What do you do once you know that you want to produce a planner or journal? In this article, we are going to learn about how to print on a budget when it comes to your planners and journals. This will cover information for those looking to produce with less than $2,000 and at least $100 in budget for everything including design, ordering units, shipping for units, ect. For this budget, we will not produce overseas but will look at Print on Demand companies that will allow you to print with no minimums.

The first place many people start with is figuring out who can print it. Before we dive into our printing and vendor basics, let’s first establish some basic steps.

Three Things Before We Begin

  1. Before you research your printer and vendors, you need an idea of the project overall. I recommend watching my 5 Step Planner & Journal Planning Video or checking out the blog article to build your framework first.
  2. Know your budget. I discussed this in the planning video and article but this is very important. Your budget isn’t something to play around with.
  3. Take your emotions out of it. When it comes to creating your first product, we have to eliminate the major mistakes creators make when launching their first planner or journal especially when it comes to printer options and how much money they will spend on getting it made.

Let’s jump into our list and my personal insight regarding how to navigate this world of printing and manufacturing.

My Four-Step Printing & Vendor Process

Step #1 – Shop with a basic list of specs

Before you journey into the printing world, I recommend having a base set of what you’re looking for so you can get a good quote. 

  • Page Count Estimation (Don’t go over 200 Pages)
  • Size
  • Black & White or Color? (Note: Custom printers allow you to give the custom amount so you could have 30 pages of Color and 140 pages of B&W)
  • Binding & Cover Finish
    • Spiral, Hardback, Paperback
    • Matte, Gloss, Textured (Linen)
  • Paper Color & Weight – Thickness of Paper
  • Customer or Overseas – Any custom features? Foil Stamping, Tabs, Elastic Band, Pocket, ect.
    • A few Print on Demand printers do offer small options but not a lot
  • Shipping Estimation – Where will the product ship to?

I recommend you do research by going in-person to stores like Barnes & Noble, Stationary Stores, Homegoods (Marshalls), Staples, ect. You can also look at planners and journals you already own and take notes for what you want your product to look like, size, feel like, ect.

Step #2 – Understand Fulfillment Options Prior to Printing

The first thing we must discuss before you pick a printer is are you looking to house inventory yourself OR do you want to use a fulfillment place that also will ship to the customer on your behalf? This will determine what strategy you end up going with. This is where the word “fulfillment” is important to understand. This involves how the product will get to the customer from the moment the customer orders the product to when it gets to their front door.

Let’s first discuss your business model based on how you want your sales and orders to work.

Business Model Options: Traditional, Reseller/Wholesale, and Dropshipping

  • Traditional Business Model is where you go through the process of getting products made according to your custom desires and needs. The inventory is shipped to you and you handle all order fulfillment.
  • Reseller or Wholesaler Business Model is where you source other people’s products, obtain inventory, and then sell them through your platform handling fulfillment, ect.
  • Dropshipping is actually a business model where you use other people’s products that you source and they get shipped to the customer without you holding any inventory.

Fulfillment includes the following options: You Handling Fulfillment or 3PL

  • Traditional Fulfillment – Your Warehouse or Home
    • Use Business Address, PO Box for orders or a Virtual Business Address (UPS or Coworking Space Address)
    • The inventory will come to your address and you will be responsible for fulfilling the orders yourself
    • To grow without outsourcing – build a team to handle fulfillment from a manager to part-time and then full-time fulfillment team members
  • Outsourcing Fulfillment (3PL – Third Party Logistics) – The store order will go directly to the fulfillment center and they will pack and ship the order to your customer. There are fees associated with storing your inventory, packaging, and more. Do your research once you you have at least 20-30 orders a day needed to fulfill AND it’s cost effective to outsource.
    • Local Fulfillment Centers (in your region/area)
    • Amazon FBA
    • Shipbob
    • Shopify Fulfillment
    • Printful Fulfillment
    • Vervante (Does Printing as well)
  • Print on Demand (POD) – The order goes straight to the printer and they will ship the product to your client. You will find these companies broken down below.

Step #3:  Understand Bulk Order, Print on Demand, Dropshipping, Your Country, or Overseas?

