Question about consistent sales

[womaninlove1980]

Hi, guys!

first of all, thank you for answering my never ending questions. Still trying to figure Zazzle out. 
how long did it take you to start seeing some consistent sales? Maybe not every day but once every 2 days or so?

also, I realize not everyone is Zazzle Platinum or Zazzle Diamond, but on average how much do you make daily or weekly? 
just trying to estimate how bad or decent I’m doing :).

thanks so much for all your help. 

[Windy]

Still waiting. My start date was June 6 2005.

[shellifitz]

It has taken me since 2015 to see weekly sales.  I would like to say daily but it is not always daily. I heavily promote my own and other peoples products. By that I mean that I have a Pinterest account with hundreds of boards and almost 80K pins.  I estimate that 80% of my pins are promotional. I also was on Twitter for several years, off for 2 years and now I am back on trying to build my network back up. I also have a few blogs but they are not the mainstay of my promoting. Pinterest is.   This Zazzle thing takes time to build momentum. To use the worn out cliche, it is a marathon not a sprint. 

[womaninlove1980]

Thanks so much for your reply, it's very helpful!!!!!

[digitalpri]

Just followed you on Pinterest. Do you have group boards for others as well?

[idraw]

@womaninlove1980

To your specific concerns,I learned when I started my first POD shop 20 years ago,it’s  best not to compare yourself to other SKs. The plethora of sks here have different niches and different styles. Some designers create using public domain clip art, some are artists who create original art, some  create products using photographs and/or are photographers, some are crafters.
There are few easy answers, it will take effort on your part. Read as many of the various posts for advice about tags, descriptions as you can find. Also search the HELP files, for example use ‘tags’ or ‘how to…’

Instead of focusing on how much you may start making and when…Some suggestions….How well do you add your tags and descriptions to each product. Do you add to social media. Do you have a website to add links to your products. Do you have a blog. Etc….
Some perspective about the ‘when’ of sales—Take into consideration we in the US are likely to be heading into a recession soon, which will affect other countries. Inflation is increasing as I write. Gas prices increasing almost daily. Rent is rising across the country. The conflict (unofficial war) in Ukraine. .Even zazzle just announced price increases due to inflation.  All these are just some of the reasons most people  are only doing essential spending. Me included. Not trying for doom and gloom, just pragmatism. Work toward the future success of your shop, if you can afford to do so, while you wait for things to improve.
Regarding how much other SKs make. It’s been asked repeatedly over the years by other newbies. You probably won’t get any definite answers.
Just want to thank the many shop keepers /SKS, who take time away from working on our shops to help each other  and making zazzle aware of issues by replying  to posts here on the forum. 

[womaninlove1980]

Thank you so much for your great response, I appreciate it!

[Connie]

Now I’m even more worried then I was before! The upcoming IPO is bad enough for the future outlook, and now you just reminded me about the looming recession! How bad did Zazzle sellers get hit during the last recession? I think this one will be a lot worse, maybe even worse than the Great Depression, but at least I can get some perspective by comparing to the last one. (I wasn’t on Zazzle then.)

[idraw]

Hi Connie, The main thing  that I hope stands out from my previous post is this--
...Work toward the future success of your shop, if you can afford to do so, while you wait for things to improve (IF we hit a rough spot)...whatever the future holds.
So, that's the only answer I have  to the question about sales and expectations for new Zazzlers,
I feel badly that my post made you more worried, it was not my intention. What I listed were just what I was thinking of as possible upcoming problems/situations to be aware of in general and to have perspective (your word--good choice) with regard to shops and sales. 
👣👀That's me trying to tread carefully with what I say....

Also meant for @womaninlove1980 

[Cat]

I agree with @idraw - what works for one designer is not going to be the same as what works for another. I don't even know how to answer your question because I sorta backed into being a Zazzle designer. I initially looked at Zazzle to see if I could use it for making print versions of the thousands of web-based graphics that I already had. But it turned out that my plan wouldn't work because my web-based stuff wasn't high enough resolution for printing. So I just played around and created a few products for the fun of it and then totally forgot about it. A year or two later I got an email that I'd sold something and decided maybe it was worth putting some time into it.

Anyhow, I'd say that it took a year or so of really working at it to get consistent sales. My basic strategy has been to try a bunch of different things, and whenever something sells, I make more things like it - meaning I make more designs for that product, or I make more products with the same design, or the same color scheme, or targeted to the same audience, or I make different colors of the thing that sold, or I make coordinating products to go with it. I figure there was some reason that the thing sold, so I try to build on every angle of it that I can think of, if that makes sense.

That approach works well for me because I don't really consider myself to be an artist, so I don't have much personal or emotional investment in the things I create. I'm just happy to create whatever it is that people want to buy. If I was someone who spent weeks or months on a painting and was using Zazzle as a way to sell my work, I think my approach would be totally different.

Hope something in there helps! Good luck!

[idraw]

The part of your reply where you said “ I sorta backed into being a Zazzle designer.” made  me laugh. I could just see it as a really odd and strangely funny endorsement in an ad for zazzle.

