POD News: tips

Showing posts with label tips. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Possible Price Tweaking Trick

I was playing around with some of the prices on my posters at Zazzle, and I noticed that you can sometimes UP your earnings without changing your price. Like I had one poster selling for $14.75 at 10%--and I was making $1.48 off of it. When I changed it to 11% it still showed it at $14.75 but it showed my profit as $1.62. I don't think this has to do with having to wait until the 20th of the month to see the changes, because this was the preview of what the price would be. I will check back after the 20th and see if the $14.75 price holds though. (I checked...they did).

Not going to make a big difference or be worth your time if you sell small amounts, but if you sell a lot of a certain item this could add up.

Thursday, August 21, 2014

Create Fan Art - And Sell It LEGALLY!

Imagine you thought of a great Star Trek design and wanted to sell it on T-shirts. In most cases you'ld be out of luck since you would either be breaking copyright law or stepping in very hazy legal territory regarding how that law applies to parody. But, by working through a print on demand service that has special permission to publish fan-designed products, you CAN design and sell products related to TV shows (like Star Trek), movies, video games, and more!
Print on demand services (PODS) allow artists to put their own designs on items like shirts, mugs, and posters and then sell them through their own shop and/or the PODS' marketplace. The print on demand services set up digital mock-ups so customers can see how the product will look with the artwork. Then they print and ship products when customers order them, and the artist earns a commission.

Some Print on Demand services have made deals with TV Stations, movie producers, and other groups to let their artist contributors provide fan-created art to sell through the PODS. Usually there are specific rules on what types of designs will be accepted and how their copyrighted content can be used.

Read on to find out about various PODS participating in these types of partnerships.

CafePress Fan Portals

CafePress has over 100 fan portals where you can share your designs for movies, T.V. shows, and more such asStar Trek, Twilight, The Hunger Games, Goodfellas, Mighty Mouse, and so many others!

See a Complete List Here.

Zazzle Fan Portals

Right now Zazzle just two fan portals (that I know of)…click the links below to see their design guidelines and learn more about the programs.

Transformers

Saturday Night Live

Outlander

US ARMY

Sony Music
Below is a list of the songs from Sony Music that they are accepting designs for.

* Ain’t Gonna Bump No More With No Big Fat Woman
* Alone
* Burnin’ For You
* Burning Love
* Come Together
* Crazy
* Girls Just Want To Have Fun
* Heartbreak Hotel
* Hit Me With Your Best Shot
* Hush
* I Can’t Stop Loving You
* I Fought The Law
* I Love The Nightlife
* King Of The Road
* Like A Virgin
* Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys
* Spooky
* Stand By Me
* Suspicious Minds
* True Colors
* Tutti Frutti

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

FREE GRAPHIC: Add "Water" To Your AquaVista Clock, Front View

Zazzle has recently added the Aquavisa Clock, a clock that is designed to double as a fish-bowl for bettas. They do not, however, have any pictures of these clocks with an actual fish in it. (UPDATE: They have added a view with water and a beta fish! Yeah! It's an angled view, so you still might want to use this one, especially if you are adding alternative contents, like I mention below, since those are easier to add from a straight on view). When I made a comment on the Zazzle forum about that, I started a firestorm of backlash against this clock/bowl, which many said was too small to keep a fish in (I researched...Bettas can be kept in a bowl this small, though a good environment is harder to maintain and a larger bowl is better for them). That aside, you COULD use this for a number of other things, such as a indoor water garden or terrarium, displaying flowers, showing off your marble collection, etc.. Personally, I'd like to try this out with a ROBOTIC fish (yes, there is such a thing, and they're not that expensive even)....

I also posted about this on Zazzlers on Facebook, mentioning the lack of a "with fish" example. And in response promptly had someone add a fish for me (thanks Maria) and that prompted me to get busy and see if I could figure out how to add some water.

The following graphic should fit the 499 pixel wide graphic of a fishtank. If you want to know how to save a Zazzle image at this size, click here for my tutorial. This should be added as a layer on top of the fish tank graphic, with an opacity of around 33% (play around with it to see what works for your design). Then just merge the layers and you should have a tank that looks like it has water in it.

