I'll show you some
examples of the mistakes
that you need to avoid
if you want to be successful
with print on demand
and give you some useful tips
so you can maximize your sales.
Mistake number one is:
Making a lot of designs,
but they're all terrible.
This happens when people first learn
about print on demand or passive income,
and want to start making
money as soon as possible
without really knowing what they're doing.
They think they're more
likely to get sales
with a large number of
designs in their portfolio
so they make as many as possible.
Not only does it result in
people giving up quickly
due to being burnt out,
but the quality of their
work isn't good enough
to actually get sales.
One question that I get all the time is:
How many designs do I need
to make $1,000 a month?
or however much per month that
that person wants to make.
If you're asking that question,
it indicates to me that you're
probably going to be making
as many designs as possible
without considering the details.
It isn't just about the number
of designs that you've got.
You can make $1,000 a
month with only one design
if you get it right.
It's about understanding your audience
and what they want to buy.
Honestly, this is so important.
You have to know what your customers want
because otherwise you risk ending up
with hundreds of designs
that nobody wants to buy.
It's supply and demand.
If you want to start a successful
brick-and-mortar business,
you do the market research
to make sure there's
demand for the product
before investing all your money.
But when it comes to print on demand,
people seem to forget this.
I don't know if it's because
there isn't any cash required,
but you are investing something,
something more valuable
than cash, in my opinion,
which is your time.
Don't invest your time
without doing the research
to ensure that it's
going to be well-spent.
How do you know your audience then?
Your customers, your target demographic,
whatever you want to call them?
Well, first of all, it
depends what platform
that you're selling on.
The Redbubble audience is different
to the Merch by Amazon audience,
which is different to the Etsy audience.
Of course, there are overlaps
and some designs will work
well on all the platforms.
But for the most part,
you have to know what sort
of design works well on each platform.
So consider who your audience is,
as well as how likely they are
to come across your product.
It's about understanding the market.
Is there enough demand for your product?
Is your target market already saturated
with similar products?
You want to find the middle ground
where there's demand for the product
and not too much supply already.
Redbubble and Etsy have search features
so you can see what's
selling well in each category
and even narrow it down
with your own keywords.
Here I've just gone onto
Redbubble and filtered by new
so I can have a look at
what's just been put on
and probably find people who
fit this category of mistake.
Straight away, I found
this shirt from someone
who has a typo on the actual design.
Probably not going to get any sales.
There's also someone who's uploaded
a Popsicle-patterned design,
but hasn't saved it with
a transparent background.
So as they've uploaded it,
it's shown it with a
white border on the shirt.
Even if there was demand for
Popsicle-related designs,
it's unlikely that this person's going
to be making many sales.
The description is "Cool
picture of Popsicle,
"cute and funny Popsicle design,
"Popsicle print, must
have Popsicle design."
So there is some attempt
at using keywords at least,
but it looks like this person has based
their entire portfolio around this type
of design on t-shirts.
Maybe they don't know how to save files
with a transparent background.
It's possible that in a couple of weeks,
they'll be wondering why
they don't have any sales.
Finally, we have this person
who's done an Nvidia design,
which I'm guessing is going to get removed
for copyright very soon.
When it comes to Merch by
Amazon, I use Merch Informer,
which is a website that lists
all the shirts on Amazon
that are selling well or trending
with all the analytical information
so you can make a
decision about what to do.
You can get 20% off Merch Informer
using the code: PASSIVEOWL
or by clicking the link
in the description.
And I only ever recommend
software that I actually use.
I already made a video explaining
how to use Merch Informer
and how it pays for itself,
which I'll link in the description.
You'll see the sort of
designs that do well on Amazon
are often very different
to the other platforms.
Another tip for you to
avoid making the mistake
of creating a lot of bad designs
is to look at the design
elements of successful artists.
Not the design, but rather the pieces
that make up the design.
This is how we can figure
out why it's successful.
Why is it popular?
Is it a pop culture reference?
Does it stand out in the search results?
Is it the colors, the niche?
You must be able to recognize
why something's successful
in order to understand
what the market wants.
It's easy to look at bestselling products
and see why they're popular,
but what are the components of
the design that make it sell?
The design elements, combined
with your unique knowledge
of a topic, are what will
make your design successful.
I've just organized the
t-shirts by best-selling
to give you a few examples.
So we aren't looking
at the overall design.
We're looking at the characteristics.
Why is it popular?
Straight away, I can see a
pattern of what's popular here.
Space, space,
space,
space.
Over here, we've got bold colors
that stand out in the search results.
Animal cartoon with a
pun, seal of approval.
Animal-related again with a
joke, sloth riding a tortoise.
Old school-looking comedic shirts
Clear design elements that are
very visible from the search,
like this ghost, again with the puns.
Another animal pun,
old school animal puns.
I'm sure you get the idea.
Break down the designs and
figure out what is successful
and narrow it down further and further
until you have some
ideas to experiment with
on your own designs.
