I really thought I would make some saless from my new premium shop, which is the first link in my siggy.
But, no, people are not even looking at it. According to google analytics 1 person viewed it yesterday! Yikes!
I am a painter and sell my artwork online. I thought my cafepress shop would give me a bit of extra money.... All I want of my cafepress shop is some money each month.
I am glad that my Cafepress subscription for a premium shop is just for 6 months which isn't very much money.
I started a Squidoo lens to promote my shops. I also have basic shops for nudes. The nude designs are included in this lens.
Just venting.
And,I don't want to soften the edges of my paintings that are the artwork that appears on my t-shirts, etc.
If you have any tips, please post them. If not, no problem.
Originally posted by 1nina: I really thought I would make some saless from my new premium shop, which is the first link in my siggy.
But, no, people are not even looking at it. According to google analytics 1 person viewed it yesterday! Yikes!
I am a painter and sell my artwork online. I thought my cafepress shop would give me a bit of extra money.... All I want of my cafepress shop is a little bit of money each month.
I am glad that my Cafepress subscription for a premium shop is just for 6 months which isn't very much money.
I started a Squidoo lens to promote my shops. I also have basic shops for nudes. The nude designs are included in this lens.
Just venting.
And,I don't want to soften the edges of my paintings that are the artwork that appears on my t-shirts, etc.
If you have any tips, please post them. If not, no problem.
1) In 2 1/2 months, I've sold 152 items, 6 of which have been clothing. (2/3 of my sales have been to friends and family) Some things just look better on the non-clothing products. You might want to focus on those and not worry about the shirts so much.
2) You don't have to get rid of all the backgrounds, but look at Pink Swaying Tree as an example. The bakground is not quite white, but very light. Make that transparent and suddenly you have a design without any hard edges. Not much of a compromise in my opinion. For those where the background is key to the painting, you just have to live with the hard edges. You can do the same thing with the Calla Lilly, but for dark clothing only and make the balck background transparent.
3) The peaceart work may be what will sell best. Again, focus on the non clothing and if you have to crop the image a little to make it fit the product better, go ahead and crop a little. (e.g. tile coaster and note cards).
4) Make sure everything has a relevant title and description.
5) While I'm too new to argue with the common wisdom on CP of organizing by design, I wonder if that is necessarioy the best way for art work like yours. Look at my shop organization. Then take a look at how I did the Cats section, which is how I'm considering changing everything. I don't know what is best, but it is something to think about.
You know I love your work. I do think it will be successful in time. But it might take a little more work at first, and a little more time.
Your paintings are beautiful, but they are going to be hard to sell as designs. Just pretty is usually not enough on CP. Designs that sell the best have a message or in some way help the one using them express feelings, beliefs, ideas, etc. It will be hard, but not impossible. Your best bet is to promote your products to people who buy your paintings. They are already interested in your art, so why not offer them other than just the paintings? Make business cards with your shop url clearly visible on them and give/send them to each new buyer of your art. You can even make a leaflet with a few sample images of your products and give that to the buyers, too.
There is so much you can do with promotion, but nothing will help you if you are not willing to do the work. If you don't remove the whiteish background from your paintings, if you don't soften the edges, if you don't size the design properly for each product don't expect sales. You have a lot to learn and a lot to do to improve your shops. If you don't want to do it, then shopkeeping is probably not for you.
Hope you didn't mind my honesty. Good luck with your shops.
I guess I'm just repeating what people before have said- but *do* add your designs to everything they go on. Especially things like cards, postcards, notebooks, small posters and prints. I often just click the 'add all products to section' option, then go through taking out the things that don't work.
Softening the edges doesn't have to be a fade-out effect. I don't think that'd work well with your pieces- part of their loveliness is the crisp colours and shapes, especially with the trees. As AkJeff says- if you can take out the white background from some of the trees for apparel they might work better.
Essentially, don't give up. Most people have to wait a long time for their sales to become regular. I think getting at least a 6 month subscription is the way to go, as you'll be able to see how sales improve. If you'd just signed up for a month... would you already be thinking about giving up?
It's pushing my memory a bit, but I signed up last summer, and sales only reached a reasonable level after that halloween!
Your paintings are beautiful, but they are going to be hard to sell as designs. Just pretty is usually not enough on CP. Designs that sell the best have a message or in some way help the one using them express feelings, beliefs, ideas, etc. It will be hard, but not impossible. Your best bet is to promote your products to people who buy your paintings. They are already interested in your art, so why not offer them other than just the paintings? Make business cards with your shop url clearly visible on them and give/send them to each new buyer of your art. You can even make a leaflet with a few sample images of your products and give that to the buyers, too.
There is so much you can do with promotion, but nothing will help you if you are not willing to do the work. If you don't remove the whiteish background from your paintings, if you don't soften the edges, if you don't size the design properly for each product don't expect sales. You have a lot to learn and a lot to do to improve your shops. If you don't want to do it, then shopkeeping is probably not for you.
Hope you didn't mind my honesty. Good luck with your shops.
BZ,
I appreciate your honesty a great deal. And, I agree with everything you said.
Originally posted by Plague Rat: I guess I'm just repeating what people before have said- but *do* add your designs to everything they go on. Especially things like cards, postcards, notebooks, small posters and prints. I often just click the 'add all products to section' option, then go through taking out the things that don't work.
I have been doing this, too.
quote:
Essentially, don't give up. Most people have to wait a long time for their sales to become regular. I think getting at least a 6 month subscription is the way to go, as you'll be able to see how sales improve. If you'd just signed up for a month... would you already be thinking about giving up?
It's pushing my memory a bit, but I signed up last summer, and sales only reached a reasonable level after that halloween!
I signed up for a 6 month subscription.
What upset me is that so few people are actually visiting my shop, according to google analytics. Not enough people are visiting my shop to even see its inadequacies as you've all noted. LOL
When I revamp my site I will send a mass email message to buyers of my artwork.
What upset me is that so few people are actually visiting my shop, according to google analytics. Not enough people are visiting my shop to even see its inadequacies as you've all noted. LOL
When I revamp my site I will send a mass email message to buyers of my artwork.
Thanks guys!
Six months is BARELY enough time to let all the search engines find and crawl your site. I would give it AT LEAST another six months, but I hear it can take a couple years and HUNDREDS or thousands of designs to establish a shop. Don't give up too early, it takes lots of time and effort...and patience.
Read the forum sections on SEO and promoting your shop, there is a ton of very valuable information there.
It's been 7 1/2 mo. for me and I have yet to receive my first check. But I'm sticking with it and working hard and having fun and I can see progress...SLOWLY...and that encourages me to keep at it.
We are so used to things happening quickly that most of us go through periods of frustration before we start to see success. http://www.tutortanith.com/givingup.htm
Diane Blackman
Experiment! Try things! Then if you can't figure it out - ask. Play with Your Dog
I decided to give up on my premium shop. I have already spent many hours on it and it still requires much more work.
I simply do not have more time to work on it.
My priority is creating my paintings and marketing them.
I never imagined that Cafepress stores require as much marketing and promotion as they do.
When I just had basic shops I made a few sales. I will revert to having basic shops and add more basic shops to my repertoire of shops. This is far less time-consuming.
Originally posted by BZ: I find premium shops much easier to work with, but we are all different. Anyway, good luck with your paintings and the basic shops.
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I do think it will be successful in time. But it might take a little more work at first, and a little more time.
