At Websticker we do a lot of work developing and designing sticker products for other companies and individuals. My blog post on How To Start A Sticker Business is the most visited page on our website. Clearly many people enjoy coming up with slogans and ideas for stickers and dreaming of all the people in the world that will want or need that special, one-of-a-kind sticker.
I don’t want to stomp on anyone’s buzz, I too love nothing more than to brainstorm and come up with fun custom sticker ideas. But, the reality is, millions of people have great ideas but millions of dollars are not being made and it is extremely difficult to produce a viral sticker or sell stickers beyond established distribution channels to a specific, existing target market. The same can be said for t-shirts.
Creating and selling a hit sticker is actually more difficult than creating a viral video, or getting a million followers on social media. This is due to the ease of distribution. Millions of people dream of creating a viral video that spreads like wildfire and everyone needs to see and pass along, but a viral video is seldom planned – it usually takes luck, money, authenticity, and an interested tribe or market. A sticker product needs even more of all of those elements PLUS production and distribution to succeed.
Don’t pay for trademark protection or worry about non-disclosure agreements up front. Money can be better spent on planning, production, and distribution partnerships. Really no-one is interested in stealing your idea or doing the work unless the sticker product is raking in the money. If a sticker product starts to take off, there is time to get further protection.
So, go ahead and brainstorm clever sticker ideas and maybe print and sell some of them. But do it for fun or because you believe in the message, not for the money. There’s nothing wrong with dreaming and having high expectations, but as with every successful business it takes proper planning, budgeting and demand.
I have some ideas for phrases to be used for bumper stickers & t-shirts. How can I find a buyer?
Hey David – I think I addressed this in the post, but to reiterate, I don’t think there are any buyers to find for “ideas”. There are many unique ideas out there and you either start a little business selling stickers and T’s with your phrases on them (which is not difficult these days with small run digital printing and simple selling platforms), or you just enjoy the process of coming up with new ideas.
Blackouts matter. Especially the next day
i have a great idea for a bumper sticker and would like to sell my idea to someone for a percentage of sales or a cash offer for my idea. i really do not want to print them myself and try to market the stickers.
I would also love to sell ideas for a percentage of sales or some cash. Millions of people would love that. But, the reality is, it’s just not likely to happen. If the slogan, words or image is really strong the best thing to do would be to trademark it (Trademarkia is a good place for that) and then tell as many people as possible about the idea and offer it out to the world. Here’s another blog post that might be helpful: How Do I Protect My Great Sticker Idea
If you see my truck on the side of the road.
Not to worry,
I’m probably hunting.