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My name is Bonnie and I'm a Giant Squid Organizer, a Top 100 Giant Squid and a Squid Angel.
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Top 10 Zazzle Tips
Zazzle is one of the Print-on-demand companies out there that allows people to design & sell their own creations. I love Zazzle's ease of use, friendly staff, and the fact that I can make money on my art. Here are my Top 10 Tips to have a profitable Zazzle Gallery.
Why Zazzle?
I have been using Zazzle now for almost one year now and am thrilled with the results. Zazzle allows artists like me to upload their artwork and create products like Postage Stamps, Cards, Mugs, Mouse Pads, Ties, Buttons, Magnets, Hats, Stickers and Key Chains.Zazzle is called a Print-on Demand company which means that you don't have to retain a stock of products to be in business. You simply upload a digital image made with software like Corel (my favorite) or Adobe. You can also scan your original artwork as well.
After you upload your image to Zazzle, select a product, size or customize with text, then post for sale in the public marketplace. It's that easy. People can then purchase your work online. Zazzle prints, ships and deals with the customer service. You collect a royalty of 10%-99% on the sale (you set the Royalty amount).
Listed below are the Top 10 Tips that have made my Zazzle Gallery a success. I hope you find them helpful. Also don't forget to add your Zazzle Gallery to the list below!
My Zazzle Gallery
- D & D Art Studio on Zazzle
- I Specialize in Original Digital Computer Art & Photography. I offer a huge variety of items including digital art, kaleidoscopes, fractal art, stained glass window art, rainbow art, photography, baby, wedding, graduation, birthday and holiday items. All of my items are fully customizable. Add your own text to cards or a name to a mug.
bdkz's Artwork Pick of the Week
"Embrace me" Poster by Rainmountain
Tip # 1 - Be Creative & Organized!
There is nothing worse then a boring unorganized gallery. Upload your own logo and color coordinate your page with you logo.Organize your products by theme (Baby, Wedding, Photography). Don't put all of your work into one catagory. It makes it really hard to search for products. Also use subcatagories (Aprons, Buttons, T-Shirts).
Feature a Product line. You can have 5 Featured lines.
Tip # 2 - Open an Associate Account
An Associate Account will allow you to earn an additional 7% when you link customers to Zazzle through your website, blog, MySpace, Squidoo, etc.An Associate Account can be a powerful tool. Always put your Associate "Blog Panel" on you website. I love this thing. It rotates 3 of your products on a neat panel and adds color and action to a website.
To find the "Blog Panel" Set-up go to myZazzle, Associate Account, "Blog Panel" (botton left under Link Builder) I also like the "Flash Panel" but the "Blog Panel" looks really classy on a website.
Tip # 3 - Choose Your Content
Are you an artist, photographer, painter, graphic designer or all 5? On Zazzle you can be everything.When I first started doing Zazzle I only did my digital art. Then I realized that I could display my photography and graphics too. Don't limit yourself with one genre. A lot on galleries do focus on one theme which is fine but you can combine themes as long as you stay organized (See Tip # 1)
Most of your business will come from people searching for key words like dog, fractal art or wedding. Once they find your product an see your organized gallery they can search for other items the want. More is better!
Tip # 4 - Quantity = More Profits!
Zazzle is a numbers game. If you have 10 items you might sell something now and then. But if you have 10,000 itmes you are going to sell a lot. This is not to say that you should sacrifice quality for quanitity, you need both.The bottom line is the more product you have, the more you will sell so get moving!
Tip # 5 - Know What Product Fits Your Design.
Zazzle offer a lot of differant products. From Aprons to T-Shirts. The key is knowing what to put on each product. A T-Shirt that says "Super Mom" works, but putting that design on a tie looks stupid.I have started putting art on a product only to realize that the size is not quite right. A round design on a square mouse pad might not look to cool.
Also think like a consumer. If you do a line of wedding cards also include the design on postage, postcards and stickers so that they can buy your design as a set. People love matching products.
Tip # 6 - Read & Learn
Zazzle offers a really comprehensive and easy to read web site. Read up on how to maximize your gallery. myZazzle has a ton of useful information and tips. Also use the "Help" section to answer basic questions.Read the Zazzle Blog, Zazzle Tech Blog and Zazzle Contest Blog (See Feeds below) to stay current on the latest Zazzle news.
Tip # 7 - Join in!
Zazzle is an amazing community or artists and Zazzle promotes this community really well. Click on the Contributor link to see the lastest comments made on gallery walls and products. See who the busiest contributors are, whos's featured and who has the biggest fan club. It's a great place to meet your fellow Zazzlers and show off your products!Check out the Pulse too. This is Zazzle's live real-time forum of what's cool and happening on Zazzle. See your newly created dseighns on the top of the screen.