TERMS OF USE
I got the waterline from this Creative Commons picture from by Dean McCoy. While it is free for alteration and commercial use, attribution is required (not to me, but to Dean McCoy...though if you want to mention PODNews I'd be pleased). I'm going to ask if it's ok to use this without attribution if we are using this on a banner ad or advertisement where attribution would be difficult. But I haven't heard back yet, so for now, please attribute. Otherwise, this is free for you to use.

You will have to find your own fish or plants or whatever you want to add to your "water" as I don't know where Maria got her fish and if I have permission to distribute it. I looked on the Aquavista website and they also show their "example fish" smaller, so this fish is not to scale.

How to Link, Resize, and Save Zazzle Images

Zazzle makes it very easy to link to images. Here's how...

First, go to the product you want to link to. To the right (or sometimes underneath) the product, you will see a "Share" button. Click it. Then click the "Link To This" button or tab. That should bring up the following screen...

You can see, there is HTML code you can add to your blog or website, and BBC code you can add to many forums, including the Zazzle forum. You can select a large or small image. The large will be 325 pixels and the small 125 pixels. You can simply highlight the code and paste it in the HTML editor of your blog. If you want to save a picture of the product, you can right click on it from this screen and save it.

But what if you need it in another size? All Zazzle image URLS can be tweaked to create a different size.
I'll show you how, but first, lets look at the different parts of the code so you can tell which part does what.

<div style="text-align:center;line-height:150%"> <a href="http://www.zazzle.com/heart_of_flowers_ornaments-175357796143474991?rf=238984407003792011"> <img src="http://rlv.zcache.com/heart_of_flowers_ornaments-rfaa50f5381ee4a78b3df1aa6421ed9c1_x7s21_8byvr_325.jpg" alt="Heart of Flowers Ornaments" style="border:0;" /> </a> <br /> <a href="http://www.zazzle.com/heart_of_flowers_ornaments-175357796143474991?rf=238984407003792011">Heart of Flowers Ornaments</a> by <a href="http://www.zazzle.com/scribbleprints*">scribbleprints</a> <br /> <a href="http://www.zazzle.com/custom/ornaments?rf=238984407003792011">Make your own Christmas ornaments</a> online. </div>

Here is what all the sections do:

The orange section sets the style...it makes it centered, etc.
The pink and purple section is what makes the image and links it to the page. The pink is the part that creates the link. The purple is what makes the picture show up.
The green is what makes all the links and text at the bottom show up.
The black <br/> tags mark a new line...without them this would all be on the same line.

OK, now that that's covered, lets just look at the image URL....

<div style="text-align:center;line-height:150%"> <a href="http://www.zazzle.com/heart_of_flowers_ornaments-175357796143474991?rf=238984407003792011"> <img src="http://rlv.zcache.com/heart_of_flowers_ornaments-rfaa50f5381ee4a78b3df1aa6421ed9c1_x7s21_8byvr_325.jpg" alt="Heart of Flowers Ornaments" style="border:0;" /> </a> <br /> <a href="http://www.zazzle.com/heart_of_flowers_ornaments-175357796143474991?rf=238984407003792011">Heart of Flowers Ornaments</a> by <a href="http://www.zazzle.com/scribbleprints*">scribbleprints</a> <br /> <a href="http://www.zazzle.com/custom/ornaments?rf=238984407003792011">Make your own Christmas ornaments</a> online. </div>

There is a number in it. Changing that number will make the image a different size. For example....

If I change the image URL to http://rlv.zcache.com/heart_of_flowers_ornaments-rfaa50f5381ee4a78b3df1aa6421ed9c1_x7s21_8byvr_200.jpg (changes in bold purple), it will look like this....

Heart of Flowers Ornaments by scribbleprints
Make your own Christmas ornaments online.

And if I change the image URL to http://rlv.zcache.com/heart_of_flowers_ornaments-rfaa50f5381ee4a78b3df1aa6421ed9c1_x7s21_8byvr_500.jpg it will look like this...

Heart of Flowers Ornaments by scribbleprints
Make your own Christmas ornaments online.

