Ever dreamed of owning an online business without the hassle of managing inventory or shipping? A business that once you sent it up kind of runs itself. This is essentially Print-on-demand (POD). this guide will teach you how to start a print on demand business in 2024, and it could be your path to financial freedom!
How you can create a sustainable income stream from the comfort of your home or a beach in Costa Rica!
Step 1: Understand Print-on-Demand
So the first step is learning exactly what Print-on-demand is? How does it work? Print on Demand or as I lovingly call it POD, is business model where you design custom products (like T-shirts, mugs, or tote bags), and a third-party company handles production and shipping when a customer makes a purchase. No upfront inventory or risks! If you have to you can take the money from the customer push the products into production keep the difference and wait for the review. You don’t need much to get started. Ideally you have $75 to $150 set aside to push your items into production so you can get your customers taken care of quickly but that’s it. No storage fees, no trips to the post office, no sitting on inventory you’ve already paid for! I mean it really is a pretty sweet deal that’s only been made possible by recent advances in printing technology.
Now it’s time for
Step 2: Pick Your Niche
What’s a niche you ask? A niche is your target audience. The more specific, the better!
Examples of Successful Niches:
- Fitness enthusiasts.
• Pet lovers (dog or cat designs).
• Motivational quotes for entrepreneurs.
- Finance investing info, stock market, how-to’s, crypto, etc.
Once you have a niche picked out you can
Use tools like Reddit, Google Trends, or Pinterest to identify trends within your niche. Find out there common spoken phrases, inside jokes, and every other important detail. This is where it helps to pick a niche you are already familiar with. Or something your passionate about or could get passionate about.
Step 3: Choose a Print-on-Demand Platform
Not all POD platforms are created equal. Here are the most some popular options:
• Printful: High-quality products, integrates with Shopify and Etsy.
• Printify: Affordable pricing, multiple suppliers.
[Printify](<https://try.printify.com/kbk3vlcjd6
was the first pod platform I was setup on and I still use it for the bulk on my designs.
From what I’ve seen on Twitter (yeah yeah okay Elon) I mean **X** it’s looking like
[Printify](<https://try.printify.com/kbk3vlcjd66p>) and Printful will be the same company
within a few weeks.
And than there is also
• Redbubble: a Marketplace with built-in traffic but lower profit margins.
- Merch by Amazon: A platform you have to get accepted to sell on.
- TikTok Shop: A subsection of TikTok where you can sell products.
Redbubble and Merch by Amazon work a little differently the companies take care of the manufacturing shipping and you just get a royalty of each sale. You don’t need to pay to get your items shipped which is really nice. I didn’t know until months after starting that there is actually two different kinds of print on demand. Active and passive. The Printify and Printful methods are active print on demand, and the Amazon, Redbubble methods are passive print on demand.
Pro Tip: Start with a platform that matches your business goals (marketplace vs. independent store).
Step 4: Set Up Your Online Store
Your store is your digital storefront. Choose between:
- Shopify: Best for building your own brand and scalability.
- Etsy: Ideal for beginners with no marketing experience.
- TikTok Shop: A great ****platform especially if you can buy samples to create shoppable content with.
I personally use Printify and Etsy. That’s because I wanted a platform that was already getting traffic. I’ve started to try using TikTok shop but I haven’t gotten much traction yet. If you can create unique mockups it can help you sell more as well.
Action Tip: Use a platform like Placeit to create professional product mockups for your store.
Step 5: Create Winning Designs
You don’t need to be a design pro to succeed! Just research proven methods from winning designs.
• Use tools like Canva for beginner-friendly design templates.
• Focus on designs that are simple, clean, and resonate with your audience.
• Test with phrases, quotes, or trending graphics in your niche.
Etsy has a really cool feature where you can look to see what’s selling well. Just search (NICHE) tshirt bestsellers and you should get some great ideas. This doesn’t mean steal someone else’s designs. But you can take ideas and remix them into your own.
How to Start a Print on Demand Business in 2024!
Step 6: Launch and Market Your Store
Once your store is live, It’s time to get the word out. My favorite free way to market products is Social Media of Course. Well done content can out perform paid ads. I’m not very good at content but I put stuff out nonetheless, and according to my analytics people do click on my promos. I would like to start putting more effort in. Cover how you came up with the designs. What’s the process you go through.
You can also use paid ads use Facebook and Instagram ads to drive traffic to your site, or google ads, if your using Etsy as a platform they have a pretty good ads setup where you can get started for $1 a day.
Pro Tip: TikTok is growing fast—post short, engaging videos of your designs in action.
Step 7: Optimize for Growth
Next up is track what works and make changes accordingly. A god idea is to keep a store journal where you save what works and what doesn’t. My personal rule with Etsy is if I don’t get any interest in a product before the first 3 months are up i don’t renew it. Marmalade and Erank are great for researching what people are searching for, and what the competition is for those search terms. Ideally you want a high volume of search’s and a low number of competing listings. Google analytics is another great place to identify what people are looking for.
Starting a print-on-demand business in 2024 is more achievable than ever. With low upfront costs and endless creative opportunities, you can build a profitable online store that fits your lifestyle.
Ready to take the leap? Download our Free 10-Step Print-on-Demand Checklist and hopefully now you have a better idea on How to start a print on demand business in 2024!