Print on demand can be one of the most lucrative passive income streams. There is minimal cost involved in the business with several platforms doing the bulk of the work for you.
Your main task will be to create the designs and upload them to your store. These websites will then manufacture and deliver t-shirts and other items for you.
This makes this business scalable and you can achieve success with only one person as part of your team the designer.
Several platforms do this work for entrepreneurs, these include Merch by Amazon, Redbubble, Spreadshirt Teepublic and others.
To get started it is important to understand these platforms and what they offer. These platforms do not charge you when joining, however, they take a percentage of your sale. Merch by Amazon has a more rigorous process of joining and you will have to apply to be a member.
In a print on demand store all you need to do is to create designs upload them to a store where the platform will create a listing. Customers will then visit your store and choose from your designs and make a purchase.
These sites will then print the design on whatever product has been bought ship it to the customer and take care of any customer service needs. This makes the experience easier they are also free to join.
In this article I give you a step by step method of starting your print on demand business:
Step 1: Create A New Email: This email will be private to you and the websites you sign up for using this email. Head onto these platforms and create a free account with each of them.
It is important to note that none of these platforms are exclusive. This means that you can upload the same designs to all these websites their marketing strategies and demographics are different, meaning that you will be able to reach a diverse range of people.
Step 2: Find Your Niche: Finding a niche especially when starting out in the print on demand will be beneficial. A niche is a specific target market, it is important to find a niche that doesn’t have a lot of competition.
There are several tools that will help you find your niche, such as, KWFinder keyword search tools will also help you identify words and phrases that have a high search frequency with minimal competition.
These include Google Keyword Planner and Keywords Everywhere, which are both free tools that will help with your search. Whether you’re finding a niche that you’re passionate about or one that you’ve done substantial research on.
Be sure to be specific finding a niche that you’re passionate about will be more fulfilling and will be easier, since you will already have inside knowledge of how it operates, the trends and the lingo that goes with it.
Step 3: Choose Your Designs: Once you have found your niche you need to find your design inspiration. Look at what people are currently buying, you can do this by looking through social media and selling websites, such as, Etsy and other print on demand platforms. These sites will give you ideas on what is popular and trending.
Remember you cannot copy from the designs you find, this will get you removed from the platforms and that will be the end of your business. They serve as an inspiration and will help with your creativity as you make your designs.
Step 4: Create Your Designs: Once you know what designs appeal to you and your customers, you need to create them. Remember that your designs can go on several items from t-shirts to mugs, scarves and even notebooks.
Many first timers to print on demand do not have the necessary design skills. If you’re one of them you might have to outsource and hire a freelancer to create your designs for you.
If you still want to do it on your own, there are several tools that will help you with the process especially as a beginner. Placeit.net makes it easy to help you create designs without any graphic design experience.
Other sites, such as, Canva will also make your design process easier. It is advised that you have at least 10 designs on all these platforms for a start.
Step 5: Format Your Designs: When uploading designs to Merch by Amazon be sure to stick to their design format 4,500 pixels by 5,400 pixels for most designs going onto products.
This means that you will have to resize your designs before uploading them. Redbubble and Spreadshirt do not have any specific measurements that you need to stick to.
Step 6: Upload Your Designs: Once you’re done you will need to upload your designs, you need to find a title and description that have your intended keywords to make your page rank higher in searches, meaning that more potential clients will visit your page.
You can copy and paste the title and description from one site to another. Do not spam keywords in your description, make it nice and simple.
After uploading your designs to Spreadshirt, Redbubble and Teespring, they are on their website forever. They print any sales you have every few days, but whether you make a sale or not they are there for life.
On the other hand Merch by Amazon keeps your designs for 180 days if you do not make a sale within these 180 days they remove your design, however, if you do make a sale within these 180 days your design remains on their platform forever.
Merch by Amazon also has a tier system, in the beginning you can only upload 10 designs and only upload one design per day after making 10 sales you’ll be allowed up to 25 designs and you can make two uploads per day.
Using this technique you can keep growing as long as you keep making their required number of sales. The platform is stricter than Spreadshirt and Teespring, because they handle a lot of the marketing for you and you own need to focus on the design process.
Spreadshirt is pressure-free, they allow you to sell as many or as few designs and still remain on their platform. This allows you to sell at your own pace and focus on other elements of your print on demand business.
When choosing the colors for your shirts, if selling T-shirts, you need to find colors that appeal to the market your targeting. If your niche is specific to men then you should choose colors that appeal to them and similar to niche is specific to women.
If your niche is general then you can play around with colors, be sure to have common colors available for your customers.
When setting your price, remember that most pod sites take a percentage of the profit from your sales, so always factor this in your pricing.
Spreadshirt gives you free reign on the price, you can set for your merch. This means that you have control over your profit margin and you can always adjust depending on the needs of your customers or how your business is performing.
Do not sell your shirts too low to undercut your competitors. In the long run you will not make any profit. On the other hand set your price a bit lower than the majority to appeal to more customers. Add your payout method to your store that could be PayPal or Payoneer depending on your location and which method you prefer.
Step 7: Create A Specific Storefront: When creating your store, create a name that represents what you are selling. Adding something about the niche that you selling under will be advantageous in searches.
T-shirts are popular products for many print on demand clients. By adding the word t-shirt to your storefront name it will give it more visibility. Add a creative banner to your storefront to make it more appealing.
Step 8: Monitor The Performance Of Your Store: Once you have your store running it is important to take note of the designs that are selling and the designs that are not.
You might have to redesign change your pricing or completely replace some designs with others to make sure that you are selling. You can also test out new designs to see if they are popular and duplicate these onto other sites.
Find out what works for you and what is unique to your store to make you stand-out from the rest.
Step 9: Leverage Customer Reviews And Testimonials: Once you have made a few sales it is important to get feedback from your customers and have them publicly share positive reviews within your store.
Independent customers are reliable and will back up your marketing efforts. They will help you market and ultimately increase your sales. Be sure that your reviews come from real customers. Positive or negative reviews from your customers will also help you improve your designs.
That’s all for this little guide, I hope you find this article helpful. If you are new or perhaps thinking to start print on demand business, follow these guidelines and you will surely meet success in your business.