Menu
free JEn and Elke's “150 Trending Zazzle Niches and Designs" Guide
This post is all about how to start an online business and how Elke Clarke made her first $100 on Zazzle platform. This journey is what inspired us to where we are today, and we wanted to share it to provide perspective for anyone who’s just starting out or considering opening a Zazzle storefront.
Let’s start with the basics! Zazzle is a print on demand company. That means items are printed after a customer orders them. For these companies, there’s no physical inventory, which is a huge benefit that sets it apart from other platforms like Etsy and Shopify.
With a print on demand company, there’s no need to print something and store it until it sells. That makes this business model very eco-friendly, and it allows you to sell everything, as there’s no limit on space.
With that being said, Zazzle has been a huge game-changer for us over the past 14 years. Elke opened her store in 2007. Over the past four years, we’ve been teaching others how to run a successful business on the platform, helping our students make a combined $3 million. As you can tell, Zazzle is a stable platform for online passive income.
Zazzle is more than a website where people go to shop. In fact, the site itself relies on creative online entrepreneurs to post things for sale for people to buy in order for it to generate money.
Entrepreneurs on the site make money through royalties, earning a certain percentage on every design they sell. In this model, the great thing is that Zazzle does 90 percent of the work. All the seller has to do is set up their store and label items correctly – and the rest is up to Zazzle. Sounds nice, doesn’t it?
It can be really tough to make your first $100 on platform. The same was true for us! We didn’t understand Zazzle when we were first getting started, and we definitely didn’t understand the customers, either.
We came onto the platform with a lot of assumptions, and one of those was it would be an easy business to run. But it turned out to be tough. This is especially true because, at the time, people were still very leery of shopping online. It was very foreign, which was a challenge we were up against.
Because we know just how tough it is to reach that first earning milestone, we’re going to share some things that we learned from it that can make your Zazzle experience that much easier.
It’s easy to treat your Zazzle storefront as a hobby, but the truth is that it won’t start operating as a real business until you treat it as such. You need to understand how to show up for this business for it to be a success.
If it’s not working for you, it’s not because you’re incapable. It’s just because you don’t know the right steps. You need a plan and to understand how Zazzle works.
Zazzle customers love to customize the products they buy, even if they use your design as a jumping-off point. When we first started selling, we were doing what we call, “throwing spaghetti against the wall.” In short, we were just looking to see what stuck and what would actually sell.
But when we started being more intentional about what we were posting to our storefront and building a brand, that’s when our sales and earnings began to skyrocket.
This journey can be a discouraging one, but it’s so important to continue believing in yourself. Even if you only made a small amount of money, don’t let the opinions of others or the learning curve get you down.
We know from experience that your first $100 isn’t the end-all, be-all of Zazzle earnings. Keep the faith and believe you can achieve your goals. What you’re doing matters, so keep at it!
You’ll want to enlist the help of those who know what they’re doing – like us! – to make your Zazzle store work for you. We’ve gone from earning $90 in our first year to over $100k annually on the platform. Those numbers speak for themselves!
If we’d had help when we first started, we would have reached our peak sales way quicker. But, now that we know the ins and outs, we want to help others find quicker success on the platform.
Had we given up during our first year on the platform, we wouldn’t have everything we do now: millions in sales, the chance to encourage others, and the ability to teach online business entrepreneurs about Zazzle. It doesn’t matter what level you’re currently at – you need to keep asking yourself, “what’s my next step?”
It’s all a journey and a process, and finding your chance to serve your customers is key. To do this, examine what Zazzle is selling and marry that with what you have to offer that’s unique and different. Think, how can you contribute and find your niche?
It’s not about flooding the market with products, but instead, about realizing how you can serve the customer. We’re here to teach you the business parts of your Zazzle journey – all you need to do now is bring creativity and your unique approach.
Thank you so much for reading!
Be part of our community where we can continue the conversation on these topics and tools. Join our Facebook group!
We love it when we make new friends. Connect with us on Instagram, @msjenclarke, and @elkeclarke.
Share on IG. Tag us @msjenclarke and @elkeclarke, so we can send some love to you and get to know you.
If you’re ready to take the first steps in starting and scaling your own Zazzle store, join The Profit by Design Academy® Coaching Program today!
Official Website: https://jenandelkeclarke.com/
Jen’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/msjenclarke/
Elke’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elkeclarke/
The Profit by Design Academy®: https://elkeclarke.com/startandscale/
The Creative CEO Mastermind™️ https://elkeclarke.com/creative-ceo-mastermind/
Creative and Ambitious Entrepreneur FB Group https://www.facebook.com/ElkeClarkeZazzleExpert
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 sold over 15 million dollars-worth of products, and 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.
If you want to see how Zazzle can change your life, gain more free time, work from anywhere, and have uncapped income potential — join now.
