Don’t underestimate the importance of design for success on Zazzle. In fact, becoming a better designer was the key to my success on Zazzle, an online e-Commerce platform. My daughter, Jen Clarke, and I, Elke Clarke, have earned over 1.2 million dollars selling designs on products in the Zazzle online marketplace. Fellow Zazzle designers, who have been trained in good design techniques in my courses, have been successful in Zazzle in many ways. Their products have been featured on the Zazzle home page, in Zazzle promotional emails, on Instagram posts, and more. Recently, one of our course members won the Zazzle 2019 HolidayZ Design Challenge. Second place was awarded to another one of our students. In this article, I will review several design principles that I teach in my course for success on Zazzle.
Importance of design: How Does Good Design Result in Your Zazzle Success?
As a Zazzle designer, the level of your design skills is a key factor in the level of your financial success on Zazzle.
There are many aspects of designing that must all come together with each design that you post on a product for sale on Zazzle.
Customers are searching for the best possible design for the product they want to buy on Zazzle. Since there are literally billions of products on Zazzle, your design must stand out above the rest. You can do this by providing professional designs for a specific niche, with trending colors, fonts, text, and design styles.
It is also important that your design on the Zazzle product be easy for the customer to personalize so that they can quickly add their information or photo and click “add to cart” and pay. The customer receives their unique personalized product and you receive a royalty.
Post Only Professional Designs
Customers are instinctively attracted to designs that look professional. They may not know why but they can tell the difference. It’s up to you to teach yourself what level of professionalism you need to achieve in the niches that you want to sell in.
Do your research by checking out the best sellers on Zazzle in certain niches. It’s easy to do. When you see the designs, don’t copy them. That’s violating copyright.
Instead, notice what elements of design make the popular sellers stand out and look professional. Is it the font placement, how they placed the graphics, or how coordinated all the elements of the design are?
Follow Good Design Principles
By following one or more of the following design principles you can improve your designs :
- Have the Main Focus
- Place the Focal Point Using “The Rule of Thirds”
- Create Scale and Hierarchy
- Use Complimenting Elements
- Leave or Create White Space
- Follow the Rule of Odd Numbers
Stage Your Designs Properly
Customers have a hard time seeing how they can use a product. By staging the product with your design on it, you are helping them with a picture using it or seeing how it will look for them.
The best staging possible is that Zazzle’s unique Design Tool allows customers to add their own text and photos and see it in real-time on the screen. The customer can see instantly, how the product will look with their personal details. This is definitely a huge advantage that Zazzle has over any other Print on Demand company.
Here are more ways that you can stage your designs for increased sales opportunities:
- Choose the most flattering Zazzle product view option
- Pick the most popular size an item would be sold on
- Choose product colors that complement your design
- Use male or female names and sample text that is appropriate for the product and use of the design
Professional Designs Get Noticed by Zazzle
Zazzle is always looking for good quality designs to showcase in their marketing emails, blog, New Zazzle Ideas Magazine-like section, and on the Zazzle Homepage. After all, they want to sell as much as you do.
If you create unique, well-designed products, that have trending colors, fonts, and design elements, specific to a popular niche, then your products have a good chance of being promoted by Zazzle in some way or another.
Many of my course members have had more than one product featured on the Zazzle homepage on different occasions.
Susan, one of my course members, has had many products featured on the Zazzle homepage top banner. Being featured has helped her sales tremendously. In the last 2 years, Susan has earned over $40K on Zazzle. Check out this other article for more about Susan. The image below shows 2 of Susan’s blankets featured on the Zazzle homepage banner from October 20, 2019.
Good Designs Win Zazzle Design Contests
Learning how to design well has helped my course members achieve success on Zazzle, including winning design competitions.
Would you like to win a Zazzle Design Competition?
Several of my course members have placed in the top 3 or been in the top 50 in previous Zazzle HolidayZ Design Challenges. This year in the Zazzle 2019 HolidayZ Design Challenge, members took 1st and 2nd prizes.
Click here to read more about S C Design, the 2019 Zazzle HolidayZ Design Challenge winner.
Zazzle Holidayz Design Challenge Winners – Are Course Members
My daughter, Jen Clarke, and I, Elke Clarke, are so proud that 2 of the winners of the 2019 Zazzle Holidayz Design Challenge are long-time members of our 5 Step Profit Plan VIP Mentoring Program™.
Congratulations to S C Designs (Winner) and Petrichor (2nd Place)!
Click here to see the winners, editors’ picks, and 50 finalists.
If you want to receive the same training that the winners of the Zazzle Holidayz Contest received to become better at design, The 5 Step Profit Plan VIP Mentoring Program™ is an option for you. We teach you what you need to know about design. We also do design critiques and holiday card challenges throughout the year.
But if you want an in-depth course on design, that you can do in 4 weeks and receive personal critiques from both of us on all of the designs that you create as homework, then The Elements of Design Bootcamp™ is perfect for you. The boot camp is also more affordable.
How Can You Design for Success on Zazzle?
To design for success on Zazzle, start by implementing the design principles and other design tips I provided you here in this article.
Then keep improving your design skills. Learn as much as you can. Practice improving. Get feedback. Have someone critique your designs. Use your sales results as feedback too.
There are many options for you to improve your design skills. Choose the ones that will help you improve as fast as possible so that you don’t miss out on sales.
What if you think you are not a good designer? Many of my course and mentoring program members, thought they were not good at designing until they took my course and boot camps. They realized that they are good at designing. All they needed was someone to teach them good design and provide feedback on their designs so they could learn by practicing.
You can do it!
This Article is Sponsored by The Elements of Design Bootcamp™
Do you struggle with knowing of your design is good and will sell on Zazzle?
Have you ever thought, “It would be so nice to have someone critique my Zazzle designs?”
Would you like to feel more comfortable posting designs on Zazzle products knowing you were creating a professional design?
Then The Elements of Design Bootcamp™ is the best way to receive the training you want to overcome your struggles, receive feedback on your designs, and feel comfortable designing professional designs on your own.
You can click here to join and start right away. Watch the 4 training videos and do the 4 homework assignments that I, Elke Clarke, will critique for you. You will be well on your way to designing for success on Zazzle.
Connect With Elke and Jen
Easily connect with Elke and Jen in the way that works best for you.
Click here to connect with Jen or go to www.JenClarke360.com.
Click here to connect with Elke or go to www.ElkeClarke360.com
OR open the camera on your phone and hover the camera over the QR code below to be taken to the link.
Use this QR Code option to connect socially with Jennifer Clarke or go to www.JenClarke360.com
Use this QR Code option to connect socially with Elke Clarke or go to https://www.ElkeClarke360.com
About the authors:
Elke Clarke, is the award-winning author of the book Create Online and Grow Rich. Elke mentors and teaches digital creatives online marketing and business strategies to build a profitable eCommerce business. The 5 Step Profit Plan VIP Mentoring Program™ is Elke Clarke’s signature program that hundreds of people around the world are using to make money online by being successful designers and sellers on Zazzle. Connect with Elke, on social media by clicking here or visit https://www.ElkeClarke360.com
Jen Clarke, is the award-winning author of the book Earn Around The World. Jen, along with her mother, Elke Clarke, mentors and teaches digital creatives online marketing and business strategies to build a profitable eCommerce business. The 5 Step Profit Plan VIP Mentoring Program™ is Elke Clarke’s signature program that Jen and hundreds of others are using to be successful designers and sellers on Zazzle. Connect with Jen, on social media by clicking here or visit https://www.JenClarke360.com
