Home » Arts & Design » Graphic Design » Digital Art

Behind the scenes at Abstract Energy Studios

28 Comments
- Zazzlers who were on…
- New Guestbook Commen…

31 Like

Like 31

Pin It

Ranked #16,863 in Arts & Design, #351,597 overall

Curious about Abstract Energy Studios?

So are we.
Actually no, we're not that curious at all, since we founded it. By we I mean myself, Megan, and my husband Josh. We are the two person super duo behind Abstract Energy Studios, a freelance all purpose art services online company. Try saying that five times fast!
Together we can do just about anything. I can paint a mural, throw a party for you or your kids, teach art lessons, design a logo, or just flat out make something look awesome. Josh, on the other hand, can fix your computer, take your glamour shots, provide awesome live music with his awesome skills, teach you how to play guitar, or record your new single. It's like we're two points that overlap on the art spectrum: together we cover just about anything. Whatever I can't do, he can.
What's amazing about it all (or perhaps downright foolish of us), is that we are not your average business people folks. Josh and I are just two college students just trying to get by on groceries. We started this company nearly three years ago and even if we don't have a fancy brick and mortar location to show off, we're still pretty proud of ourselves.

Right now you may be thinking something along the lines of:

"Who are these people?"
"How did they start this business, and how can I do the same?"
"What do they do and how?"
"Wait a minute- didn't you say you were married!? What in the world age are you people!?"

All of this will be answered and more! Until then,
check us out on our official big-kid domain- Abstract Energy.com

More about Us

The Artist met the Musician

At this point most of you are probably wondering more about us (or maybe we are just too egocentric and we only think you are).
Josh and I are both natives of Tennessee, and we met while we were in two separate high schools in a very strange way- that is probably a story for another lens. We dated for quite a while, and then on the night of my twentieth birthday party and my sophomore year of college we got engaged- another really good story.
We got married in June of 2011- call it old fashioned, but we married quite young according to today's standards- I was still 20 and he was 21. At this point I should probably make a lens on how young marriages can definitely work! But alas, I'm getting too many ideas at once.
We had already started Abstract Energy by then (which was nothing more than a logo and a few family friend clients), but once we got married we were able to fuse our powers into one to create the ultimate art machine hybrid double human creature!
Okay I'm just getting carried away but we really did get a lot more accomplished as a married team than when we were just dating. For one, people took us and our work more seriously. Secondly, our network expanded tremendously!
"Hello, new in-laws? Would you like to buy some of my art stuff? [Insert evil laugh]"

How did we start?

The birth of AES

Abstract Energy Studios started as a free webpage of freewebs.com, which is now called webs. I would simply upload some pictures of my artwork and not much else. I wasn't even serious about selling anything- after all, I was in high school. I included some prices, but nothing ever sold so I didn't really care. It's not like much really could sell since I didn't have a webstore application hooked up to my pieces, nor did I really want to bother with shipping and handling, making prints, etc. It seemed like such a headache!
I eventually started getting good enough at graphic design that I was getting paid by family friends to create logos and business cards for them. Josh and I decided to make our website "official" and we registered our domain for about $100. With webs it was pretty simple to do, but there was something to be missed in the ways of customization. Josh, being his programming self, was a little upset with what he could and could not do- but in all honesty, he didn't have time to program a site himself. I was a little relieved, I still would rather not venture in HTML or CSS. Lol.
We tried to get the word out about our business locally, but it was kinda embarrassing to say that I owned my own business as a freshman in college- I felt like I was full of myself. To be honest, I still feel that way most of the time (maybe I'm just too modest?).

Climbing the Social Ladder

the tiring journey of marketing

It's strange to say that I get excited when a stranger asks me for services within my business or when they buy something from me, because it makes me feel like wow, someone besides my mom actually cares about this . It's a pretty exhilarating feeling, like when you go on a date with someone for the first time. I don't know about you, but the whole time I'm thinking this is so cool! someone outside of my own circle actually likes me! all I had to do was be me! .

Unfortunately, good marketing doesn't exactly work like dating, or at least the kind of dating most people experience (if you are a vicious, throw yourself out there, knock em out dater I mean no offense).
Marketing, especially good marketing (or at least what I think good marketing is), is something I am not skilled at in the least! Whenever I'm trying to market my business, whether it's face to face or online like Facebook, I feel like the biggest idiot in the world.

I'm trying to move past that feeling and just push forward to get my company's name out there. Maybe it's making me look like a big jerk to everyone I know, but I really hope not! I already know I am bugging the life out of my facebook friends.

So honestly, I haven't got this whole marketing thing figured out yet. Maybe this Squidoo bid-ness is a step in the right direction. =D

Our Excursion into Zazzle

expanding our business in a way that works!

At the beginning of January 2012, my husband and I were in dire straights.

A quick search of google under "ways to make money quickly" brought up a few different results that I wasn't too fond of- giving plasma (ouch), donating bone marrow (ouch ouch) or taking out a loan (why would I want to do that when I'm trying to AVOID debt!)

Then I stumbled upon the concept of zazzle- it's a store where you can actually make profits off of your artwork and designs. That sounded pretty awesome to me! Finally I could monetize my artwork and designs that had just been sitting around on my site, doing nothing!

Our zazzle site is here at Abstract Energy Studios Web Store

On top of an easy to use product design system, you can set your own royalties- you basically choose what you will make. The store is absolutely free to open and maintain, and there's no worrying about shipping and handling or customer service! Plus, there's a wonderful group of community within the zazzle forums- they can help you along every step of the way!

So far, things are really looking up for this little business-and now you know more about it. Help us along and spread the word about our quirky selves and our awesome store! (P.S. Did you know if you're a fellow Zazzler you get promotion royalties?! w00t!)

Gift Shop Goodies

awesome products by Abstract Energy Studios

Here you see a sample of the awesome goods that we at Abstract Energy Studios are cranking out everyday through zazzle.com! Check it out ya'll!

Zazzlers who were once in my shoes

we all start somewhere

If your story is (or was) similar to mine, please post your store link to this list. Make sure to vote for your favorite stores! If you have an awesome success story through zazzle, leave it here on the guestbook!

Behind the scenes at Abstract Energy Studios

Curious about Abstract Energy Studios?

More about Us

The Artist met the Musician

How did we start?

The birth of AES

Climbing the Social Ladder

the tiring journey of marketing

Our Excursion into Zazzle

expanding our business in a way that works!

Gift Shop Goodies

awesome products by Abstract Energy Studios

Zazzlers who were once in my shoes

we all start somewhere

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

Please pick your widget size and display. Then click "Make the Widget" to get the code that's just right for you.

Voila! Just copy and paste this code into your own site. Have fun!

Oopsey! Please login to Squidoo in order to add this module to your lens.

New Guestbook Comments

by megielf

Explore related pages

Related Tags

Want our Newsletter?