GCU Forum - Dead in the water ?

Sandra_137209 Full Member artist Posts: 195	Dead in the water ? Apr 9^th, 2011, 6:04pm Seems my sales are as dead in the water as a sailboat without wind. I don't know what happened. I was having almost daily sells, but the last card I sold was March 20th. Anyone else experiencing a slow down in sells, or is it just me? Grandma Sandy
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cindy_139896 Senior Member artist Posts: 327	Re: Dead in the water ? Reply #1 - Apr 9^th, 2011, 6:10pm me too
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Donna_137698 Gold Member artist Posts: 1064	Re: Dead in the water ? Reply #2 - Apr 9^th, 2011, 6:16pm I've sold three cards since the beginning of the year... granted, I'm still new but lots of looks - no purchases... sigh...
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Eve_138255 Ex Member	Re: Dead in the water ? Reply #3 - Apr 9^th, 2011, 6:22pm Mother's Day cards are beginning to sell.
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Eve_138255 Ex Member	Re: Dead in the water ? Reply #4 - Apr 9^th, 2011, 6:24pm Quote from Donna_137698 on Apr 9^th, 2011, 6:16pm: I've sold three cards since the beginning of the year... granted, I'm still new but lots of looks - no purchases... sigh... I've started going back over my old cards to see if I can work out why people look, but don't buy. I think my text on front lets many of mine down.
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Donna_137698

Gold Member
artist

Posts: 1064

Re: Dead in the water ?
Reply #5 - Apr 9^th, 2011, 6:28pm

Quote from Eve_138255 on Apr 9^th, 2011, 6:24pm:

I've started going back over my old cards to see if I can work out why people look, but don't buy. I think my text on front lets many of mine down. cry

wish I knew what was wrong with my cards outside of the obvious... I've started going in to review and fix margin issues but not sure what else might be the problem... maybe just my style? Maybe I'm not good enough an artist??

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cheryl_133782 Gold Member artist Posts: 1350	Re: Dead in the water ? Reply #6 - Apr 9^th, 2011, 6:46pm Add me the list....my sales are just about non existent. Wonder if it is just some of us or site wide. Cheryl
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Emily_138045

Junior Member
artist

Posts: 59

Re: Dead in the water ?
Reply #7 - Apr 9^th, 2011, 7:07pm

Wow, "almost daily sells" sounds like a dream to me! I'm happy if I sell a card once in awhile.

Perhaps things have slowed down because of the economy -- I think people might be skipping the smaller holidays and just concentrating on the major ones, like Easter and Mother's Day.

In any case, here's wishing everyone lots of sales!

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Doreen_137017

Gold Member
artist

Posts: 5273

Re: Dead in the water ?
Reply #8 - Apr 9^th, 2011, 7:08pm

Quote from Eve_138255 on Apr 9^th, 2011, 6:24pm:

Quote from Donna_137698 on Apr 9^th, 2011, 6:16pm:

I've sold three cards since the beginning of the year... granted, I'm still new but lots of looks - no purchases... sigh...

I've started going back over my old cards to see if I can work out why people look, but don't buy. I think my text on front lets many of mine down. cry

Hi Eve,

Just visited your store, it's been awhile and your cards are wonderful. Many beautiful photographs and well placed sentiments. You mentioned your text on the front and I will suggest that you go back and add drop shadows, in some cases make the text larger. I had to do this after my first six months here, realized that my text was not popping off the image as well as it should and since then I've learned many wonderful techniques. Your cards should sell, they are wonderful. Experiment with some text techniques.

As for sales...

Though the 1st quarter of the year was very good, I too had been making several sales a day. The past couple of weeks or so have been very slow, but so were my sales at Zazzle for a couple weeks and just a few days ago those went back up to several sales a day again. Maybe it's just a world-wide lag? Perhaps partly due to the disaster in Japan?

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Eve_138255

Ex Member

Re: Dead in the water ?
Reply #9 - Apr 9^th, 2011, 7:19pm

Quote from Donna_137698 on Apr 9^th, 2011, 6:28pm:

Quote from Eve_138255 on Apr 9^th, 2011, 6:24pm:

I've started going back over my old cards to see if I can work out why people look, but don't buy. I think my text on front lets many of mine down. cry

wish I knew what was wrong with my cards outside of the obvious... I've started going in to review and fix margin issues but not sure what else might be the problem... maybe just my style? Maybe I'm not good enough an artist??

