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Planning to sell art posters on zazzle : do I need a website dedicated to art?

by Falconn
10 replies
Hi all,

I am planning to sell Art Prints/Posters on zazzle and for this purpose I would like to know the best practice for selling my zazzle products on my own website (I have not bought the domain name yet) successfully.

Thanks in advance.
#art #dedicated #planning #posters #sell #website #zazzle
  • Profile picture of the author origin
    It looks like they give you a "shop" of some sorts. I am not sure to what extend if any you can integrate the shop they give you with your own domain, but it is always best practice to have your own domain where you are in control of your products / shop.

    Having your own website gives you broader branding options and more control over how / what you market.

    For instance should you want to introduce another line of products from a different supplier later on than you can do so from your own website. If you are stuck with a zazzle.com site that only lists the products on their cataloque, then you cannot expand into other suppliers.

    So yes, if you can, you are better of with your own website.
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  • Profile picture of the author Silentkiller1
    You must get a website of your own to get credibility and also to have some control over things.
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  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Originally Posted by Falconn View Post

    Planning to sell art posters on zazzle : do I need a website dedicated to art?
    No, you absolutely don't - and in this case that would probably be a much more problematic and difficult approach.

    In internet marketing terms, the "art market" (for things like posters) is fundamentally different from many other things. The general objective is to "take the art to the existing traffic", not to try to attract the traffic to the art, in the "normal" ways (with which general internet marketers are much more familiar, as you can perhaps see from some of the replies above ).

    .
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    • Profile picture of the author kilgore
      Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

      No, you absolutely don't - and that would probably a much more problematic and difficult approach.

      In internet marketing terms, the "art market" (for things like posters) is fundamentally different from many other things. The general objective is to "take the art to the existing traffic", not to try to attract the traffic to the art, in the "normal" way.

      .
      This is true to some extent, though good marketing helps with art as in everything else. Zazzle, Etsy and RedBubble are full of fantastic art that barely sell at all. Unfortunately, it's not enough to put your work in the "right places" as those places are very, very crowded.

      That said, this doesn't mean that you need your own website or even that you need to do your own marketing. Zazzle (and RedBubble, though not Etsy) has an affiliate program, and if you could find people to promote your products for you, it could be a win-win situation. Of course, that's a sort of marketing to -- only instead of marketing to consumers you'd be marketing to marketers...
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

      No, you absolutely don't - and in this case that would probably be a much more problematic and difficult approach.

      In internet marketing terms, the "art market" (for things like posters) is fundamentally different from many other things. The general objective is to "take the art to the existing traffic", not to try to attract the traffic to the art, in the "normal" ways (with which general internet marketers are much more familiar, as you can perhaps see from some of the replies above ).

      .
      "Art" is a pretty broad topic, and "art posters" could fit into many, many different markets.

      I would suggest finding a market niche, and specializing in art/posters desired by the niche.

      Here's an example, gratis...

      I live in southwest Florida, along the Gulf of Mexico. If you stroll the commercial areas along the beach, say in Naples or Matlache, you'll see a bunch of quirky shops selling art and tchotchkes related to the beachy lifestyle. During the season, these folks make out like bandits selling that stuff to the tourists. Some of them also do well selling more upscale versions of the same thing to people decorating their homes in the beach theme.

      Trying to sell these people urban landscapes or psychedelic day-glo stoner art would not work well at all.

      Now if you were to set up a shop specializing in certain art for certain audiences, in this case beach-themed home decor, then concentrate your marketing on people exhibiting an interest in beach-themed art, you likely could do very well.

      Repeat the process for another niche audience with a demonstrated willingness and ability to buy art and art posters.
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      • Profile picture of the author Falconn
        Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

        "Art" is a pretty broad topic, and "art posters" could fit into many, many different markets.

        I would suggest finding a market niche, and specializing in art/posters desired by the niche.

        Here's an example, gratis...

        I live in southwest Florida, along the Gulf of Mexico. If you stroll the commercial areas along the beach, say in Naples or Matlache, you'll see a bunch of quirky shops selling art and tchotchkes related to the beachy lifestyle. During the season, these folks make out like bandits selling that stuff to the tourists. Some of them also do well selling more upscale versions of the same thing to people decorating their homes in the beach theme.

        Trying to sell these people urban landscapes or psychedelic day-glo stoner art would not work well at all.

        Now if you were to set up a shop specializing in certain art for certain audiences, in this case beach-themed home decor, then concentrate your marketing on people exhibiting an interest in beach-themed art, you likely could do very well.

        Repeat the process for another niche audience with a demonstrated willingness and ability to buy art and art posters.
        Personally, I am trying to focus on Japanese art.
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        • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
          Originally Posted by Falconn View Post

          Personally, I am trying to focus on Japanese art.
          Same idea. Different genre.

          Who might be interested in Japanese art or art posters, that are not specifically shopping for art or posters?

          People interested in kabuki theatre may be interested in art depicting Japanese mythology.

          You asked about a site dedicated to art. I say have a site dedicated to the interests of people who buy art, and do your lead generation accordingly.
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          • Profile picture of the author Falconn
            Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

            Same idea. Different genre.

            Who might be interested in Japanese art or art posters, that are not specifically shopping for art or posters?

            People interested in kabuki theatre may be interested in art depicting Japanese mythology.

            You asked about a site dedicated to art. I say have a site dedicated to the interests of people who buy art, and do your lead generation accordingly.
            John, I totally agree with you and thanks for the advices. I wanted to thanks you (using the forum feature) but for an unknown reason it was not possible. Also, I understand, the site should be more focused on products such as posters, t-shirts etc.
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    • Profile picture of the author Falconn
      Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

      No, you absolutely don't - and in this case that would probably be a much more problematic and difficult approach.

      In internet marketing terms, the "art market" (for things like posters) is fundamentally different from many other things. The general objective is to "take the art to the existing traffic", not to try to attract the traffic to the art, in the "normal" ways (with which general internet marketers are much more familiar, as you can perhaps see from some of the replies above ).
      I read that Zazzle for example has its own market place but it seems that the competition is high there (reason I may need to promote my posters through my own website).
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  • Profile picture of the author LittleLindaPinda
    I market mine with a bit of a generic term, Gifts For Creative People. I started out with the idea of marketing something different and ended up marketing my Zazzle gifts, mostly. I agree that it doesn't need to be just posters. I hope you love Zazzle as much as I do. Someone in the beginning gave me realistic goals to work toward so I wouldn't get discouraged. It will take time to build your Zazzle business and marketing in many different medias will help.
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    Little Linda Pinda, LLC
    http://GiftsForCreativePeople.com
    ZAZZLE Personalized Gifts Store
    http://www.Zazzle.com/LittleLindaPinda/Products
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