Justyna Dorsz

Useful

Marketing

I’ve realized how little I know about marketing and how to promote my designs.

I sometimes post my designs on Instagram or Pinterest. Lately I’ve been posting to Tumblr too, and every few weeks I tweet about my store or my designs. This is all a minimum effort. I feel I should do more. Many successful artists promote their art more consistently.

Once I started reading and watching YouTube videos about marketing, I realized how little I know about the topic.

For example, I watched a lot of Wholesale Ted videos – gave me a lot to think about. Particularly their analysis of niches and what sells best has been useful.

Other artists told me that it’s good to promote on Pinterest and that they get sales from there. I’ve tried that but had no success so far. And then I watched this Pinterest Guide, and I realized I was doing everything wrong and not really doing enough, anyway. Go watch it, you might learn something too.

Google Alerts

I set up Google Alerts with the titles of my designs to be notified when they are put on sale illegally. For example, one design that gets stolen a lot is “Overthinking and also hungry”. When thieves try to sell t-shirts with that designs, they don’t even change the title so I created an alert for phrase “Overthinking and also hungry”.

This way, I get Google Alerts as soon as Google finds out about the infringing listings. And as soon as I get notified, I can send a DMCA takedown notice so that it’s taken down immediately.

I learned about Google Alerts from Michael Essek’s blog. There are other useful guides there too.

Overthinking and also hungry - by Justyna Dorsz

TeePublic Resources for Artists

TeePublic is one of the best places where you can sell your designs.

I don’t earn there as much as I earn on Threadless but TeePublic has the best uploader — very fast, easy to use, you can submit your art and start selling on all products in minutes.

Until recently, I didn’t know that TeePublic had an Instagram account dedicated to helping artists:

There’s also TeePublic Blog with a lot of helpful tips about designing, selling promoting, and tagging.

And if you are already a TeePublic artist and are subscribed to their Artist newsletter you get useful emails about how to improve your store and get more sales.

Why haven’t you opened your TeePublic store yet?

How to protect your art

If you create designs and submit them to online stores like Redbubble or Teepublic, you will soon find out that there are a lot of thieves. They will steal your designs and try to sell them in their own stores.

Luckily, there’s an easy way to deal with them. You have to send a Notice of Copyright Infringement (or DMCA Notice) to the website that stolen images are sold on.

So, let’s say you notice your art being sold without your permission in someone else’s store. All stores have dedicated email addresses for reporting copyright infringement.

You can find how to write a notice of copyright infringement on the Internet so I won’t repeat that here. But I will show you the template that I use for reporting stolen art. You can copy it, supply your links where indicated, and send it.

My DMCA Template

Hello,

<–Short intoduction, e.g.: My name is…, My website/porfolio … –>

The material being infringed upon:

<—Here you provide the title of your artwork that was stolen and a link to your design online, it can be on your website, or any of your stores. –>

The material that is infringing upon my intellectual property:

<— Here you provide links where your design is sold illegally –>

My data:

<–Your full name –>

<–Your address –>

<–Your phone number –>

<–Your e-mail address –>

I have a good faith belief that the content described above violates my rights described above, and that the use of such content is contrary to law.

I declare, under penalty of perjury, that the information contained in this notification is correct and accurate and that I am the owner of the rights described above.

Best regards,

<– Your full name –>

End of DMCA Template

Books to read in 2021

Photo by Mahendra Kumar
Photo by Mahendra Kumar on Unsplash

I finally got my Kindle two weeks ago.

I didn’t keep track of how many books I read in 2020, but I would guess around 10. I want to read many more this year.

Here’s a list of 7 books to start. I will keep adding to this list when I hear about another one worth reading.

