From someone who has a 6 figure store, retired her husband from construction and travels full time while coaching others on how to do the same!
Don’t sell t-shirts. Don’t sell coffee mugs. Don’t sell stickers.
Products with a high perceived value are going to be easier to sell at a price that makes sense for your business.
If your sale can’t cover your cost of goods, your ad spend, etc - you’re not going to make any money.Learn how to calculate your break-even ROAS, return on ad spend.
#2 Don’t try to be everything all at once
When my clients try to master Facebook ads, Google ads, TikTok ads, email marketing, organic marketing on Etsy & Amazon all at the same time, they often fail.
There is a ton of opportunity selling Print on Demand but you don’t need to do everything all at once. Get a handle on one vertical at a time.
I’d suggest focusing on the vertical most likely to make you money the fastest (for me, this has been running Facebook ads to my Shopify store).
I will always love selling on multiple platforms, they are a large part of my business, but I like to see my clients succeed quickly.
Once you have consistent sales, you’ll have a budget to hire VAs/additional help to build and manage multiple platforms at once.
#3 Be excellent with your time
It is impossible to be successful in e-commerce without being strategic with your time.There will always be new software to learn, something to troubleshoot, emails to answer, and designs to create in Canva that you originally thought would only take you a few minutes until you find yourself awakening from a 3 hour Canva session wondering what the heck just happened.
Do not “play office.” Do not spend your time on tasks that FEEL productive but don’t actually move your business forward or generate revenue.
Your phone’s Focus Mode is your best friend.
#4 Don’t try to force your will on the market
Just because you like the design or product you created does not mean it will make sales.
Just because you like the design or product you created does not mean it will make sales.
Just because your ad has so many clicks or impressions does not mean it’s a product worth developing. (see point #5)
I sell Print on Demand products in the Family Gift Giving niche. My audience is broad. My ads often have audiences of 20 - 60 million people.
Just because I like a quote or a font or a layout does not mean that 60 million people will also like that.
I’ve learned to keep it simple and create products/designs with broad appeal. I have plain, easy to read templates I’ve created in Canva that I use over and over again.
If I feel myself wanting to scratch a creativity itch, I go outside and paint with my watercolor set or I write in my journal.
I used to believe that work was my main outlet for my creativity but this past year, I’ve realized the reason I’ve hustled so hard to build my business was for the freedom to sit at a cafe in Italy and paint with my watercolor set.
Not so I could toil away in Canva creating something that only I like and that won’t generate revenue.
#5 Sales = the only metric that matters to start
There is a lot of noise in our little corner of the e-commerce world about KPIs - cost per click, impressions, likes, follows etc.
But when I’m testing a new product, the ONLY thing that matters is -
Did a human being pull out a credit card and purchase the thing?If not, what are we working on? Why am I going to continue to invest $$ in a product that no one’s buying?
Don’t smoke the hope-ium. Keep it simple. Invest your time & budget into products that make sales.
You can start a successful Print on Demand business in 2024.
Last year, our coaching program alone was responsible for over 10 million in student sales.
Take small steps, acknowledge that there will be challenges, and give yourself the respect to keep showing up.