# what else can I do?...not been making design sales. help



## f78 (Jun 24, 2012)

I have been doing t shirt graphics for a while now and have evolved in terms of design. I do screen designs as a freelance and I also have two online stores...for 3 months I've not made 1 single sale...not even a comment. As for my freelance, I've not been able to sell anything as people ask for my sample, rate my designs high, sometimes ask for price and they never say anything again...and when I tried reaching them, I never get a response...that's more frustrating.
I have tried many blogs and networking sites and still nothing to show...with loads of designs staring at me on my PC everyday, my creative energy's drying up.
Somebody tell me what else I can do.
Thanks


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## ryan barker (Jul 21, 2011)

what do you think the problem is? i mean, is your field over-saturated? who's selling designs and how do you think they are doing it? how do your prices compare? is there a trend that's hot and you need to change your designs? where you're selling, is that where and how others are selling the same product? what are you doing differently that the successful sellers aren't? are your designs seasonal? what sets you apart from your competition, i mean what really is truly special about what you do and how you do it? have there been changes in your sites? are your sites professional? is it possible that you're over-reacting to a sales slump?


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## GN (Aug 1, 2011)

f78 said:


> I have been doing t shirt graphics for a while now and have evolved in terms of design. I do screen designs as a freelance and I also have two online stores...for 3 months I've not made 1 single sale...not even a comment. As for my freelance, I've not been able to sell anything as people ask for my sample, rate my designs high, sometimes ask for price and they never say anything again...and when I tried reaching them, I never get a response...that's more frustrating.
> I have tried many blogs and networking sites and still nothing to show...with loads of designs staring at me on my PC everyday, my creative energy's drying up.
> Somebody tell me what else I can do.
> Thanks


What are your sites?


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## f78 (Jun 24, 2012)

ryan barker said:


> what do you think the problem is? i mean, is your field over-saturated? who's selling designs and how do you think they are doing it? how do your prices compare? is there a trend that's hot and you need to change your designs? where you're selling, is that where and how others are selling the same product? what are you doing differently that the successful sellers aren't? are your designs seasonal? what sets you apart from your competition, i mean what really is truly special about what you do and how you do it? have there been changes in your sites? are your sites professional? is it possible that you're over-reacting to a sales slump?[/QUOTE
> ]
> 
> My designs have various styles and themes that'll appeal to different age group and sex...and they are not bad as well when compared to other designs I see around...clients rate them high too they just don't buy.
> Thanks though


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## f78 (Jun 24, 2012)

GN said:


> What are your sites?


Here's one of them: MySoti.com - Product List
Thanks


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## wonubee (Oct 2, 2007)

I think you shirt prices are way to high


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## Hegemone (Oct 18, 2011)

Youre on a etsy for designers and as a result price is to high and your exposure is probably not good considering your against some heavy hitter designers. Your designs are good but not a twenty five dollar TEE good. Get your own site. You could do wonders if you were able to reduce your costs and sell at a better price. If you must use a fulfillment shoot for volume over a high price. Also spend 20 hours a week marketing yourself online.

Frankly I would say you would do better getting a local printer to print you up 50 of your best designs and taking them to a local craft/art show. Spend 8 a tee and sell for 15. Cash in hand. No middle man taking your profits. Then as you sell some reinvest to get another design added to take to the shows. Rinse repeat. 

That's just my two cents. Toss them in a well and make a wish.


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## Riderz Ready (Sep 18, 2008)

Quantity is not quality. The designs are so random with no common thread between any of them. Looks like one of those inserts in Sundays paper with a bunch of random shirt designs. You seriously think someone is going to sit in front of their PC and scroll trhough 60+ pages of randowm designs?I did not make it past the second page. Looks like you grabbed a ton of t-shirt clip art available on the web and made a site.


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## wonubee (Oct 2, 2007)

Riderz Ready said:


> Quantity is not quality. The designs are so random with no common thread between any of them. Looks like one of those inserts in Sundays paper with a bunch of random shirt designs. You seriously think someone is going to sit in front of their PC and scroll trhough 60+ pages of randowm designs?I did not make it past the second page. Looks like you grabbed a ton of t-shirt clip art available on the web and made a site.


.....there was more then one page.....


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## ryan barker (Jul 21, 2011)

yeah, i only saw one page, too. and, agreed, $25+ for those tees knocks my interest down to nil. calling someone's designs 'clip-art' is like calling a musician's music 'muzak,' but, well, while i don't see anything wrong with the designs, and they're good for what they are, imo, i don't see anything distinctive about them, either. don't get me wrong, bisi, i'm not saying they're bad, just that i wouldn't be able to pick yours out from a group of others... and there are a lot of 'others' out there in this style of design i've seen. i hate to say it, but at less than half the price for a tee like this i'd still pass them by. 

designs done on a computer that have no humour, commentary, provoke thought or are just plain cool are one-dimensional, and given the very basic nature of them i can go to the flea market and find similar tees in the $8-10 range, sad to say. that sounds like a harsh price point, but, imo, the reality is that designs in this category i think are interesting just as long as the gildan or jerzee shirt will last anyway. (bear in mind this is based solely on the one site you provided.)

so, do i think the designs are the problem? in a way, yes. i think the prices are horrendous, too, not to mention perhaps the venue is limiting. i'm glad that your feedback is positive, but that can make a person complacent, too, and at some point i'd like this style of design to be stepped up. i mean, i've noticed that folk that design like this have *tons* of designs. there's a reason for that, eh? 

but, you know, you're dealing with a lot of ppl that see a lot of designs all the time, so there's perhaps a different critique factor involved versus someone that hasn't seen this style as much. 