You have some delightful cards Donna, don't put yourself down about your art. While I was at your store, I looked to see how many Mother's Day cards you have and there are only 5. With Mother's Day coming up in May, USA & Australia, you should have many more than that if buyers are going to find you. It's leaving it a bit tight, but you may just have time to get more cards in store for those people who leave their card buying to the last minute.

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Eve_138255 Ex Member	Re: Dead in the water ? Reply #10 - Apr 9^th, 2011, 7:23pm Quote from cheryl_133782 on Apr 9^th, 2011, 6:46pm: Add me the list....my sales are just about non existent. Wonder if it is just some of us or site wide. Cheryl Perhaps you could feature your delightful Mother's Day cards on the front of your store now.
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Donna_137698 Gold Member artist Posts: 1064	Re: Dead in the water ? Reply #11 - Apr 9^th, 2011, 7:24pm I've gotten some nice reviews and a few photo tips but I'm really limited with my processing programs and time to dedicate to making cards these days... I keep trying to look at what sells and what is selling isn't what I can produce... maybe I really should just give up...
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Eve_138255

Ex Member

Re: Dead in the water ?
Reply #12 - Apr 9^th, 2011, 7:28pm

Quote from Doreen_137017 on Apr 9^th, 2011, 7:08pm:

Quote from Eve_138255 on Apr 9^th, 2011, 6:24pm:

Quote from Donna_137698 on Apr 9^th, 2011, 6:16pm:

I've sold three cards since the beginning of the year... granted, I'm still new but lots of looks - no purchases... sigh...

I've started going back over my old cards to see if I can work out why people look, but don't buy. I think my text on front lets many of mine down. cry

Hi Eve,

Just visited your store, it's been awhile and your cards are wonderful. Many beautiful photographs and well placed sentiments. You mentioned your text on the front and I will suggest that you go back and add drop shadows, in some cases make the text larger. I had to do this after my first six months here, realized that my text was not popping off the image as well as it should and since then I've learned many wonderful techniques. Your cards should sell, they are wonderful. Experiment with some text techniques.

As for sales...

Though the 1st quarter of the year was very good, I too had been making several sales a day. The past couple of weeks or so have been very slow, but so were my sales at Zazzle for a couple weeks and just a few days ago those went back up to several sales a day again. Maybe it's just a world-wide lag? Perhaps partly due to the disaster in Japan?

I so completely agree with you Doreen. I have only just learned how to do dropped shadows in photoshop and that made me realize how bad the text was on earlier cards. I have an awful lot of work in front of me. Sad

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Eve_138255

Ex Member

Re: Dead in the water ?
Reply #13 - Apr 9^th, 2011, 7:36pm

Quote from Donna_137698 on Apr 9^th, 2011, 7:24pm:

I've gotten some nice reviews and a few photo tips but I'm really limited with my processing programs and time to dedicate to making cards these days... I keep trying to look at what sells and what is selling isn't what I can produce... maybe I really should just give up...

That is so sad to hear Donna. I suppose I'm fortunate in being retired and can spend as much or as little time as I want to on going out with my camera, then coming home to turn the photos into cards. Before retirement I couldn't have kept up with a shop. What processing program do you have?

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Sandra_137209

Full Member
artist

Posts: 195

Re: Dead in the water ?/making text pop
Reply #14 - Apr 9^th, 2011, 7:38pm

Another thing that makes front of card text stand out is to add "outer glow". Not sure if it is available in Photoshop, I use paint shop pro. Outer glow adds a faint shadow that is more subtle than a drop shadow, almost a gassian blur behind the text. The opacity and size are ajustable. The default is white, but I use the eyedropper and match the most predominate color in the background then set the opacity so low that it is barely visible and makes the text stand out from the background.

Sometimes I will select a rectangle on a new layer that will go between the text and the image, I flood fill with white, then fade the white to really transpartent. The image shows through faintly like a vellum layer. I love vellum on a card and really like the look of a slight faded area behind the text.

Sandra F

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