That depends upon where your artistic talent lies.

If you are an artist, the world is your oyster. You can pretty much pick and choose from the POD companies because artwork looks good on a wide variety of items…. tees, mousepads, fine art prints, greeting cards, and so on. Just about any one of the POD’s would be great for your designs.

If you are a person who uses clip art, you’ll find yourself in the same boat as an artist….. just pick a POD you like the best. One caveat: There are a LOT of people out there who use clip art. You’ve got to be willing to take the time to spruce it up a bit. You’ll find yourself with more competition than someone who offers original artwork.

If you are a plain text designer, t-shirts usually sell the best. I do sell my fair share of stickers with text designs though. CafePress, Printfection, Skreened, Spreadshirt, and Zazzle are the big t-shirt POD’s.

If you are a photographer, your artwork may look best on rectangular and square images. ImageKind and Loxly Gallery feature fine art prints and would really make your photography a piece of art. Photography also does well on greeting cards like the ones offered at Greeting Card Universe, ImageKind, CafePress, and Zazzle. Also, several of the POD companies offer gift items like ornaments, magnets, stickers, cutting boards, totes, mousepads, calendars, and more that display photography well. Photography can sometimes be a bit more competitive and a harder sell to customers.

Musicians will find cd’s at CafePress. Because of this and the fact that CafePress offers a wide variety of t-shirts and gift items, CafePress is perfect for starting a shop for your fans.

Authors will find print-on-demand books at CafePress.

Schools, charities, and fundraisers can use almost any POD company to open a shop and use the proceeds to support their cause.

POD simply stands for print-on-demand. When a lot of people hear the term print-on-demand, they automatically assume that the company produces self-published books and nothing more. That couldn’t be further from the truth! Today’s POD companies print a wide range of products from t-shirts to music CDs.

How can I use a POD company to open my own business?

The POD companies that we’ll review for this site allow you to open your own customizable shop or gallery showcasing all of your own designs, music, or books. You can offer a wide variety of customized merchandise to your customers and make money from every sale!

The basic process is very simple. You open an online shop/gallery….. create designs and upload them….. place them on products…. write descriptive text about the design…. promote your shop.

What will a POD company do for me?

POD companies do a lot of the dirty work so that you can spend your time creating and promoting! POD companies will:

-host all of your stores or galleries on their secure company servers

-display your designs/products in their company marketplace so that shoppers can browse and purchase items

-handle all of the customer orders from beginning to end

-produce all products with print-on-demand technology when a customer places an order

-ship the finished product worldwide to your customers*

-provide 100% satisfaction guarantees on every product ordered

-handle secure payment transactions…. most accept major credit cards and PayPal

-manage all product returns and exchanges

-offer customer service via toll free telephone numbers and email

What types of merchandise can I sell?

I’m just going to hit the highlights here. (ABC order)

CafePress- t-shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies, tank tops, intimate apparel, hats & caps, kid’s t-shirts, onesies, bibs, maternity tees, banners, keepsake boxes, calendars, coffee mugs, steins, mousepads, totes, tile coasters, aprons, clocks, posters & prints, postcards, journals, ornaments, buttons, pillows, magnets, stickers, greeting cards, notecards, postcards, yard signs, doggie tees, Flip camcorders, organic apparel

ImageKind- fine art prints, greeting cards

Loxly Gallery- fine art prints

Printfection- t-shirts, glass cutting boards, aprons, totes, cork coasters, kid’s tees, women’s tees

Skreened- t-shirts, onesies, kid’s t-shirts, tote bags (Sources everything in the USA and is environmentally friendly)

Spreadshirt- t-shirts, toddler tees, sleepers, onesies, bibs, baby blankets, hoodies, maternity tees, underwear, women’s plus size tees, sweatshirts, jackets, caps, totes, bags, sneakers, doggie tees, aprons, mousepads, buttons

Zazzle- t-shirts, ties, tote bags, stamps, profile cards, business cards, prints and posters, greeting cards, notecards, postcards, calendars, mousepads, coffee mugs, travel mugs, steins, photo sculptures, magnets, keychains, bumper stickers, round stickers, buttons, aprons, hats

Ouch! Those prices seem high!

Yes! The prices are not comparable with the national discount chains. But your customer base won’t be the same. People who shop with us are looking for unique designs- things that they won’t see 5,000 other people wearing on the street. Uniqueness is a big selling point.

You also have to remember that most companies that sell t-shirts (or whatever) produce hundreds or thousands of the same design. POD companies are different. They only print what a customer orders….. and a lot of the time we’re talking an order that consists of one item per design. This type of printing is much more expensive because it takes more time to set the presses up every time the design is switched.

Can I really make money?

This is NOT a get-rich-quick scheme! If you think that you are going to slap a handful of designs up and make $1,000 your first month, turn around and walk…. no…. run as fast as you can away from this site!

Yes, it’s possible that you could open a shop and make hundreds of dollars within the first week. I could also wake up in the morning next to Antonio Banderas…. it’s possible…. but I ain’t gonna hold my breath. I’m being just as completely honest as I can here: opening your own shop or gallery and turning a profit takes a LOT of hard work and dedication! There are no short cuts in this business.

At the same time, it’s extremely fun and addictive! Many shopkeepers find themselves devoting as much time as possible to their sites.

What will I need to start?

The beginning supplies are very basic. You’ll need a computer with internet access and a graphics program. You’ll need to choose a POD company and set up an account. That’s about it. Just follow all of the instructions for that company.

So it’s easy, right?

Wellllll….. yes and no. In order to start a shop or gallery, the instructions are pretty straight forward. To make serious money though, you’ll have to do a lot of homework and find out how to optimize your site for the search engines and learn about marketing techniques. But don’t worry, there is a lot of help available in this industry.

So what are you waiting for? Join us in our home-based business forum where we will be posting a wide range of topics, including blogging, webhosting, etc. We’ll also post the latest contests and breaking news about the movers and shakers in the industry.

NOTE: If you are a veteran to the POD industry, we will have a vast amount of resources available to take your shop to the next level.

*some companies may limit the shipping area