OK…. you have your computer, internet access, and a graphics program. You’re all set! Go get started on building your own shop or gallery!

Wait! Why are you standing there and looking at me with fear in your eyes? Ohhhh…. you don’t know what to do next, do you? Bless your pea-pickin’ little heart. Don’t worry… it’s ok….. follow me:

1. Decide on a niche- First of all, a niche needs to be something that you like. My extremely short-lived political shop is testament to that. If you’re going to design and create a shop, it should be something that you are going to enjoy doing. If not, it will soon turn into a chore like cleaning the toilet….. you know you really need to get in there, but you keep procrastinating anyway until it stinks to high heaven!

Also, think about what kind of shop you’d like to run. Some shopkeepers do very well with a catch-all shop…. lots of different design types in lots of different sections. Other shopkeepers have found success by concentrating on focused niches….. like dogs or dance. A niche can even be narrowed down further…… black labradors or ballroom dancing, for example. Other shops concentrate on one type of product….. maternity tees, glass cutting boards, or clocks only.

When you are doing this step, think ahead to the future. At some point in time, you may decide to move on to advanced techniques, such as building an off-site or monetizing further. You’ll want something that will be complemented by articles and/or other products.

Before you finalize your niche, do some research. Is the market over-saturated? Will there be enough interest in your shop to make it worthwhile? Wordtracker really helps me with keyword research when I need to get down to the nitty gritty. It can help give you ideas and steer you away from over-saturated markets. *whispers* There’s a free trial.

2. Decide on types of products- Now that you have your niche, you should get an idea of what types of products your future designs will look good on. For example, text designs look great on tees, while photography looks great on prints or greeting cards.

Start with this article: Which POD Should I Use? Browse around the various POD companies to view the product offerings. DO NOT open a shop or gallery yet! We’re just browsing at this point!

I’d plan to start with the one company that offers the most products that you think will look good. You can expand to other PODs later, but you really need to get the basics of shopkeeping down first. I look at my first shop now and want to cry at times. I really need to go in and do a lot of housekeeping to change descriptions, tags, add newer products, etc. Like all shopkeepers, I was learning a lot of hard lessons that first year. (I still am.)

As you mature as a shopkeeper, you’ll learn from your mistakes. Don’t worry… it’s all part of the process. Just concentrate on that first shop now and you can expand your empire after you’ve learned the ropes.

3. Create a few designs- Take a peek at the image guidelines of the POD company that you are thinking of opening a shop/gallery with. Create a couple of designs following their size specifications for the products that you want to create.

I know, I know…. you haven’t even opened an account yet. Don’t worry…. there is a method to my madness! I’m telling you to create a few designs now for a couple of reasons.

First of all, I want you to see if you actually LIKE to design. Seriously. You may have all sugar sweet dreams in your head, but it may turn into your worst nightmare in reality. There’s no sense in going through the process of opening an account and giving out personal information only to find out that you hate creating designs later.

It’s truly a bit daunting at first…. you have to study and learn what PPI and other terms are. If you’ve never touched the graphics program that you’re using, there’s also going to be a big learning curve with it.

CafePress has a fabulous learning center that was very helpful to me in the beginning. Also, most (if not all) of the PODs have forums. The shopkeepers are very helpful. AND you’re here…. don’t be afraid to pop into our forum and ask a question…. I promise I won’t bite….. and I have the rowdy ones over there on a short leash. LOL

When you open an account, you have to…..

4. Choose A Shop Name- This is another reason that I wanted you to hold off on creating an account… you’ll have to give your shop a name. Maybe you originally decided on a niche, but when you sat down to design, discovered that you really can’t think of a lot of designs for a shop like that. Or, like my political shop, you may realize that you’re not going to be able to stomach looking at that particular topic every day for the rest of your life. It happens…. and that’s ok.

If the POD has a marketplace, click a few links to get a feel for what you’re doing. A lot of shopkeepers use their own name when opening an ImageKind shop, while a lot of Printfection or CafePress shop names may be more generic. Write down several possible names.

You’ll probably find a lot of your great ideas taken when you start to sign up, so you’ll want quite a few on your list. You can weed out some of those by putting the shop name at the end of the PODs address to see if it returns a shop. For example, if you want to snag the name “Lkjhg” at CafePress, type http://www.cafepress.com/lkjhg into your address bar. If there’s a shop there, cross it off your list. This may not work with every POD, but I know that the link structure for CafePress, Zazzle, and Printfection all follow suit.

