Summary

The article discusses leveraging untapped potential in creating and selling unique Midjourney AI-generated patterns on shoes through Etsy and Print on Demand services, emphasizing quality over quantity and the importance of niches and advertising strategies.

Abstract

The web content presents a business strategy for Etsy sellers to profit from Midjourney AI-generated designs by focusing on high-quality, niche-specific shoe patterns. It critiques the common approach of mass-producing low-quality AI art, advocating instead for creating unique, tiling patterns that can be printed on demand. The author, Jenni, an e-commerce coach, suggests that by carefully selecting a niche, investing in targeted advertising, and ensuring product quality, sellers can achieve significant profit margins, even with a single sale per day. The article also highlights the importance of seasonal adaptability in maintaining year-round business profitability and provides insights into the successful strategies of her coaching clients making six figures monthly.

Opinions

-- The author believes that 90% of AI-generated designs are of poor quality, which is detrimental to the market.

There is a misconception among sellers that they need to sell a vast number of designs at low prices, which the author argues is incorrect and unsustainable.
The article emphasizes that a single, well-executed Midjourney design can be far more profitable than many low-quality ones.
The author suggests that sellers underestimate the value of their Midjourney designs, which could potentially sell for $80-150, yielding a$ 30-50 profit per sale.
The strategy of using Print on Demand services is presented as a way to avoid the challenges of inventory, manufacturing, and shipping.
Jenni advocates for a focused approach to business, particularly for new sellers, by choosing a specific niche to serve.
The article criticizes the approach of some Etsy sellers who upload endless designs without a clear strategy, resulting in poor sales.
It is argued that by investing in ads, particularly on Etsy, sellers can bypass the need for extensive social media marketing and start making money more efficiently.
The author advises creating unique, trendy designs that evoke a strong desire in potential buyers, using the criteria of whether one would spend $110+ on the design themselves.
Seasonal considerations are highlighted as important for sustaining sales throughout the year, with the suggestion to expand product lines to include items suitable for different seasons.
The author provides personal insights and affiliate links, framing them as a way for readers to support her work and continued writing.

This Midjourney Niche is Totally Untapped on Etsy

(And Shopify, too!)

Enjoying the fruits of an untapped niche — Source: Midjourney

Let’s just be brutally *accurate* for a moment here:

90% of AI designs are ugly.

I literally roll my eyes when I come across *certain* obviously AI pieces.

And look, part of the reason why these designs are getting so — ahem — ROUGH…

Is that people think you need to sell A MILLION pieces of Midjourney artwork at a time.

*OF COURSE* it’s gonna get dicey if I have to generate like 200 designs to sell a single digital download.

Just look at this listing, it’s got a GAZILLION pieces:

Example of a 5200 piece Midjourney listing on Etsy.

If AI taught Etsy sellers anything in 2023, it was that QUANTITY is the enemy of QUALITY.

But if you just made ONE Midjourney design and tried to sell it…What’s the most you could make? Like a few dollars per sale?!?

It’s pretty hard to grow a business on a few dollars.

But what if you were VASTLY under-valuing your Midjourney designs?

What if you could be selling them for $80–150 a piece…

And net $30-50 profit PER SALE??

What if all it took was a simple FORMAT CHANGE?

The Right Type of Midjourney Design Business

Let’s talk about this item right here:

Midjourney shoes?!?! — Source: Made by author.

At first glance, most people wonder if it was generated in Midjourney.

“How the %$#@ am I gonna manufacture something Midjourney made up?!?” they’ll ask.

Ah, but you’re missing the point.

The shoe itself wasn’t designed in Midjourney…

But the PATTERN on the shoe is.

It’s a Print on Demand item. You add your (Midjourney) pattern. Then a Print on Demand company ships it to your customer.

(If you don’t know what Print on Demand is, it works like this: You get an order. A company prints that order on a product for you, and ships it straight to the customer. You might pay $40 to get it made, but the customer paid $80. So you make a decent profit…But you don’t have to buy inventory, make products, store products, or take care of any equipment).

The Midjourney part of this shoe is the REPEATING PATTERN, which is what you upload to your Print on Demand platform:

This is a seamless pattern created by Midjourney using the command “— tile”

PROMPT: /imagine vintage comic style mushroom botanical pattern on a black background — tile — v 5

So all you have to do is generate AWESOME, super cool tiling patterns…

Then upload them to a Print-on-Demand (POD) product like this:

Video of how to create Midjourney Repeating Pattern Shoes — Source: Printify used by Author

Next, download all the glorious mockups the POD platform generates for you… (this video uses Printify to create a pair of shoes.).

And upload it all to Etsy.

Then, instead of $2 per sale…How about you make $30+ PROFIT per sale?!?

