The Print On Demand Business
What Is POD
Print on demand had been around for quite a few years.
In a nutshell, you design and sell your designs on T-shirts, Cell Phone Cases, Mugs, Jewelry, Leggings, Socks, Posters etc, this list is huge and growing.
Basically the transfer of design or letter from one media to another, digital file to Tshirt for instance.
In most cases, these are totally free. You work on a commission or Royalty based pay scale.
People have really misrepresented this industry as a drop shipping one (it is but, it's not) and will try to sell you this info!
These Pods can be partnered with other online e-commerce platforms.
You have Zero inventory so entry is super attractive and basically ZERO risk.
You have Zero inventory so entry is super attractive and basically ZERO risk.
A Small Warning
Beware, there are Guru`s for everything today, GURU means let me take your money if I can
convince you, that only I (the GURU) can teach you this or help you..(lighten your wallet).
Easy-NOT!
POD is not and never will be GET RICH QUICK or EASY. It is work and time.
There are literally NO EASY ROADS to success in this business.
It takes in most cases years. Some get very LUCKY and do it faster, but many more give up or fail.
Go slowly, do NOT jump at shiny buttons ( people offering you the moon either with software, research, coaching ETC)
Youtube was and still is invaluable to me, some Facebook groups are also good.
JUST remember to stay away from shiny button syndrome, the harder and more competitive any industry gets, the more GURUS start to emerge!
Hobby or Business
This is totally up to the individual. Any e-com can be either.
If you just want to fool around make a few bucks but not devote a lot of time to it yes it`s a fun hobby.
If you see the potential in it, are a designer, graphic designer, artist, fashion designer and have for some odd reason not noticed or looked at POD, this is the business you are looking for.
You can ( and there are many) make a living doing this. Or it can be used as a passive stream.
You like anything else will get out of...what you put into...
How Much Can You Earn
This is totally up to the individual. Any e-com can be either.
If you see the potential in it, are a designer, graphic designer, artist, fashion designer and have for some odd reason not noticed or looked at POD, this is the business you are looking for.How Much Can You Earn
Most POD`s (Print On Demand Sites) have a base price.
Let's say you design a t-shirt, the pod wants $25 dollars for the tee, printing, and shipping.
You will then add your royalty on this.
The payouts are small in most cases between $1-$5 per item. Don't by any means let this discourage you, volume is really key.
Remember that if your design is good, it will sell over and over again.
We will show you in a later post, how this design can be scaled as well as your POD business.
I'm Not A Designer
Most people in the POD field are not designers of any type, but rather e-com entrepreneurs, who see an opportunity and get on it.
Quite a few POD sites have simple graphics and text editors embedded so getting a simple design up is pretty easy.
If not there are a great many free, super easy to use editors. I have even heard of people using power point.
This simple text-based designing is for entry-level people, who have never done this type of e-com before.
What Should I Sell
That's entirely up tp to you. I would suggest T-shirts and Mugs. They sell really well online.
If you are really new just do T-shirts for the start, remember it takes time.
To learn all that is involved is a curve, it's not some huge unattainable goal with a monster waiting to kill you off, but there are a few tricks you will learn along the way.
You should keep in mind the POD`s want you to succeed, they make money if you do, so play by the rules.
Its different for everyone, if you want it you will get there.
Copy Rights & Trademarks
This is pretty big. Intellectual property rights must be respected.
Do not think you can go copy a Disney or Star Wars character or wordings like STAR WARS etc and its ok.
You will be issued with a takedown and possibly banned from the POD you are working with.
There are different categories for different TM`s 025 is clothing and 21 for mugs (kitchen utensils) for instance. This mark is global, but each country has different TM`s.
For instance, USA lets say Rocky Mountains is a TM but In the UK it may not be, and in Germany, it may be partially!
Due diligence.
Once you get used to it, it's easy and fairly fast, don't get lazy it may cost you a lot.
Where to Check TM`s
TMhunt.com is for checking words(and there are many) for clothing. Please do check any phrase, there have been a great many frivolous trademarks applied for and registered in the past few years.
For deeper more accurate search use the https://www.uspto.gov/trademarks-application-process/search-trademark-database
Search Tess for Images and Words.
There is also a Chrome extension called Tangent Tess which is really handy when you do a lot of searching.
How Do I Sell My Stuff
The question of getting traffic is as always a hard one.
Most of the PODS if they sell directly already have traffic organic and paid.
If they do not and are just as described Print-On-Demand platforms that fulfill, the platform you may be selling on may have its own traffic source as well.
Amazon is a prime example of that with billions of shoppers already well established as returning customers.
You will also have the choice of running PPC or paid ad campaigns both platform specific or GOOGLE, BING oriented.
Do not attempt paid ads at the start of your POD experience. You will lose a lot of money.
SEO
Seo is key to any platform. Both for organic and paid traffic.
Every POD has a different way of adding keywords to your items. Tags, descriptions, Titles etc.
You will want to choose keyword carefully and thoughtfully you can use Google or Bing keyword research.
Even when tagging platform specific KW (keywords) think Google and Bing because all in all your items will be searchable both platform-wide as well as globally and or locally through search (depending on the PODS locations or shipping, or your own configurations)
OK I Should Be Set
Not! You will need to do a little more work before you start.
You will need a list of these POD`s or do you already have a few. I will supply these with your sure fired route to success and riches for the lowly sum of...One Million Dollars.... just kidding.
