Do you long for time to create more designs for your Zazzle store but as soon as you get the time your mind goes blank and you don’t know where to begin? Don’t worry, you’re not alone!
This week, in our wonderful Creative & Ambitious Entrepreneur Facebook Community one of our members Andrea asked for help.
“Why is it that I have tons of ideas, a gazillion of assets to use, and when I sit down to “get creative” I stare at the screen and nothing happens. How do you overcome such moments?”
You’ve probably heard of writer’s block, well designer’s block is a thing too, but you don’t have to let that get in your way. Today we will show you how to overcome creative blocks, so you can add more potential bestsellers to your Zazzle store.
“We believe that you can live your dream life if you have a passive, long term, profitable e-commerce online business.“
But before we dive right in, let us introduce ourselves in case this is your first visit. Welcome to The Creative and Ambitious Entrepreneur blog. We’re Jen and Elke Clarke. We are a mother and daughter team that started Zazzle e-commerce businesses over 10 years ago and have sold over 15 million dollars-worth and counting of products on Zazzle.
The Creative and Ambitious Entrepreneur blog is for you if you want to have a long term, passive, online business. We share actionable steps that you can take to make money through your Zazzle store. In each article, we will take you one step closer to achieving freedom with your time, location, and finances.
We believe that you can live your dream life if you have a passive, long term, profitable e-commerce online business. We will show you what to do to work smarter, not harder, the right tools to use and what proven roadmap to follow to make your dream life happen. Let’s get started!
We’ve been designing products for our Zazzle stores for more than ten years and you can bet that we’ve hit a few creative blocks along the way.
They can be extremely frustrating, especially if your Zazzle business is a side hustle and you don’t have an infinite amount of time to let those creative juices flow.
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Before we tell you how to overcome your creative blocks we want to let you know why they happen. Here are a few reasons why you might struggle to find your creativity when you sit down to design:
Creative blocks are a mindset issue and as with all mindset issues they will stand in the way of your success unless you understand them and find a way to get past them. We dive deep into mindset in The Creative CEO Mastermind™ but for now let’s look at ways you can get past your creative blocks.
There are many different ways to overcome creative blocks and different things will work for different people.
Now that you have thought about your mindset issues you might have to work on, read through these suggestions. Then test these suggestions out until you find something that works for you.
If you were an athlete you wouldn’t turn up at the track and start running straight out of the blocks. You would take the time to warm up in order to get your mind and body into the right zone. Being creative is no different.
At the start of your design session take some time to warm up with some quick and easy creative practices. You can doodle on a piece of paper, cut out images from a magazine and make a collage or color in a picture in a coloring book.
If you opened your Zazzle store because you are an artist or a creative person at heart you might find that designing with a customer in mind takes some of the fun out of it. Set aside time in your week to create simply for the sake of being creative. This will free your mind and take away some of the pressure to perform.
We all have a certain time in the day when we are at our most creative. For some it’s early in the morning, for others it’s late in the evening. If your current routine doesn’t allow you to work on your designs at the time best suited for your creative mind go ahead and make some changes to your routine.
Studies have shown that our minds get a creative boost when we carry out mundane or repetitive tasks. So if you sit down to create and your mind goes blank go and fold the laundry, or do the dishes and see if inspiration strikes!
If you struggle with composition or color combinations take some time to make an inspiration board. You can use Pinterest, a journal or even an old fashioned pinboard you can hang on the wall! Over time you can gather magazine clippings, or images you find online and add them to your board. Look for colors and shapes that inspire you, or interesting compositions that you can try out in your own designs.
Don’t forget that the items on your inspiration board are to inspire you. Be respectful of copyright and don’t copy other people’s designs.
They say that a change is as good as a rest and sometimes going somewhere new can give you the inspiration boost you need to overcome a creative block. You can take a walk in the local park, visit the beach or if getting out isn’t an option flick through a magazine or a coffee table book. You never know when inspiration will strike.
You might think that having a long list of ideas is a good thing, but it can also cause paralysis. What if you choose the wrong design to make? What if another idea on your list could have been your runaway bestseller if only you made it now and not later? When you sit down to create just start with one idea from your list and forget about the others for now. Making one of your designs is better than not making any of them right? If you don’t know how to choose the one to work on just close your eyes and see where your finger lands!
As creatives we often see designing products for our Zazzle store as me-time. As much as we enjoy it though it is still work, and in order for our creative minds to rest and recharge we need some real downtime. This could be anything from a good night’s sleep to eating healthy food or using mindfulness tools like yoga or meditation.
If you can’t get started on a design because you’re worried that it won’t be good enough then challenge yourself to make something really bad on purpose. This is so freeing because you give yourself the permission to get started and put something on that blank page.
As you throw things together without a care in the world you might be surprised to see something forming that you can work with. If not you never intended for it to be good anyway. Either way you can’t fail!
How many designs do you have sitting in your saved designs folder on Zazzle right now? Why haven’t you published them?
Whether you are worried that they’re not good enough, or you haven’t had time to perfect them, they are not doing you any good sitting there gathering dust. There is no such thing as a perfect design. In fact no design is ever truly finished because there is always something you can do to it. So take a deep breath and publish them anyway.
As we just said, no design is ever truly finished so if you can’t think of any new design ideas for your Zazzle store, open up one of your old ones and give it a makeover. Whether you choose a design that hasn’t sold before, or your all time bestseller, you might be surprised at what happens when you look at it with a fresh pair of eyes and put another spin on the same design.
Do you feel happier now you know that you are not alone? That many designers struggle with creative blocks and that there are lots of ways to overcome them?
In this article we helped you understand that creative blocks are a mindset issue and then gave you 11 ways you can overcome yours:
Do you want to stop worrying that your designs aren’t good enough and find out how to fix them so that they sell like crazy? In the zSupercharger™ we help our students to makeover their designs with personalized feedback on how they can improve them. Many of our students have increased their sales without the pressure of designing something brand new. We’d love to help you increase your confidence in your design skills so that you too can have products that sell like hotcakes!
They say you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with. Let us be in your inner circle of influence to help you become the successful e-commerce online entrepreneur you want to be. Follow us on Instagram @msjenclarke @elkeclarke Let’s DM and chat on IG.
Love to learn on the go?
Check out The Creative & Ambitious Entrepreneur Podcast
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In this post, we have a very special guest, one of our own clients. Her name is Wendy. She’s going to be talking to us about her journey through Zazzle…
Jen and Elke Clarke are a mother-daughter duo that empowers women entrepreneurs to make money online. Through courses and coaching, Jen and Elke help women (and men) become successful creative entrepreneurs on Zazzle and e-commerce. Combined Jen and Elke have earned over $1.5 million combined through their businesses on Zazzle. Jen and Elke have influenced and transformed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people worldwide with their free content, paid and private coaching.
They are international, award-winning authors. Click the links to purchase their books through Amazon: Earn Around The World and Create Online and Grow Rich.
Jen and Elke Clarke have been featured in Yahoo Finance as TOP 5 e-commerce coaches in 2020 (June 2020).
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