A Clarifying Article On Printify And Other Print On-Demand Platforms

Chances Are This Is Not The First Article On Print-On-Demand That You Have Read, But This One WILL Be Your Favorite.

A bold statement. I know. But I'm confident that my article will be the most useful to you than the ones you've read so far. How do I know? I've read all of those too.

Because I also P.O.D.

I have a little very basic product page with Printify, that I am designing merchandise for my book, Memoirs of the In-Between (see the links at the bottom of the article). It's also going to start sporting tease merch for my upcoming fantasy book Long Live The Queen.

I am also going to preface that this article IS specifically for those who have already invested time learning about P.O.D business creation and may have some clarifying questions you need answered.

Today, my main website of reference will be Printify, and we will be talking a little about the questions that arise when you are trying to start a P.O.D. business.

To Open My Own P.O.D. Business - Do I HAVE To Buy A Domain Name and Website?

The great thing about print-on-demand businesses is that you can start out free and small if you go to the correct printing platforms. That's why I CHOSE Printify to begin with. As your business grows, you too can grow with a website. But if you are just looking to do a small merchandising page like I have, then you can start up on a website like Printify for free. Or rather, pay the fees as you go.

As a courtesy, Printify offers what they call a Pop-Up Shop where customers can purchase your products without having to purchase your own website.

But, should you decide that you need a website as your business grows, you can connect your Printify (and many other P.O.D. platforms) with your website host. Wix, the website domain that I will be using when I do eventually need to launch a larger website with my own personal domain name, can connect directly with your Printify account so that you can integrate all of the products that you've already created from your platforms Pop-up shop directly to the website you plan on building in the future.

Do Not Let Website Platforms Trick You Into "Hiring An Expert."

A few years ago, I got burned really bad. I hired a website expert, who actually worked for one of these website hosting platforms. He misled me, calling himself a website-building expert, and talked to me about how difficult it was to create good websites. He convinced me I HAD to get a website to start my business. He charged me $1200 to 'design' my website for me and purchase my domain name. That did not include a Shopify subscription.

When he sent me the email with my website information it was a Shopify Drag and Drop website. I could have done it myself. I was FURIOUS. The website hosting platforms that connect with Print On Demand services will usually have a VERY simple website design for you. Drag, drop, type, resize. That's it. No complicated formatting of any type. And now, they have AI technology built into the setup to help you design a store to your exact design, for free, with a few detailed sentences.

Don't waste your precious money if you don't have to, my friends!

Print On Demand Is Not Automatically Automated

When you're creating your P.O.D. you have to decide which route you're going. Are you creating a dropshipping company, where you create your products, order a supply of them, and ship them yourself, or are you going cut out the middle-man and just have the warehouse ship them out?

I know that it seems like there is an obvious answer, but really, you need to suit it to your business. For people like musicians, ordering merchandise for their band they may order their products to be able to take them to shows and gigs. Same for me, as an author. I can go to markets and events and sell physical copies of my book and any merchandise I create for it. But, I also have a digital store because most of my fans are from far away places.

You Do Not Have To Be a Graphics Design Artist To Make a Successful Print-On-Demand Business And You Do Not Have To Make Clothing

Clothing is what sells the most, and it helps if you are able to create your own digital art masterpieces for your personal branding of designs. But neither of those is necessary.

I do more accessories and home living products, like notebooks, candles, and bookmarks, because my merchandise is based on my fantasy books. My niche is aimed at fantasy and book lovers, which means I'm targeting people who are in my group of humans: hoarders of notebooks and drinkers of tea and coffee, snugglers of pillows with a good book, or daydreaming about the adventures their made-up characters are having.

It's Pay As You Go On Sites Like Printify

Much like when you sell your items on eBay, you don't owe money until you've made money. And they will take the fees right out of the customer's payment. And while you will be in charge of keeping track of your taxes (if you make enough to have to claim taxes), you don't have to worry about settling the bill after someone has purchased your product.

Time is precious, thank you so much for taking some to read my article. I hope you enjoyed it and it proved useful in some way!

Find my fictional fantasy book "Memoirs of the In-Between" on Amazon in paperback, eBook, and hardback.

You can also find it in the Apple Store or on the Campfire Reading app.

Like and Follow the Memoirs Facebook age here!

I help supplement my family's income with affiliate links. The links, should you choose to click and purchase, may give me monetary compensation. Thank you so much for your support.