If you are serious about earning a living with POD, this step also needs to be combined with my series, How To Choose A Domain Name. Choosing a name that is available with both the POD and as a domain name will be important for branding purposes when you are ready to market your shop. A good domain name is a lot easier for a customer to remember than the long URL’s of POD shops. Plus, a shorter domain name looks much nicer and more professional in advertising and on printed items, like business cards.

5. Open Your Account- Finally! Open your account. Just fill out the required information. If you are a US citizen, you will need to provide your social security number. POD companies need these because they are required to send 1099 forms if your income exceeds $600.

6. Upload And Tag Your Designs- Before you can do anything in your shop, you’ve got to get designs into your image basket. (An image basket is simply the area where your designs are stored.) Just follow the POD company’s directions. Most of the time, once you find the area to upload, all you basically have to do is hit a Browse button, find the design that you want to upload on your computer, then hit the Upload button. According to whichever POD you’re at, there may be more ways to upload, but this is the most straight-forward until you become more familiar with the tools.

Once you have the image(s) uploaded, create a descriptive title and add keywords to the design. Keywords are very, very important for a shop/gallery. That bears repeating: Keywords are very, very important for a shop/gallery.

Most of the POD’s have a marketplace. A marketplace is simply an area of their site that shoppers come to in order to view designs and make purchases. These marketplaces generally run off keywords. You will get the best results by tagging your designs appropriately. If you have a black labrador design, for example, keywords like black lab, black labrador, labrador, lab, and dog are all relevant.

Some people try to circumvent the system by adding only keywords that they think are popular with no thought whatsoever to what the design actually is. I’ve searched the term “dog” before at a popular POD only to find a text design that simply says, “F*ck You!” Now come on…. seriously…. do you think that dear old sweet Aunt Brenda is gonna be searchin’ along for dog designs, see that one and fall all over herself trying to purchase it? NO FRIGGIN’ WAY!

When you mistag a design, you’re losing customers. Targeted tagging is more effective and will lead to more sales. If a customer is searching for a dog design and makes a purchase, the design that was purchased is probably gonna be a dog design…. not the photo of the cat covered in gravy that you mistagged with the keyword “dog” because you thought you’d get more traffic.

7. Create Sections- I think I covered all of the reasons for using sections in Organize Your Shop!

8. Add Designs To Products- Unless you’ve opened a shop that caters to only one product, like a clock shop, then add your designs to as many products as possible. Just because you wouldn’t buy a pair of thongs that say, “Chihuahuas Rule” doesn’t meant that a potential customer won’t either. (To thine own self be true- if you think a design crosses your own personal boundaries on a product, leave it out of the mix.)

I like to add my designs to everything available, then go back and remove the goofy-looking stuff. This is especially true of square/rectangular images…. sometimes they just don’t look good on a sticker or button. Also, make SURE you resize your images on the products so that they fit nicely. I affiliate designs for a living. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve cringed at finding a gorgeous design that was obviously not resized properly. Sorry….. I pass on those.

9. Create More Designs- After you’ve gotten the few designs that you’ve already created placed in your shop, it’s time to create more. Then keep rinsing and repeating steps 6-8 until you have a gabillion designs… or you’re dead.

10. Market- Once you have several designs up, you can start to market a bit. If you have a forum that you’re already a member of and they allow links in your sig, add it. If you comment at someone’s blog regularly, add your link to your profile. Be careful and don’t cross the line over into spamming territory, though! I hate when people add a blog comment like, “Yeah” just to drop a link. Or making a comment like, “Great design! I’ll bet you’d like mine at XXXXXX.com.” There’s a big difference in being a productive member and doing a drive-by spam post. Spamming just makes you look like a complete idiot. When I read comments like this on someone else’s site, my first thought is that I wouldn’t buy a design from this jerk if he had the last t-shirt on earth!

You can also do other freebie things like creating a Squidoo lens or blogging about your niche. Twitter news about your shop. Promote your shop on Facebook. Do a search in some of the POD forums to pick up other freebie ideas.

Well… that’s it….. those are the basic steps for opening up your own POD shop. Have fun and don’t forget to pop into the print-on-demand forums if you need help!