Crickets to Cha-Chings Podcast - Episode 180 Summary

Title: This Bestselling Personalized Gift for Father's Day is HUGE with Anywhere POD
Host: Julie Berninger, Gold City Ventures
Guest: Chris from Anywhere Pod
Release Date: May 12, 2025

1. Introduction

In Episode 180 of Crickets to Cha-Chings, host Julie Berninger welcomes Chris from Anywhere Pod, a tool designed to streamline personalization in the print-on-demand (POD) space on Etsy. Julie references Emily, a successful Etsy coach affiliated with Gold City Ventures, who has been advocating for Anywhere Pod, setting the stage for an insightful discussion on enhancing Etsy shops through automation and personalization.

2. Chris’s Journey to Anywhere Pod

Chris shares his background and how he became involved in the Etsy and POD industry. Starting in Midwest Illinois around 2016-2017, Chris worked with a regional POD provider, developing technology to manage orders and integrations with platforms like Etsy, Amazon, WooCommerce, and Shopify. His focus on personalization highlighted the inefficiencies in manual listing processes, inspiring him to create Anywhere Pod when his previous provider exited the POD space.

“Anytime I have to do something that's like this repetitive task and copy and paste and all this stuff, ... I really want to automate it.”
— Chris [00:56]

3. Etsy’s Emphasis on Personalized Gifts

Julie underscores Etsy's market trend towards personalized gifts, noting that personalized searches are increasingly frequent. She explains how automation tools like Anywhere Pod are essential for sellers to meet this demand without increasing their workload. Personalized products, such as those tailored with family member names, enhance a shop’s appeal and competitiveness on Etsy.

4. Understanding Print on Demand and Anywhere Pod’s Role

Chris elaborates on the print-on-demand model, distinguishing it from digital products. POD involves creating physical items with unique designs that are produced and shipped upon customer orders. Anywhere Pod automates the personalization process, allowing sellers to seamlessly integrate customer inputs (like names) into their products without manual intervention.

“With Anywhere Pod, we've basically cut all that extra work out. ... it's literally just logging in, clicking one button, and, you know, your order's kind of off to the races.”
— Chris [07:12]

5. Highlighting Bestselling Products: Personalized Father's Day Platters

A significant portion of the discussion focuses on personalized serving platters, especially as a trending gift for Father's Day. Chris highlights how these products cater to niches like barbecuing, featuring elements like meat barbecue skewers assigned to family names. These exclusive products from suppliers like Deco Plate and Usha Mercantile offer high-quality, made-in-the-USA items that stand out from mainstream suppliers like Printful or Printify.

“They're one of the few products that's 100% made and decorated in the U.S. ... and they sell like crazy during Father's Day.”
— Chris [11:39]

Julie connects this trend to real-life examples, emphasizing the appeal of gifts that resonate with hobbies, such as grilling, to enhance their attractiveness and reduce potential returns related to sizing issues found in apparel.

6. Demonstration of Anywhere Pod’s Functionality

Chris walks through a live demo of Anywhere Pod, showcasing its user-friendly interface and integration capabilities. Key features highlighted include:

• Unified Product Catalog: Allows sellers to search across multiple suppliers in one place.
• Canva Integration: Facilitates seamless import and customization of designs directly from Canva, saving time on downloading and uploading assets.
• Automation Tools: Automatically generates personalized artwork and mockups, reducing manual processing time from minutes to seconds.
• Order Management: Enables sellers to review and approve personalized orders before fulfillment, ensuring quality control.

“It's really kind of one of those products that's exclusive to Anywhere pod. ... it's really a really good profit margins and they sell like crazy during Father's Day.”
— Chris [11:39]

7. Seasonal and Evergreen Product Trends

Chris shares insights into product performance throughout the year. While Christmas remains a peak season, products like personalized platters experience significant sales spikes during spring and summer, particularly around Father's Day. These trends help sellers maintain consistent sales by targeting niche markets outside traditional high-demand periods.

“For the May and June time period, ... they actually sold more products in May and June than they did during the previous November and December.”
— Chris [33:14]

Julie emphasizes the importance of diversifying product offerings to sustain year-round sales rather than relying solely on major holidays.

8. Design Software Integration and Future Enhancements

Current integrations primarily support Canva, the dominant design tool among Etsy sellers, with plans to incorporate others like Kittl. While full automation for accepting customer-uploaded photos (e.g., pet faces) is not yet available, Anywhere Pod offers streamlined methods for incorporating these elements manually within the platform. Future updates aim to enhance these capabilities, making personalization even more efficient.

“We have a couple of digital product features in Anywhere Pod now. ... But we have thought a lot about adding in additional features to be able to do personalization for digital products as well.”
— Chris [36:34]

9. Pricing and Subscription Plans

Chris outlines Anywhere Pod’s subscription tiers:

• Basic Plan ($10/month): Text personalization and one print provider.
• Pro Plan ($24.99/month): Two providers plus image customization capabilities.
• Pro Plus Plan ($39.99/month): Unlimited suppliers, Canva integration, advanced features like video generation and variant additions.

A special coupon code, Gold City 30, offers a one-month free trial across all plans, allowing users to explore the platform’s full range of features.

10. Customer Support and Community Engagement

Both Julie and Chris stress the importance of proactive customer support. Chris encourages users to reach out with questions or feedback, highlighting the benefits of community engagement for continuous improvement of the platform.

“There are too many people that are kind of scared of sending a support ticket ... you’re helping us.”
— Chris [45:11]

Julie echoes this sentiment, advising listeners not to hesitate in seeking assistance to maximize their use of Anywhere Pod.

11. Conclusion and Takeaways

The episode wraps up with Julie summarizing the key benefits of Anywhere Pod for Etsy sellers:

• Efficient automation of personalized orders.
• Access to exclusive, high-demand products.
• Integration with popular design tools like Canva.
• Support structures that empower sellers to grow without technical hurdles.

Listeners are encouraged to try Anywhere Pod using the provided coupon code and leverage its features to enhance their Etsy businesses, particularly in niche markets like personalized Father's Day gifts.

Key Quotes:

• “Anytime I have to do something that's like this repetitive task and copy and paste and all this stuff, ... I really want to automate it.” — Chris [00:56]
• “With Anywhere Pod, we've basically cut all that extra work out. ... it's literally just logging in, clicking one button, and, you know, your order's kind of off to the races.” — Chris [07:12]
• “They're one of the few products that's 100% made and decorated in the U.S. ... and they sell like crazy during Father's Day.” — Chris [11:39]
• “For the May and June time period, ... they actually sold more products in May and June than they did during the previous November and December.” — Chris [33:14]
• “There are too many people that are kind of scared of sending a support ticket ... you’re helping us.” — Chris [45:11]

Resources:

• Anywhere Pod Free Trial: Visit go.goldcityventures.com/anywherepod and use coupon code Gold City 30 for a one-month free trial.
• Gold City Ventures YouTube Channel: Watch the full demonstration by Chris and Emily for a comprehensive guide on using Anywhere Pod.

This episode provides valuable insights for Etsy sellers looking to scale their businesses through automation and personalization, highlighting how Anywhere Pod can be a game-changer in managing and expanding product offerings efficiently.