  1. “Extreme Ownership” by Jocko Willink
    I started this a few days ago. So far there’s a lot about war. But I like the idea of being responsible for everything in your life. I think I take ownership of most aspects of my life but I could do it more, to an extreme degree.
  2. “Never Split the Difference” by Chris Voss
    Most often recommended book. It’s about negotiation. I am bad at it and want to get better.
  3. “Oversubscribed” by Daniel Priestley
    I don’t know what this is about, but Ali Abdaal recommends it strongly, so I want to read it soon.
  4. “Getting Things Done” by David Allen
    I think I read this book a few years ago, but I don’t remember much. I want to reread it.
  5. “The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing” by Al Ries and Jack Trout
    Just recently, when I started learning about SEO, I realized how little I know about marketing. I plan to read a few marketing books to at least learn some basics.
  6. “The Overstory” by Richard Powers
    It was recommended by Hugh Jackman on The Tim Ferriss Show. When they talked about it, I remember thinking that it sounded like a weird book.
  7. “Vagabonding”
    Tim Ferriss mentions it a lot. It was a book that motivated him to travel.

If there’s a book that you’d recommend, do let me know: here, or on Twitter.

5 newsletters that I read

Newsletters worth reading.
Photo by Mathyas Kurmann on Unsplash

I thought I would share newsletters that I like. They are not about design or art, I read them for inspiration.

  1. Ali Abddal’s Sunday Snippets – Ali is a doctor but does a lot of other things: has a YouTube channel, writes a blog, runs a Podcast, he also created a few courses on Skillshare, and just recently started a Part-Time YouTube Academy. It’s amazing how productive he is and his newsletters always motivate me to work harder. Subscribe here.
  2. Farnam Street – I already mentioned it once. It’s a bunch of quotes and links to articles that I might not stumble upon otherwise. The newsletter is called Brain Food, and that’s apt. Subscribe here.
  3. Trends.vc – Research on various topics and how different markets are changing. Subscribe here.
  4. 3-2-1 Newsletter by James Clear – Concise and quick to read. Contains good reminders on how to handle different aspects of your life: risk-taking, criticism, consistency, habits, failure, ambition. Really, lots of topics. I feel those emails keep me in check. Subscribe here.
  5. Art of Noticing – All sorts of things, it’s difficult to even sum up what it’s about. There are descriptions of books, photos, places, sounds. I always look for something to spark my creativity, you never know what might inspire you. Subscribe here.

If you know of a newsletter worth subscribing to, let me know.

No sales? Read this.

No sales, no income, 0 items sold

I belong to a few Facebook groups for designers and there’s one topic that keeps coming up, though it’s usually asked in various ways:

  • “No one buys my designs. Am I doing something wrong?”
  • “How to get customers?”
  • “I uploaded 5 designs already and no sales! Why?”
  • “Is it even possible to sell anything? Does anyone earn any money?”

I already answered that last question, but now it’s time to address the general issue here.

This is how it looks in the beginning: you make a design and publish it, then you make another and publish it too. Then maybe you make a few more. And then you wait for sales. But not only does no one buy anything, no one even sees your designs, they don’t show up in search results. You try to promote them, you post on Twitter or Facebook and you get no feedback, no likes.

At that moment we can divide designers into two groups:

  • Designers who get discouraged and upset and give up.
  • Designers who keep creating and publishing regardless of how their designs are doing.

There is only one key to success here. Ok, yes, there are a few important things that will impact how successful your store will be and whether you make money: you need to create something people will want to buy, you need to make your designs possible to find, and finally you need to put effort into marketing.

But there’s one thing that is more important than all that. Consistency. Yes, consistency is key. If you want to have a successful store on Threadless, Teepublic, or anywhere else, then you have to make a lot of, and I mean A LOT, of designs.

It’s not enough to make a few designs and hope someone will buy them. And you definitely should not complain about lack of sales just yet. First make sure that you:

  • Have at least 30 designs uploaded. Better yet — 50. I have over 130 in my store.
  • Add new designs consistently. Try to make a new design every few days or, if possible — every day.
  • Make sure all your designs have tags. I add 10 tags to each.

