Selling in Your Sleep... Whaaat?
Well hello, my friend! I’m so excited to move on to the next category in our series about how to craft a career in Surface Design. This week, we're going to jump into how you can sell in your sleep. Whaat? You say. Let’s get into it.
Essentially, in today's incredible world of technology, you can upload your designs to what's called a Print-On-Demand (POD) site that lets you set up an online shop for free. Some of my favorites are Society6, Spoonflower, and Red Bubble, and you can easily find a number of other POD sites with a simple Google search.
As a designer, you set up your account on the POD site then upload your artwork to your shop, apply it to the products you think your design will look best on, and let the POD site sell the product for you.
Whenever there is a sale of one of your products, you get what's called a royalty. This method is a great way for you to upload your designs and theoretically make money while you sleep. But hold your horses because it's not like you're going to become a millionaire this way. People need to know you're on the site. Marketing yourself and what you’re offering is critical.
Here are three tips you’ll want to keep in mind as you consider the advantages of this method. It’s a very interesting way for you to explore getting your artwork out into the world.
#1 – Test your designs on different products.
With Indirect Selling, you’ll be able to test and see what products your designs look best on. It’s a great way to get started. Being able to assess how your artwork comes out on different products will also help you identify what industries may be the most profitable for you as you find your place in the world as a creative and learn what works in the market.
#2 – Earn a royalty on sales.
As I mentioned, when customers purchase items with your designs on them, you get compensated as the artist with a royalty payment. Payment terms vary around 8-10% and while that may seem low, keep in mind that all you’re doing is creating the artwork and uploading it onto the POD site. The site collects the sale. Manufactures the products. Ships them out. Handles returns. You don’t have to worry about any of that. The more marketing you do, the more people will find you and the products you offer, and the more royalties you’ll earn.
#3 – Purchase inventory for resale.
Having a Print-On-Demand shop is a really great way to purchase small quantities of inventory for testing and for resale. As we discussed last week, when you participate at a craft fair, using this method to purchase small quantities of inventory for resale keeps your costs down and prevents you from having too many items left over at the end of the fair.
With your POD shop, you also get a designer discount when purchasing your own products, and a pro tip (which I like to use too) is to acquire inventory when the site is running a sale because this will save you some extra money by combining your designer discount and the sale discount. As you can imagine, this enhances your profit margin, meaning the difference between what it costs you to acquire the piece and how much you’ll sell it for.
Next week, we're going to talk about another category for you to explore: workshops whether in person or virtual, and courses. Don’t forget to download my free ebook: How to Craft a Career in Surface Design. I just expanded it to include 3 more categories!
I encourage you to pop over to my YouTube channel to watch the video version of this blog. Click HERE and please subscribe while you’re over there.
I’ll see you next week.
xo,
Anne
Dive even deeper into how to Craft a Career You Love in Surface Design by downloading my free ebook HERE.
Have fun and I’ll see you next week.
Remember,
It’s Never Too Late to Create®
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MEET ANNE
Hi…I’m Anne!
My creative inspiration comes from a lifetime of observation. I grew up in Paris on the Place St. Sulpice and walked to school through the Luxembourg gardens. And that was only the beginning… Learn more by watching the video on my About page.
