How to be sustainable…this topic has been on my mind for quite some time and it’s really on my mind this morning. I decided to write here on this blog because it’s where I post a lot of freebies. Not to mention my digital stamp shop has had over a thousand downloads of freebies but barely any sales. It’s certainly a frustrating experience, when you have to support yourself somehow in the end.
Granted, this could mean my products suck. People download the free, because there’s no risk… but they aren’t purchasing because they don’t want it. Hmm. Something to think about. But you would think, people would stop downloading free if that was the case. My style, quality and products have been going for quite some time now. I also have a digistamp club newsletter that sends out a weekly free stamp image. The sign-ups have increased steadily, yet few people click through to support me in the shop. So I’m assuming people want the stuff…they just aren’t buying.
I think most people start to post free downloads and share their work from the passion of a hobby – same here. As many folks might agree, I’ll be doing this stuff anyway, even if there was no shop. It’s a great way to just share with the community, receive feedback and cultivate creativity. The pressure of supporting yourself does weigh on me personally though. It’s a hobby, but I also need to survive. Certainly, everything can’t be free. I feel like I’m stuck in between. I want to share and get my work out there – major satisfaction - but I also want to eat. Oftentimes when you start charging for things, people react really negatively and think you are a money-monger something or another. Not every blogger gets a loving reaction and I’ve always been quite unhappy with how ruthlessly mean some readers can be. As if they are entitled to free-ness?! What happened to the kindergarten lesson of saying something only when you have something nice to say – or at least meaningful and constructive! There should never be an obligation for people to offer free stuff – need I remind people?!
So anyway, I went back and re-read CraftyPod’s posts on the subject… and started wondering how I was going to continue on and be sustainable. There are many other bloggers who have discussed the issue. It’s really a struggle, because we all do what we do, because we love it. But at the end of the day, we’ve got to support ourselves too. Otherwise, we are going to disappear. I’m a designer and being freelance means that my time is money – or lack of billable hours when I’m doing something else. It’s painful to realize that I could spend days working on project, on a series of stamps, on digital kits and in the end get paid a total of $8.76 in profit.
I’m sure some people would say, well…if you can’t take the heat, just get out of the kitchen. I hear you. My point is in trying to find a solution though, I like the heat, I like food, I want to eat. So I’ve been crunching numbers in the background…thinking of a big re-org because I have my art blog tortagialla, my main website and many offshoot things I’ve done for the fun of it. My meager attempts at monetizing have failed pretty miserably. In talking to some marketers out there, the one thing they impress…is not going full force out there to sell. Because hey…you can’t be shy about it. So I will be working on that aspect to begin with.
First step is to reveal these thoughts here on the blog and see what y’all have to say. In addition, you might not know but I have a lot of online shops. If you didn’t know, that’s probably my mistake for not telling you how you can support me…so here goes.
My Etsy Shop - leather journals, zines and crafts
My CatScrap Shop - digital scrapbooking products
My Digistamp Stamp Shop - digital stamps
Greeting Cards - greeting card designs
My Spoonflower Fabrics - fabric designs
My Society 6 Studio - art prints
Zazzle shop - designs on products
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16 Comments
First of all: let me compliment you on your work. I think it’s great! You do wonderful graphic design work, so please don’t doubt about that. Second of all, I love your free stuff
Third of all: I had no idea about your Etsy shop. I am a webeditor and onilne/SEO marketeer and I really feel that people who sell stuff are often way too shy and modest. So… give yourself the credits you deserve and promote your ‘for sale’ products more. Like a ‘product of the week’ feature, in which you tell all about one particular product (with linkies to your shop of course) and what inspired you to make that product. Have your shop ON your homepage of your website ánd blog (don’t be shy, what would you hide your gorgious products way below on the page, like now where everyone forgets about your pretty Esty shop). So less modesty!!
Good luck and I hope you can turn things around, your designs deserve it.
Esther.
Hi Esther – thanks so much for your input. I really appreciate it. I think you hit upon a big issue…of not saying enough what is available for sale. I think it’s hard for many of us….we don’t want to be pushy or car salemansy… it’s definitely something I need to work on! Thanks for the encouragement…I’m working on it!