design, price, venue. positive feedback isn't buying your shirts, so i would discount that despite how gratifying it is to the ol' ego. since you have so many designs, apparently, you can't produce them all yourself doing screen printing, and even if you did something that lowered your cost like using, say, plastisol transfers that's still going to cost a small fortune having them *all* made. still, i think you could do the designs you want and use the venues you already have as a way to get those out, and have your own site that has a cohesive philosophy, specializing in one niche. it was mentioned that your designs are all over the place, and that's typical of what i've seen of these styles of designs and the thinking processes of ppl that design these things, imo. so, having a brand identity would, i think, help. (i know the natural inclination is to dump all of everything into your site, but it simply comes down to production is this case ~ you can't make money doing one-offs without investing in processes that makes business sense.) 

with your own site, brand, and brand identity, i feel as if you could better market your product. that's a lot of work, but it also negates someone's affinity for pumping out designs by the dozens (honestly, given enough time and i think i could jam on about 100 of these a month, lol. i mean, as i sit here, i'm right next to a window blind, and that's good enough for a design... if i wasn't the one that had to sell the damn thing. now, if i had all the responsibility of marketing and producing that dumb design, do you think i would offer it for sale? oh, hell, no, because i don't think i'd recoup my production costs b/c i screen print. you know why most of these designs aren't made by the designers? because they have no money in the game. once you have to ante up, then you start being selective, then you start really considering the market in earnest, then you start stepping your game up b/c you know a thousand other designers out there are doing the same exact thing). 

so, who is your market? can you name three things that your market is doing right this minute? who has bought your shirts already? are you willing to do a little production and run a small business? do you suspect that there's going to be an evolution to your personal designs?

i don't think you've been targeted for natural selection quite yet, but i'm not seeing how you're setting yourself apart, either.


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## Riderz Ready (Sep 18, 2008)

If you select "Clothing" there are 68 pages if poorly done random designs.


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## ryan barker (Jul 21, 2011)

they are hypnotically bad in you don't look at them for too long.... after about 20 pages, i saw two that weren't gawd awful to my sensibilities. i hope that when i put stuff out they're better than that! 

dunno, bisi, i say that if this site isn't paying off, ditch it. i don't see a lot of what i consider quality designs going on there, so i'd hate to be lumped into that bunch. just my opinion, i wouldn't argue it if someone disagreed. to me, the success of these sites relies on the people with designs on there marketing their shirts. really, though, i think what it amounts to is you're marketing/advertising for mysoti, etsy, zazzle, cafepress, whatever. i mean, you just did it, and what happened? we all went to that site and checked out everyone else's stuff while we were there. gotta wonder if it's more a case of doing them a favour more than it is helping yourself, ya know?


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## Deathtricity (Oct 9, 2011)

I decided to stop looking after the first page Because I did not want to like a design and see that it was 26.99 I have never spent over $25 for a t-shirt, and it was a BIG full front 4 color Very Nicely screen printed on a custom sized blank shirt that fits great, Im not saying your designs are bad at all, But Im thinking instead of selling t-shirts try selling the designs and find maybe 10 to 15 shirts that have a theme and drop the price in to the $15 range and make a brand, not a "I have everything" site and then sell your "BRAND". you may might be able to sell the designs for maybe $50 each or you maybe able to sell them as stock vector (if they are vector) and you can make $1 each and you can see them many many times.

But as far as the shirts like I said PRICE PRICE PRICE, the only brands that get away with shirts over $26 are BIG name in the "Indie" community like johnny cupcakes, obey, etc. You have to be realistic in your price range. even if you spent 100 hours on one design that doesn't not mean you can just slap a $50 tag on it. I have a few designs that I have 60+ hours in but i have redrawn it many times and i have drawn it full size that it will be printed. Even with all that I know I will have to sell it for $20. 

Hope that maybe this helps you out in some way


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## ryan barker (Jul 21, 2011)

the customer doesn't really care how much some designs can be a labour of love, eh? these kinds of designs, though, aren't particularly special and can be knocked out in a day, i would say. there were a few that could probably take some time, but still nothing show-stopping.


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## printingray (Apr 4, 2012)

Try Organic traffic which is more unique. If you have a professional site then target a keyword and optimize it in the all mager search engine to get top rank in the search in this way you'll got a lot of organic traffic which is a cause of sales. Best of luck


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## 3R Marketing (Jul 23, 2012)

I only made it through about 10 pages, but I didn't notice any of your designs when I looked through ALL the shirts. I only saw yours when I clicked on the link you provided at the beginning. Just FYI


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## veedub3 (Mar 29, 2007)

The first thing I did after clicking your link was click the clothing button. That button took me to pages of shirts by other designers. I can see why you are not getting any sales. That is the worst thing you can do because as a potential customer, I am no longer viewing your designs but someone else's work. That is just as bad as having unrelated ads on a webpage. "It's nothing but a distraction, and if a customer clicks on the ad, you have lost them." The object is to keep them on your site and to purchase from you. With the simple click of a button you lost me as a potential customer. I also went to add an item to the cart and after a few more clicks you tell me I have to log in or join to buy a shirt. Most people will not go through all of that. You should have as few clicks as possible for the customer to make a purchase, as well as the option to checkout as a guest. My advice is to get your own website as mentioned in the posts above.


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## niet2 (Jun 2, 2011)

i like the designs but yeah they are way too expensive...


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## poezoe (Jul 10, 2012)

Take some time to CREATE 10 really good, unique designs that are yours and you will be much more successful than 68 pages of clipart


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## ryan barker (Jul 21, 2011)

mysoti: clothing, artwork... lampshades?


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