Photography on Zazzle

     When I started to get serious about photography five years ago, I started taking thousands of photos.  Now some of these photos were not so good, but others I really liked and wanted to share.

     I investigated several avenues to share and sell my photos.  I looked at doing stock photos and selling my photos on cards at small shops and fairs,  Although both of these ideas may work for some people they just didn't seem to fit what I wanted to do.  The stock photos seemed to take a lot of time and although I sold a few the time involved didn't seem to work for me.  Selling my products on cards was nice but when I looked at how much inventory I needed and how much profit I would get for all my work I decided against this method too.

      I next investigated some of the POD (print on demand) companies.  There are quite a few out there and each has it's own pros and cons.  The two that I settled on using are CafePress and Zazzle.  What I like about POD's is that I don't have to have any inventory and the companies will deal directly with the customers.  All that I have to do is upload my photos and create the design.  At that point Zazzle and CafePress will create the products and handle the customer transaction and send me the profits.  What could be easier!

   When placing products on Zazzle it is important to find the right product or group of products for each photograph.  When I upload a photo to Zazzle my next step is to decide which product would best showcase my photo.  My decisions are based not only on the type of product but on the size and shape of the design.  Some designers try to put every photo on every product and I believe this is a mistake.  Some items just don't seem to fit for some products.

     One example is the vertical and horizontal orientation of some products.  Cards and postcards fall into this area.  You will want to choose the orientation that best fits your photograph.

     Another example would be mens vs womens shirts and hats.  You might not sell a lot of mens shirts with pink roses, so consider who your customers will be.

    You will also want to look at the shape of the design.  As a general rule a square design does not look good on shirts.  You will want to either soften your edges or put them in a different shape in your photo editing software before you upload them to Zazzle.

    None of these rules are hard and fast, but the main thing I want to emphasize is think about the photo you are placing on a product and make sure it fits before you add it to a Zazzle product.

     After you have posted your products on Zazzle it is important to market your products.  If you want to sell people must know about your products.  It is essential to get the word out.  Zazzle does a lot of marketing for you but if you really want to be successful you must help the process along.

     The social media is a great place to promote your product.  I use Facebook and Twitter and Zazzle makes that easy with links to both of those sites.

     If you have a blog, that is also a good place to promote your product.  My blog Lighthouse Musings is one place I promote my lighthouse related Zazzle items.

     I also use Squidoo to promote my products Mbgphoto and now I am excited to use Wizzley for another great way to get the word out about my photographs on Zazzle.

     Last, but not least, I email friends and relatives that I think would be interested in a certain subject.