5 Tips for New Zazzlers

5 Tips for New Zazzlers

Design for the product first, not just the artwork, buttons, magnets, ornaments, home décor, mugs, invitations, and t-shirts all need different layouts. Pay attention to shapes of design vs product too!
Keep text large and readable on products. Remember products are zoomed in on Zazzle, a product will look much smaller.
Always preview your design on multiple product colors. Make sure text looks good on a black or white t-shirt and doesn't blend in too much. Also give the customers a choice or each design on different colored background.
Simple designs often convert better than overly detailed ones. You will see this if you go to "trending designs" on Zazzle. Minimalist looks are always trending. I wouldn't do all minimalist designs but make a mix the types of designs in your shop up!
Create collections so buyers can easily find matching items. This is really important for events such as weddings, baby shower and birthdays. If they see invitations they like that also have matching paper plates, thanks notes and the works, you are likely to make more sales.

SEO & Discoverability Tips

Use natural, buyer-focused keywords, not keyword stuffing. Don't put the same word in too many tags.
Write titles like a customer would search, not like a designer would describe. Think of what you would type in the search bar when looking for your product.
Fill out all 10 tag slots when possible. There are tagging sites to help such as chatgpt or programs like Content Optimizer Pro.
Repeat important keywords naturally in the title, description, and tags.

Upload consistently, even a few designs a week adds up. The transfer option makes it super easy to create many products in a short time. Just make sure as mentioned above, you put each design on products that look good.
Focus on evergreen niches before chasing trends. Or really, do both. Just make sure you have ever green products in your shop, such as birthday cards, that people will buy all year long.
Seasonal designs should be uploaded early (60–90 days ahead). (I work on Christmas all year)
Track what sells and create variations of winning designs. If you have a good seller, make sure to make many variations of it. (Different background colors for example)
Don’t delete slow sellers too quickly, some designs take time. I tend to sell a lot of older products, so don't delete products, just because they haven't sold quickly. When I made a product, I always assume it will sell the following year. Seriously, that is what I have noticed in my store. What I create for Christmas this year, will sell next year.

Use Zazzle’s store banner and profile to clearly show what you sell. It's easy to slack on all the cover photos and banners, but they do attract a customer's attention. Let's customers know there are multiple matching products.
Share your products on Pinterest, it works especially well for Zazzle. This is my #1 way of promoting. Sometimes something I pinned years ago will get a sale.
Brand your shop so it feels cohesive, not random. This is great for people with multiple shops.
Write descriptions that sell the benefit, not just the design. Do both, but get the customer's attention with letting them know how your product will fit a need in their life!

Comparison kills creativity—focus on your progress. Be unique, do your own thing, don't compare yourself to others. If we all did things the same exact way, it would be so boring! Do you!
Every upload is practice, even if it never sells. Practice makes perfect, right?
Small wins matter: first sale, first favorite, first review. Every little things adds momentum to your store!
POD is a long game, not a quick win. So many people upload 100 products then give up. You most likely won't get rich off of Zazzle or other POD sites, but it can be a super fun hobby that earns you some extra bucks here and there. Just keep adding. The more you add, the more potential for sales there will be!
Take breaks, burnout doesn’t make better designs. If you are getting overly frustrated and it's not fun anymore, look away for awhile. You can also take that time to look for inspiration for new designs and collections! See what is trending on Pinterest or listen to what your kids are talking about. Take some time to come up with some new fun ideas for your shop!

Uploading without checking alignment or bleed. Pay attention to borders! You don't want the printing to go off the side of the of the products or elements not to be even seen!
Ignoring product mockups and previews. At first I was irritated with this too but now it's become fun! Keep it simple, you don't want it to busy but you can really make your product standout with the right mockup!
Chasing every trend instead of building a niche. Honestly, I do both. But niches do, do well as long as they are not oversaturated already.
Forgetting to proofread text (typos cost sales). I know I have fallen victim to this! Always, when you think you are done designing a product, go over it one more time!
Giving up too early. Keep at it! Have fun! Add a little each week to your shop.