What novel ways do you have for promoting your products? Please share!
I have made a couple of Doodle-style youtube videos and today made my first ever ‘animation’ (animation in the loosest sense of the word!) to promote my products and services. Please let me know what you think, though it is as simple as can be.
and a doodly style one
Pretty cool! If you want to zhuzh the videos up with royalty free and free-licence (with attribution) background music, here’s one I took a look at a while ago. You’ll just need to check licences for yourself to make sure you’re happy with the terms. There’s paid ones as well, I guess so that you might not need to stick attribution links in your video descriptions.
I ended up using Placeit for mockups - and tried a video pin for Pinterest. Had to do a bit more editing, sadly (as I’d never used Kdenlive before) and had to faff around to stitch two clips together. One was landscape and the other portrait, so it kinda got a bit messy, but works okay with a quickie ad followed by my Zazzle Store ident.
Here’s the pin link to that video. (Not GREAT with how it handles the custom design, as it kind of flickers a little bit, but first go at a video, so meh. Whatever. Lol.)
Awesome advice thank you. I love your video, very fun!
Re the music, I’m not a fan of music on videos. I usually have the sound turned off. People have such varied tastes in that regard. I might do a voice over at some point but I have an accent so not sure that will be pleasing to the ears either! 😆
really cool. Thanks for sharing. 
Congrats to both of you on your fun videos ..you guys are making me feel like a slacker!
I did get all gung ho last year and created a couple of videos for pinterest (my first attempt at vids) but I found that they got a lot less traction than ordinary pins so I kinda gave it up (they weren’t very good anyway..lol. Here’s one I made: https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/502432902186746519/ Oh, and speaking of music, this one really sucks!
And I hope you won’t hesitate to talk on your videos because of an accent @CreativeLeahG … accents can be really appealing! I actually like hearing the various accents of contributors on YouTube… it just makes them seem more relatable and human somehow. The only thing I’ve noticed is that some people speak too quickly and then it’s harder for my ear to adjust.
Just a tip to add onto the music idea. YouTube has a library of audio sounds and music. Would be worth taking a peek at.
Your pin video is brilliant! It might not have performed well on Pinterest but should be great on youtube and websites I’d have thought?
I feel like a cave man now, but my novel way to promote my stores is by sticking my business card in every shipment that I sell on my eBay. I have sent out over 300 cards now to places all over the country and to Thailand, Indonesia and Ireland. I wish I could track to see if it works!
I be that DOES work. I have been astounded in the past to find that quite a few small homebased businesses do NOT understand this simple trick. There was a photog who did preschool pix for the class, and did not bother to include ANY information in the packet when she delivered the pix. I wanted to order another copy but was not willing to do the research to find out who she was or what her contact info was. All she needed to do would have been include a cheaply produced slip of paper.
I tried my hand at video production after I realized that a Professional Wedding photographer from Utah made a very popular TikTok showing how to steal the work of Zazzle designers. Her rationale was “you can save so much money” and many people commented cheering her on for this. I made the video to help spread the word that our designs are made my regular folks, who are just trying to make a living, not some big corporation. https://pin.it/4ybr7YR
Thanks @CreativeLeahG … I wasn’t really happy with it but one of these days I might try again and put it on YouTube this time. In the mean time, I’ll have fun seeing what everyone else has created. 😊
That sounds like a brilliant idea! Not caveman at all, very entrepreneurial.
To track the success you could ask that they contact YOU for a link to a reduced-priced item (perhaps you republish an item for them with slightly lower royalty - direct link only) so it is a type of loyalty card you’re sending them - VIP prices!
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This IS a VERY clever idea! I will share it across my networks. Very imaginative way to convey a message!
Do you have a youtube version?
I suggested previously doing a tiktok to talk about content thieves, but I’d rather not do this myself. I am not good at that sort of thing. Would support anyone else who did however ..
Thank you. I do not have a Youtube version…and I am not sure how to make one. I would be happy if others reading this thread would copy my idea, and improve upon it. I have too many irons in the fire, so this foray into video production may have been a one time thing for me, at the moment anyway.
It is time-consuming, and probably be quicker with practice. I just spent all morning messing about and still have nothing to show for it! 
But I would like to try and learn a bit more about animations. I might try an animated ‘stop stealing from us’ video! I could add a cat burglar character. :thinking:
I always take cards with me on vacation and ask to leave a few in quaint little shops along the way. It is usually at places where I see they already have a rack or bulletin board of cards and flyers. You never know.
I also have updated/upgraded my business cards to showcase an artwork on the front (full bleed and I pay a little more to get them in semi gloss- so worth it!), and my website info/logo on the back so that they are more eye catching. Someone may just want to grab a free cute mini piece of art on their way out and look at it later and buy.
This is what the first ones I made look like and this year I added a different piece of art. They are super pretty in person. (I think, anyway!)
That’s a great idea. I do the business cards also, but on a much smaller scale. One idea I had was to go to the library (Yes, I’m a cave man also) and put my business cards inside of books that have to do with the type of products I design. (I haven’t done it yet) I have mailed lots of them out to family and friends and asked them to help me by giving them out. I mailed some to a friend in Texas, but that’s about as far away from home as I’ve gone. (Louisiana girl, here)
As for social media, the only thing I’m on is Pinterest, but that doesn’t seem to be getting many views. 🤔
Sweet idea!
What program are you all using to make these short vids? Windy, ABSOLUTELY LOVE your video!
