Work from Home with POD -- The Basics

Okay, let's get started!

For those of you who are interested in being a WAHM (work at home mom) and using a print on demand service, I'm going to go over some basics for you.

Let me preface this with: It's not very easy. Working from home on your own (i.e. having your own business online) is not easy. Oh, it's pretty easy to do, it's just not easy to do well.

So, let's get started.

I'm going to use Cafepress as an example here. You don't HAVE to use Cafepress as your POD (print on demand) service. There are others, and eventually I will discuss those. However, for now, to make it easy on me (because that's what's important) I'm only going to use Cafepress as my example. Can you use others? SURE! Go ahead. However, I have heard (there may or may not be any truth to this) that Cafepress is the most popular, was the first (or at least the first BIG POD), and continues to bring in the most money for most shopkeepers.

So, you've decided that creating images for POD is what you want to do. Now what?

The first thing to do is learn! You can learn here (this blog) or you can do some research. You will eventually need to learn quite a bit -- about DPI, about CMYK vs RGB, about keywords and descriptions, some HTML ... you get the picture. You will have to learn some things to do this.

However, I'm going to make it as painless as possible -- for both of us.

The very first thing you need to do is find a graphics program. There are plenty and some are free. (I really like free!)

I personally use GIMP. I think it is a great tool. It's free (why I chose it) and fairly easy to use. Plus, there are plenty of other users who have tutorials on how to use it (which is important).

So, easy to use, help abound and free... yep, no brainer for me. However, you may want to use something else. Cafepress has forums (use them wisely please!) that can help you. Such as the one about what graphics programs to use.

What you can't (or shouldn't) use is a word processing program, a simple program such as Microsoft Paint, etc. You cannot use a word processing program, even if you just want to make a text design. You CAN use the paint program; however, your resolution will be too low and your work will look bad.

Once you have a graphics program that you like (free, easy, etc.), you can create some designs.

So, let's talk about designs. What to design. Well, first, what do you know and what can you do?

Do you take really good pictures? You can use those. Upload them to the graphics program, leave them alone, modify them (changing colors, etc.) or add a caption.

Do you paint? Scan your paintings in and use them.

Can you draw with your graphics program (easier than what it seems)? Use that with or without text.

If you can't draw and you can't paint and you can't take good pictures, all hope is not lost. I've heard (again, there may be little to no truth to this) text designs sell well! I've heard 50% + designs at Cafepress are simply text.

So, let's see what you can do.

You can draw a comic with a funny saying.

You can draw a funny picture with a witty saying.

You can focus on a particular topic, such as going green or t-shirts for ladies.

I would not focus on just holidays at this point. However, you could branch off with holidays. Or if you have a design for every holiday (or made up holidays) you might be able to do okay. Especially with holidays that focus on group gatherings (St. Patty's Day, July 4th, etc.).

Finally, you can focus on just sayings. Funny sayings, sarcastic sayings, witty sayings... you get the point. You can do this too. And that will be a focus soon. How to do JUST text designs.

Once you know what you want to do, start brainstorming ideas (you'll probably need a journal or a notebook) and then start making the designs.

As soon as you have a few designs, you can open a shop. That is our next topic. For now, get your graphics program, learn how to use it and generate some ideas.

Oh, one last thought, don't copy. Copycats really irritate shopkeepers, look bad in the marketplace and just make you look un-original and pathetic.

Till next time, have fun and enjoy my shameless plug: Witty Tees and Whimsical pictures