Images 500 pixels or over will sometimes show a Zazzle watermark.

If you want to save an image at any size, just copy the image URL to your browser window, right click on the image, and save it.

Saturday, March 1, 2014

Embed Feature On CafePress Products

One thing I love about Zazzle is how easy they make it to add product images to blogs or wherever...on any product (unless it's been disabled by the artist) you can click the share link and get code to embed it.

Looks like CafePress has finally jumped on the bandwagon. I just saw a new embed button on one of my products in the marketplace, as well as a button to share it on facebook and favorite it on CP. NICE. (Note, no affiliate link if you're part of that program, though...you'll have to add that manually).

But, would they have the same thing in my shop, I wondered. The answer is sometimes and kind of. I haven't found this on any in my upgraded shops...they are on some products in my BASIC shops, so it may be that this is being added to all of them there (and may show up in upgraded shops eventually...I don't know). You will notice a difference though...

Notice the difference? (Yes, this is like one of those spotting games they have in magazines). Clue...there's one less button.

Shamrock Organic Men's Fitted T-Shirt (dark)

Shamrock T-Shirt by Scribbleprints
Find more mens & unique gifts at CafePress

And you can also choose a smaller size....

Shamrock T-Shirt by Scribbleprints
Find more mens & unique gifts at CafePress

CafePress does not seem to be sneaking in links straight to the marketplace if you embed from a marketplace shop, which is good. But I do notice that if I try to get back to my basic shop (unlike my Updated non-basic shop, which so far doesn't have this embedding feature) from the product page, the only way is to use the back button on my browser. There is a link to my CP profile, but not a link to my basic shop anywhere on the page. While means, if someone embeds a product from my shop and someone follows it, even though it looks like I will get shop credit if they buy THIS product, they will never find their way to the other products in my own shop. This is a change that took place a while ago...I'm just noticing the implications now.

So, even in this CP makes certain that all roads go to the marketplace.

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Selling Your Art Through Print on Demand: Getting Started

What Is Print on Demand?

By working through a print on demand company (or POD) you can sell products like shirts, posters, mugs, mousepads, cards and more printed with your designs without having to pay any up front printing costs. The idea is simple. You supply the company with the designs, and the POD company provides you with a shop that shows your designs on various items--but nothing is actually printed until a customer orders it. The POD collects their "base price" on orders and you make an artist commission or mark-up on the sale. They handle the production and shipping, collect sales taxes, etc., so you can focus on making great art.

There are various print on demand services out there. Below is a guide on what to look for when choosing a POD for your art. At the bottom you can find links to detailed reviews of the services I've used and links to the other print on demand services I'm aware of.

What To Look For in a POD

There are several different considerations in choosing a print-on-demand company. Some may be more important to you depending on what you want to sell, who you want to sell it to, and how much time you want to put into your shop.

Product Selection
What can you sell?
Product and Printing Quality
Do they meet your quality standards?
Storefront
How is the online store front laid out, what features are offered, how much flexibility do you have to make it your own, and how difficult is it to set up, add products, and maintain your shop?
Product Price
What is the base price of the products (before adding your commission or mark-up)?
Production & Shipping Time/Cost
How fast do your customers get their orders, and how much will they pay for shipping?
Customer Base
Does the company have a market for your niche already in place, or will you have to rely mainly on your own promotional efforts?

POD Shops List and Reviews

List of PODS
My POD Reviews: Zazzle, CafePress, Printfection, ArtsNow
More POD Reviews

Friday, March 15, 2013

Do you have giveaways? Facebook Rules...

Facebook changed their rules so the info below is no longer current. You can see the new rules here and find a good article commenting on it here.

---THIS INFO BELOW IS OLD AND NO LONGER ACCURATE. I AM KEEPING THIS ON THE PAGE FOR HISTORICAL PURPOSES ONLY --

There are some other facebook guidelines that could get you in trouble if you make "liking on facebook" a requirement for your giveaways---it all depends on how you word it and how you count those likes. You can learn more at the following links...

Facebook Giveaway: Rules, Contests, and Regulations Esplained (Rafflecopter Blog)

Facebook Promotions Guidelines Training (Facebook's Own Site)

My takeaways from these articles are this...

