DSF

Long story short.
Started sublimation printing about 15 years ago, Etsy, Ebay, own website. Ran for 5 years (all was good) then got tempted into another business with manufacturing in China and Pakistan. I should have cut and run from that business earlier, ie if you are going to fail, fail fast!

I have just come back to sublimation and realise that penetrating the eBay and Etsy markets are a lot harder than they were, far more saturated. Building my own website and getting it ranking is also harder, again far more saturated.

My previous approach was hit mugs hit them hard working on the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) idea. I also explored other bits with sublimation printing for photographers. There may have been something there business wise with photographers, but it had it''s own challenges.

So time to start over and see if I can build again. Always happy to listen to advice and ideas, suggestions and thoughts.

Current situation, hit the mugs.

Own website (shopify) and know very little about getting this working so watching a bucket load of Youtube.
2 Etsy stores dug out from the depths of the Etsy grave yard. Separate approaches so a bit of A/B testing.
Ebay store also dug out of the archives.

First thought is I may have been better off working on just one first!

Follow for random updates and feel free to chip in.

Martin

Shopify, so youve committed to all their hidden fees before you start- I wonder if wordpress/woo might have been a better testing ground, just saying.

Get a Tiktok/instagram account for that free advertising posting videos.

THere again, what do I know , good luck. What was your old website name, id like a sniff around it

Ohh lost a post..

The old website was jannersmugs.co.uk
It never sold anything from the site, but it did get me business for some bulk orders. Not a lot, but a few.

I probably turned down more bulk orders than I did. I insisted on upfront payment after the sample was approved. So many big companies wanted 30 / 90 days payment terms.

Getting seen on the web is via organic growth is challenging.
I suspect I might have gone to general.

Hmmm.....

Niche down (once you've found the niche that is). Good luck.