Hi, Linda -
I’m a fan of your work, too. And I had a really interesting journey through this post, which I thought I’d share as it might be helpful to you in the question of low sales…
- I saw the pingbacks to my Free posts show up in my emailer this morning.
- I followed the link here and read this post. Honestly, I had no idea it was YOU writing, until I saw the link to Tortagialla at the bottom of the post. (That’s the blog of yours I read.) I had no idea you had other blogs!
- Then, I saw all the links to all your online stores. Honestly, I had NO IDEA you had all these things on offer! I think this is for two reasons: 1) I read Tortagialla in a feed reader, so I never see your sidebars), and 2) when I do visit Tortagialla, there are no links to any of these other homes (except Etsy).
- So I immediately followed all the links, looking for a purchase to support you. And while I liked the look of everything, not all of it was applicable to me. (I’m not a knitter, for instance, so the Zazzle products weren’t a fit.)
- On your Etsy shop, I saw that Pensieri, which is still one of my favorite zines, is still in production, and somehow up to Issue 8! I felt sad that I had somehow missed so many issues. But I ordered one!
This “tooting your own horn” thing IS really, really hard. Please, with the talents you’re bringing to the world, don’t be afraid to make the links to all your products for sale prominent. Maybe not with widgets, but with a set of pretty buttons right at the top of the sidebar of each of your blogs. And for people who use RSS readers, it probably makes sense to get some repeat exposure to your goods into that channel as well. (I am currently struggling with this, too.)
…And, there may come a point where the huge number of freebies you’ve already put out there will have to suffice for an ever-hungry public. There will always be people who are newcomers to your free archive, and if they can’t stay around and support you after all that, perhaps they should move on to other blogs and let you focus on actual customers. I think we have to guide our readers into the conversation we want to be having with them. Sadly, the public is making some rather unhealthy assumptions about free content right now, and it’ll take time to evolve better memes there. In the meantime, it’s totally up to us!
Ack. Sorry to go on and on here. I want to see you sustainable! You deserve it!
Hi Sister Diane! Thanks so much for commenting, I really appreciate it and love that you always bring to discussion important topics for us crafters and biz types.
This whole branding under an umbrella thing is something I’ve struggled with a lot…because I like to do so many things, I’m not sure consolidating will work because certain communities are so exclusive. But that means i’m spread out and it’s hard to cross promote and make people realize it’s me! Of course, it could just mean I’m not organizing properly! Definitely something I need to figure out.
I’m definitely learning that I don’t market enough, thus far. Sometimes I’m happy to shout about new things going on, but sometimes I feel like a broken record, harping on. I dunno, maybe this is why some people like to hire others to do their marketing. It’s not natural I suppose…or maybe I just need more practice.
Marketers keep saying…you need to tell people explicitly what you have to offer and lots of times. Another thing I need to learn…
I’ve been trying to figure out a way to market my products in blog posts too…it’s difficult when more and more people are using readers or subscribe via email… the only thing I can think of, is to add a footer or some sort to blog posts.
Hey Esther,
I wanted to reply with just a small little hint for incorporating your products in your posts (since you mention wanting to do that!)…what if the products inform the posts? You could write about your experience using them, your customer’s experiences, tips for use, examples of what customers have done with them….etc!
Another thought (and I realize this is part of a MUCH bigger reorg)- it might be easier for your people to support you if everything was all in one place, if they didn’t have to click to different blogs and shops. If you just have one main link and very few clicks from that to BUY, you won’t have to spend so much energy sending people different places (where they might get distracted and trail off).
Hope this is helpful!
Tara
Great tips, Tara! I’ve been thinking about incorporating tie-ins to blog posts as well… so there’s sort of a “support me” call to action at the end.
I’m thinking about the “all in one place” idea too… just seems like such a huge undertaking…yikes.
Hi Linda
If your blog is wordpress, then there is a plugin called RSS Footer that lets you add some lines automatically on the end of your Rss feed articles. You can set it up and include a link or two, then it automatically shows in rss feed readers. I have mine set up to tell people about my newsletter and send them to my sign-up page.
