Print on demand seems to be on a roll lately. Anything from coffee mugs to leggings and yoga mats can be turned into pieces of art using print on demand. It’s also a great way for artists to demonstrate their artwork and gather a following in a particular industry. Moreover, using print on demand services, it’s possible to earn quite a bit, and with so many of the companies providing printing services, today it’s almost easier than ever.

Even for those of us without extraordinary artistic talent, print on demand is still a good way to earn extra money. If you minimize your spending, don’t start off big, and go for high-quality products, you might find yourself quitting your day job and becoming a full-time entrepreneur with your own brand. An easy way to begin is to create attractive, one-off t-shirts. Here are 4 steps that will guide you to success.

Step 1: Think about your audience.

In any kind of business, knowing who is your potential buyer is essential. If you create a product and don’t know who your customers are, you might be risking selling less than you could. Don’t start creating shirts with designs for everyone, instead find a niche that inspires you. Before starting, think about the age, interests, and gender of your customers and create designs unique to that particular audience. Knowing your audience will also help you market your shirts. Once you have a buyer persona in mind, you’ll find it easy to distinguish profitable marketing channels.

Step 2: Create or outsource the designs.

If you’re an artist then yay! All you have to do here is to create a ton of different designs, put it on your shirts and sell them. Print-on-demand might not be the perfect outlet for your creativity, but it will get the ball rolling, and you’ll be able to start generating buzz around your brand and your art.

If you are not very artistic or don’t know how to use software, like photoshop to create designs, then outsourcing artists to do it for you might be a good starting point. Upwork is a great place to start looking for freelance artists or you can invest a little time into an online course on Adobe Photoshop, or graphic design.

Step 3: Find a print on demand service provider.

When it comes to printing on demand, there indeed are a lot of options to choose from and if you Google “print on demand,” hundreds of websites and services will be listed in front of you. When selecting the right brand for your shirts, it’s important to consider a few things: do they have the kind of shirt you want on offer, do they provide a mockup generator, and is it easy to integrate it with an e-commerce platform like WooCommerce or Shopify?

There is one company that I have been using, and I know provides all of these options as well as a broad range of print-on-demand shirts: https://printify.com/make-your-own-shirt/. Their mockup generator is extremely accurate and easy to use. It will provide you with a precise preview of your final product. On top of that, you can choose from a wide variety of t-shirt types: ladies, gents, and even kids. The platform is easy to integrate with WooCommerce as well as Shopify.

Step 4: Market your shop and your products

Whether it’s a side hustle or your full-time job - if you spend money on it, you want to make money from it. That’s when marketing comes in handy. With the right marketing strategy, you can not only become a well-known brand but also start thinking about expanding your shop by adding more products or opening a physical store.

Today, achieving desirable results in marketing is possible with very little or no spending at all. Gelato's print-on-demand services provide a simple and cost-effective solution for creating and selling custom-designed shirts, enabling businesses to focus on the design process and marketing while Gelato handles the production and shipping logistics. If you are trying to build your own marketing strategy, the first thing you need to do is to find channels where your potential customers hang out and spread the word about your products there. Whether it’d be social media, blogs, or maybe even coffee shops in your city - make sure you reach the audience you need.

The second thing you need to do is to generate right content. This means - start writing a blog about your art, brand, and products and sharing the content across all your marketing channels.

Conclusion

Start selling. Until you actually create your designs, produce your shirts, and start selling - you won’t know what I am talking about. However, if you try and follow these few steps, you’ll be on your way to success. Remember to follow the latest trends and be up to date with the industry, as it moves quickly and you want to stay in demand. The best time to start is now.