STARTING A
Print-onDemand BUSINESS
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Introduction
Steps on launching a POD business
POD Advantages over conventional E-commerce
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Introductio n Print-on-Demand is a practice of offering your audience various custom-made items like t-shirts, mugs, rugs and household items in order to get customers and sales. This is a subtle yet powerful way to turn the attention of visitors within your niche to your business. However, this method of product sourcing must use effective marketing strategies and be created on a high-performing ecommerce platform that supports it in order to yield good results.
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Launching a POD Business Getting down to the practical aspects of starting this type of business is not as easy as it sounds; substantial work is required. We will help you to kickstart a Print-on-Demand business the right way.
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Step #1 : Choose your niche & products Before you do anything, you need to first pick a niche where you’re most likely to succeed. Only go with what you like, and if you don’t have an idea, then create a list of all the things you like. Your niche must be specific enough to hone in on core customers but also capable of attracting a wide audience. Once you have selected a niche (or narrowed your options down to a few), it’s time to visit search engines and social media platforms to validate your ideas. Google Trends can help you know what people are saying regarding your niche and so can Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Reddit. If there’s very little conversation in a certain niche-based community, then it likely has no potential for a Print-onDemand business to be built around it; you need one that is active with many discussion threads. Once you’ve selected a niche, it’s time to find Print-on-Demand product ideas within that niche. Lastly, take a tour on Amazon, eBay or any other common marketplaces to find out if your Print-onDemand product idea is already being sold on the
Step #2: Get your designs and websites ready If you’re a skilled designer, then you’ll likely have an advantage over those who aren’t, as Print-onDemand relies heavily on creating designs to be printed onto products. To create your products, you’ll have to craft your own designs or modify copyrightfree design assets like ones from Creative Market. You can also purchase nice designs at a reasonable price from places like Upwork, Fiverr, Design Pickle and many more. Once you have your product designs decided on, it’s time to get your website up and running. First, you need to select a platform to host your website. The most preferred ecommerce platforms are Shopify, BigCommerce, and WooCommerce/WordPress. These platforms provide you with easily customizable store themes so you can get your Print-on-Demand business up and running as quickly as possible. You will need to set up all the essential business pages like a homepage, shipping details page, contact page, and payment details page before accepting the first order, so don’t underestimate the time it will take to launch your website.
Step # 3: Choose your print provider & add products to your store
To create your Print-on-Demand products, you need to work with a Print-on-Demand supplier to actually bring your visions to life. Many Print-on-Demand suppliers have plugins that integrate directly with most major ecommerce platforms so you can connect your store directly to your supplier which makes order-handling easier and a more seamless experience. The major Print-on-Demand suppliers that integrate directly with most major ecommerce platforms, like Shopify specifically,include Printful, Gooten, Printify, Pr int Aura, Kite, and Inkthreadable.
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Step #4: Marketing techniques to promote Set up several major social media your store Optimize your site through SEO accounts Social media platforms have become the best spots to hunt for leads and, most importantly, you can use them for free. Set up a Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or Youtube account and use them to spread the word about your business.
Use customer reviews as testimonials Reviews from independent customers provide a powerful and credible way to market your brand and increase sales. Make sure they’re easily visible to website visitors on your homepage and make it clear that the reviews and testimonials come from real customers who’ve purchased your products.
SEO is mostly about quality content and optimizing pages for high-ranking keywords. You must find the appropriate keywords that many people are searching for and then craft top-notch content using those.
Write top-quality blog posts Create roundup posts, reviews, and other content to post regularly on your Print-onDemand website’s blog. Don’t forget to share the published content on your social platforms to interest your audience and direct more traffic to your site.
Tips on using social media effectively
Join groups and post frequently to remain at the top of the feeds.
Create a relevant hashtag for your store and request that your clients to use it when posting images of your products online.
Use the 80/20 rule: In this case, 80% of your content should be entertaining and informative while the remaining 20% can be sales-driven.
Reach out to influencers to help spread the word about your brand. Note that most of them can only endorse a product that aligns with their niche and values.
Leverage paid social to balloon your sales numbers: With everyone using social media you need to climb a step up and create compelling ads and campaigns.
Step # 5: Check performance, experiment & make improvements It’s only once your business is up and running when you can tell what’s working and what’s not. During this time, you may be forced to redesign your store, adjust prices, change collection pages or even add new products. Take bold steps to find a unique working product that will make your business a key player in your niche.
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POD Advantages over Ecommerce
EASY SETUP
LOW STARTUP COST
NO INVENTORY MANAGEMENT
You don’t need to hire the best web designers to get your Print-onDemand business up and running. There are countless plugins, templates, themes and guides you can use to launch your online store.
With traditional businesses, you must have a good stock of cash to purchase inventory and get your store up and running. With the Print-onDemand business model, even $100 is enough to get you going.
Your supplier handles pretty much everything from order printing, packaging, and shipping which means you don’t need to handle any amount of inventory. Much of your remaining time can be used to focus on making more sales.
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POD Advantages over E-commerce
ABILITY TO CUSTOMIZE One of the biggest advantages of Printon-Demand is that it gives you a chance to create and sell unique designs.
SCALE & TEST WITH NO RISKS
With Print-on-Demand, you aren’t directly involved in printing or production so there’s no major monetary investment from your side. Plus, you can easily scale, test and modify your designs as and when you need to without any major financial risk.
Wrapping up! Conventional ecommerce business models generally require large monetary investment and a whole lot of time to get up and running. You also often have to deal with inventory handling, product packaging, shipping, and many more complicated tasks. For less responsibility and lower risk, Print-on-Demand is an ideal option that still has the potential for success.
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Thanks! Does anyone have any questions? Please contact: hello@smbelal.com smbelal.com