Growth On Zazzle

[ZAZKAT]

What's the average time pass that you have seen or experienced before you see steady income on Zazzle?   The timeline it takes to build and properly create before steady income is coming in. And/or what you have seen or heard outside of your self?

 And if you are willing to share what figures you think you "can" make and be reasonable.  

Any insight would be helpful.

Thank you

[KeegansCreation]

It took me 2 or 3 years to see steady sales. I can't remember exactly. Even so there are still dry spells. I hit it big with a couple products- a mask that was popular during Covid, a graduation cookie that somebody bought in the hundreds, presumably to hand out to all graduates. But mostly it's a card and Post-Its one day, file folders and a t shirt the next. Then nothing for 3 days. Then wrapping paper and then more wrapping paper. That's steady but it's not tons of money.

What can you take away from my experience? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Peoples' experiences on here are so idiosyncratic that there really is no average time to steady sales, let alone a predictable $ amount.

You might benefit from Elke Clarke's Youtube channel. For $3K she'll hold your hand and pore over your store with tips. Money I'm not willing to lay out. But she does give away some Zazzle lessons for free on the Youtube channel. There are a couple videos I found very helpful where she deconstructs various Zazzle greeting cards with advice on how to improve layout. My greeting card layout is terrible so that was good. Just search for Jen and Elke Clarke on Youtube. 

Part of it is promotion, which I'm terrible at so people who are better at that will have better success. Part of it is finding a niche that is underserved or making a design people latch on to. Part of it is luck.

Zazzle News just posted a list of Christmas to-do's that is worth checking out.

These aren't answers to the questions you asked but the questions you asked can't really be answered. There is no average, at least none that can be sussed out on this forum. There are people here who make bank and people who go for months without a sale. And everything inbewteen. And only a tiny fraction are posting on the forum.

The Clarke's made bank. That's why I advise their Youtube channel.

[ZAZKAT]

There is a tremendous amount to learn.  Such a variety of artists, graphic artist's, etc. and their own style of work so that is great.  Zazzle has changed a lot over a 10-15 year period when Jen and Elke were starting out, so they had years to perfect and learn their art and artistry and business strengths.  Now the competition is fierce and between Zazzleland and Googleland and Print On Demand everything has changed.  The idea I am getting is that by year 3 you should start seeing some regular income.  That is the info I have pulled from here and there.  Yes, I watched some J and E Stuff.  Their schooling is much higher than 1K now.  I gather that most of you do not rely specifically on this one website.  Thank you for the information offerings.  I appreciate it.

[PacifierCity]

@ZAZKAT 

For reference: https://help.zazzle.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002536588-How-the-Pro-Program-Works

I've uncovered/discovered a little over 50 designers in the top 2 tiers, 50 - 75 in the gold level and several hundred in the silver level.

I've seen people climb the ladder quickly, moving up a level with in a year and another in the next year...  only a few,  but there are people who somehow know how to sell their stuff.

For the vast majority of people who are here... they make bronze within a year or two, maybe three and then it takes years to make silver... if they ever do... no offense to anyone... but unless you figure things out or know how to drive traffic to your products, you probably won't get into the top tiers...

Creating products is a small part of being successful.  Getting your product in front of the right people, people that will buy it, is the key.  Without that, there is no success...

So, no average, no easy answer.  For all of us the path is different.  And it is definitely work... not passive income as so many out there like to say.

Best of luck!

PC

..............................

ETA: 2 notes, the program linked above is for lifetime sales and only includes earnings from sales made in US dollars, not foreign currencies. 

......................................

[ZAZKAT]

So again, a few years drive forward to begin to grow, anyway.  A marketing background would help.  Interesting to see the numbers.  Thank you for that.  I read somewhere in googleland that 2020 showed 250 6 figure people.  They never seem to point out exactly if that means that they sold 6 figures or cleared the bank net at 6 figures.  And I even googled around to find out what the steady designer number is.  Anyone know?  Are we growing with 100,000 other designers?  or 1 Million other designers?  

Really, my efforts are to grow and learn, which I love, but it is the time constraint that gets in the way.  

[PacifierCity]

on this page: https://www.zazzle.com/about

"300mm sharable designs thanks to our robust community of over 900 thousand independent creators."

plus 500+ global brand partners.

And yes, for most it takes years, though a few get into silver and above in just a year or two...

Taking note of successful stores is a hobby of mine.  It is amazing to see the differences in who is successful and somewhat inspiring too.  There are many paths to success. 

If they can do it, why not me?  At least that's my mindset about it.

Best of luck.

PC

..............................

[MadjackGG]

My impression is that it's the designers who've been on the platform for a decade or so and who specialize in high-end customizable stationery (for weddings in particular), that are doing best.

[waterart]

All I can say is after years of sales slowly increasing they have now gone down hill, the downward spiral began a couple of years ago

[MissRhoadie]

It took me about two years to see steady income.  Promoting on Pinterest help drive traffic to my stores. 

[Pmpolite83]

Watched your YouTube videos good info. 

[chefcateringbiz]

This subject comes up constantly, and the same answer is: There's no one-size-fits-all solution or time span. What you first need to ask yourself at this point is what makes you different from all the other nature photography shops here, and if you can't answer that question, then you need to ask yourself how much time are you willing to dedicate to marketing better than all the other nature photography shops here. Working on one or the other - both would be ideal, of course - is a better path to success than waiting around hoping for sales. There's just no way around it.