Introduction: Meet the Aspiring Art-Tech Trailblazer
Hey there, Skipping Pigeon pals!
Bettina here, your fearless art-tech aficionado, diving headfirst into the wild world of Print-on-Demand (POD) and dropshipping. Okay, perhaps not all too fearless. Not beyond needing a nervous wee occasionally.
But any way...Buckle up for a ride through the highs, lows, and downright hilariously embarrassing moments of my business journey. Spoiler alert: it involves confused AI pigeons and a struggle with snail-paced mockups!
Unveiling the Enigma: Why "Skipping Pigeon"?
That is in the "Philosophy" and "About" sections of my site! But I have to say that it was certainly a bonus how much asking AI to generate an image of a pigeon jumping with a skipping rope. I almost feel like that is a perfectly logically thing to struggle with - how would our feathery friend grip the handles – wingtips, beak or feet? It's an amusing mystery that is keeping me laughing at the possibilities. I have included some AI-generated pigeon skipping masterpieces for you to check out and have a good chuckle! The AI used to generate them are actually very impressive and fun to play with, so I have linked relevant information if you'd like to go explore.
First cab of the rank here we have Canva which doesn't do too bad a job - the pigeons are very cute, but where to put those sneaky skipping rope handles? The AI didn't seem sure so sort of left them hovering in space or non-existent. I really do love to use Canva as a tool and if you also do you can access and learn about their MagicMedia application here.
The Long-Awaited Venture: Sprinkling Joy and Value
Embarking on this biz venture was a long time coming. I wanted to sprinkle some value-for-money magic and joy sparkles into your lives. After a rollercoaster of platforms and products over the course of nearly 2 years, I've set up shop on Shopify, teaming up with both Printify and Gelato for the print magic depending on the country placing the order and what I find with reliability and shipping times (I hope!)
No Mark-Ups, No Rip-Offs: The Skipping Pigeon Promise
I know some people don't at all like drop shipping; they feel it is unethical, whereas others believe that it is simply capitalism. Like most things, it isn't quite black and white, but I certainly try my best to bring complementary goodies to my printed designs to people as conscientiously as I can. I have seen plenty of tutorials suggesting one can "get away with" selling things at least 30 times its actual value. Please rest assured - no ridiculous mark-ups here! I've got some dropshipped goodies in my store – tested by yours truly. I also try to consider the materials they are made of and safety concerns that may arise. No ripping off, just trying to make a modest profit by sharing things affordably that I know first hand are good quality and enjoyable.
I really love DALL-E 2 (I know they have started on DALL-E 3) but if you click here you can sign up and get free credits to get creative with each month. I really like using it to generate ideas - how something could look, mixing and matching elements I like from each and (usually) digitally drawing them - I really recommend it actually! Sometimes the AI comes up with something very different to what you envisioned or include features that really pop.
Aussie Adventure Unleashed: Navigating the Art-Tech Cosmos
From what I can tell, I don't see many people from Australia start POD or dropshipping businesses from Australia (I'm not saying there are none, but if you compare to the visibility of those in other countries...) Quite possibly due to the postage fee and times to send any thing down under. I'd really appreciate it if you join me on this Aussie adventure as I navigate the art-tech cosmos. My YouTube channel (Skipping Pigeon - funnily enough) is your backstage pass to the artistic rollercoaster, where wins, challenges, and epic fails are on full display. Please subscribe here!
The Educator Turned Entrepreneur: Dancing with Mistakes
As an educator-turned-entrepreneur, I get it – mistakes are part of the learning tango. Like that time I assumed that all the same colours were universal across printing outlets in different countries. Nope. Shipping a sweater of the correct colour to the land down under ate all the profit I had made overall so far. Not my brightest moment. Oops.
The above where generated by DALL-E 2 above, again. It did clearly figure out that there was meant to be a rope in there somewhere, and I have to say that it can create quite a convincing photorealistic pigeon!
Mockup Mishaps: Sizing Surprises and Design Dilemmas
Another thing I've had to do is train my eye create mock ups properly! If you have heard of them, PlaceIt is fantastic for mock-ups and have affordable monthly subscriptions! It has been a game changer. My mockup mishap was another gem as far as errors go. I came to realise that I had create mockups for t-shirts that did indeed depict tees, but I'd put the design on the wrong type of cuts - how embarrassing! But hey, please learn from my mishaps so you don't have to commit this visual crime!
Domain Dilemmas: The Duplicate Subdomain Conundrum
Another kafuffle was with my custom domain. I reasoned that given I was selling through Shopify, it only made sense to transfer it to them for the sake of convenience and speed. For a start, another domain hosts don't want you to leave - strange, I know - so they have a bazillion steps you have to follow to transfer the domain over, only just falling short of a) the kitchen sink, and b) sacrificing your first born child. Then it takes time to see if the process has actually worked. And yet my website woes continued. If you're having domain dilemmas, check that a duplicate subdomain has not spawned! That was the culprit. I urge you not to do this - it was not fun.
Resizing Odyssey: Battling Speedy Snails and Optimisation!
After receiving some samples of t shirts and jumpers ("sweatshirts") it finally occurred to me that most designs don't look great taking up the entirety of the printing space. Cue mass resizing of designs, redoing mockups, converting them to JPEGs, resizing all the images so my site speed was not surpassed by oddly fast snails. All up, it took about a month, but hey, Rome wasn't built in a day. I spent a year and a half trying to get my head around search engine optimisation (SEO), so it is on point (well, I'm pretty happy with it so far). But the need for speed optimization and a re-proofreading frenzy are on my to-do list.
Marketing Mayhem: Learning the Ropes from YouTube and SkillShare
Marketing? A whole new world for me. YouTube and SkillShare are acting as my gurus, as per usual. Google ads and Etsy are in progress. Facebook and Instagram are next on the conquest list. Phew!
The above is adorable - ideogram can be accessed here! It only launched in August 2023, so is a new kid in artificial intelligence town.
Blogging Dreams: Wisdom-Sharing and Wit Unleashed
I hope to share my epic learning "experiences" blogging on my site here. Absolutely expect words of wisdom and wit on my Youtube channel, coincidentally of the same name - Skipping Pigeon.
The Silence of Zero Sales: Temptations and Triumphs
The biggest surprise I've found so far has been the disheartening silence of zero sales. My mind did go down that dreaded "maybe I should give up now..." It shocked me how tempting to throw in the towel at lightening speed, but I'm backing myself to learn and improve over. It also turned out that some shipping setting prevented any sales from going through so no one could place orders even if they had wanted to – my bad!
Join the Wisdom Bonanza: Share Your Biz Insights!
Ever launched a biz? Share your wisdom below! Let's turn this blog into a wisdom-sharing bonanza. Until next time, skip to your own beat, Skipping Pigeon fam! 🐦💻✨