the video, naturally because I was better than them and they were jealous! Hahaha.

Unfortunately, I was pretty exhausted so I didn’t see a bunch of other pieces, but I did stop by a few and from what I saw they were all pretty awesome. I wish I wasn’t so tired and I could have seen more!

Anyways, I hope if you live in Toronto that you managed to see some of Nuit Blanche because we really are lucky to have an event like that, it’s free and full of culture and amazing-ness! Now I have to get back to the crazy-ness that is Indie Week! Don’t forget! It launches on WEDNESDAY at Tattoo Rock Parlor on Queen St. W and I had BETTER see you there!

Portfolio: Jesse and The Rippers T-Shirt

2008-09-29T16:39:00.001-04:00

A closer look at the vintage detailing - Screen Version.

A mockup of the teal color I wanted the tee to be printed with.

Not too long ago I was asked at work to come up with a few ideas for some t-shirt designs. The night before I was at a radio station event with my friend and had run into some fellow industry people and one of them happened to be wearing a vintage Jesse and the Rippers tee (If you don’t know who Jesse and The Rippers are double shame!) I thought it was an amazing t-shirt and asked him where he had found it; he said he got it on eBay and that it was most likely either limited edition or one-of-a-kind. I made a mental note and when the prospect of some new t-shirt ideas for the wholesale line came up, I knew exactly what I wanted to do!

The guys at work were a little (lot) skeptical as they’re all a lot older than me and have no idea how much impact Full House had on my generation. I became a bit one-minded and knew that I just HAD to do this t-shirt design! So, I went to the drawing board, found a good Uncle Jesse Mullet and started from there. I also wanted to make sure that the trumpet guy was in there, I always remember the random dude with the trumpet sitting on the couch whenever Uncle Jesse and his band were practicing in the living room. He always had the coolest (lamest) sweaters!-- But how about that mullet, huh? Hehehehe. The overall effect turned out pretty good and I like the idea of doing it in that washed out discharge style with lots of vintage effects, after all, the shirt should technically be about 20 years old. And thus, the Jesse and The Rippers Tee was born! Ta-da!

Want to buy this tee? Visit http://www.resourcerags.com if you're a store and http://www.orangeshag.com if you want to buy one piece! (not available until Dec.2008)

Portfolio: L.Ron is My Homeboy!

2008-09-27T16:49:00.000-04:00

This one is for all of the scientologists / scientology haters out there. That’s right! It works BOTH ways!

Following the basic concept of the Jesus is My Homeboy / Mary is my Homegirl fad of the early 2000’s I thought it’d be pretty funny to do an L.Ron Hubbard (the founder of Scientology) t-shirt in the same vein. I was right and it ended up being pretty hysterical. It’s a pretty basic design, but I thought some one would find it enjoyable! Hehe.

Want to buy this tee? Visit http://www.orangeshag.com to make your order now!

Indie Week Sponsor

2008-09-23T14:00:00.001-04:00

Mrchgrl is proud to announce our official sponsorship of Indie Week Canada 2008 from October 7^th – 11^th. Not only will there be a valuable Mrchgrl prize being entered into the pot for the Grand Prize Winner of the festival, but we are also contributing on many levels, including something very near and dear to our heart: Merch!

Mrchgrl will be working in conjunction with Indie Week for a Merch Fair on the day of the finals (October 11^th) at The Reverb (Queen St. W & Bathurst St.).

More information to come, and make sure you go check out Indie Week Canada online at www.indieweek.com! Or else!

Merch 101: Friends vs. Merch Girls

2008-09-17T10:26:00.000-04:00

Lesson 3: Why you should hire a merch girl instead of a friend.

One of the most significant details that most bands seem to skip over is who is selling their merch. This is someone you are not only entrusting with your money and your inventory, but someone who you trust will do the job to the best of their abilities. Sure, in most cases whichever friend or girlfriend ends up doing it will work as hard as they can and are trustworthy, but is that all that matters?