I will list a few down below to get you started. At the end of this post.
Not affiliates I tried that road and didn't like it, there will be 1 affiliate post later, but it is definitely a win-win, but it's for more experienced e-com POD sellers.
Otherwise, all info is freely given as it should be.
What Designs Should I Make
Again that's a tough question.
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If you want to go all niche, I don't suggest that on the regular POD`s it is too limiting, and on those, you can usually create categories like more mainstream platforms.
I can only think of a couple that would benefit more from the niche.
Again start with things you know, profession, hobbies, sports anything that you know a bit about.
Text designs sell just as well as graphic designs so don't be afraid of that.
HINT:
Look at some of the designs on the POD you are working to see how they are set up and what they use font wise, size and colour.
Dark shirts sell better, Black, Asphalt, Navy Blue, Purple, Heather, Dark Heather, and Royal Blue
seem to sell the best.
Where Do You Go From Here
Now that you have a few basics and I mean very basic stuff I will get you going with this one,
This is a really good place to start. It's relatively easy and has quite a lot of products that can be designed and sold.
Just do not put your design on every single item(if you design a Tshirt, it won't work on a Duvet)
If you have Facebook etc you may have noticed their ads running. They are all over the place.
You will be given a percent based royalty of your choice to add to the price.
Pretty cool setup with different items that can be placed into niche type shops.
Again its a percentage based POD and does a lot of advertising.
Just design and sell on these.
Is That All
That's the tip of a very large iceberg.
The step I would take after setting up Redbubble and being there for a few months would be:
Apply for Merch By Amazon.
You can try to do this now, but the most successful candidates usually prove they can sell POD merchandise.
If you jump the gun and apply you may get accepted, if not don't worry you can definitely re-apply.
This is a really good place to not only sell your designs but really start to learn and understand POD.
Merch By Amazon (MBA)
What more can be said, although it is not what it once was money wise its still a free and great opportunity.
Where else do you get access to millions and millions of platform-specific customers, not to mention what you can get yourself through organic and paid search.
Amazon also has site-specific PPC so its really an incredible opportunity for some.
It's not easy, you have a starting point and are leveled according to sales volume.
Tier 10 is the entry point allowing 1 upload per day to a maximum 10 slots.
The Strategy
Not easy, these first few levels really need attention to 1 niche, let's say hockey, research and design 10 t-shirts (checking TM`s and images) and wait to tier up to 25, price at min.$12.99 in order to sell and Tier up.
If your shirt sells it stays up, till you remove it.
If you don't sell any within one month start redesigning, change KW or change niche.
If your shirts don't sell they auto remove after 180 days, this is only so for the MBA platform.
Do this till tier 100 at which point you can choose a few niches to concentrate on.
Raise prices on selling shirts at T 100 if your shirt is selling well, (from 12,99 to 13.99 and on)
The point is volume so to make money early, don't think about it get to tier 1000 before you think about making a profit.
This may come fast or slow, it all depends on you.
Warning
There are a lot of GURUS in the MBA arena, a few of the people are ok but still, they ask for money for things you can do yourself.
They are high tiers because they got in before MBA opened the doors. Or they hooked up with people that helped them jump up when things were easy.
There's no secret sauce.
Then you could literally put a white Hello on a shirt and it would sell like crazy.
Those days are done, it is not easy money now...hence the GURUS come out to play.
Etsy
I decided to enter this here for now and as promised I will write a separate post later.
You, now in the world of POD cannot ignore Etsy another platform with self-driven traffic, its own, but searchable SEO rules and huge customer base.
The usual Etsy customer is an educated smart woman.
This platform needs and deserves attention. You must be comfortable dealing with customers and issues.
Etsy tends to be more niche specific, though some general stores do well, the niche ones are doing great, give that some thought.
Customer Service
Unlike other POD`s you are in control on Etsy. Customer ratings can kill you if you do not handle things well.
The normal customer is willing to pay for the ie,m they buy, but it should be a quality item.
There are many integrations and a Pintful (POD) integration works really well. Although I have not had problems with them there are complaints.
Choose wisely here and do not open a store until you are comfortable with e.com
Store Setup ETC
There is an awesome course by REAL people that are making and still making money there, that I will link up in another post. And it's not expensive.
I put this in because there are a few good videos on youtube about the setup, but only a couple are actually good.
Your store setup is really paramount to success on the platform.
Your store setup is really paramount to success on the platform.
So as promised the one and ONLY one affiliate link here ETSY, which gives me 40 free listings and YOU forty free listings. Doesn't sound like much but when you see that it's possible to put thousands up..well you get the idea.
Well, there is a ton more that could be said but this post has really gone longer than I thought It would.
There will be sporadic posts that will be more in-depth on a few platforms.
This is a blog spot free site because I like free~
The truth I'm not selling anything, well maybe I will post a few sample shirts or such along the way, so I certainly won't spend to host it.
There will be sporadic posts that will be more in-depth on a few platforms.
This is a blog spot free site because I like free~
The truth I'm not selling anything, well maybe I will post a few sample shirts or such along the way, so I certainly won't spend to host it.
I hope that you have liked what I have written and got some value here, as mentioned its all free so updates will be infrequent, but I promise I will expand the subjects at some point.
All The Best Hope this helped
EJ
All The Best Hope this helped
EJ
