Hustling in Dropshipping: 6 Lessons Learned from my Print on Demand Journey
The Catalyst: Embracing Print on Demand
In early 2023, I fell victim to the Print on Demand potential. I had heard several friends during various events talking about shirt designs they loved. I thought, but I can make that! So I did what any entrepreneur who things they have a good idea would do. I listened to 5 podcast episodes, watched 3 Youtube videos, and within 10 days I had a website hosting 15 items for sale. That soon grew to 20 and then 30 items before I started understanding the game. Here, I'll share some critical lessons I've learned over the year, especially focusing on SEO and market trends.
Key Lessons in Dropshipping
Trending vs. Niche Designs
Go Trending: The market is pretty freaking saturated. The first thing you will hear is to find a niche and to niche down hard. Particularly if you can find a niche with passionate people on the topic (Think pet lovers who are obsessed with specific breeds) However, niching down TOO much can be very limiting. Even if a design is close to your heart, if it's too niche, it might not attract an audience. Capitalize on trends for wider appeal, even if they make you cringe. I casually like (but am not obsessed) with Taylor Swift, but realizing the potential for trends like items to wear to her shows in 2023 would have opened the door to a huge market. I still see her trending in the t-shirt keyword searches.
SEO and Keyword Strategy
Balanced Keywords: A niche is good, but over-specialized keywords can limit your reach. Find a balance to attract a more extensive customer base. Doing your keyword research is key. You’ll notice that once you really start to understand the marketing aspect of it, nobody is searching for “Unique T-shirt from the Movie Goonies” they are searching things like a phrase they want to see on the t-shirt, or “80s movie t-shirts” etc. This also gives you the ability to capture people who might have been coming to look at one thing, but you caught their interest with something they didn’t even know they wanted more.
Product Selection and Profit Margins
Beyond Apparel: While apparel is popular, it may not be the most profitable due to lower margins and customer service hassles. Focusing on products like templates that require minimal customer service and have no return hassles. Consider adding high-margin items like planners and notebooks. While I did a TON of research on profit margins and high profit apparel items (spoiler alert: Its hoodies) I completed glossed over the idea of having to deal with returns & customer service for issues with the shirts if they washed weird. Now, I focus almost all my effort on digital unless its a custom order for friends
Customization is Key
Personalization Sells: Custom orders, especially in clothing, have a higher demand. If you can afford the time, personalized items can be a gold mine. The ability to add a name to an item is like gold in the t-shirt world. Huge seller? Shirts or even kids onesies with a kids name and parents name for mother and fathers day. The closer you get to the heart strings, the better.
Website vs. Marketplace
Leverage Marketplaces: Building a website can be costly. Platforms like Etsy offer built-in SEO, keyword tools, and marketing options, making them a more profitable choice initially. The cost of the website hosting will kill your profits for the first couple of months. Leverage whats out there and build a site when and if you actually need on.
Marketing and Advertising
Smart Advertising: Use ads to identify your bestsellers. Be cautious with ad spending if it exceeds the profit margins of your top products. Reassess and advertise again once you've optimized your offerings for better profitability. While it might look super exciting to get 10 sales in a day, if you aren’t watching your ad spend you can quickly spend more than you are actually making if the margins on those items aren’t great!
Conclusion: Continuous Learning
My journey in dropshipping and print on demand has been a learning curve, filled with surprises and insights. The key takeaway is to stay adaptable, keep an eye on market trends, and optimize your strategies for SEO and product selection… and maybe just maybe focus on templates… or you can just leave that to me.