You wouldn’t trust a friend who didn’t know anything about Pro-tools to record your album, you wouldn’t trust a record label without any artists on its roster to put out your album, so why would you enlist the help of someone who is unprofessional and knows nothing about merchandising to sell your merch? It seems like an easy way to save money, but in reality you could be using something as minute as that to give off an air of professionalism.

When a record executive or prospective manager is at a show scoping out new bands there are several things that are always on their checklist. How well does the band interact with the audience? How is the audience receiving the music? Do the performers have “star quality”? And what does their merch table look like?

Merch is a clear indication as to whether or not a band takes their music seriously and wants to pursue it professionally. If there are a couple of shirts strewn across the table, printed badly and nobody is at the table ready to sell some to prospective buyers it says that you aren’t thinking the whole “professional band” thing through. Something as simple as hiring a merch person promotes the notion that as a band you are willing to commit to being professional and taking major steps toward forwarding your career.

A merch person should be eloquent, know as much as they can about the band that they are working for, be helpful with fans and excited about the music. If you hire someone who is apathetic about these things, generally your sales will be lackluster, too. Fans want to know about the band, they want to ask questions and have an intimate band experience. Sometimes they aren’t able to get that at a show and often they are too shy to directly talk to a member of the band. This attention is often redirected toward the merch person, who, depending on their connection with the band and the type of person that they are, will either be helpful and friendly or shrug off the fans’ interest. Even the minutest details about a band or their music can make someone who was kind of a fan into a die-hard fan. It is an opportunity for fans to learn more about the bands that they see and potentially even buy more things than they would have otherwise.

Merch people need to be able to handle a rush of situations coming at them at once. When a band begins to make their mark and fans begin to line up at the merch table, there is often very little way of organizing the chaos. Being able to handle that type of situation with a calm demeanor and a smile is more difficult than it would seem. Security and Attention are of the utmost importance.

So please, before you ask your buddy to sell your merch for free, please consider hiring a professional.

Your Homework: Think about concerts that you have been to in the past where a) you spent time at the merch booth and felt connected with the band, and b) you felt brushed off or ignored by the merch person and didn’t end up buying any merch at all.

Design Portfolio: Retouching and Restoring

2008-09-15T10:40:00.001-04:00

(click to enlarge)

Since I was just a little girl I remember seeing this picture of my Grandma all over our house. It’s something that she loved to talk about as it was the first portrait she ever had done, she was only 16 years old and it was the first time she’d ever worn make-up. I’m sure sometime in the early 1950’s she cut it and put it into its oval frame and never left it. To me it always represented a time when my Grandma was young and beautiful and every time I saw it it reminded me of how much alike we could be. When I started really getting into tattoo culture I knew right away that I wanted to pay tribute to my Grandmother by having that image tattooed on me. I told her about it a couple years ago and although she’s always been resistant to the idea, I know that she is a little bit excited about it. I finally got her to lend me the picture so that I could take it home and give it to my tattoo artist, but I wanted to fix it up a little bit as it has faded over the last 60 years due to sun damage.

The first scan is of the original photo. As you can see there is a dark ring around the photo which is the original colouring, this part was covered up by the frame and never had the sun touch it. I wanted to return the photo to its natural state so I used Photoshop to restore it back to what I think is a pretty close match to its original loveliness. The idea for my tattoo is going to be a portrait with a baroque design style framing it, but I wanted to add a bit of colour into the face when tattooing, not too much and very subtle, just to bring it to life. I thought it’d be interesting to see what colour would do to the photo, so I did a bit of work on it and the version on the far right is how it came out.

Personally I like the colour version the best, it has a very misty but lifelike quality about it. I tried to use subtle colours and really punch out certain aspects like the fact that my Grandma has blue eyes and that her lips were probably a pretty dark red as this was shot in the 1940’s. Over all, I think it turned out pretty amazingly and I can’t wait for her to see the finished result.

Design Portfolio: Birthday Present

2008-09-15T10:32:00.000-04:00

(click to make larger)

I like giving my best friends presents that represent something beyond just material goods. What is usually the most available to me is t-shirts, but it's what you do with the t-shirt that really matters, isn't it?