Tip # 8 - Adjust your royalty amount!
Zazzle now allows you to change your royalty structure. You can now set the amount that you want for your royalty. 10% is the default amount.Zazzle recommends that you set you royalty amount at 50% or less for products like T-shirts, buttons, mouse pads, mugs, etc. You want to stay competative but not price yourself out of the market. On posters however many people are setting their royalty rates as high as 90%. Artwork can command top prices especially if you are a well know artist.
You can also change existing royalty settings all at once by following these simple instructions: Go to, My Zazzle, Account Settings, Contributor Information. The set the "Default Royalty Percentage". Check the box marked "Also set all your existing products to this Royalty Percentage?" to change your entire gallery. Click, Update!
You can also over-ride this feature when you create a new item. Say you want everything to be at 15% but have a painting that you want set at 50%. You can just change this at the time you create your product.
Tip # 9 - Choose your model
You can now pick which model you would like to have advertise your T-Shirt. Just choose your model under "Apparel Options" when you create a T-Shirt. Try and pick a model that wears your design well! Tip # 10 - Advertise
Now that you have an awesome gallery you need to advertise it. Below are some great links to advertise your New Zazzle Gallery on. Where to advertise your Zazzle Gallery
- deviantART: where ART meets application!
- Art - community of artists and those devoted to art. Digital art, skin art, themes, wallpaper art, traditional art, photography, poetry / prose. Art prints.
- Digg
- Digg is all about user powered content. Everything is submitted and voted on by the Digg community. Share, discover, bookmark, and promote stuff that's important to you!
- Sign up for Facebook to see more and connect with Zazzle.
- Fine Art America - The Local Fine Art Marketplace
- FineArtAmerica.com is the premier internet marketplace for artists, fine art galleries, and fine art collectors! Artists and galleries are able to promote their latest releases and upcoming events. Collectors are able to view our comprehensive art directory and request bids from local galleries.
- Foundmyself - Sell art free & buy art.
- Sell your art commission free. An online art community with free personal galleries! Post your artwork to the gallery, chat, and wander. Discover useful information and interesting people in our artist message board / art forum.
- Gather
- Gather is a place to connect with people who share your passions. Let your unique voice shine through the articles, images, reviews, or audio you publish. We'll even compensate you with Gather PointsTM. Rewarded for something you'd do for free -- now that's a pretty good deal.
- JoePopular.com
- Social networking site.
- LaunchTags
- Launchtags lets you create mini-pages about your expertise, interests, know-how, hobbies, ideas or just about anything bright and shiny. Use text, pictures, videos, links and RSS feeds to build your page. Share 50% of the advertising revenue brought in by the traffic to your great page. Launchtags.com is simple, free and fun!
- MySpace
- MySpace virtual community site allows users to network, meet people, browse their profiles, and make friends from all around the world.
- Qassia
- Qassia.com is a brand new site for people to add "Intel" to help create a "credit driven inteligence engine". While still in beta it is limited to joining by invitation only.
- reddit.com: what's new online
- Reddit is a source for what's new and popular online. reddit learns what you like as you vote on existing links.
- Twitter: What are you doing?
- Twitter: What are you doing?
- TypePad Blog
- Creating a blog is a great way to drive traffic, show off your art and make annoucements! Create Your Blog Today TypePad
- Zimbio - The People's Guide to the Web
- Our network of public portals are designed to help people quickly get down the learning curve on any topic of interest by seeing what other people are reading, saying, and recommending about the topic.
Bonus Tip!
Use Squidcasting to announce your new Zazzle products!-
50 Ways To Use Squidcasting
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What the heck is Squidcasting? No it's not fishing for Squid! It's the awesome new interactive tool from the Squidoo HQ team. In a nutshell Squidcasting allows you to interact and react with your fans and fellow Squids. Check out my 50 Ways to Use Sq...
Zazzle Profits Poll
Check Out My Latest Zazzle "How-To" Lens!
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How To Create A Beautiful Squidoo Lens For Your Zazzle Gallery
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Welcome to "How To Create A Beautiful Squidoo Lens For Your Zazzle Gallery". Here are my Top Tips for creating a perfect Lens for your Zazzle Gallery!
Look What You Can Do With Squidoo!
I created these Squidoo Lenses to promote my Zazzle Gallery. Use the "Text Module" in Squidoo and copy the HTML from the "Build your own Product Link" on Zazzle to create these lenses!-
Custom Valentine's Day Postage Stamps & Cards
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Are you in the mood for love? Get these awesome custom Valentine's Day Postage Stamps and Cards from Zazzle for your main squeeze!
