Byte-Sized Businesses: My A.I. Assisted Biz Blitz - 21
Edition 21
Recap: At first, I challenged myself to launch two micro-businesses per month with the help of AI. Now I am shifting towards building on top of those micro-businesses. You can get caught up on the details of the challenge in my original post here.
For new readers, you can scroll to the bottom of this post to see a full list and summary of the micro-businesses that have been launched. Not each one will be covered in every weekly edition, but I will be sure to keep you up to date on all of the key points as things progress.
Today, I want to talk a little about how I am thinking about product idea sourcing. To this point, many of the items that I have explored were based off of examples that I saw from YouTubers, bloggers, etc. The tumbler wraps are a great example of this. I had no idea that there was a market for tumbler wrap designs until I started seeing them talked about on YouTube. The issue that I see though is that once a specific product category like that is being shared on YouTube, many people pursuing these kind of ventures become aware and there can be market dilution because of the influx of new sellers. And don’t get me wrong here, I’m very optimistic about the tumbler wraps, but I think that there are better ways of coming up with product ideas than just trying the exact products that we see demonstrated.
The first method is looking at what else buyers of that product are buying. I’ve started poking around a little with this by looking at my customers’ Etsy profiles and seeing what else they have favorited. For context, on Etsy, you can favorite items that you want to go back and look at again, and this becomes publicly viewable information. With just a short time of exploring, I have found quite a few potential other markets that I was unaware of that could follow a very similar design process as used for the tumbler wraps. Some of these might be smaller markets, but they also might be a little under the radar also. I’ll have to take the normal steps of identifying a group of stores that are successfully selling these products to really fully validate each, but I’m excited seeing just how many options are out there. Some possible digital download products that I have seen this was so far are libby cup designs, tippy cup designs, car coaster designs, coloring book pages, and cross stich patterns. I will of course provide updates on any of these that I dig deeper into.
The second method is more about taking a different mindset and thinking about the underlying elements that make a specific product successful and then exploring what other product ideas might also share those elements. One great example that I’m looking at is Christmas ornaments. I’ve seen these used as an example by several YouTubers, and the common formula has been making it personalized so that a name can be added and making it commemorate a baby’s first Christmas. So it might be an ornament with some cute Christmas image with something like “Noah’s First Christmas” with the year also printed on it. HelloCustom’s YouTube channel used an example that was similar, but used the idea of “First Christmas as a Family of Three.”
So, as a seller, I could go and do my own version of exactly these, and I might find success with them. But I do know that I would have a lot of competition. So the way that I am approaching this is thinking about the elements that make them sell, which basically boils down to commemorating a joyful milestone. I can think of ideas myself, but since ChatGPT is an excellent tool to help with ideation, I decided to see what it would come up with.
Here’s my prompt.
I would like you to help me with some product ideas that could likely be fulfilled by print on demand services. One successful product category that I have seen is personalized Christmas ornaments for a baby's first Christmas. They usually will have some form of language that says the baby's name and first Christimas. A couple examples are "Noah's First Christmas" or "First Christmas as a Family of three" with a second line saying "Mom, Dad, Evelyn". I believe that these products sell well because it is taking a joyful experience such as becoming a family and then tying it to milestones, in this case a first Christmas. Personalizing it to the individuals also is important. Can you help me think of some product ideas that would have similar elements to this?
I thought that the response I got was pretty cool.
Certainly! The key elements to consider for successful personalized print-on-demand (POD) products include:
1. **Personal Milestones**: Celebrating a personal event or achievement.
2. **Customization**: Allowing for names, dates, or other personal information to be added.
3. **Emotional Connection**: Tying the product to a heartfelt emotion or memorable experience.
4. **Timelessness**: Ensuring the product can be used or displayed for a long period or on an annual basis.
5. **Visual Appeal**: Making sure the product is aesthetically pleasing and can be a keepsake.
Here are some product ideas that incorporate these elements:
### Family Milestones
1. **Custom Family Portraits**:
- Illustrations that can be customized to look like the family members, including pets, with the option to add the family name and year.
2. **"Our New Home" Ornaments**:
- Custom ornaments featuring a family's new home with the address and "First Christmas at [Address]" or "Home Sweet Home [Year]".
3. **Personalized "Our Journey" Maps**:
- Custom printed maps marking significant locations for a family or couple, such as where they met, got engaged, married, or moved to.
### Educational Achievements
4. **Graduation Keepsakes**:
- Custom prints celebrating a graduation date with the name of the graduate, the degree, and the institution.
5. **First Day of School Boards**:
- Custom boards or posters where parents can fill in details like the date, the grade the child is entering, and what they want to be when they grow up.