Making Your First Etsy Sale (in a Day) with Midjourney Shoes…

When you have an ULTRA high-profit item like shoes…

Suddenly you have the luxury of being able to afford ADS.

I could literally spend $10 a DAY on Etsy ads, and as long as I made just ONE sale per day, I’d still make a profit.

This works as long as my items are priced right:

$50 to produce $12 shipping $110+ for the customer to buy =$48 profit

Subtract a $10 ad spend from that, and you have a $38 profit.

This is HUGE bonus, because 99% of online sellers are KILLING themselves on social media just for traffic.

Starting with ads means you can just SKIP all that social media mess and go right to making money.

(Remember: You only need 1 sale per day to make back your ad spend)

So to keep this Etsy shop going, the plan is a very simple TWO steps: 1. Post new *HIGH QUALITY* designs on Etsy 1–3x a week 2. Start with $1–5 per day in ads, and work your way up to $10/day

Keep Your Midjourney Designs Fresh and Innovative, or else they WON’T SELL!

Look, I’m not gonna deny that there are some (ugly) AI shoes already on Etsy:

These sellers just upload endlessly, hoping to make a sale.

They rarely do.

In order to avoid BECOMING one of these doomed sellers, you need to create TRULY REMARKABLE patterns for your shoes.

Remember: Quantity is the ENEMY of Quality.

Also Remember: You can afford to take your time, because your strategy is ADS… Not social. Not producing endless content. Not tons of products.

Just keep your focus easy: great designs, and ads.

Keep it uncomplicated, and it’s WAY more likely to work.

You want to create UNIQUE, TRENDY designs that make buyers go, “OooOo! I have to have that!”

Likelihood is, if you would spend $110+ on the design, so would your customers.

So try to impress yourself enough that you’d actually part with $110+. 😂

Let’s look at some examples of high quality designs.

Compare these HIGH QUALITY, top-selling shoes ⤵️ to the predictable ones above:

If you wanna create designs like this, you can find this high quality, Print-on-Demand shoe right here on Printify.

Identifying Your Midjourney Style: Etsy Shops Need a Niche

When you first start out, there’s nothing that will help you sell MORE products MORE often than choosing a niche.

This could be as simple as “Spooky Patterned Shoes” or “Kawaii Pastel Footwear”.

One thing you’ll notice about the Etsy shops that sell poorly is LACK OF FOCUS.

These sellers are throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks.

Nope — it doesn’t work like that.

Think about AMAZON: They started with books. They expanded AFTER they established themselves for ONE thing.

Same thing with SHEIN: The monster retailer actually started with “affordable” Wedding dresses (before they moved on to the *messiness* that is today).

Whether I agree with how these businesses operate doesn’t matter — what matters is whether you make a sale.

And you’ll make a sale if you serve a specific AUDIENCE. That audience will want a specific thing.

I suggest you choose a niche that you LOVE.

If you’re not sure what your aesthetic theme could be, there’s a cool page of popular ones here.

Let’s Talk SEASONS: No One Wants Boots in Summer

All this is cool and everything, but it’s only gonna be winter for so long.

Are people gonna buy boots in the summer??

Hmmm…The short answer is yes, some people do.

But the BETTER solve for a seasonal problem is THIS:

Summer slip ons made with a Midjourney pattern. Source: Made by author

Yup, you can gradually expand to different styles of shoes and keep your business profitable all year long!

Here are some spring and summer shoe options you can try.

Remember that some shoes are less expensive than others, so you may have to adjust your ad spend accordingly.

BUUUUT I did just kinda hand you a highly profitable, super fun Midjourney business on a platter 😂

So go forth and make shoes!

Thanks for reading! 🙏

Here’s a little tidbit about the person behind this computer:

Hi👋 I’m Jenni — I’m an e-commerce coach for top sellers 😊

Whether you know it or not, your business can grow as big as you want it. I see it daily, but you’re probably there, alone…Wondering if you’re crazy… I’m here to be a regular reminder that YOU’RE NOT. 🚀

🛍️ See the tools that make product-based businesses run SMOOTHLY here. 👋 Slap that “Follow” button to get shop-specific advice (and make me your secret cheerleader!) 💌 Get my *slightly snarky* ideas delivered straight to your inbox

If you wanna straight up SEE what my sellers making $100,000/month are doing, I literally tell you in the articles linked below ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️

Incredible Things my $100k/mo Sellers are Doing (Steal these ⬇️)

I Have Etsy Coaching Clients Making $100k per Month. Here’s What They Know That You Don’t.

Big sales tactics don’t look anything like you think they do…

medium.com

My Etsy Side Hustle Turned into $1M

Here are the five things I thought would change when I hit it big.