This year for my friend's birthday I used a past memory and some wicked photoshop skills to give her what I think is a pretty amazing present!

The image is a take on the band death from above 1979's album cover, in which the two members of the bands have elephant noses on their faces. It's a widely known album cover and also has a pretty wicked look to it. A couple of years ago my friend and I dressed at the band for Halloween and it was a great night, so I thought I'd commemorate her aging with a great memory.

How It Was Done:

I found pictures of each of us that I thought would have the right style for the format I was trying to achieve. I used a combination of posterising, levels and vector tracing in photoshop and illustrator to achieve the right balance between black and white. I added a few details to our faces (like her nose ring and labret ring and my monroe piercing) and then put on the elephant trunks. Then I used photoshop brushes and colour theory to achieve the background effect.

It's actually uncanny how much the elephant people look like us with our elephant noses on. :D

Design Portfolio: Costume Tees (Resource Rags)

2008-09-15T09:54:00.000-04:00

As a graphic designer you are often paid to follow through with someone else's idea, that, to me at least, is pretty fun, but when you get to realize your own ideas it's a whole different ball game!

At my job at Resource Rags I am responsible for a significant amount of the new designs, helping create them and then eventually sell them to our customers. The coolest part of my job is when I am given full reign to do whatever I want in the design department.
We had thrown around the idea of doing costume t-shirts before and decided to go for it and see what happened, so I dove in head first and in five days had designed over 20 different styles and was on my way to the Halloween, Costume & Party Trade Show in Las Vegas. I made lists and brainstormed any idea I could think of, some I was definitely more fond of than others, but here are the results.

(click to make bigger)

When I was brainstorming ideas for t-shirts, I kept thinking of my favourite costumes that I've seen over the years. There was a family of iPods, the Mom was a Mini and the Baby was a shuffle and the Dad was a Video and it got me thinking about things. First, family oriented costumes, and second, abstract costume ideas, not just the obvious Pirate, Clown, Tuxedo and Cowboy-style shirts.

Design-wise, as you can see each shirt is high impact even though it uses a limited amount of colours. The only exception being the shirts that we print digitally (Hairy European Guy, Cut Out Abs.)

One of my favourites is the Ninja Turtle shirt, as it is a large print but only two colours, but because I took the shirt colour into account when designing, I was able to portray even more colours with the shirt idea.

The Chest Cavity tee looks like it uses multiple colours, however, it actually only has a 3 color print on it using halftones and a similar process to cmyk printing.

Anyways, take a look at the tees and let me know which ones are YOUR favourite!

How To Make a T-Shirt That Will Sell

2008-09-14T21:43:00.000-04:00

Lesson #2: Sell your Merch and sell it Good!

There are a lot of variables that go into making a t-shirt that will sell. Most bands that are starting out don't have the budget available to hire a professional graphic designer and in most cases they have friends or people in the band who are capable of doing a quality design. However, there are many things to consider when designing for merchandising. Here are some of them;

fashion_vs.marketing
When designing a t-shirt, what should be the most important factor?
Whether or not it will sell.

If you can't sell your t-shirt, or you don't sell as many as you could be, then you're basically turning money away. So ask yourself, when you are shopping for a t-shirt what is it that you're looking for? Something that has a label sprawled across it or something that is eye catching and has substance? And when you buy a shirt to support the band do you wear it as much as you could instead of those eye-catching substance-having shirts you bought at the store? And if a band you love has several shirts and one of them just has their name on it, and the other two have wicked designs, which one do you think you would buy (given that they were the same price?)

Not everything that is made cheap has to look cheap and its about using the skills and tools available to you to make it so.

So what are the things that make a shirt eye-catching and substance-having?

