WHAT CAN I CONNECT ZAZZLE TO?

[ZAZKAT]

Best to Connect Zazzle to Etsy?  Does that mean that I have to have finished product to ship and mail on my own? or is it just a feedback to Etsy?

Best to Connect to my own Website with links back to Zazzle?  

Best to Connect to a Storefront Website platform that links back to Zazzle?

Best to use Social Media direct to Zazzle?

Anything other ways to connect?

[ShadoWind]

This is a great question! I don't have a great answer though honestly. I remember before the forums changed I suggested that Zazzle have a drop-ship program so that people could connect Etsy in a legit way and  ship products strait to customers.... maybe I need to make that suggestion again in the new forums since it may have got lost with the old ones? I don't want to be too repetative tho...but your question reminded me of that!

[PacifierCity]

@ZAZKAT Where to start...  I can't help with the Etsy question.  I've only read that it is being done by one or two designers in the old forums... So did they have the product made by Zazzle, have it shipped to them, and then they shipped it to the customer?  Did they have Zazzle send it directly to the customer? (I think Z has some rules about this in the user agreement... but I don't know for sure off the top of my head.)  I really never inquired about this as it did not appeal to how I do things...

The next thing to ponder... Are you only selling through Z, or through other POD's or Direct ship websites too?  If your selling other DS products then you would want a storefront website and you would want the ability to make sales, collect money and user data, etc.  If you are only planning on selling through Z or Z and other POD's, then a storefront website may not be the way to go.

Having your own website does take time, and sometimes money?  Are you at the point where it makes sense to invest either of those?  Could you utilize a free website or blog?

Social media thoughts... Using these are a wonderful way to get the word out that you and your products exist.  Every social is different though.  So there is probably not a universal answer for this question.  With Pinterest, links that lead back to a Z url will generally only show the general product description shown on a product page and not the designer description.  Many of us feel that this practice makes it harder for someone to discover our products on Pinterest.  If you link back to a website or blog, then your description will stick.  But you are having the potential customer jump through a hoop to get to the product.  Is that too much to ask of the customer?  Hard to know.  I guess it depends on weither the website or blog is a destination and not just a list of products.  Is it a place that someone is "happy" to land on and not something that looks or feels "fake" or worse like a scammy place to be.  I can't speak to other socials as I have not found them to be too helpful for me.  I also have a few websites that don't really do anything for me... yet...lol. 

As you promote, learn to use tracking codes so that you can see where your promotional efforts are paying off.  It will help you decide what is worth the time, money and effort.

The one thing you did not mention is real world efforts.  I have had luck driving traffic through things like handing out business cards, a yard sign, and the like.  Don't discount real world efforts.  They always say that word of mouth is the best way to get folks to become customers.  There is something genuine about human to human contact that is not digital.

Best of luck deciding what path is best for you.  And I would recommend not getting too far ahead of yourself.  Until you have at least a few hundred products you won't have enough to fill out a social media platform, a website, a blog etc.  And you want to have enough product and variety so that if/when someone visits you, they have enough to explore...

Just my thoughts... for what they are worth...

PC

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[NigelSutherland]

Far better to use a production company that integrates directly with Etsy. In the UK I use Inkthreadable.

[Annyway]

I use Pinterest sometimes just to let people know my products are out there (here). Especially for the abstract art types of products - they are harder to find on Zazzle because it's difficult to have unique or standard keywords for them. Even though the pins might not get much traffic, clicks or even sales, they will sometimes also show up when someone's looking at someone else's similar Zazzle products on Pinterest.