What is print on demand?
Print-on-demand (POD) is a business strategy that allows entrepreneurs to avoid printing a large number of merchandise and waiting for them to sell. In a print-on-demand model, items are printed as they are purchased or as the demand grows.
This strategy helps you bring your ideas and creations to the market without spending much money. You can offer your designs on a broad range of items–from T-shirts to coffee mugs–and team up with several print-on-demand production services or companies.
You can start your own print-on-demand business today, whether you are a designer, an artist or just someone with a good idea. The only requirement is business savvy and creativity.
You don’t need to worry about making, shipping, or storing the products you sell. You can make a passive income by designing your own products, marketing them, and having them printed on demand with every sale.
Curious? If so, let’s look at this six-step plan for starting a print-on-demand business.
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Come up with concepts, designs, ideas
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Decide what are the products you want to sell
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Pick the best platform
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Choose your print-on-demand supplier
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Create your product’s design
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Promote your items and store
Check out these steps and ideas to get your business off the ground.
1. Come up with concepts, designs, ideas
If you’re a designer, you might already have designs you’d like to sell in a print-on-demand shop.
Whether or not you’ve had any formal training, you might want to begin your journey with print-on-demand by brainstorming and creating designs. This will let you develop a specific style while learning what kinds of projects you like to make and how you like to design.
It can be a struggle to come up with something new and interesting. So, here are three tips to help you think up creative and engaging design concepts:
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Look at your audience. What do they want? What do they need? How can you make them feel happy or safe or excited by what you create?
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Look at the trends in your industry. Are there any new ideas coming out of it? How can you use those ideas to make something better than what’s been done before?
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Look at yourself! What’s something unique about who you are as a designer that no one else has thought of yet?
Don’t get stuck in one mindset. Try out different materials and styles to see what works for you. Take inspiration from other sources and don’t be afraid of failure. It’s all part of the process. The more you try, the better your ideas will become.
2. Decide what are the products you want to sell
You can have a variety of different products made to order and personalized. If you have a favorite product you want to sell on your website, such as wall art, mugs, hats, or T-shirts, the chances are good that it can be custom-made and marketed in a print-on-demand format.
Have a funny quote in mind? Print it on t-shirts or tote bags. Want to share your artwork? Try sharing it on a coffee mug or on a traditional canvas print. You’ll be amazed at how far digital printing has come with all the customization options.
It’s best to get started with a few different products. As you become more familiar with how this business works, you’ll find it easier to add more products to your inventory. The more experience you have, the more products you’ll be able to offer your customers and make money.
Remember that you are the only one who can make this decision. You have many options when it comes to your print-on-demand inventory: phone cases, wall art, and more. Research what products will sell best and which ones will make you the most profit.
As you choose products to sell, keep in mind that some items cost more to ship. If a third-party print-on-demand supplier charges for shipping costs, bulkier products can cost more and cut into your total earnings.
3. Pick the best platform
You can set up a shop to sell your designs on many print-on-demand sites and marketplace. Research various websites to make sure they offer the services you want.
For example, you may be able to set up a shop for free on some websites but need to pay for that privilege on others. Some sites are only for clothes, while others might have a wider range of items to sell.
To maximize your sales and exposure, you should pay attention to how the website will market your products. Be aware that each website has its own audience or aesthetic.
Think about the features and user experience provided by your print-on-demand company. Is it easy for you and your clients to find their way around, or are there too many confusing options? Does it have a robust community of users? And how about for you as a merchant? Does it have tools, apps, or features that make using their platform more convenient? Some offer business tools, while others have mockup generators to help set up your product listings faster.
When selecting a print-on-demand service, you may also want to consider its ethics or how it affects the environment. These e-commerce sites have various methods of doing things and you can choose to check those ways before you do business with them.
There are a number of great tutorials and blog posts that will help you set up your new site, as well as help you run your e-commerce store regularly. Third-party providers also offer customer service to assist you in selling items and filling orders for your shoppers.
It would help if you also asked the e-commerce platform provider about cookies and what cookies they use to entice customers back to your website. With these helpful features, your customers are more likely to come back to your site and buy things from your online store.
4. Choose your print-on-demand supplier
When choosing a print-on-demand supplier, consider the location of your target customers and the kinds of products you want to offer. Note that selecting the right provider is crucial because they’ll be handling all production and shipping details for your business.
You might also want to think about the quality of products and services that they provide, as well as how they handle themselves with their customers. You don’t want any problems communicating with them, so make sure you’re working with a company that values your time.
