Do you want to know how to sell on Zazzle? Brandon approached me a year ago because I mentor and teach creative entrepreneurs how to grow their online Zazzle business. He wanted to know how to sell on Zazzle because he was not earning the money he wanted from his old Zazzle store. I gave him tips and they worked. That’s when he decided to become more serious about growing his Zazzle business by taking my 2 online courses and joining my mentoring program. Brandon is so happy that he got my help because he went from earning on average $15 per month before to now averaging about $1,000 per month over the past 4 months. In this article and next week’s article, Brandon has agreed to share his progress over the past year in this exclusive 2 part series. Keep reading to learn what Brandon did to start a brand new store and take it from $0 to $1,000 per month in earnings.
How to Sell on Zazzle: A Zazzle Success Story – Part 1
Brandon had been submitting his travel photography to stock photography websites for 8 years when in June 2017 he noticed a steady decline in his sales. That’s when he decided to take action by reviving his old Zazzle store. He wanted to make more sales by making his photography more consumer friendly. In his research on the Zazzle Forums, he came across my blog and website.
My free valuable content and own Zazzle Success Story really encouraged Brandon to find out how to sell on Zazzle. When he reached out to me, I provided suggestions on what he could do to generate more sales with his old Zazzle store. He implemented my action steps and saw some success. Brandon could now see the potential to earn more money on Zazzle. That’s when he made the decision to become one of my course members.
June 29, 2017 – Brandon Invested in Himself and Bought the “5 Step Profit Plan VIP Mentoring Program”
Brandon wanted to learn more and sure enough the “5 Step Profit Plan VIP Mentoring Program” had just been released for the first time ever on June 21, 2017. He is so glad that invested in himself and his Zazzle business.
Please Note: One year ago, Brandon purchased the “30-Day Profit Plan Course” (Advanced Zazzle Course). The “7 Days to Success Course” (Beginners Zazzle Course) and “VIP Mentoring Program” was part of the purchase as huge bonuses because I had just launched the “30 Day Profit Plan Course” for the first time ever. These 2 courses and the mentoring program are now altogether as one program called the “5 Step Profit Plan VIP Mentoring Program”.
July 1, 2017 – Brandon Realized the Importance of Setting Up Properly at the Beginning
The “7 Days to Success Course” is the course to start first when you join the “5 Step Profit Plan Program” even if you already have a store on Zazzle. It covers “STEP 1” of the “5 Step Profit Plan” which is “Proper Set Up”.
Have you set up your store properly and know how to make proper template products?
Once Brandon had completed this course, he realized why in 5 years he had only made $2,500 in total even though he had over 30,000 products for sale!
His store was not set up correctly, he was just adding his photos without considering what the customer needed. Plus he was not using the correct titles and tags to attract the right buyers. That’s why he was only making about $15 per month!
Brandon used the step-by-step course videos to fix these problems. He set up his old Zazzle store properly and got 100% store and 100% profile completion. He also improved his zRank and got a zRank score = 4. That means Zazzle would promote his store on the sidebar on product search results, which is what you want. Plus, he now knew how to make products people wanted to buy and how to get people to find them.
He was starting the understand how to sell on Zazzle.
But that is only the beginning of Brandon’s Zazzle Success Story! Keep reading to find out what happened.
July 15, 2017 – Brandon Decided to Start a Brand New Zazzle Store to Target His Avatar
After starting the “30-Day Profit Plan Course”, Brandon learned that it was important to have a target customer or “Avatar”.
Did you know that you need an avatar? Do you have an avatar for your Zazzle store?
Once Brandon, along with my mentoring, finalized who his avatar was going to be, he realized he needed to open a new Zazzle store. Why? His avatar was not going to buy things from his old Zazzle store!
It was a risk for Brandon to start a new Zazzle store, but it paid off for him.
He put into place all the important things the “7 Days to Success Course” teaches to make sure his new Zazzle store was set up properly. Brandon then created products targeted toward his avatar with good designs, titles, and tags.
Brandon used his wife as a role module for his avatar, so he knew that he should target a customer who liked trendy things and loved being on Pinterest. What he found challenging in creating his new store was to have an avatar that was the complete opposite of himself! He had a lot of work ahead of him!
