By now, you probably already know the idea for a Print on Demand. Theoretically, it goes something like this: Create a website, find the right POD vendor, design, publish and sell products. Manufacturers print, package, and ship their products to customers. When the customer receives the prize, all parties win. You and your suppliers benefit, your customers get what they want. Actually, it’s a little more work than that.
Which niche and product should you choose for your POD business?
You can sell your designs using cell phone cases, mugs or t-shirts. However, you should not make a decision before doing proper research.
The first step is to find a niche where you can thrive. It can be as specific as “Cat on a Cosmic Synthesizer” or as broad as “Comic Comics”. Brainstorm 20-30 ideas if you’re not focused on one niche. For example: basketball, ecotourism, healthy eating, cycling, etc. The more specific your niche is, the easier it will be to stand out and find customers as long as demand is high enough.
You may want to take control of this first step, but you can leave the rest to a virtual assistant with product research experience.
The next step is to validate your ideas by browsing social media. Check out Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Reddit or Google Trends to see who’s talking about your niche and what they’re saying. If you have a lot of active, passionate people talking about your topic, they can potentially become your customers.
Now narrow the list down to the ideas that are most likely.
Finally, find out what’s already on sale in the niche of Amazon, Esty and eBay. If you find a product similar to your idea, don’t worry. Pay attention to the number of reviews. This is a good indicator of whether that product is actually for sale.
If you are an artist or designer in a particular niche, stick to your style. If you already have an audience, they will love your product.
You’ll need to determine what products you’ll sell as soon as you’ve found your niche. You have an abundance of options. First of all, you may want to stick with the popular ones. The most popular POD products are T-shirts, hoodies, mugs, laptops, phone cases, pillows and posters.
Don’t be fooled by diversity. Tailor your product to your niche. But don’t stress about making it perfect in the first place. In any case, mistakes are not expensive and you will have plenty of time to experiment later.
Here is a specific guide for anyone who wants to start an online t-shirt business.
POD settings
The real work begins when you determine your niche and key products. If this is your first website, it may seem overwhelming at first. Do not worry, try here to help.
Setting up a basic website can be done in a day, but it takes at least a few days to get it ready for the masses. And it’s well worth the time invested or the freelancer you pay to set up. After all, it will become the center of your homepage, sales hub, and marketing operations. Here’s what you need to do:
- Register a domain name. You can get it from GoDaddy or a similar service provider . Choose URLs related to your niche that are easy to remember.
- Choose an e-commerce platform for your website. Choose an ecommerce platform for your website. The easiest way is to use Shopify, the WordPress + WooCommerce plugin , or Etsy .
- Design your store. WordPress, Shopify, and Etsy offer templates that are easy to customize. Be creative and use it as a starting point. You need to complete all the main pages (home, contact, payment, shipping information, etc.) and make the website easy to navigate.
- Power your store with our partner’s dropshipping plugin. When your website is somewhat ready, it’s time to choose a print provider platform. If you use Shopify, search the App Store or check with the provider for options for integration with WooCommerce and Etsy. Read this article to sell print on demand products.
Maximize your sales by promoting POD.
Marketing is an essential part of any POD business. Without marketing, it’s like a book on the bookshelf of the largest library in the world. You should be able to find your business easily. How well you do is reflected in your sales. Remember that freelancers can meet many marketing needs, especially basic social media marketing.
Start with free social media marketing
Social media is an obvious starting point because it’s free. Depending on your niche, pick one or three platforms to focus on.
Instagram is great for anything visual, like design. Using the right hashtags along with great artwork will naturally help you gain followers. You can also “steal from the competition” by following followers, liking and commenting on photos. You can use your knowledge by hiring someone with experience with the platform.
Eventually, you’ll want to reach a larger audience and increase sales using paid ads on Facebook or Google. For this, hire another freelancer with platform specific experience.
Website Optimization
People who find your page while searching can convert more easily. For now, all you need to know is that a well-optimized website, product page, product collection, and blog post will help you rank higher in organic search rankings and will bring more traffic to your site.
Rather than learning all about the highly technical and complex world of SEO, the best approach is to hire SEO for optimization. They will consider keywords that online shoppers enter when searching for products like you.
Then, when creating copy and content for your store, you or a freelance writer you hire can incorporate these keywords to maximize page visibility.
Don’t hesitate to pay an experienced and qualified freelancer to optimize your site’s SEO and write great content and copy for your pages. They do their best and can save you a lot of time and headaches.
Write a blog with content relevant to your niche
The most innovative and best ecommerce brands recognize the power of content marketing. Writing your blog post with the right keywords also grabs your visitors’ attention, but it’s really about providing value to your readers and prospects.
This is your chance to establish yourself as a transparent and trusted expert in your niche market. Share your expertise, stories and experiences. As you grow, hire more skilled writers and share epic content resources with your audience. Remember, quality is important, not the number of posts! Of course, this advice is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to storing marketing.
How much money can you make with your POD store?
To be honest, there are no limits to selling custom designs. It all depends on how well you are doing it and who will support you in the operations involved.
Costs also vary. For example, you could pay $20 per year for a domain name, $29 per month for Shopify services, $20 per month for additional website plugins, $500 per year for custom designs, and $100 per month for paid ads. In this case, the store costs about $200 per month. If you earn roughly $10 per sale, that means you’ll need to sell 20-30 products a month to break even. That means you buy once a day.
Again, there are many ways to manage and improve your eCommerce store. It’s all up to you. However, if you invest wisely and work hard, you can get great returns on your investment.