For starters, they don't need to look like affliction tees. I would recommend thinking of your favourite bands, or bands you kinda sound like, even, and visiting their websites to see what kind of shirts they are selling. If you're a metal band, chances are the bands in your genre will have large, colourful and dark images with lots of big lettering and the bands name across it. Not much has changed in Metal merch in the last several years. Now, mainstream and indie merch? That's a different story.

here is an example of a shirt that if it were a new band on the scene probably wouldn't sell as much as these guys do. (probably not even close)

here is an example of a shirt (tegan & sara) that uses graphics instead of branding to sell to an audience that is fashion-conscious.

another example of a band that uses an eye-catching image along with a brand.

It still all depends on the genre, but in most cases mainstream and indie merch is either taking trends from fashion or sending them into fashion. The most common among indie and d.i.y. artists are indie/d.i.y. style shirts, meaning sketches or cut-out letters or something a bit obscure (Artists like: Death Cab for Cutie, Feist, Metric). More electronic artists are using symbolism and patterns (Artists like: M.I.A., MSTRKRFT, Justice) and mainstream Rock/Pop artists are finding their ways between the two. It's important to really grasp what your genre is so that you can understand your market. Now, obviously if your band has a very different sound and style then that should be reflected in the shirts you sell, shouldn't it?

Throwing the bands' name across the front of the shirt, although it worked for a long time, just doesn't cut it anymore. People (en masse) are generally more concerned with how they look then which bands they like (although those two things often walk hand in hand) and if your merchandise doesn't follow those patterns, it'll be impossible to having your fans wearing your stuff.

Merch is a tool that bands use to make money. But what is often failed to be realized early in the game is the fact that your merch is also a tool to help you create more sales. It is billboard sent out into the world to promote your band. If a shirt is being worn on someone who supports your music and another person sees it and is caught by its appeal, they are going to ask about it and often get information that is crucial to spreading the word about your music.

So that means it is also crucial to create eye-catching substance-having merchandise to spread the word about your music (and in turn, sell more merch!)

If your main fan base is made up of 14-19 year old girls, then chances are they aren’t going to want a gargoyle howling at the full moon on the edge of a cliff looking over a great body of water. However, find the right font for your bands name and you’ve got yourself a pretty rad Metal shirt.

Doing research plays a significant role in creating a long-lasting business and if you want to go somewhere in the vein of professionalism with your band, that’s exactly how you have to look at it, as your business.

Look at where the trends are going in fashion, pay attention to styles of screen printing that are more popular. If all the girls in your audience are wearing baby blue tees with hearts and gumdrops and cupcakes all over them, then chances are if you design a shirt in a similar style they are going to eat it up. Throw that same shirt at kids at a punk show and they will probably make you eat it. (Use a fork and knife; it’ll be faster and easier to chew that way!)

quantity_ vs. quality
When it comes to deciding on the amount of money you’re willing to spend on an early run of tees, keeping in mind things like colors and amount of t-shirts to be ordered is a big deal. There are little things you can do during the process to give fans more incentive to purchase a shirt from your band.

It costs the same amount of money to print an ugly design as it does to print a good one.

A screen printer isn’t going to tell you if your design is good or bad, they are just going to take your money, print your t-shirts and send the job on its way. They aren’t going to think twice about whether or not your shirts will sell and if you’ll be making another order because 80% of the time bands don’t reorder (chances are it’s because they made crappy shirts and can’t sell them all!)

It is up to you (or your band) to decide what print is best for you and how it’s going to sell, so here are a couple of tips and tricks to get an idea of where to start:

- throw up a couple of merch designs on your blog / website / myspace and have your fans comment on which ones they like best. Chances are they will all get some love, but there is usually one that gets a lot more attention and that is usually the one that should be getting done. You can always keep the other designs and use them at a later time

- ask your friends which t-shirts they have that they love the best and why

- hold a design contest with your fans and get them to design tshirts for your band and vote on them, the design with the most votes wins and you get a free design (this one is best offered with a free tshirt and a bit of money to the fan who designs the winner)

