from 0 to 100+ common month-to-month Orders
Earlier than we dive into how I scaled my POD (Print-on-Demand) outlets, let me take you again to the start.
I didn’t begin with a marketing strategy or grand imaginative and prescient. I used to be merely importing paintings to platforms like Spoonflower, letting them deal with printing, transport, and customer support whereas I centered on creating. (You’ll be able to learn the total story of how I found floor sample design and constructed a full-time revenue from POD on this put up.)
a spot of my very own
Print-on-demand felt like magic at first. I may create artwork at my kitchen desk, add it, and watch it rework into actual merchandise out on the planet. However in the long run, it didn’t really feel like an actual enterprise—extra like an experiment. I used to be renting area on another person’s platform, taking part in by their guidelines, hoping individuals would stumble throughout my work.
I used to be properly conscious that an algorithm change may take all of it away, and I didn’t need to be topic to the whims of a CEO in an workplace someplace.
A shift occurred after I realized that promoting on marketplaces wasn’t the identical as constructing one thing of my very own.
That’s after I opened my very own store.
Tip:
I spent 4 years constructing my design library and gross sales up on Spoonflower and don’t remorse it for a second. I discovered my type, gained numerous clients, and constructed a portfolio that also pays me each month. I like to recommend it for newbies/intermediates 10 out of 10!
discovering a spotlight
Having my very own Etsy store modified all the pieces. I managed which merchandise I centered on, how they had been introduced, and the way I communicated with clients. As an alternative of scattering my designs throughout each attainable product, I began listening to what really offered—and extra importantly, what I loved creating.
That’s when calendars entered the image.
Out of all of the merchandise I examined within the early days of my Etsy store, calendars had been a transparent winner when it comes to gross sales, and raving emails from clients saying I HAD to design a brand new calendar subsequent yr or they’d be disillusioned!
Having individuals ready to see the discharge of your subsequent product is past inspiring, and that inspiration wasn’t wasted on me.
calendars take off
Not solely had been calendars promoting properly, however clients got here again for them yr after yr, which made it clear that the enterprise mannequin was scalable. Â
I not solely offered my new calendar designs every year, however I additionally re-listed my previous designs with new dates as a take a look at. Someway, the re-listed designs offered extra the second yr than they did the primary!
Designing calendars additionally pushed me to assume extra deliberately about collections, themes, and storytelling throughout a number of items quite than creating one-off designs, which made my job a lot extra satisfying than constructing a portfolio of a whole bunch of one-off designs.
Round this time, my life modified in one other important method: I had my second child.
infants + transport = nightmare
Once I gave beginning to my second child, I appeared on the objects in my Etsy store that I used to be nonetheless transport by hand and requested myself “is it actually price it?”. I may barely stroll up stairs on the time, not to mention carry the infant as much as my attic studio so I may pack bins whereas he checked out me like “mother, are you actually doing this for just a few {dollars} when you can be holding me?”. Nope, I’m carried out. I threw away my label printer and swore off transport for all times.
Having a child whereas working a store made POD’s advantages much more obvious. I didn’t have time to handle stock, pack orders, or troubleshoot transport. I wanted a enterprise mannequin that might help my artistic work with out demanding each ounce of vitality.
Print-on-demand allowed me to maintain creating—and incomes—even when my time and focus had been restricted.
calendar development
Over time, calendar designs grew to become one of the dependable elements of my artwork enterprise. They taught me the best way to design with clients in thoughts, plan forward, and switch paintings into cohesive merchandise that promote. Here’s a take a look at my gross sales by yr:
2023: 204 gross sales
2024: 799 gross sales
2025: 1564 gross sales
For sure, it’s clear that if I proceed designing calendars, gross sales will hold going up!Â
a brand new department on the tree
Flash ahead to my third calendar season and I’m waking up in January to see over 200 orders in my queue, being past grateful that I don’t must be the one to print, pack, and ship them. I additionally don’t must handle misplaced/broken orders or pay when the USPS crams considered one of my calendars right into a mailbox the dimensions of a shoebox.
The truth is, I’ve a lot free time on my fingers I’m simply dreaming up extra calendars and constructing out my Shopify retailer, Botanihaus, which just lately grew to become the most recent gross sales channel the place individuals should buy my calendars and be part of my artwork product mailing checklist.
I launched my Shopify retailer as a take a look at this yr to see the place it will lead, and I’m at the moment as much as $6K income in below 4 months. Yep, this will likely be big in just a few years.
pod is the straightforward button
Should you’re an artist or designer who loves the concept of designing a calendar however feels overwhelmed by the logistics—what dimension to decide on, what number of designs you want, the best way to lay it out, the best way to really promote it—my free Calendar Bootcamp walks you thru your complete course of. You don’t want an enormous viewers or difficult setup. You simply want a transparent plan and help.
If designing a calendar has been sitting in your “sometime” checklist, that is your signal to take it significantly. I’ll information you step-by-step so you’ll be able to transfer from thought to completed product with confidence.
free calendar bootcamp
- Go from “I want I may design a calendar” to “Wow, I simply designed a calendar” in just a few weeks
The put up How I Scaled a Print-On-Demand Enterprise appeared first on Liz Kohler Brown.
