Tuesday, October 4, 2011

New Products Interview with Steve from Soft Products, Zazzle finds

I am interviewing Steve from Soft Products plus
I have some new to you art stuff




Just did this on a poster was on another product

Happy Birthday Grandma




I am interviewing Steve from Soft Products home of the Angry Squirrel. http://www.zazzle.com/softproduct



Ask A Zombie Housewife: When did you start posting products to zazzle?

I believe it was in March of 2008. I am a poor record keeper, but I have been with Zazzle for Just over three years. I had tried the Print On Demand market previously, but lack of sales, feedback, help, forums, encouragement and anything else you can think of...I quit. It was like sending my designs into a void. Then, I stumbled across Zazzle through a friend. It changed the way I thought about producing images that other people might actually be interested in. Now I have designs that have homes in dozens of Countries and all but seven States in the U.S... I think that is so cool.



Ask A Zombie Housewife: Do you have a favorite artist?

Unfair question. I have pretty wide tastes. I always appreciate artists that put thought and drive into their art and designs. I like a design that makes me think. It is always easy to spot work that is just being churned out, as opposed to work that has been carefully worked out in the artists head. I would have to say that my favorite artists are people who are not afraid to put themselves into their work and are unwilling to take short cuts to get their point across. I can be equally impressed by a meaningful child's drawing as I can a 3D rendering that took a month or more to produce. It's the ol' "I may not know art, but I know what I like" situation. I do have a Zazzle Masters blog, which I add artists to on a very irregular basis. People who make that very short list are not only fantastic artists, but have also shown themselves to be honest and helpful members of the Zazzle community. http://zazzlemasters.blogspot.com/




Ask A Zombie Housewife: Tell us about the ebook You suck at Zazzle.

LOL! It's available as a Kindle at Amazon...It's $1.99 U.S.. It has sold over ten copies...There are words in it. I intended it to be a sort of "rookie" guide to Zazzle, so people would not make some of the moronic mistakes one can make during their first foray into the POD market. (Like I did.) I would not call the project a failure, because I believe failure fertilizes advancement. At this point, I would describe the book as a year I wish I could get back from my life. It's a bit too metaphysical and a bit short of metrics. People want metrics. I don't do metrics.



Ask A Zombie Housewife: What’s the biggest mistake artists make when posting their products?

There are a Billion in my opinion, but one I keep tripping over is not CAREFULLY double checking the work. GUILTY! Just two weeks ago, I had to trash an entire Quick Create line I had done because I misspelled the SINGLE WORD in the design. This was not due to rushing the design, or using robots, or English as a second language. I just ASSUMED I knew how to spell the word. I did not. A Zazzle friend was watching my back and pointed it out in a quick email. Thank God for Zazzle buddies.
That could actually be the biggest mistake you can make, now that I think about it. Not making friends and/or taking advice from fellow Zazzlers.



Ask A Zombie Housewife: What should every artist do before starting a Zazzle or other POD store?

As far as "any other POD's" I don't have a clue. But my suggestions for a first time Zazzle shop keeper would be:
KEEP IN MIND YOUR LOGIN NAME IS GOING TO BE YOUR PERMANENT SHOP NAME. Think it out and make sure it has relevance to your shop concept.
Go to the Zazzle forums IMMEDIATELY. There is information on the forums that a new Zazzler absolutely NEEDS to know. I avoided them for months when I first started. My sales reflected that. Stay informed.
Find people who seem helpful and ask them questions. Most of them will be happy to help you out.



Ask a Zombie Housewife: What’s your favorite vegetable?
My favorite vegetable for cooking is Asparagus. My favorite raw vegetable is a nice Jersey tomato with salt and pepper.



Ask a Zombie Housewife: what’s your favorite baked good?
That's a toughie. If I had to choose, I would have to say Kommisbrot. It's a German staple that I grew up eating.



Ask a Zombie Housewife: What do you do to feel creative or get ideas?
What I find myself doing very often when I need inspiration is leafing through my Thesaurus. I have a love of words and their associations with memory and emotion. I will just flip through the pages at random until I hit a word that sparks a thought process. When that doesn't help, I drink beer and watch re-runs of Magnum P.I.. If Tom's Bro-stache can't get the creative blood flowing, nothing will.


Softproducts products





href="http://www.zazzle.com/this_halloween_haunted_house_party_invitation-161567960247705429?rf=238516285037258438">This Halloween Haunted House Party Invitation by birdy27
Browse other Birdy27 Invitations











7 comments:

  1. Looks great! Thanks for the time! I had fun with it.

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  2. very nice! i love the interview with steve from soft products! you are so wonderful to offer so much support to other zazzlers! and thanks for including my halloween party invitation! the other products are excellent, too.

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  3. Awesome interview! I really enjoy hearing other creatives and their process. Great prompting questions as well. Well done!

    Thank you for featuring my Harmony painting! I love your necklace featuring your abstract design with shades of black and blue. So yummy looking. Your Larger abstract design is wonderful too!

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  4. Thank you so much Val for featuring my work on your lovely blog! <3
    Really loving your abstracts!!' xXx

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  5. Thank you so much for featuring my psychedelic pop art tshirt. Dont forget to email me for a bonus through my shop if you refer a sale! Thanks again and fab blog!

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  6. welcome all funny-tshirt no need to pay me :-) I justt hope you make lots of sales.

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