Another extremely important thing when it comes to the quality of the t-shirt is its style. The style of a t-shirt is basically how it fits and how it looks on, also often how it washes and wears. Guys are often a bit easier in this case and will wear just about anything, but as fashion becomes a more prominent factor in the music scene that will change and they will become less indiscriminate, so it’s important to factor that in now. Women are a lot more particular about how their clothing fits them, so paying attention to what is happening in fashion also allows you to see what kind of garments and styles you should be printing on. Right now ladies prefer longer, lighter fabric with a soft feel and the ability to wash. Men also prefer a bit of a longer, more fitted tee (genre-specific) and are more discriminating about fit. Good options for wholesaling are the ladies Gaziani (available through most screen printers and distributors) 5562 Junior Fit Tee. Although American Apparel tees are the best known for quality t-shirts, they fit a bit short and often shrink and are significantly more expensive than most wholesale t-shirts. A Men’s Alstyle AAA Platinum Tee (item #1701 in Alstyle Apparel) is a bit of a heavier, yet soft style fit and fits a bit longer also.

Taking into consideration style, fit and print, getting an early batch of t-shirts printed can be a nightmare, but if you choose a screen printer that is dependable and honest, you should be able to achieve selling out your batch.

designing_ for screen printing
When creating a new t-shirt style for sale, a graphic designer is often brought in to do the job. The problem is, most graphic designers have little-to-no clue all of the factors that go into screen printing and thus offer up beautiful, but un-printable (or incredibly expensive) designs. There are many ways to make designs that are both easy and inexpensive to print.

Colour plays a very important part of a t-shirt design; however it isn’t the most important part. If you look at t-shirts in department stores, most are only 1,2 or 3 colour prints because they are mass-distributed. Limiting your colour range doesn’t have to limit the sell-ability of your t-shirts. Larger images and graphics without letters are both inexpensive and aesthetically pleasing (and trendy!)

Using things like halftones can aid you in creating one-colour prints while still getting lots of detail and photo-real images.

So when you’re looking for a designer to make your t-shirt designs, make sure that they have experience designing for t-shirt printing specifically.

cutting_ costs
Yet another factor that plays a major role in the success of a t-shirt is how much it costs. In order for something to be cheap to sell, it has be to cheap to make. That sounds like it’s contrasting my previous statement about quality t-shirts, but there are ways to make less expensive t-shirt designs and prints that are great without breaking the bank. As previously mentioned, using a graphic designer with experience in screen printed t-shirts will allow them to provide you with limited colour designs that are screen-printer friendly.

Ordering less t-shirts to start off with is also pivotal, you don’t need to order 100 t-shirts instead of 50 because you’ll be saving $1.00 on the cost of printing. Start off with fewer pieces and increase your orders as they sell and your fan base grows. Discuss your screen-printers policies on screens and how long they keep them, often you can re-order t-shirts without paying screen fees again, or just incurring minor set up costs.

Use one-stop-shops like Mrchgrl. (Innocent plug!) When you want to have your t-shirts made, using a one-stop-shop allows you to customize your experience and order directly without dealing with all of the hassle, and often you save money because you are going to the same place for all of the services required.

sales_
One thing that is severely overlooked when creating a merchandising plan is who is going to be selling your merchandise at your shows. This may sound like an insignificant detail but having someone who is your buddy from high school sell your merch sends out a message to your fans as well as professionals in the industry that you aren’t a professional band. It may save you a few bucks, but it probably costs you sales.

Hiring someone who is knowledgeable about merchandising, your band and how to sell merch could help seriously boost sales. Fans have questions about the band and about the merch and “I dunno” or “wait until the drummer gets here, you can ask him” don’t exactly give off a vibe of confidence. Your merch table is basically a rolling store and if treated in the right manner can be another tool for you to use to your advantage.

That is the end of today’s lesson!