Mistake number two is:
Making amazing designs,
but is what *they* want to buy.
I see this so many times.
There's plenty of artists
who are really good at what they do,
but they make art that
they would want to buy,
rather than what the market wants.
They end up getting frustrated
because people who aren't
as technically skilled
as them are making more money.
Here's a couple of examples
that I've picked up.
The artwork's good enough,
but is there much demand
for "Boston Terrier Looking
at Flying Santa" t-shirts?
Maybe, maybe not.
This person's clearly a talented artist,
but their concept seems vague.
There must be so many thousands
of octopus-related designs.
The same goes for the
rest of their portfolio.
Great artwork, but is it
what the market wants?
Bigfoot, kind monster, animated funny?
I doubt there'll be
seeing the amount of sales
that they'd like.
Being a capable artist already gives you
a massive advantage over everyone else,
but you need to learn
what your audience wants
and create something for them
or you probably won't be
making the amount of sales
that you want to see.
Some of my most successful
designs aren't exactly
to my taste, but I know from my experience
that this is what the market wants.
In fact, a lot of the stuff that works
on Merch by Amazon is, in my
opinion, ridiculously tacky.
And that's why I prefer making
stuff for Redbubble and Etsy.
I can totally appreciate this
might compromise your artistic integrity.
There's nothing wrong with
creating the art that you like,
but just don't expect
to be wildly successful,
even if you are talented.
Personally, I know some
amazing artists in real life
who I've helped get on
print on demand sites
and they can't get a sale.
This is because they're artistic,
but they lack the ability
to market themselves.
You have to be a good all-rounder,
not just a good artist,
but good at understanding
your target demographic
and what they're going
to be searching for.
Which brings me on to
mistake number three:
Making good enough designs
that the market actually wants,
but then getting the keywords
and tags completely wrong.
The keywords and tags you choose
are just as important as the design.
People make designs that are good enough
and the demand is there,
but then the audience can't find them
because they haven't
used the right keywords.
It's important to research
your target market
and think about what they
will be searching for.
Titling your product
"Awesome Spooky Design"
isn't going to be very helpful
if your audience is searching
for "Skeleton Shirt".
I know it's frustrating when
you just want to post your work
and move on to the next thing.
But this is where a lot
of people fall down.
I've got an old video
about tagging on Redbubble
which is still pretty valid.
And I'll link it in the description
if you want to learn more.
Here's another example for you
of someone who is
clearly a capable artist,
gamer girl related design,
which is good enough and has demand,
but they've titled it Gamer Life Girl
with Cat in Cartoon Comic Style.
For the tags, they've
gone with very generic:
girls, cat, man, funny,
motive, birthday, idea, game,
play, gamble, computer games.
They're all totally vague,
so this design's gonna be lost
in the depths of Redbubble.
If we look at products tagged with girls,
for example, there are
1.6 million results.
Finally, I'll give you a bonus mistake,
number four: Being a perfectionist
and wanting every design
to be a massive success.
Believe me, I know all about this.
It's better to get into
your head right away
that it doesn't work like that.
Forget perfectionism and
aim instead for good enough.
Not perfect, not amazing.
Just good enough.
The secret that successful
print on demand sellers
don't tell you is that most of the time
their designs aren't wildly successful.
The vast majority of
our time will be spent
doing repetitive, boring work
that doesn't lead to anything.
It isn't glamorous or
exciting for the most part.
I'm sorry if this isn't
what you want to hear,
but it's the truth.
And you can spend thousands of
dollars on courses and books
from people promising you the world,
but it doesn't change this fact.
The good news is that some
of the time your hard work pays off.
You get the design right.
The target demographic right.
And the keywords right.
And you start making money.
And the more that you do
it, the more you learn.
So it happens over and over again,
which is when you start
making some serious cash
and realize it's all worth it.
I don't like a traditional 9-5 job
where you sell your labor
in exchange for payment.
With print on demand, you do the work once
and you get paid again and again.
But you have to understand
that when you look at
people like me and others
who are making significant cash,
you only see the success.
You don't see all the effort
that goes in behind the scenes.
It is absolutely worth it,
but understand that we aren't successful
with everything we upload.
So to summarize, the
mistakes I listed are,
One: People uploading loads of designs,
but they're all terrible.
Two: People making amazing
designs, but nobody wants them.
And Three: People making
good enough designs,
but then messing up the keywords.
Plus the bonus mistake
of being a perfectionist
with expectations that are far too high.
Avoid these pitfalls,
and you will already be miles
ahead of the competition.
If you found this helpful,
please gently tap the 'like' button
and subscribe to my channel.
I'm about to release
a series of new videos
that'll be extremely useful
for everyone, both newcomers,
and those who are experienced
with passive income.
I've been creating free
content for years now.
And I always try and get to the point,
providing the best information
without any of the unnecessary BS.
Thanks.