Good luck! It is a difficult balance but worth experimenting with.
Julie.
hi Julie! Thanks for the tip, I do know of that plugin, but had not paid a lot of attention about what I could put there. Little marketing messages are a great idea!
Here’s my suggestion- how about a design team for your digi stamps (and other goodies, too?)? I don’t know if you’d consider that or just think it’s cheesy, but I love when someone takes a concept or materials and makes it work. It changes my whole perspective of the product, and how *I* can use it, and how useful it is, and how I’ve got to have it!
hi chel, thanks for your input! i have thought about it before, but there’s a lot that goes into managing a design team as well… i’m not sure if i can even handle…handling people…ahha…if that makes sense! there’s also the ethical thing of paying your design team versus just free product product. i still don’t know what is right, but ultimately, i would like to pay people for services, not just free product. i don’t think it’s right. we should pay designers for their work… sigh, a whole other issue!
i have to say that was the only post i ever read on your blog and i understand your frustration very well. im sorry it came to that tho. i keep your webside in my favourites even that i only ever took one of your design but like to look at your work but never bought enything just because im always unsure about buying from webside i dont know and noone recomend im sadly not alone
i think the first comment is very right you do need more promotion. a freebies are good but you need to show people…LOOK AT THIS IT IS AVAIBLE IN MY SHOP- SOMETHING EVEN BETTER IF YOU PAY JUST A LITTLE BIT…otherwise they will not even click on shop as shop mean i will have to pay for it…
and cheryl is quite right too
if i see for example good tutorial on youtube and i liked something they used i going to ebay to check if they have it before i forget about it 
HOPE THAT HELPS xxx from scotland
thanks for your input, I really do appreciate it. I’m definitely learning that putting yourself out there blatantly is very important. We always tend to think it’s too much or too pushy…but apparently it’s not enough!
Hi there,
I am one of those “public” people.
Part of my weekend I like to just sit and surf the net looking for those great freebies, inspiration and good deals (digital and other wise). I leave comments, but not always and I go the shop and have a look around to see if anything catches my eye. I probably spend about $40/weekend on products that I want.
Somethings that I find helpful have already been mentioned by other bloggers, but I thought I would confirm for you that they are things I really like as a surfer/customer.
I like to know what you have for sale with pictures and links (lots of links) – nothing is more frustrating to me than to see an item I want and then have to hunt for the link to the store and then look through the store to find the product. I usually give up.
I like lots of pics and less text (unless like this post, where it makes sense). I want to see how the product for sale is being used (with a link right there) so that I can click on what I like and go straight to the store listing for that item.
Sell it! don’t be shy. show off the wonderful work you do. even repeating what’s for sale from past posts is fine by me. Sometimes it’s just the reminder I need to go and buy it.
When you have multiple blogs, stores, make sure we have links to all of them handy when they are being referenced – cause I ain’t gonna go hunting
I love having links to everywhere I can find someone at the bottom of every newsletter. It is so handy.
Anyway I do like your work and want to encourage you to continue on in this area if that’s your dream.
have a great weekend
I really appreciate your input and goes to show that we can’t be so modest to actually promote and tell people about our work. I agree with the easy links as well, make it as easy as possible. Sure thing. I will definitely be taking in all the great advice – thank you!
Hi – I realize I am reading this months after you wrote it, but I just discovered Project Life and Digital Scrapbooking, so I was cruising the internet for freebies.
One thing I might suggest (which I’ve noticed on other websites that offer freebies), is that they have a coordinated set of digital products for sale, and they offer ONE of the elements in the set for free. That way, you get a little taste, but I often decide I liked it so much I am willing to pay for the whole set.
Anyway! Just my two cents!
Have you ever considered trying to get your stuff for sale at a larger internet presence? Like Designer Digitals or Design House Digital? I like to be able to see many designers in one location, rather than hunt and peck all over the internet.
Hi Deb! Thanks so much for your thoughts, I really appreciate it. You are right that a lot has to do with exposure. If people don’t know about you, they can’t buy anything! I really like your idea of offering a sample – coupled with option to buy the whole thing. that is what I’m trying to do moving forward. It’s not just freebies for the heck of it!
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