July 18, 2017 – Brandon Sold His First Product within Days
He worked 20 hours a week and made 100 products a month because that is what I recommend. The courses also taught Brandon to how to design easy-to-use products that customers wanted and how to promote them effectively. Once he did that, he saw sales quickly.
Within days of opening his new store and posting his first few products, Brandon noticed that one of his products was featured on the Zazzle homepage!
The best part of the story is that this product sold that same day.
Brandon wrote:
“I was hooked with that fast first sale! This happened to me at the right time, in the right place for me to really commit to the process of creating a proper Zazzle business.”
Has one of your designs been featured on the Zazzle Home Page? It happens a lot to our course members.
How quickly did you sell your first product?
July 31, 2017 – Brandon’s July Zazzle Earnings
Two weeks after starting his new Zazzle store Brandon had earned $15.60 in royalties.
It’s a small but mighty number because it meant so much. First, it was similar to the amount he made regularly in his old store. Second, he had started off fresh and was already making more money in 2 weeks with this new targeted approach than he did with his old store.
That meant there was huge potential in future earnings and it turns out that is true.
Did you make money in your first month on Zazzle?
August 2017 – Brandon Increased His Earnings Tenfold
Brandon’s August Earnings were $117.48. That is a 10X increase from July!
Running Total – Brandon’s New Zazzle Store Earnings in 2 Months = $133.08
Brandon really took advantage of what is taught in Module 2 – “Production” and Module 4 – “Analysis” of the “30 Day Profit Plan Course”. He focused on how to make sure his products were found using good keywords for titles and tags. Then he used his product views and sales results to take action.
With my mentoring Brandon was able to understand what he had to do in his particular situation with his Zazzle store to take the right action steps to increase his sales.
Do you analyze your product views and sales and know what to do with that information?
This is the benefit of the “5 Step Profit Plan VIP Mentoring Program”. It teaches you how to sell on Zazzle and you receive mentoring from me, a Zazzle Diamond ProDesigner, who has sold over 10 million dollars worth of Zazzle products.
September 2017 – Building the Foundation
Brandon’s September Earnings were $210.05. That is a 2X increase from August!
Running Total – Brandon’s New Zazzle Store Earnings in 3 Months = $343.13
Brandon wrote:
“I continued to follow the steps in the course and saw my sales increase slowly, but surely. I thought after a couple of months things would really ramp up from how well I started out, but it was a slower climb of earning a little more one week over the next week.”
What Brandon did not realize was that he needed to be patient and keep building up the foundation of his core products. He had to keep increasing his inventory of items that would result in sales consistently over time.
I was there as his mentor to encourage Brandon and keep him focused on what he needed to do to build his business. That is the benefit of having access to someone who has experience in and has been successful at what you are trying to accomplish.
Do you know that it takes time and hard purposeful work to be successful on Zazzle?
October 2017 – He Bought Some Graphics To Help Make Products
Brandon’s October Earnings were $207.94.
Running Total – Brandon’s New Zazzle Store Earnings in 4 Months = $551.07
Brandon wrote:
“Things continued to ramp up slowly, but upward when the Christmas Zazzle Groupon Contest was announced. Elke encouraged all of the course members to try out even if they had never done a Holiday Card before. The rules requested only good designs and placeholder photos. I decided to invest in good stock photography to use for the sample photos and licensed some holiday-themed graphics.
I knew this was something I needed to do, but it was a roadblock for me. Using other people’s graphics intimidated the heck out of me. I had sold my own stock photos to others so they can use them artistically, but I felt I was cheating to buy graphics with proper licenses to use to create my designs in my Zazzle store. But finally, I just went ahead and did it!
After much research, I designed several different Christmas cards and submitted them. While I waited to find out the results, I carried on to create matching items and put them in collections.”
Would you purchase license rights to graphic designs if you thought it would help you sell more on Zazzle?
November 2017 – Brandon’s Card Was Chosen For The Zazzle Groupon Contest
Brandon’s November Earnings were $739.24. This is more than a 3x increase from October!
Running Total – Brandon’s New Zazzle Store Earnings in 5 Months = $1,290.31
Brandon Wrote:
“One of my card designs was selected for the Zazzle Holiday Groupon Contest! I had never designed a card other than a Halloween card a couple of months earlier. I was so excited! Even if I didn’t sell a single card, I knew that at least someone at Zazzle liked it enough to pick it.
