Graphic design and photography have been apart of my life for awhile now, but designing for Zazzle and promoting myself is fairly new to me. I've been Zazzling for over a month and have had great success thus far. What started as an experiment has now become something I am actively pursuing in hopes of making it a career. Despite early success, there have also been a lot of learning experiences. Since new people are setting up shops everyday, I decided to compile a list of things I wish I had known in the beginning. I am also including tips I have picked up from others along the way. To other Zazzlers who may be reading this, please feel free to add your tips in the comments below! I hope this helps some of the new Zazzle shopkeepers.
1. Design Quality
So, you've joined Zazzle? Congratulations on your new store. It's time to start designing, so you can get started selling some great products. Take a look around Zazzle and you'll see some amazing designs, but you'll also see some that look...um...not great. It's okay, because it happens to the best of us. Watch out for blurred images, pixelation, and designs getting cut off due to being out of the "Safe Design Area".
It's important to know some of the basics of Zazzle's requirements for file formats, picture resolution, etc. Here's a link to find out more on those requirements:
File Formats & Compression
2. Product Names/Descriptions/Categories/Tags
You've created some super...amazing...fantastic designs, but now what? It's time to name your product, come up with a description, figure out which categories your product falls under, and decide which tags you will use to describe your product.
Naming products is something that I struggle with at times. The thing I try to accomplish when naming my products is relevancy. Is the name relevant to the product I'm trying to sell? Try to stick to something simple that describes your product, but keep it short and sweet...or you'll run out of characters. Keep it simple.
Categories...I hate them. They do serve a purpose, though. Categories helps customers sift through all of the products on Zazzle. The best advice I can give to you is to make sure you are thinking about how customers can find your product. Think about the times when you use Google to search for something. If you are looking for something specific, you sometimes need to try using different word combinations. For instance, if you are trying to find a German Shepherd wall clock, you might have to switch up your wording to find exactly what you are looking for. You wouldn't just type in "dog clock", you might say "German Shepherd wall clock" or just "German Shepherd clocks". And what about if you were selling a German Shepherd wall clock? I am not suggesting for anyone to go crazy with their tags, because Zazzle doesn't tolerate spam. Just because they allow up to 40 tags doesn't mean you should try and max it out. Use a reasonable amount of words and phrases that are relevant. There is no set amount that you should use. Most of the time, the amount of tags used depends on your product. If you were indeed selling a German Shepherd clock, using tags such as "dogs and puppies" would be relevant, because sometimes people search for random things on Zazzle. Your next sale might come from someone who was just browsing.
Try to fill out as much information as possible. This is my least favorite part, but it's one of the most important.
3. Pricing
Pricing wasn't the easiest when I first started out. What if I priced my products too high? What if I priced them too low? The truth is, you never know what people are willing to pay for some products. It's important to be paid fairly for the hard work you put in to your shop, but you may never see any sales if your prices are too high. I also try to think about how hard I worked on the item. If it didn't take me long and was relatively easy, would it make sense for me to charge a lot? Probably not.
Notice in the picture above that your royalty percentage is finalized after 24 hours of your product being submitted. If you decide to change your prices later on, your price will not be changed until the 20th of the month. If you decide you priced something too high or too low, don't feel bad about it. I went through and changed a lot of pricing for products I added when I first started. It's all about trial and error.
4. Pinterest and Referrals
Pinterest can be a really great marketing tool for your Zazzle store...or a nightmare. I'm here to help you avoid the nightmare. When you pin one of your products on Pinterest, be sure and check your link. I had pinned around 500 pins before I realized the links didn't even have my Associate ID for referrals. What that means is for those who clicked on my link and made a purchase, I did NOT receive my 15% referral. What I did wrong was I used my "Pin It" button on my Mozilla Firefox browser instead of Zazzle's "Share" button which I've circled in the screenshot.
If you're not sure what your Associate ID is, I've included a screenshot of how to locate it and how to build referral links. For those you who aren't the visual type, just go to "My Account" and then "Associates" to find your ID.
Zazzle also allows you to receive a 15% commission if you pin other people's products (OPP). If you are into blogging, you can also showcase other people's products there as well. Referrals can be a great way to make extra money.
5. Organization
Like any business, it's important to stay organized. When you are creating hundreds or even thousands of products on Zazzle, it can become chaotic if you don't have a consistent workflow. I admit it, I'm not the most organized. The more you grow your store, the harder it is to stay organized. I would love to say my store is perfect, but it's definitely a work in progress. I have a "to do" list a mile long and most of it consists of steps I need to take to organize my store. The best thing to do is figure out what works best for you. It may take a month or two before you are consistent, but keep trying and it will fall into place.
6. But Will It Sell?
It's hard enough to come up with good ideas for things to create, but it's even more difficult to think of things that will actually sell. Or is it? Now and again, it may pop into your head "that won't sell", but are you sure? My biggest sellers are things that I never thought would sell. I almost didn't add them to my store. Though I haven't reached Pro status yet, I just might before long due to products I didn't think would sell.
In order to succeed in business, we can't always create just what we would buy. It's a great starting point, but think of how many sales you would miss out on. Let's say you have a store selling clothing and accessories for dog lovers. You're only making products for pug, golden retriever, and chow chow fans because that's what kind of dogs you have. Obviously you wouldn't be able to make items for every single dog breed, but wouldn't your business be more profitable if you expanded to a few more dog breeds?
7. Avoiding Burnout
There will be days where you are sick of working on designs, promoting, or even Zazzle itself. It's okay to take a break. Some days I just don't have it in me to work on it. Take a day off. Zazzle can be extremely addicting. I spend a lot of time on creating designs, painting, jotting down ideas, and then trying to promote it all. I know I have already mentioned the importance of keeping things organized, but it will help you avoid burnout. Make a schedule and stick to it. It will prevent you from working yourself in the ground. Schedule your breaks, lunches, etc. Lists will also help you keep your business in order.
Helpful Links
File Formats & Compression
Tutorials and Guides
Conclusion
Zazzle is a great place to work with. It does take a lot of hard work, but it's very rewarding in the long run. For a designer, there's no better feeling than someone enjoying your product enough to purchase it.
I hope that this list helps everyone out. I will post more about Zazzle-related topics in the near future, so be sure and sign up to follow my blog by email. If anyone has any questions, don't hesitate to
email me.
Jess