1. You can give people entries for liking your facebook page...only so long as you record that some other way than through their like (i.e. like this page AND leave a comment saying you did). The important thing is that they aren't automatically entered when they like your page.

2. You do need to word it carefully so they don't think they are automatically entered for liking your page. In other words, you can say "To enter you must be a facebook fan and leave a leave your e-mail in the form below", or "All my facebook fans get an extra entry if they leave a comment below" but not "Like my facebook page to enter." You have to make it clear that new or existing fans can enter, so ou should avoid any text that specifically says "Like this page to enter, " since that could make it sound like it's only for new fans, or that it's actually the action of clicking the like button that enters you (which is against facebook terms)

3. "You can’t ask folks to directly “Share this promotion on Facebook” and award them an entry or a point for the physical act of sharing." (Rafflecopter Article) But you can reward those who send you traffic from facebook or otherwise in other ways (such as asking entrants to say who referred them, and then giving entries to those who referred them.)

4. You still risk getting "fake fans" which could hurt you. So, something to consider.

I have also read one account about someone getting in trouble because she got too many likes from fake facebook accounts! Since "sweepers" (people who enter a lot of sweepstakes) are often the ones with these fake accounts, this is a real danger. But I've only heard about this happening once.

One other thing unrelated that can cause you trouble is if you don't have a current phone number listed on facebook it could slow down the process of getting your facebook page back online. Another blogger I know of was not able to get her facebook page back up because they wanted to confirm that she was the owner of the page by text, and she had an old number listed. You can set your phone to unlisted, but make sure it's current, or that could cause you problems. It's somewhat unlrelated to giveaways, but I thought I'd mention it here anyways.

For more rules you should know about hosting giveaways, click here.

Friday, December 28, 2012

Grabbing Zazzle Images, and Resizing Them

Zazzle makes it very easy to grab images from their site. There's a link button on each product page that lets you grab code to paste on your website or blog (on some pages it's under "Share This").

Here is an image I grabbed without changing the code...

Scribbleprint Clover Sticker by scribbleprints
See more Clover Stickers

Below is what that code looks like. I've colored it for clarity. The red code is what makes this centered (and does some other formatting which I haven't figured out the importance of). The purple code is what turns the picture into a link. The green code is the image code, and the bolded part is the image URL. The code in blue is the text under the sticker.

<div style="text-align:center;line-height:150%"> <a href="http://www.zazzle.com/scribbleprint_clover_sticker-217936943026651546?gl=scribbleprints&rf=238984407003792011"> <img src="http://rlv.zcache.com/scribbleprint_clover_sticker-p217936943026651546en8ct_325.jpg" alt="Scribbleprint Clover Sticker" style="border:0;" /> </a> <br /> <a href="http://www.zazzle.com/scribbleprint_clover_sticker-217936943026651546?gl=scribbleprints&rf=238984407003792011">Scribbleprint Clover Sticker</a> by <a href="http://www.zazzle.com/scribbleprints*">scribbleprints</a> <br /> See more <a href="http://www.zazzle.com/clover+stickers?rf=238984407003792011">Clover Stickers</a> </div>

Now lets look at just the image URL.

http://rlv.zcache.com/scribbleprint_clover_sticker-p217936943026651546en8ct_325.jpg

Notice the number right before the jpg. This is the pixel size. Below, I've changed that pixel size to 200.

Now, you can make any Zazzle image as big as 499 (after 500 they put a watermark over it) or as small as you want.

POD News

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Possible Price Tweaking Trick

Thursday, August 21, 2014

Create Fan Art - And Sell It LEGALLY!

CafePress Fan Portals

Zazzle Fan Portals

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Zazzle Special Days Categories

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

FREE GRAPHIC: Add "Water" To Your AquaVista Clock, Front View

How to Link, Resize, and Save Zazzle Images

Saturday, March 1, 2014

Embed Feature On CafePress Products

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Selling Your Art Through Print on Demand: Getting Started

Friday, March 15, 2013

Do you have giveaways? Facebook Rules...

Friday, December 28, 2012

Grabbing Zazzle Images, and Resizing Them

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