[Cat]

Hahahah! Well, I became a graphic designer (years before discovering Zazzle) by accident too! I guess I just live by the "always ride the horse in the direction it's goin'" philosophy! 

[idraw]

Hi Cat, You have a writer in you just squirming to be free...
you said "always ride the horse in the direction it's goin"
For those of us (me) who think in pictures...Whoa!
Purposeful pun there.
Not a horse person, but oh boy if the horse is willful,
going where the horse wants to go.uh, no. Keepin boots on the ground.
Your phrasing made me laugh yet again, and the idea of the horse backing up stuck in reverse  is stuck in my head now.

[Cat]

Ha! You're too kind. Actually, before I was a graphic designer I was a singer songwriter, so I do have a love of words. I can't take credit for that little gem though. It was something that one of my songwriting heroes, a fellow named Chuck Pyle, used to use in his stage banter. Don't know if he made it up or stole it from someone else. He was a great humorist, but my favorites were his more sentimental songs. And since I never miss an opportunity to share his music, here's a link to my very favorite Chuck Pyle song: https://youtu.be/paRSALlQ6y4

[KeegansCreation]

I have no memory of what year I started making consistent sales nor what my weekly average is (it changes wildly from week to week). For me it was more design based. I didn't start making consistent sales until I made a handful of designs that took off (well, took off for me, not that they were ever on the first line of a product page). Then I took the same approach as Cat; putting a successful design on many different products and making collections of these that coordinated and making color variants.

I have had some good success with microbiology designs. This comes from decades as a microbiologist so I know the inside jokes that would sell and how to accurately portray the bacteria in artistic form. What could be your take home message from that? It's that if you have something that is a big part of your life that could be portrayed artistically, that could be an avenue for successful designs because you will know what others who share that would like to see. Religion, profession, hobby, location, community. These are all things that people build niches around because they know so much about what designs will appeal. Somebody who is deeply religious will make better religious designs than somebody who is not. A golfer can make better golf designs. The best LGBTQ designs are made by people who are in that community. And then there's personal style. If you are glam and feminine and like clothes with sequins, you might do well with glittery, girly designs because you will have a sense for what works. But if your personal style is more minimalist, you'll have a better sense for minimalist designs. I live in an old house full of old things and was raised in a different old house full of old things. In my shapely youth I bought my clothes in vintage clothes stores and wore dresses from the 1940's. So I have done well with vintage designs as well as microbiology designs.

Of course not everybody who does vintage designs on here had a love for vintage before they ever heard of Zazzle. And a lot of the wedding stationary designers probably had no pre-existing love of weddings (although some must have). But it's a lot easier to go in the direction you were already going.

On the one hand, you have to design stuff that people will buy. On the other hand, it's a lot easier to do that if you deliberately design for people who have taste or hobbies or professions or communities etc. similar to yours.

[Connie]

I do a lot of wedding designs, but I DEFINITELY have no love for weddings in real life!

[VivianD117]

that is soooooooooooooooooo enouraging . ..  I have never in my life bought a wedding magazine or owned a white dress and I was married three times!!! That's why I don't know if I can do it.

[shellifitz]

Bear with me as I use one more worn out cliche that really really applies to this subject.  

When it comes to Zazzling " your mileage may vary"   ;0)

[alissag]

This maybe isn't quite the answer to your question, but as someone who started out very slowly and now regularly sells daily - currently at the high end of the Bronze level so take the advice for what it's worth - what worked for me was to spend time analyzing what items were selling for me on Zazzle. This means both the sort of designs that sold and the actual products i.e. greeting cards, t-shirts, etc. that sold to try and figure out what to focus on and what I could do to increase sales. Of course, when you're just starting out and sales aren't consistent it can be tough, I know.

[randysgrandma]

Just being honest here, it took several years for me

[Boki]

Hello,
Well come!
My suggestion for you to start is to follow as many Creators as possible whose designs you like, and then start sharing them on Pinterest, FB, ... Open your account on Pinterest and join the boards of existing creators, ... There are a lot of us on him. And later you can open your own tabs according to your wishes in relation to what you decided to create or promote, ... And in the meantime to build your own stores, studying designs and objects to which you have the most affinity - someone likes to create papers for decoupage, pillows, mugs, postcards, sneakers, glasses, ... Someone likes to work on topics - weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, ... Or on holidays as it occurs during the year, ... Also do you want modern or vintage, although it intertwines, so I think the combination would be the best, ... 🙂
Remember, not every product or creation goes to everyone, but with great effort you will get a good income, a combination of all of the above.
Even today, we, your older colleagues, look at the ways and talk, consult, how and what is in trend, and believe me, there is always something new - so do not hesitate to ask and advise.
I hope I was helpful to you, ...? 🙂

[chefcateringbiz]

I think it's a combination of uniqueness and a big enough audience that's the perfect combo in getting sales. Can't have one without the other these days, there are too many designers here to just coast along doing what everybody else is doing.