Why start a print on demand business and do things differently?

Print on demand is still one of the best ways to make an (additional) income online, even though things definitely got harder since I started in 2015. From declining product quality to privacy laws, and from increased (shipping) prices to more demanding customers. And let’s not forget more and more people are trying to make money online selling physical products on multiple platforms.

Still, the print on demand industry is said to grow from USD 8.03 billion in 2023 to USD 67.59 billion in 2032 (source: Precedence research). Which means plenty of opportunities for people to create an (additional) income for their families.

However, if you do what everyone else is doing, you'll probably end up with the same results. And when you know that over 90% of people who start a print on demand business have little to no success... well, you want to do things differently.

Why do so many people have no success with their print on demand business?

If you have been browsing the internet to look for information about POD I’m pretty sure you have heard something like this before: ‘you only need one winning product, just build a store and keep testing new products & designs until you find it’.

I think it’s the worst way to start (and run) a print on demand business.

Why? Because it paints a picture that selling the product is the most important thing you need to focus on. And it gives aspiring entrepreneurs the idea that it is easy to make money selling print on demand products. You only need to find one winning product…right?

Wrong.

If you decide to become a 'POD product seller', you take a route that can become very expensive fast. You'll be spending a good amount of money to create all your products and then more money to find people to buy your POD product.

You may find them and sell products, for sure. But you have to keep spending money to find new people for every new product you design.

It's like throwing spaghetti at a wall and hope it sticks. And even if it sticks for a while, it will eventually drop on the floor.

To me, this way of selling is not how you should approach a POD business. This approach is more like a having a hobby that may make you some money, but not suitable as a sustainable business model.

So who is actually making money with print on demand?

Here's a marketing 101 about making money:

When you find a hungry crowd of people that have a problem, you can make money by marketing relevant products & services that offer a solution for those people, either online or offline.

Based on this principle, the following four groups make the most money in the print on demand industry:

POD suppliers. They make money creating the POD products.
Software companies. They offer a place to sell your products, and/or add-ons that offer extra functionality.
Self-proclaimed 'successful' POD coaches & influencers (AKA 'the guru'). They sell the hype to promote (their own) POD training, which makes them money.
POD business owners who found a hungry crowd and offer products their crowd wants and needs.

When you just start your POD business your goal should be to aim for #4. And you can definitely reach that goal as long as you remember that people in group #4 do something different than just sell products.

People in #4 don't focus on creating what they think is the perfect product. They don't randomly apply (advanced) marketing strategies that other people claim will work. They don't just do random stuff and pray it works.

No, they approach everything they do from a business point of view. They have a long-term plan they optimize along the way. When they throw spaghetti at the wall, they do it in a smart way. They know what they are doing, who they are doing it for, and why they are doing it.

And here's one thing that they do right from the start, which I believe is the most underrated part of the running a POD business.

Create and serve a hungry crowd that knows, likes and trusts you

Based on 15 years of being an entrepreneur both offline and online, I can tell you from personal experience that:

Your main focus should be on building a relationship with your (potential) customers so you can establish a long-term sustainable business. Find out how you can serve them while you offer them an opportunity to get to know, like and trust you.

Read that quote again... and then once more. THAT is the difference that makes the difference for a sustainable print on demand business.

Building a print on demand business is not simply testing products until you find a 'winning' one. That is a 'money focused' mindset.

Building a sustainable print on demand business is about building a community of people over time who know, like, and trust you. They are your hungry crowd, your raving fans, your brand ambassadors, your source of inspiration for new sales opportunities.

These are the people who are willing to buy from you over and over again, either because:

You have something to offer that solves their problem
You have something to offer that is in line with their morals, values and/or points of view
You have something to offer that triggers their irrational passion

This is a 'people focused' mindset. Always put the visitor and customer first, and give them a great experience to remember you.

Of course you will have to invest time to build that community. And if you have money to spend you can build that community faster. It will definitely be a lot cheaper to start with than running ads to find an audience that wants to buy your product.

Your community will be a valuable business asset to do research, test product ideas and get feedback.

Once you have built that trust and know what they want and need, you could wake up to hundreds of sales overnight by simply making one product post on social media, or sending one email.

Can you imagine how much more profitable running ads to those products will become as you already have the proof people like it? How much easier it will be to get user generated content and reviews from buyers?

We know from experience this approach works, and we want it to work for you as well.

How POD Plus One can help you

After being involved in print on demand for over 8 years I decided to open up POD Plus One to the public as a one-stop shop that helps people move forward in their POD journey. We literally want to be your +1 to the POD business party!

Starting September 1st 2023 we'll periodically add content to our blog that you can read for free, and once we have everything lined up and our team ready, we'll add our resources and open up our agency. If you want to be notified when we have something new to share, join our Facebook group. The password you need to enter is 'Empower'.

I wish you all the success you allow yourself to achieve, and hope to be able to help you get there!

Marcel