If you’re a coffee lover and you want to share this passion with the world, why not start your own coffee lover brand? Selling coffee mugs or other coffee-related products is a great idea and can even help you earn a second income. If this sounds like something you want to try, we have all the tips you need to create and sell your designs online.
Design an Inspiring Logo
Like with any other business venture you take on, you’ll need to have a logo to set yourself apart from the competition. Designing a logo can sound like a challenging task that’s going to take time and money, but that’s no longer the case.
You don’t need to be a designer or have a design degree to make your coffee brand logo either. All you need are the right tools to get it done. This is where a logo designer can come in and save the day.
With a logo designer, you can create a beautiful logo that represents your business perfectly. Since your business will be centred around a love of coffee, it only makes sense to use elements that evoke that.
Before you get down to designing, first think about your logo’s color palette. Stick to colors that make sense for coffee, such as browns and neutrals. You’ll also need a name for your business, so brainstorm ideas that are original but that make it clear that your brand is all about coffee. Finally, think about design elements, like the fonts you want to use and if your logo will include an icon. Once all of these ideas are clear, you can start putting together your ideal logo.
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Create Beautiful Designs in No Time
When it comes to creating a coffee mug design, if you have an idea in your head, you can easily execute it. Just like with your logo design, you don’t need any special software or even a design degree to make your mug designs come to life.
Using design templates, you can easily create the images you want to sell without having to worry about hiring someone to do the work for you. Before tackling your first design, it helps to have a clear idea of what you want to create. Again, think about color palettes that will look appealing and keep your target audience in mind.
Research on your target audience should be done early on so that you can identify who you are designing for. Beyond just coffee lovers, think about the gender, age, and other distinguishing characteristics of the people who will want to buy your designs. When you’re creating your designs, it will help to keep a specific person in mind so that you can cater to your designs to them.
The possibilities are endless when it comes to designing, so don’t limit yourself. If you’re stuck and can’t think of what to design, don’t hesitate to take a look around at what others are selling. Take note of what you like and what you want to avoid so that you can start to form an idea for a design. It also helps to jump into a design template and start playing around with different elements, like the colors, fonts, images, and sizes.
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Save Time and Money with Mug Mockups
When you have your designs ready, you may think you need to print mugs in order to get photos of them for your shop. This can mean a lot of upfront costs for printing and finding space for your inventory. If this sounds like something you want to avoid, you’re in luck!
You can skip all of this by using mug mockups. With mockups, there’s no need to print your items and then spend even more money on a photoshoot. You can instead place your design on a mug in a matter of seconds. All you have to do is find a mockup you like, upload your transparent image to the mug, choose the color of the mug, and download the image.
Since these mugs mockups are professionally shot, you’ll have the best images for your shop. You may not have a camera, lighting equipment, or the expertise of a photographer, but there’s no reason to spend money on these things just to get professional product images.
If you decide you want to sell more than just mugs, there’s no reason not to. Since you can find mockups for all sorts of products, from tote bag mockups to apparel mockups, your possibilities are endless. You can even use the same mug designs to create t-shirts, hoodies, pillows, and more!
Find a Marketplace That Suits You
Now that your brand is ready to go and your product images are looking great, where are you going to sell your products? You have quite a few options when it comes to selling online, so do your research before making your final decision. Some of the options to consider include:
Online Stores: Opening your own online store can sound like so much work, but there’s an easy way to go about this. Using an eCommerce platform like Shopify simplifies this whole process because it gives you the tools to easily create a shop. You basically create an account and then use their templates to create a homepage, product pages, and any other pages you need. You can customize this to match your brand and you have complete control over your pricing, discounts, and image. There is usually a fee to pay for these sorts of platforms, but the low monthly payment is often worth the investment.
Print on Demand: For those who aren’t familiar with print on demand websites, these are a perfect way to start earning a second income. All you need to do is create your designs, upload them to one of these platforms, and select the products you want to sell your designs on. Your products will then be featured in their marketplace where buyers can find them and purchase them.
The POD platform you choose will take care of printing the product, shipping it, and customer service needs. In the end, you will get a percentage of every item sold and this will be deposited into the account of your choosing. It’s a great option for those who don’t have the money to front costs for printing and for inventory. Some PODs even allow you to create a shop that you can personalize for your brand, but you will be responsible for marketing this yourself.
Online Marketplaces: Another option is to create a shop in a marketplace like Amazon, Etsy, eBay, and the like. The great thing about these marketplaces is that you can create a storefront with your own assets that represent your brand. You will also make more than just a percentage of each sale and the experience feels much more personal. Of course, there are some downsides as well. You will have to print your items, keep an inventory, and be responsible for shipping, customer service, and marketing.
Harness the Power of Social Media
Social media used to be about sharing photos of your travels and connecting with friends, but now it’s a paradise for all sorts of brands looking to expand their reach. Using a business account, you can advertise your brand, sell your products, and reach a larger audience all on social media.
The most effective social media channels to consider are Instagram and Facebook because of their focus on visual content and the size of the audience you can reach. Each one has its own perks, so get to know the platforms to get the most out of each one.
Instagram: Because Instagram is basically a collection of images and videos, it makes it super easy to advertise your brand and your products. In fact, you can use their Instagram Shopping feature to create posts and stories that link to your products. To catch the attention of your followers, use attractive images and videos in your posts and stories. Ask for participation in your posts in order to boost your engagement and discoverability.
Facebook: Facebook is another platform that is highly visual, so posting images and videos over text is a must. Similarly to Instagram, you can also post your products on Facebook, where people can then click on them and purchase them. You can do this one of two ways: either create a Facebook Store using Facebook’s platform or connect your eCommerce store to the Facebook store page. For example, if you have a Shopify shop, you can connect this to your Facebook, reducing the time spent listing all your products.
For both of these social media channels, you also have the option of creating targeted ads. They both have native ad managers that walk you through the process of creating an ad so that it’s as easy as possible. They allow you to pick a goal, a budget, and a run time, so it’s all highly customizable to your needs.
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You are Ready to Sell your Products
With all this information and your creativity, you’re more than ready to start selling your products. If you have some other tips that have helped you develop your brand or increase your sales, share them with us in the comments below!
Authors Details
Roberta Camarena is a marketing professional with expertise in organic content creation. She is currently a content marketer at Placeit and has several years of experience in social media marketing and content writing.