Apart from these, it’s important to find a company that provides great customer service because if you have any issue with your order or the product itself, you want to be able to get in touch with someone who can help. It’s also important to make sure that the terms of your agreement are clear so there aren’t any misunderstandings later on.
Additionally, you should consider the different shipping options that they offer, as you want your customers to be satisfied with their deliveries.
Find a vendor who shares your vision and will work with you to create the best outcome possible within your budget..
Before you make a decision, explore all your options. This way, you’ll be sure to find the best choice. Get a head start on the search by getting in touch with us. Lumaprints is all about helping businesses succeed. That’s why our print-on-demand services are so popular—because they allow you to focus on your business while we take care of the printing side of things.
5. Create your product’s design
Although print-on-demand relies on design, it’s not necessary to have any artistic ability or be a professional to be successful. All you need to do is come up with creative ideas and work hard to make them a reality.
A good design begins with research. Gather ideas from the internet and social media platforms. Sites like Designious, Pinterest, Dribbble, and many more can also provide you with an ample supply of inspiration.
Be sure to cite your sources when you use someone else’s work as inspiration for your own designs, and don’t plagiarize or copy someone else’s work.
You can always hire a professional designer if you don’t want to spend your own time making designs. Before you start hiring designers, though, make sure that you know exactly what kind of design you need.
Use web pages like Fiverr, which is a well-known place to find freelance designers. There is also 99designs, which is a market for graphic design services, and Upwork, which is the biggest freelance market in the US.
Always test your designs. You might think an idea is great, but what you think and what your customers understand could be different. The most popular way to check if an idea is good is to share it on social media or in an online forum.
6. Promote your items and store
Marketing is the last, but very important, step in starting your business. Below are some ways on how to promote your print-on-demand business, making it easier for potential customers to find you.
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Social Media Marketing
If you want to widen your engagement and reach your target market, you need to be active on social media. Customers look for brands on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok all the time these days, and you need to ensure they discover you.
If you’re just starting out with selling, don’t try to use every social media platform right away. Focus on one or two main channels, and make sure they are fully optimized before continuing to expand. Once you have built up more materials and resources, then you can build more social media outlets.
Learn more: The Definitive Guide to Creating a Social Media Marketing Strategy
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Search Engine Optimization Technique (SEO)
When you run a print-on-demand company, search engine optimization (SEO) will be one of the most important things on your mind. The purpose of this plan is to get a better ranking on web browsers and online marketplaces, which will bring in more customers and boost your sales.
SEO is essential to marketing strategies that help you get good results over time. And if you couldn’t figure out why you weren’t making any sales before, you probably know why now. It’s based on both on-page and off-page optimization, which will determine how well your online print-on-demand store ranks.
Use key phrases that are simple to locate by using currently popular searches, search fields, and so on to spread the text. Make a website work well on mobile devices and be easy to use. Even if you aren’t an SEO expert, you can do all of these pretty simple things to improve your site.
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Promos, Discounts, and Contests
Giving out freebies can make your fans more inclined to promote your products. For example, a YouTuber gave away signed t-shirts to his viewers who had bought shirts from his print-on-demand business. The game’s rules were simple: send a photo of yourself wearing a shirt you bought on his site. When the contest ended, he’d sold 2,000 shirts.
You can also enhance your conversion rate by running ads on Facebook and other social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram.
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Blog posts Method
Many big brands use content marketing by writing blogs as a standard SEO method. Try to put noteworthy content on your website, and don’t forget to share it on media platforms.
Blog posts and articles can help you keep your audience engaged, letting them know about what you have to offer and build their trust in you as they gain knowledge from your content.
Learn more: Fundamentals of Content Marketing: 10 Steps to Success
Final Thoughts…
A print-on-demand business can make money, and it’s easy to start. To be successful, you need to know what steps to take first and what steps to take after that. Hopefully, this detailed guide will help you create a plan for your POD business that works, helping it grow from day one.
All that’s left is for you to put all of this knowledge to good use. The best way to get started is by giving it a try. There are countless ways to get started in the world of print-on-demand, and this guide is meant to be just that: a guide, not an encyclopedia. You decide how far you want to go, what you should use it for, and how much money you want to make from it all.
Finding a niche you love and making your first sale could take a while. But be patient, try out different ideas, and figure out what works.
Just like any business, POD business requires your time and resources. If you want something that is well-established and has been tried and tested by many, you may want to consider offering prints on canvas, fine art paper, and metal among others. And if you are an artist wanting to sell your printed artworks, then Lumaprints is the one for you. Learn more about our products here.