The card began to sell especially on the Black Friday weekend and ended up being my best seller for the month. My second best-seller, which was a very close second, was a simple holiday card that was not picked for the Groupon Contest. This encourages me because I had 2 best-selling card designs, even though it was my first attempt at making cards. Elke’s courses really helped me understand design, which was a big reason why my cards sold. Also the research she shows you how to do, helped me find out what I needed to make card designs that people wanted.
I was also thrilled that I made almost as much money selling a card on my own as I did through the popular Groupon option which Zazzle drives a lot of traffic to.”
Have you ever entered a Groupon Competition?
December 2017 – The Holiday Season Was a Huge Success For Brandon
Brandon’s December Earnings were $850.95. He is fast approaching the $1,000 month!
Running Total – Brandon’s New Zazzle Store Earnings in 6 Months = $2,141.26
Brandon found out that following what I teach in the courses really pays off. He prepared for the holiday season starting back in September and October and saw a huge increase in sales in November and December.
Brandon wrote:
“One other interesting thing happened, I kept getting international sales on an obscure item. This happened almost every day during the end of November and the beginning of December.
I instantly knew what to do from what Elke teaches in the course. I created a Collection and put matching items in it as fast as I could. A few matching items started to sell and then more and then more, which continues to this day.
The Holiday Season was a huge success for me.”
Brandon’s Zazzle Success Story Part 1 – The First 6 Months Summary
The first 6 months of Brandon’s Zazzle journey have been amazing and exciting.
The odds of Brandon succeeding were all stacked against him.
He.
- had experience on Zazzle but was not doing things properly
- started from nothing by opening a new store
- chose a niche and an avatar that he had no clue about
- could not design any graphics himself
- had never made most of the product types and design templates that he needed to make to make sales
But Brandon has a lot of things going for him that helped make these first 6 months a success.
He has…
- a strong” why”
- drive, determination, dedication
- worked hard but by working “SMARTER” as I teach in the course
- a proven step-by-step plan to follow (The 5-Step Profit Plan)
- a 7 figure Zazzle mentor to guide him (me)
Brandon’s New Zazzle Store Total Earnings in 6 Months = $2,141.26.
That is super impressive because it took me 2 years to make that amount when I first started. But I did not have a plan or a mentor when I started.
What is your first 6-month total earnings?
Join us next week for Brandon’s Zazzle Success Story – Part 2 – The Year in Review
We hope you enjoyed this in-depth look at their progress and learnings of Brandon on his Zazzle journey. Make sure to read next week’s article where Brandon will share with you what happened in the last 6 months of his first year using the 5 Step Profit Plan VIP Mentoring Program.
Join Us For Our Weekly Live Show To Discuss This Blog Post Topic
On Thursday, July 12, 2018, at 11:30 a.m. EST, we will be hosting our live show “Elke TV” on my Public Facebook Page.
The topic will be Brandon’s Zazzle Success Story and what you can do to get results.
We are so proud of Brandon’s success and happy that he is achieving his Zazzle earnings goals.
Leave a Comment
- Do you have a Zazzle Success Story you want to share with us?
- Do you want to be a Zazzle Success Story but are struggling? What do you need help with?
I would love to hear from you.
About the author:
Elke Clarke is the Founder and CEO of Clarke Courses Inc. Elke teaches and mentors creative entrepreneurs how to sell on Zazzle with her 5-Step Profit Plan Program. The 5-Step Profit Plan is what Elke uses to run her 7-figure-a-year Zazzle business.
Do you want to find out more about whether Zazzle is the right opportunity for you?
1 Response to "How to Sell on Zazzle A Zazzle Success Story Part 1"
Elke,
Thank you for sharing Brandon’s success story! How exciting for both you and him.
Elke, I’m wondering if someone’s goal is earning, say, approximately $500.00 to $1000.00 per month, like Brandon is achieving, would they continue to see monthly sales along these lines without continuing to add additional items to their store?
I’m curious if once these wheels are in motion do they stay in motion?
How big a part of continued success is about always adding more and more items and growing ones store?
Is it possible to get to a point where sales continue somewhat on auto pilot if one is not seeking higher and higher earnings or continuing to invest time each month creating more items due to other job commitments – or maybe they’ve hit a wall and are plum out of creative ideas.
Thanks for your enouragment and for sharing the behind the scenes of Zazzle success.
Brandon, congratulations and wishing you continued success.