Y Combinator-Backed FanHero Helps YouTubers Sell Branded Merch to Their Fans

If you are familiar with content creation, you are likely aware that there is a plethora of content creators on platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. Vloggers, beauty influencers, and gossip channels are especially prevalent on these platforms, many of whom have improved their production quality by investing in professional cameras as well as hiring talent managers and video editors. They offer interesting, engaging and shareable content that allows them to grow their channel and pay check alike. With the current trend emphasizing the role of content creators and influencers, the demand for influencer marketing has been increasing significantly. As a result, establishing a significant audience and growing the follower count of your YouTube channel and social media profiles are essential now.

It is clear that creating and distributing video content is a top priority for producers and influencers. However, the reason for the growing number of them starting merchandise initiatives is not obvious at the first glance.

When content creators start their journey by establishing a channel and growing their follower count, they are actually creating a brand even if they don't see it as such. The name of their channel, their content, their unique aesthetics, their “voice”, and their target audience are the elements that make up their specific brand. Aligned with the purpose of all brands, the brands of influencers and content creators aim to make revenue. Luckily, social media platforms like YouTube and Twitch offer lucrative monetization options as well as partner programs. Yet making a significant revenue through these monetization opportunities is not easy. In order to set sail towards new horizons that bring more revenue and increase their band value, many creators create merchandise. Selling merchandise allows them to further promote themselves as online influencers and bring more attention to their brand. Thus, they sign really good deals with sponsors, make money, and seize a lot of opportunities.

Influencers with a strong following, like Logan Paul, Mr Beast, Ethan Klein (H3H3), Emma Chamberlain and PewDiePie, have created merchandise brands that are easily recognizable and popular. It may seem unexpected for YouTubers to sell clothes, mugs, planners and such, but it has become a frequent practice among creators who have amassed a sizable audience, usually those with 100,000 or more subscribers.

If you aspire to become a notable content creator or influencer, you should follow the footsteps of the hugely successful ones like those we mentioned above. In addition to being a tested method to success, creating an online merchandise store offers many benefits including but not limited to:

Diversifying your means of monetization. Creating niche and unique merchandise that speaks to your audience allows you to make a great sum of money. If you are a lifestyle vlogger, you can sell planners. If you are a fitness influencer, you can sell sportswear. If you are a gamer, you can sell funny tshirts inspired by your catchphrases or favorite game characters. This way, you can make revenue through not only partner programs of social media platforms but also creating your own products.
Establishing a stronger brand: You can improve your brand awareness and strengthen both online and offline presence of your brand through merchandise. Moreover, merchandise allows you to create a better connection with your audience and build a tightly knit community where your followers can show their support and emotional investment to you.
Promotion: An online merchandise store can act as an effective marketing tool to draw attention to your content and gain new followers for your channel. Well designed merchandise can ignite a sense of curiosity, introduce your channel to new audiences, and let people know about your brand all the while not costing you a dime -in fact, making you profit! If you are tired of dealing with the hassle of cross posting and learning about how to share a YouTube video on Instagram, merchandise is the best route of promotion for you.

If you are interested in creating unique and profitable merchandise for your brand, FanHero is here to help you. Backed by Y Combinator, FanHero facilitates both the production and selling of branded merchandise to fans. Keep reading to learn more!

Y Combinator-Backed FanHero Helps YouTubers Sell Branded Merch to Their Fans

The digital startup incubator Y Combinator (YC), established in March 2005, has helped more than 3,000 businesses get off the ground, including Airbnb, Coinbase, Cruise, DoorDash, Dropbox, Instacart, Quora, PagerDuty, Reddit, Stripe, and Twitch. The top YC companies have a combined worth of more than $300 billion by January 2021. Initiated in Boston and Mountain View, the accelerator program was later expanded to San Francisco in 2019 and has been totally online ever since the COVID-19 epidemic began. According to Forbes, YC is a very successful Silicon Valley business accelerator.

Each year, Y Combinator picks a number of batches of companies through interviews. A total of $500,000 in startup money, suggestions, and contacts are given to these businesses. In addition, they receive $375,000 in an unlimited S.A.F.E with a most favored country (MFN) clause, as well as $125,000 in post-money S.A.F.E. in exchange for 7% equity. An additional $100,000 is donated to charities. The program includes weekly meals with successful business people and venture capitalists, as well as "office hours" where startup founders can meet one-on-one and in groups.

"Make Something People Want" is the Y Combinator mantra. The program shows founders how to develop product/market fit, improve their teams and business models, scale their startup into a high growth company, and promote their products. Demo Day, where businesses showcase their business and technological prototypes to possible investors, serves as its climax.

One of the most recent investments of Y Combinator is FanHero, a revolutionary startup that aims to support YouTubers in their quest to monetize their brand.

Students at Stanford University majoring in computer science, Kevin Xu and Charlie Guo, who grew up as YouTube enthusiasts, developed FanHero. Since they have been passionate followers of YouTubers since their childhood, Xu and Guo have a unique perspective. That is why they are able to offer an unmatched service to both seasoned and novice YouTubers that are looking for new ways to diversify their means of income and monetize their brands.

In order to widen their horizons and improve their skills in commercialization, scaling and more, both Xu and Guo are attending Y Combinator courses. Currently, their website FanHero gives the entire money made through sales to the artists. In other words, they take no commission! Once their beta tests are done, they will start taking 25% commissions though. So, the best time to join FanHero and monetize YouTube videos is now!

If you want to be a successful influencer that has more than one stream of revenue, merchandise is the best option for you. In order to ensure that your merchandise is purchased by many people, you should ensure that your content on YouTube is interesting enough, though! You can use creative editing, free music for YouTube, and sound effects to make your videos more appealing.

Yet you must be very careful: Major social media platforms like YouTube only allow the use of royalty free music. When content creators use copyrighted music in their content, such platforms detect illegal use with their very advanced algorithms. Content creators that violate royalty and copyright rules are notified and warned by the platform. Moreover, they face serious consequences such as losing their monetization privileges, partner status, or even their channel.

That is why all professional content creators, influencers and YouTubers only use royalty free music in their videos. If you need YouTube royalty free music, take a closer look at our playlist below. You can find thousands of high quality, popular royalty free tracks in our archive. You can browse by mood, artist, and genre as well!

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