Once you understand your fulfillment options, that allows you to then pick your printer because before you get it printed, you want to have a plan in place of how you want the product fulfillment to work. Now, let’s dive into the printing options based on how you want inventory to work.

Printing Options & Vendor List

  • Print on Demand – This is the most inexpensive route. Print on Demand means that you only print according to the demand (your needs). This is perfect for small starting businesses who don’t have a ton of money to put into the project or want to test a concept on a small scale.
    • Benefits
      • No MOQ (Minimum Order Quantity) so you can order 1 or 100 or 1000
      • Inexpensive for beginning businesses
      • Shorter shipping times
      • Easy to upload files and can get an order submitted in less than 24-48 hours
    • Downsides
      • Not many printing options for paper, binding, and bonus features
      • Rarely have a dedicated salesperson or customer service person for your project unless you submit a Customer Service Ticket
      • Some require you to have an ISBN even if you’re creating a planner or journal which doesn’t require ISBN since it’s not a book
    • Vendors
      • No custom interior, Custom Covers
        • (Dropship) Printify (Spiral, Hardcover) – Lined or Blank Pages
        • (Dropship & Fulfillment Options) Printful (Spiral Notebook) 
        • We do not include Zazzle or Marketplace platforms because the cost is absurd and way too high to generate profit to really grow your business
        • Custom Interior & Custom Cover
          • Self-Publisher Platforms offer distribution (increased royalty fee %)
            • My thoughts – Your book being on Amazon or Barnes & Noble isn’t really a celebration if you aren’t selling the books in volume like you should. In this day and age, it’s better to build your own platform and not worry about a royalty check where you’re getting pennies on the dollar. I’m not pro-royalty checks until those royalty checks are bringing in a healthy amount of profit.
            • It’s different if you’re selling Low content journals and planners because most of those products are being dropshipped so it’s not like you have a ton of intellectual property invested. However, once you do, I refuse to depend on the royalty check as my main source of income through a planner and/or journal.
          • Amazon KDP (formerly Createspace)
            • Offers Dropship via Amazon.com (Don’t recommend for profit reasons. Better to order author copies and directly sell from your website.)
          • Vervante (Offers Fulfillment Options)
            • Bulk Order Discounts
            • Small Business – Work with someone directly on the project
          • Ingram Spark
            • Self-Publishing Company
          • Lulu (Offers Fulfillment)
            • Has discounts & sales throughout the year
            • Bulk Order Discounts
          • Places I don’t recommend for journals & planners – BookBaby, 48 Hour Book, ect. The unit cost was absurd for a 150 Page B&W for just 25 copies. I could get it done cheaper using other platforms.
  • Your Local Printers – In the United States, there are local and regional printers that provide printing services. I’m not talking about FedEx or OfficeDepot or Staples. You want to look for book printing companies that offer binding options and printing of planners and journals. Research terms like “Bindery” or “Book Printing” and then add your city or search via Google.
  • Overseas – We are going to dive into this in another article but overseas printing usually has a MOQ of at least a few hundred. Some vendors will require at least 200-300 units if there is a basic interior and most will require at least 300 units if there is a customer interior (all pages are custom and designed by your team or their team).
    • Need a budget of at least $3-4K for units which includes inventory and shipping depending on what your unit costs end up being after customization plus packaging to fulfill orders.
    • Example – If your unit cost is $5 and you order 500, that’s $2,500 in inventory alone without shipping costs which usually range from $500-$1,000 at minimum depending on how many units and form of shipping.

Step #4: Reach out to get quotes & Pick 2-3 to zone in on

  • Do not reach out to every platform. First – establish what is your budget and get quotes based on what those specific needs are.
  • Be sure to use the Planning Document (click here to get your FREE Planning Document) to add all your research and information from vendors.
  • Understand that there isn’t one platform that has perfect reviews. Quality assurance of your products is important so understand that Print on Demand is the cheap but fast option. Overseas or Small Business printers offer more quality but more investment and for some higher unit cost. 
  • Take your time but execute when it is time to launch the product and/or business. Don’t wait 4-5 years and you’re still sitting on the idea.
  • For bulk orders – Establish your final order amount by your audience size. Be realistic about what you can sell.
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