Why is print-on-demand so important for photographers and artists?

Print-on-demand is one of the fundamental building blocks of a successful art business. You need a range of pricing: items from 0-100, 100-1,000, and 1,000+. There are only three ways to grow an art business: acquire new customers, get existing customers to purchase again, and increase average order value. The single most important metric is the number of new customers you acquire per year—and note that this metric doesn’t specify dollar amount. It could be a $10 purchase or $10,000. The goal is to acquire as many customers as possible. Most artists only offer wall art, so when someone responds positively to their marketing but isn’t ready for a big wall art purchase, they say ‘I’ll come back later’ and never do. Print-on-demand unlocks the ability to acquire customers at lower price points. You can take one image and turn it into 30, 50, or even 220 different product types. This gives you the range of pricing to capture customers wherever they are on the socioeconomic spectrum. People move up and down that spectrum throughout life—the person who buys a $40 product today might buy a $5,000 piece seven years from now when their circumstances change.

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Asked by general teaching point · Answered by Patrick · Art Business Webinar · 2026-08-19