How I Created My First Custom Merchandise Product (Mistakes & Lessons Learned)

How I Started Making My Own Custom Merchandise. If you want to know how to start your own business, create a product to sell, ways to make money from your blog, brand, etc… creating your own merchandise might be the way to go. Whether you want to start a clothing line or just start building your brand, making your own custom branded merchandise, I’m going to show you my first piece of merchandise that I created!

I’m revealing and reviewing the first item that arrived from the mistakes I made, lessons learned, and what I’d do differently. The Good, Bad, and Ugly! There are some changes to be made, but I’m excited to show off this new #BLABoss Hat. Plus, where you can get one for yourself.

PS, I made you a video to go along with this post (watch it below)

Branding with Brandi: My First Piece of Merch Is Here!

You heard it right—I’m finally launching my first piece of merchandise. And you’re opening it with me.

Why Branding Is So Personal for Me

You may remember, a couple of blogs/videos ago, I might have mentioned that I was writing a book. And it has to do with branding—because my name is Brandi, and my mom obviously named me Brandi for a reason.

You’re watching Branding with Brandi—what else would the book be about besides branding?

A quick reminder:

My name is Brandi
You’re reading/watching Branding with Brandi
So of course… I’ve written a book on branding!

And I’ve been sharing tons of content with you about branding:

Branding yourself on social media
Branding yourself on YouTube
Branding your website and business overall
How to start branding yourself overall…

Unboxing My First Merch: Let’s Do This Together

Whether you’re a person or a business, with branding comes having your own merch!

I haven’t even opened the box yet! I ordered it through Printful, and this is my very first item as I start setting up my merch store.

So, we’re going to open it together, and I actually don’t know which piece of merch it is.

But I picked this up on Printful, and I’ve been debating about doing it for a while. This was my first piece of merchandise that I finally ordered. I’m still getting my store set up—it’s been a learning process, but I’m super excited to show you the first piece of merchandise that I’ve ordered!

And I’m going to start telling you why I have this hashtag and why I’m using it.

The Reveal: My Custom Hat!

Cue the excitement 🎉

Here’s what I ordered, and here are my first thoughts (good and… hmm… maybe needs some work).

First Impressions: What I Love (and Might Change)

I actually never wear hats, so this is going to be a first for everybody. First, I want to try it on and see what this looks like, and adjust the back so that it’ll fit better. And the bill of the hat might need some breaking in.

Also, I don’t know about the green under the bill of the hat. I feel like we’re going to have to change the color; green is not really my thing. I thought that was all black… I’m going to have to check on that to make sure we don’t have a green under-backing on this hat.

And I don’t know—should I take my tag off or leave it on?

The other thing I noticed about this hat is that the “A”… if you look at it, it’s kind of crooked. It’s not perfectly on there. So that’s something I’ll probably adjust, but those are all things that I can fix.

Here’s what I’m noticing:

The color under the bill? Not what I expected
The logo? A little crooked
The sizing? Might need adjusting
The tag—leave it on or take it off? (you tell me!)

What I Might Do Different:

They have some other hats that you can order, so I might try out some other hats.
The first thing I’m going to do: a different fit for girls—you know, like maybe something girlier.
Maybe we can change the colors of it to be a different color.

After seeing it in person and what it looks like, I’m thinking we’ve got to make some changes to it before we can start selling it. But we can use it, that’s for sure.

Either way, it’s pretty cool to see this first piece of merchandise finally here! Plus, even with the imperfections, you can still go ahead and wear it.

Learning As I Go: The Merch Process Is a Journey

This is a learning experience, and I want to share it with you every step of the way. I’ve already got more merch on the way—so stay tuned for what’s next.

Tell Me What You Think!

So that is my first piece of merchandise!

I want to hear your comments—so make sure and drop your feedback in the comments below and let me know:

What do you think about this hat?
Do you like the design?
What should I tweak?
What are some improvements I can make to it?
Have you created your own merch?

I have some other pieces coming, so it’s going to be fun to check them out and see what changes we need to make to them before I actually put them out for sale!

Want to Grab One? Check the Description Below

I figured—it’d be fun to kind of see behind the scenes of the making of the product.

So hopefully, you enjoyed this!

You can find a link to get your own merch like this, and I’ll be adding more as I go.

Put a like button down below and let me know you enjoy this kind of content—and I’ll be putting out some more videos, so stay tuned and subscribe.

Also, be sure to check out BLABoss, where I share free tools and resources to help you brand your business like a pro.

I’ll see you in the next episode!

Here’s where I made My Merch on Printful

Check out My Merchandise Here

MY BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT

📚 Get your copy of MY BOOK: How To Brand Like A Boss

About Me

If we haven’t officially met, Hey I’m Blogging Brandi An EX-Corporate Kool-Aid Drinker, born to be Blogger, Creator, Female Digital Nomad & Entrepreneur who LOVES RV Living! (oh and Sharing My Advice On YouTube!) Plus, I’m the creator of RVersity, my university for RVers & the name of my other YouTube channel! I’ve also been a licensed cosmetologist for over 17+ years and Graduated From College as a Finance Major… But I decided to quit my job, sell everything to start my own business (and if you’ve seen my story then ya know why I live in an RV aka how I ended up becoming a digital nomad or should I say a “nomadic entrepreneur”)! Now I help others who want to follow in my footsteps…

Got Questions? I’ve got answers…

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