Hey Zazzlepreneurs!
I've got a little anecdote to share with you that might just change the game for your Zazzle journey.
Before I get into it, I want to share with you that this post was inspired by a course feedback chat I was having with one of my members (shout out to Maria - thank you!). I value my course members' feedback tremendously for this very reason, it triggers 'teachable moments', things I may have overlooked or not considered, and the 'teachable moment ' that Maria inspired has the potential to be a game-changer for your Zazzle business journey.
So here we go!
Back in the day during my year of almost no sales, I was designing products with my own art, thinking they looked amazing and wondering why on earth no one was snatching them up. It was baffling! But then, one day, a light bulb went off.
I asked myself a simple question: "Would I buy this?" And guess what? The answer was a great big "No!"
No, I would NOT buy my own products - why the heck not?? They're amazing!
It was a reality check Zazzlepreneurs. I had to dig deep and figure out why I wouldn't buy my own creations.
Here's what I figured out:
The art I loved so much didn't match my home decor. It would've stuck out like a sore thumb. The pillows, the kitchen towels, the tablecloths... NOPE. And when I reflected on who would have this 'design aesthetic on their home' ... erm ... it's kinda too niche, as in ...no one.
And those fashion items? They were way off my style radar. I had to face the fact that the people that would 'wear that' wouldn't be browsing Zazzle for such things.
I knew right there and then I was coming at Zazzle all wrong. And while it is true that we are NOT designing products for ourselves, we DO need to be designing them for someone. We do have to have a target customer in mind.
This is what my chat with Maria was about because in Module 2 of the course material I talk about how to identify and create a profile for your target customer, learn about who they are (demographics), and what their passions, needs, and challenges are so that you can create products that they want!
My earlier creations and probably many of yours fall into the category of being created with 'no one' in mind. And that's a mistake.
Back to my anecdote, which of my designs DID I BUY?
I bought a personalized memorial plaque that I designed for a friend after her mother passed. I bought mugs with funny or sentimental quips for Mother's Day and my Stepdad's birthday. And a couple of years running I've bought personalized Christmas ornaments for myself.
The Take-Away from this
Fellow Zazzlepreneurs: Ask yourself the same question. Would you buy the products you're creating? And more importantly, what would you buy? And if you are designing 'trending items' for a wide audience (not yourself) you absolutely MUST work out WHO your customers are. Who exactly are you designing for?
If you're on my Zazzle Business Course, I have provided all the strategies, tools and resources you need to identify, research and create targetted products for your newly identified customer base. If you're a Level 1 Grad, level up soon so you can get cracking on the most important module on this course: nailing your niche.
Don't waste another moment designing products that neither YOU nor anyone else would buy!
Get to it!
I'm never going to get married, so no, I wouldn't buy most of my products, which are wedding related! But I do tend to make mostly designs I like, so if I was in the market, yes, I would buy my own products. And for non-wedding stuff, since most of it is in my niche that I love, yes, I would buy them!
Yes! My first realization - that we do NOT have to just stick the same design on every blank product Zazzle offers - happened very early in my Zazzle journey. Mainly because the Bulk Create tool (if that's what it was called - hadn't used it for years and then it disappeared) always crashed for me after hours of refining designs to fit every product.
So I discovered judicious selection of which products we put a design on is important. (And since customers can Transfer a Design now, it makes this even better.)
But having a deep dive into who we are serving and - more importantly - what they might be looking for, both in terms of design and…
Oh, Leah, when I read this I had a little giggle because I too thought that when I first began my Z journey long ago. I thought everyone would love my photography. LOL
Then I was reminded of a colleague who used to remind us “Don’t fall in love with your plan”. You could replace the word plan with other words such as “idea” or in our case “product”. At the time, that statement was meant to remind us that what appeals to us is not going to appeal to everyone.
It stands true today for my designs. I had to be more open to much more than I was. I’m a slow learner and it took a while…
Very interesting post! Although there are things in my store that I wouldn't buy, I would buy a lot of the things if I could. I have bought several of my totes, I love having bags for specific things. Maybe that's my niche and I didn't know it!
That is a great question that I always asking it for myself, and the answer is YES, I would buy my ballerinas faceless art, I love simple and less detailed wall art, but all I get on Zazzle is views and likes, EVEN ZAZZLE featured my collection 2 times and I still getting only views. so I was changing my niche all the time trying to figure out what will work for me.