5 Ways To Make Print-on-Demand T-Shirts Better
Selling print-on-demand T-shirts is a great idea. It can provide the dream lifestyle of being able to work from anywhere, set your own hours, and make a decent amount of money. Sounds pretty good, right?
However, the print-on-demand market is extremely competitive. Thousands of people are already selling T-shirts. So how can you stand out?
Here’s my best advice…
#1 Understand that you are running a business
It seems obvious, but the most common mistake that people make when trying to sell T-shirts is not realizing that they are running a business and not acting accordingly. What do I mean by that?
When you are a hobbyist, you create things that you want to create and then share them with other people in hopes of generating interest.
When you are a professional, you create things that your customers want you to create and then promote them to your target audience in hopes of making sales.
You can’t remain a hobbyist and expect your business to just take off. For a business to grow, you need to put your customers first.
So stop treating your T-shirt business as a hobby and start treating it like a business!
#2 Know exactly who your target audience is
Another common mistake that people make when trying to sell t-shirts is producing generic ones and trying to sell them to everyone.
The reason behind this mistake is the belief that appealing to the broadest possible audience will lead to more sales. Nothing could be further from the truth. Appealing to everyone usually means appealing to no one!
So decide who you are selling to. Figure out the gender, age, and interests of your ideal customer. Once you figure all that out, you can then focus on serving that particular demographic, which will be immeasurably easier than trying to serve everyone.
#3 Take time to develop excellent T-shirt concepts
When you are used to drawing for leisure, it might be hard to switch to drawing professionally, but you have to do it if you want your business to thrive.
You will be tempted to simply come up with a cool idea, sketch it in 15 minutes, put it on a T-shirt, and call it a day. Don’t! You need to really put effort into your T-shirt concepts if you want your T-shirts to sell well.
So take your time. When you come up with an idea, quickly draw it, and then sleep on it. Then, go back to it with fresh eyes and examine it critically. Does the concept work? Do the colors pop? Are the fonts right? Really look for ways to improve it. Don’t stop working on it until you have something that you are really proud of, no matter how many iterations it takes!
#4 Get feedback
Okay, so now that you have poured your soul into producing an excellent T-shirt, it’s time to see if it is something that the market really wants. How?
Simple. Go where your potential customers hang out, whether online or offline and show them your T-shirt design. What do they love? What do they hate? Why? Don’t get upset and don’t get defensive. Really listen to what your customers have to say.
Yes, you might have to go back to the drawing board, but it’s better to find out that your concept doesn’t work sooner rather than later, right?
#5 Choose a reliable print-on-demand service
Once you have a winning T-shirt design, you will need to pick a print-on-demand fulfillment company, and it’s very important to choose wisely because going with an unreliable company might lead to low-quality products.
I recommend going with a reputable company such as Printify. You can check out Printify print on demand services here: https://printify.com/print-on-demand/. They are used by over 50,000 merchants!
Conclusion
Let’s keep it real. Building a profitable print-on-demand T-shirt business is hard, especially if you already have a full-time job. However, if you keep at it, in 12-18 months you can grow it to a point where it will replace your salary. Just imagine all the opportunities that will be available to you once that happens! So don’t give up. Persevere. It will be worth it.
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