Over the past few years, eCommerce has been the center of attention for online business and entrepreneurs. With such a wide range of tools and information, it’s become a very lucrative option with a very little barrier of entry.
Print On Demand merchandise is one of the most cost-effective ways to create unique, quality products for fans and customers in essentially any hobby or interest. But how do you get started when opening your own Print On Demand business? It’s not as hard as you might think, and I’m going to give you a step by step introduction to get you started ASAP.
First, you’re going to want to choose your “Niche.”
A niche is a targeted group of individuals surrounding a hobby or specific interest. For example, a group of sports fans is a “niche” as well as cooking enthusiasts. Basically any group of people with a shared interest. As with any other business, it’s very important to research and define who you’re going to be selling to in order to ensure you can properly market to them. Focusing on the products that people are most likely to buy from you once you have an offer. Make sure you don’t rush this part.
It’s important that you know who you are going to be making products for so you can effectively offer them in a way your niche can relate. (Yay Sports! You must like sports stuff!) You get what I'm saying...
Next, you’re going to want to create your designs.
If you’re an artist you’re likely going to want to use your own designs, but if you’re just starting out, there are ways to get other artists to do this heavy lifting for you.
Hiring a part-time graphic designer will allow you to get involved with print on demand without dedicating years to learning how to design on your own ideas. It’s super easy to find decently priced designers on freelance sites like Fiverr and Upwork. Some even offer the option to have artists compete for your job; giving you several options to choose from for the same design you need.
Prepping your designs will be the next step in getting things in order.
After putting so much time, money, and energy into getting your designs created you now have to make sure the quality transfers across your products. You want to aim for a resolution of 300 dpi and save the design as a PNG with transparent backgrounds outside if the design image. Your designer will be able to handle this task if you’re unable. Just make sure that it is done properly.
Depending on the Print On Demand business you’re using they may have different guidelines. Always refer to the guidelines of the platform you’re using to ensure the best possible quality. Check our guidelines here for examples of what to expect before getting started.
Now you’re going to set up your store or storefront.
There are Print On Demand integrations that will allow you to use a Print On Demand platform like ViralStyle to fulfill your orders right from your Shopify store. Yet, the easier route would be to create a storefront right on the platform to remove any extra moving parts.
When your design is ready it’s time to upload them to your store. You can start by installing the ViralStyle Shopify app if you’re using Shopify, or just use the design uploader onsite if you want the path of least resistance. From here you can easily upload your designs on your chosen products
Pro-tip: selling from the Print On Demand platform directly will allow them to handle fulfillment and customer service for you. So, if you’re starting out and would rather focus on your sales, selling directly from the platform may be a bit more your speed.
Choosing and Publishing your products.
There are tons of products you can add designs to; t-shirts, hoodies, towels, canvas prints, coffee mugs, etc. The great thing about Print On Demand is that you can change your product whenever you want to.If you are selling more towels in Summer you can simply push the hoodies aside and create more towels, and vice-versa.
As well as really focusing on the types of products you want to sell more often. You can also decide what you want to charge for the product. Regardless of how much it costs you to fulfill, you can make sure you get the profit margin you want.
Promoting your products is where you really get to flex your creativity.
Promoting your products is the only way to get eyes on them, so make sure to share photos and info about your products on social media. Using both paid and unpaid traffic to ensure you get the most bang for your buck, by putting them in front of the people that want to buy them. If you’ve already started building a social media following you’re going to have a bit of a head start. Having a crowd who are familiar with you and your niche will make it easier to show your products off.
P.S. Don’t worry if you haven’t started building a social following, promoted social media posts do a lot of the work for you.
Don’t be discouraged when you’re starting out. There have been endless improvements across the internet to make showing off products easier than ever. So pick what you want to sell and who you want to sell it to, plug it into a few social media channels and get things moving.
Start raking in the dough!When a product is sold you are only paying the wholesale cost plus shipping. You keep the rest which gives you control over the profit margin you want to see. And that’s pretty much it!
Print On Demand is a low-risk choice for anyone looking to sell online products while trying to avoid huge start-up costs. It’s great for anyone! From designers, small businesses, brands, social media influencers, and more...
To get started on your Print On Demand business head over to Viralstyle.com. It’s never been easier to create the business you’ve always wanted.