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Thank You Cards for Your Teacher & Coach
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Thank your Teacher or Coach with a Greeting Card. These cards a so popular right now and they are all original designs by D & D Art Studio. Click on card to order from Zazzle!
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Custom Postage Stamps For Your Baby Shower
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Dress up your Baby Shower Invitations with Custom Postage Stamps from Zazzle. These beautiful US postage stamps add a personal touch to any invitation. Here are some of my designs for a Baby Shower and Thank You cards. Or you can customize your own s...
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US State Greeting Postage Stamps by D & D Art Studio
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I love the idea of the State Quarters so I decided to put my artistic skills to work and design a set of "Greetings From" Postage Stamps on Zazzle for each of the 50 states. Click the Postage Stamps to order and see...
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Halloween Postage Stamps
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Dress up your Fall letters & bills with some scary or cute Halloween postage stamps. These makes terrific gifts too. Scare up a little Halloween fun this year!
Tools of the Trade!
Paint Shop Pro Photo X2
Amazon Price: $70.99 (as of 05/13/2008)
Adobe Photoshop Elements 6
Amazon Price: $74.99 (as of 05/13/2008)
Adesso CYBER TABLET 12X9" GRAPHICS/DRAWING TABLET WITH 2-BTN USB PEN AND MOUSE ( CYBERTABLET 12000 )
Amazon Price: $142.00 (as of 05/13/2008)
Zazzle Blog
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byZazzle Tech Blog
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byZazzle Contests
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byCheck Out Zigg!
- Zigg
- The Zazzle Digg!
- Zazzle Blog
- Thanks to power of coRank, a tool that allows users to create websites that share content with people, Zazzle now has its own external site for sharing and ranking products in real-time called Zigg.
NEW! Order Profile Cards from Zazzle!
- Order Profile Cards
- At Zazzle, you can create custom products from your own photos, images and designs. Order Profile Cards for yourself, family, or friends.
Other Print-On-Demand Companies
- Artist Rising
- Artist Rising is a new online community for contemporary artists around the world, providing tools and resources to enable artists to pursue their artistic and professional goals.
- CafePress
- Shop or Create What's On Your Mind at CafePress.com
- deviantART: where ART meets application!
- Art - community of artists and those devoted to art. Digital art, skin art, themes, wallpaper art, traditional art, photography, poetry / prose. Art prints.
- Printfection.com
- Design and sell custom t-shirts and promotional products in your own free online e-commerce merchandise store. Better than silk screen printing.
- Printpop.com
- Printpop.com sells high-quality digital reproduction posters, prints of unknown, undiscovered, part time, hobbyist and student artists.
Zazzle vs. CafePress
Which company do you prefer?
Fetching blurbs now... please stand byZazzle
Mr_Bill2 says:
I have been with CafePress just a slight few days longer than I have Zazzle. The score is at this time 46 to 1, in Zazzles' favor! My first order was 4/30/08. I prefer the company that provides me 'n JB and our next door neighbors, Jim 'n big Ethel with a lil xtry food to eat during Jim's time of unemployment... None of us is in a great way right now with the aconomy such as it is and all... Hey! Come see us some time! But, if you see somebody standin around out front of our house and it's about 6:00 p.m., kindly wait till they leave afore you go ta knockin cuz hits moren likely ole Jim and big Ethel out a lookin fer their evenin' feedin' - Thanks y'all!
Posted May 06, 2008
sellingnicestuff says:
We Think Green and Zazzles is our place. Easier to navigate for us. Still building. Recycle everyone! signed Mick
Posted May 05, 2008
loveitaly1 says:
I've only used zazzle, but I love them--I was concerned over quality of items my images would appear on, and they're excellent. They seem to continually upgrade things they're doing, too, to enhance one's gallery,etc.
Posted May 05, 2008
CafePress
NightSquid says:
CafePress only because this is the first time I've heard of Zazzle
Posted April 11, 2008
macwells says:
Of both my 'macwells' shops, I'd have to give it to Cafepress because I'm always on the run ... and love to throw a design on 80 products at once ... tweaking very little, thanks to the import tool... but, I love the assorted products and t-shirt models on Zazzle and all...
Posted February 25, 2008
Show off Your Zazzle Gallery
Don't forget to vote for your favorites!
FolkArtBlonde
6 points
WanderLinArts
5 points
T-Shirt Fun
4 points
ChubbyCat Galleries
3 points
DT's Art Studio
3 points
Lillyarts Fine Art Watercolor Prints
3 points
Cheryl's Art
3 points
HahpiStuff!
3 points
Art By JoLyn
3 points