This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Hey friends, what's going on? Chris Guillebeau here. I have been in Canada this week, Toronto and Vancouver. Just having a wonderful time with my Canadian friends, readers and listeners. Hope to come back at some point, visit Calgary, perhaps Montreal, Ottawa, Edmonton, we'll see.
But it's been a wonderful time over the past few weeks, in fact, doing the Gonzo Capitalism North American tour. And of course, I've been making the podcast all along the way, having lots of questions from listeners, updates, case studies and such. It's just cool to know what you guys are up to out there. So thank you for inspiring me. Today, we've got a Throwback Thursday episode.
We're gonna hear from a print on demand seller who earns $30,000 in passive income, or at least last year he earned $30,000, at least over a calendar year, he earned $30,000. He uses a tool called Jungle Scout and some other tools and platforms, he's gonna talk about it, to explain how he finds competitive and profitable ideas, to which he can then develop into print on demand products. People are purchasing it, turns into passive income. Of course, not everything is passive on the front end, he's got to do a bunch of work to create that passive income. But the point is, once it's done, it goes out, he gets notifications, he wakes up in the morning and sees, oh, I sold a bunch of stuff yesterday.
I don't have to do anything to fulfill it. Amazon and maybe there's some other retailers, I'm not sure, but at least Amazon is a big one. They just take care of all that. So all the work is on the design, the ideation, the uploading, and then you're done, okay? So, let's see, last week we heard from a freelance clothing designer who hunts down new clients on LinkedIn.
We went behind the seams, you know, because it's a clothing designer. Today, of course, that print on demand seller, let's hear from him, his name is Daniel. I'll come back at the end with a quick wrap up. But first, the story from Daniel. [Music]
When I first started dabbling in print on demand designs, it was just an experiment.
I've always been a bit of a doodler, sketching in notebooks during boring meetings and creating simple digital designs in my free time. But when I realized I could turn this hobby into a side hustle, everything changed. Now, I'm making an average of $3,000 a month for the past year and I still can't believe it. The most significant turning point for me was discovering Jungle Scout. If you haven't heard of it, Jungle Scout is a tool primarily used for Amazon product research.
It may sound strange to use it for print on demand, but I adapted it to identify products and niches where there was a high demand but low competition. For instance, I found out there's a significant demand for t-shirts with funny sayings about knitting. Who would have thought? Using this information, I focused on creating designs that fit into these profitable niches. Another tool that's been invaluable is Canva.
While I sketch by hand, I use Canva for quick professional-looking digital designs. It's also great for testing out how a design will look on various products, from t-shirts to mugs to phone cases. I then upload these designs to platforms like Teespring and March by Amazon, which handle the printing and shipping, leaving me free to focus on creating new designs and researching new niches. SEO has been crucial for getting eyes on my products. Each print on demand platform has its own set of algorithms, and understanding these has been key.
I spend a lot of time researching the right keywords to use in my product descriptions and titles. This ensures that when someone is looking for a funny knitting t-shirt, my designs show up on the first page. Now the lesson learned, don't underestimate the power of research and data. Before Jungle Scout, I was creating designs that I thought were cool, but they weren't selling. Afterward, I focused on profitable niches, and my sales took off.
It's not about what you think will sell, it's about what the data tells you will sell. If you're looking to start a similar side hustle, here's my advice, invest in good tools. As mentioned, Jungle Scout is worth every penny. And understand the SEO. No matter how great your design is, it won't sell if no one sees it.
And then test and tweak. This isn't a set it and forget it business. You need to constantly test new designs, you need to analyze sales data, and you know, tweak your approach accordingly. Finally, I would say time management. When orders start coming in, it's easy to lose yourself in the process and neglect other aspects of your life or primary job.
Make a schedule and stick to it. Lastly, keep learning. New tools and techniques are coming up all the time. Be open to learning and improving your methods. So, there you have it.
That's my journey from casual doodler to earning $3,000 a month through print-on-demand designs. With the right tools and approach, anyone can do this. [Music]
Hey, hey, thanks so much, Daniel. Appreciate you sharing those updates. An amazing $30,000 last year, $3,000 a month on average.
I hope it continues. Maybe even increases, but even if it doesn't increase, you know, $3,000 a month from print-on-demand is really great. It's an interesting industry because anybody can jump into it, as Daniel mentioned. At the same time, that comes with some limitations as well, or at least it comes with the awareness that because anyone can do it, it is a pretty competitive field. So, a lot of people are not making $3,000 a month from print-on-demand, but of course, some are, right?
So, that's the whole thing with these things. You can experiment and try different stuff and see what works for you. Of course, let me know what you think and who you'd like to see featured from our archives of more than a thousand stories. Let me know what's on your mind, what ideas are most interesting to you, so we can delve into them in some more detail. You can always send me a note, www.sidehustleschool.com/questions.
I'm on social media, 193 countries on Instagram, 193 countries. Chris Gilbao pretty much everywhere else. And today's notes, www.sidehustleschool.com/2455. Thank you so much for tuning in. You're amazing.
I hope you'll continue to listen. My name's Chris Guillebeau. This is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
from the Onward Project.