Only after you fulfill these conditions and there are still no sales you might start to worry and you might be entitled to a little complaining. But it’s a very unlikely scenario because consistently creating new designs will result in 2 things:

  • you will have a lot of designs in your store and a much higher chance that someone will see something they like and buy it,
  • after making a lot of designs you will improve. This is actually the only way to improve your design skill — make a lot of designs. So even if your designs are quite bad at first and, understandably, no one wants them, then it’s even more important for you to make designs. You will be much, much better after another 50 designs.

It’s very difficult to do something for a long time and not improve. To be successful, be consistent.

What tools do I use?

There are 2 things that a designer needs: a graphic tablet and a graphics editor. Here’s what I use:

GRAPHIC TABLET

I bought my graphic tablet 9 years ago and it’s been serving me well. It’s a Wacom Intuos. The one that I have is no longer available, but you can get a new version.

Wacom Intuos Pro (Source: wacom.com)

If you can afford it, then it’s best to buy Wacom Intuos Pro because those have a Touch Ring which is very useful to change your brush size.

A more affordable alternative is a Huion Graphic Tablet which I also recommend. I haven’t used it but I’ve only heard good things about it from other artists.

You can also buy a used tablet but keep in mind that the pen is the most vulnerable and easily breakable part. So even if a used tablet works fine, it’s likely you will need a new pen.

GRAPHICS EDITOR (Painting Program)

I use Adobe Photoshop for which I pay 12€ monthly. It’s not much and I think it’s worth it.

There are free alternatives: Krita and Gimp. If you are just starting out, then try either one of them. Personally, I would go with Krita because my brother uses it and likes it. Anything you want to draw you can draw in either of them.

Can you make money on Threadless?

Make money on Threadless

Friends, family, and other artists often ask me: can you make money on Threadless?

I’ve been a designer for 8 years now and I’ve been selling my art on Threadless for the past 5 years so I think I can answer that. The short answer is: Yes! You absolutely can make money on Threadless. Nearly every month I earn a substantial part of my income from Threadless.

When you are just starting selling your art online it might seem daunting. I know – I was there. So here are a few things that will help you if you want to earn money on Threadless:

  1. Make a lot of designs. You never know which one is going to be popular.
  2. Don’t get discouraged when no one buys your designs at first. Just keep designing and publishing.
  3. Try to find your niche. I make a lot of designs with cats and space because that’s what I like to draw. Maybe you like dogs or hiking or pizza? Draw that.
  4. Post about your new designs on Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook. The more people see your designs the better.
  5. Tags! Add tags to your designs so people can find them. I try to add at least 8 tags to each design. It’s a good idea to also write a short description.
  6. Submit designs both to your Artist Store and to Design Challenges. Even if you don’t win a challenge, more people will see your designs and you will gain new followers.
  7. When you add a design to your store make sure you enable it on other products, not only t-shirts. Customers often buy hoodies, masks, tote bags, and pillows.
  8. If you haven’t yet opened a store, you should open one now! I have no affiliation with Threadless, I just like them a lot and earn a lot of money there. If you don’t know how to name your store, here’s a short guide.

Hope that helps. Here is my store if you want to take a look.

Useful gifts for artists and designers

Every Cat is a Gift

I drew a cat in a gift box, and it made me think that I could write a short note about gifts because I am asked about it sometimes. First, I think it’s better to save money than buy gifts this year. Covid-19 is in no way over, and the worst is yet to come. But we all like giving gifts, so here are the two most important things that all designers and artists and creators will find useful.

PENS

The one thing that any designer that I know would like to get, even if they still have a supply on hand. You don’t have to buy the exact kind, most designers will draw with whatever. Best buy black ones, here’s a nice set.

SKETCHBOOKS

I prefer square ones, but artists often use the standard A5 size like this one. But again, it doesn’t really matter all that much, any sketchbook will find its use.