Success in eCommerce and print on demand is all about maturity, focus, and, yes, character.
So if you have aspirations to become a print-on-demand legend, it’s imperative to understand what current tshirt / merch designing legends tend to have in common. With few exceptions they:
- Don’t get stubborn in niches. If something isn’t working, they let it go and move on with haste.
- Pay no attention to noise, complaints or expectations on social media. They only compete in POD with themselves.
- Don’t waste money on frivolous resources, unoriginal tshirt templates, and artwork / graphics that lack originality.
- Don’t go lopsidedly overboard on either seasonal or evergreen niches. They build balanced, mature portfolios with widespread appeal across the calendar and seasons.
- Understand that 100 rushed, poorly designed tshirts will earn far less money than 10 unique, well-researched, and expertly targeted tshirts.
- Never get sloppy with trademark, copyright, keyword, and competition research.
- Focus on more than just tshirts and expand their designs to as many products and platforms as possible.
- Upload nothing that resembles a competing product.
- Spend more time researching than designing.
- Avoid burnout by remembering their mental health is ultimately more important than their portfolio’s growth.
- Never measure success by anyone’s standards but their own.
- Embrace the fact that they don’t know it all. They ask for advice, solicit feedback, learn new things and read voraciously about niches, markets, and design strategies.
- Leave their comfort zone with regard to niche selection, design tactics, marketing / advertising strategies, and more.
If you do what’s referenced above, you are setting yourself up for success both now and in years to come.