### Relationship Celebrations
6. **Custom Anniversary Art**:
- Artwork that commemorates the number of years a couple has been together, with options to add names, wedding date, and personal messages.
7. **Valentine's Day Couples' Portraits**:
- Illustrated portraits that can be personalized for couples, with their names and the date they got together.
### Baby & Childhood Milestones
8. **Baby Milestone Blankets**:
- Personalized blankets that can be used as photo backdrops to document a baby's growth over the first year, with spaces to write the baby's name and birth details.
9. **Birthday Countdown Calendars**:
- Custom calendars with the child’s name and starting from the date they were born, leading up to their next birthday.
### Pet-related Products
10. **"My First Pet" Custom Frames**:
- Personalized photo frames with the pet’s name and the date they joined the family.
11. **Custom Pet Ornaments**:
- Similar to baby's first Christmas, but for the year a pet was adopted.
### Seasonal and Holiday Products
12. **"Our Year in Review" Photo Books**:
- Customizable photo books summarizing the year's events for a family, with captions and dates.
13. **Personalized Holiday Table Runners**:
- Custom table runners for family gatherings that can be personalized with the family name and a special message.
14. **Customized Back-to-School Gear**:
- Backpacks, pencil cases, and lunch boxes with the child's name and grade, or fun facts about them.
15. **"New Year, New Memories" Custom Journals**:
- Journals that start with a custom page about the recipient’s previous year's achievements and hopes for the new year.
Each of these products could be designed with a template that allows customers to input their specific details, making them both personal and meaningful keepsakes or gifts. The emotional connection combined with the joy of personalization can make these products quite appealing in the POD market.
The ideas that ChatGPT generated range in quality and ease of execution, but this list included a handful of items that I thought were very interesting. The first that struck me was the Christmas ornament commemorating a first Christmas in a new home. This idea carries the same type of emotional elements that the new baby ornament does, and I can also see a potential unique market for this. This could be something that real estate agents might buy for clients. Referrals are an important part to developing business for real estate agents, and sending a personalized gift like this to their clients that bought a house over the last year would help them keep top of mind with those clients.
The other idea that struck me was the Baby Milestone Blanket. Taking photos over the first year to document the baby’s growth is an extremely common practice, and a personalized baby blanket that can be used as a backdrop seems like a very good idea to me.
All of these ideas would require further exploration, but to me, taking that one initial idea from YouTube and then expanding it to a list like this is a very good method of exploration.
Dough Control - Dough Control was a blog on cash management for small businesses that I originally started a couple years ago, but hadn’t maintained. I decided to revitalize that blog with the help of AI tools like ChatGPT. This will be a longer duration project, with the goal of developing a following before monetizing.
Canvas and Quirk (originally PleasurePrinted) - This was the first Etsy shop that I launched. It features captivating nature scenes on canvas or metal prints for home or office decor. The images are generated by Midjourney and enlarged with VanceAI. The product descriptions are drafted through ChatGPT. This shop has now been transitioned into a general store through which I will be launching all of my Etsy oriented micro-businesses / product categories.
LittleDreamersDen - A second Etsy shop that also focuses on wall art, but on the other side of the pricing spectrum. The same tools are used to create the works, but the finished products are posters rather than the more expensive canvas or metal prints. The focus of this shop is nursery room decor.
The Consulting Gig - I received a request for some costing and supply chain help. To start, I’ll provide as much value as I can up front. The hope is that the potential client will find it worth hiring me for consulting/coaching on an on-going basis. I plan on using AI to boost my speed in compiling research such as lists of potential supply chain partners.
CozyGifted (originally FlickersOfFantasy) - The third Etsy shop. This shop was originally planned to be as a candle shop, but I have pivoted to also use it for other physical items that work well as gifts.
Wirestock - Selling stock images generated with Midjourney. Wirestock is easy to use right in Discord and allows you to list your images for sale across multiple platforms at once.
Tumbler Wrap Designs (Digital Files) - Digital files of designs to be printed for tumbler wraps. These are sold through Etsy to hobbyists and vendors that sell tumblers in which the print designs on.
Personalized Enamel Coated Camping Mugs - The products are items that I am fulfilling through print on demand services with personalization enabled through HelloCustom, an AI software that streamlines the personalization process between Etsy and Printify.
Personalized Blankets - Similar to the mugs mentioned above, these are fulfilled through the print on demand services of Printify with the personalization being enabled through HelloCustom.
Nordic Jo’s Coffee - Not a new launch, but actually my first business. I will be sharing how I am using AI to produce some of my content for Nordic Jo’s.