Your homework: Research similar bands to you and look at the kind of merch they are selling. Make notes about the styles that strike you and what about them strikes you. Rinse and repeat.

what you should know about ordering merch

2008-09-05T15:36:00.000-04:00

Lesson #1 : Finding a Good Printer.

there are so many things happening behind the scenes in the merchandising industry and bands have no idea where to start when they want to make an order. usually they end up going with whatever is cheapest, and let me tell you that is probably the worst decision one could make when choosing a printer!

so here is an outline as to what you should know when ordering merchandise:

1. quality merchandise

printers often go on and on about how they can do this and they can do that, but the truth is, any truly progressive printer will try anything. if you want something done a certain way and they don't have the skills to do it, a good printer won't say "nope it can't be done!" they will see if there are options to make it happen. you should be able to tell by the products that they are displaying if they are the right printer for you. if they are displaying lots of corporate t-shirts and hats and things like that, chances are they aren't taking any measures to try and find business with the little indie bands and they aren't going to care if they mess up your order. coroporate businesses have the money to be able to account for losses, little bands don't.

research which printers work with bands frequently, look for merch-specific printers if you can. they will understand more about your market and the types of garments and printing you need and they will be able to facilitate that for you with little to know hassle.

2. cheap vs. good

there are so many reasons why cheap is one way to get your order severely screwed up. nobody understands better than i do how important it is to stay under budget and when you're a small band needing merch to make money you often have little to no money to start with so the cheapest option seems like the best option.

in reality, it's better to have no merch than merch no one will buy, isn't it?

be prepared to spend at least a couple hundred dollars on your first order, and remember that if the deal seems too good to be true, it probably is. make sure you know about all of the extra costs like set up charges and screens and art charges up front.

cheap prices mean cheap quality and cheap quality means it'll either fall apart or it won't sell, either way, it's not going to do much good sitting in tatters in a box in the back of your van, is it?

3. know what you want

if you go to a printer with a bunch of question marks, they're generally going to throw those question marks right back at you. do your research about how screen printing works so that when you bring them a design it will be ready to be printed.

if you don't know what you want then you'll probably end up with something you didn't want.

4. design the merchandise for screen printing

whether you're designing it or your buddy who goes to art-school is designing it, designing for printing is much different than designing for web or digital prints... limited colours save money, one colour is always the cheapest route and doesn't have to mean an ugly print. stick to one or two locations, you don't need to throw your bands logo all over the shirt, the people buying it probably already like your band anyway.

5. be assertive

don't let your printer jerk you around! (and this says a lot coming from a printer, huh?) if you asked for something and it's not what you got, say so. don't give them money for a job that was screwed up! get a discount on your merch if possible and a credit on your next order.

but this also means you have to be specific about what you want and dont want before the order goes to print, if the printer messes up because you didnt give them the right details then it's your fault, not theirs.

6. plan ahead

if you can only afford to order 10 t-shirts right now but you know those will sell out fast, make sure to let your printer know. see if they can hold your screen for a few weeks until you can get more money together to re-print your job. chances are they will and you won't have to pay a screen charge again that time (maybe just a set up) if you sell those shirts then you can go back with more money and have more shirts made!

if you remember all of these tips and put them into practice you'll be selling loads of merch in no time flat!

Homework: Go onto the websites of different printers in your area and compare and contrast pricing. See how progressive they are in terms of printing styles and look for companies that print bands' merchandise on a regular basis.

mrchgrl has a new look!

2008-09-05T15:30:00.000-04:00

i've been toiling away with things recently and i've finally finished a lot of the new look for mrchgrl. unfortunately the website is probably going to be down for a while, but luckily we have a blog for those specific purposes. i'll keep you updated on new designs, customers and whats going on behind the scenes!

in the meantime, you can head over to our myspace to get more info or feel free to call me if you'd like to inquire about what mrchgrl can do for your band!

A Lesson in Merch.

2007-11-15T14:23:00.000-05:00

Being a merch girl isn't slinging tee's and collecting cash, well, it is, but there is more to it than that. Merch can be a lifestyle, if you do it right.

There are innovations every day in the merchandising industry. The way promotional products can be made, their value and pricing your product to sell and make a profit. I believe there is something people working within the music and advertising industries can learn, about knowing your customer and knowing your product. So I’m gonna get my post on, you can read about it if you wish.