selling

Next week marks the beginning of November and in online land, this means people are already starting to think about what they’ll be placing under the tree. We can expect an official announcement on the shipping deadlines in a few weeks, but in the past, the cut off has been around the second week of December to allow the RedBubble elves enough time to ensure your products are sent off in time for Christmas morning.

With that in mind, we thought it would be a good idea to start thinking about some ideas for maximising your sales at this time of year. The methods we’ve discussed in the past are all worth revisiting but the holiday season offers up some unique opportunities.

Tidy up your profile. Just as department stores are preparing Christmas windows and your town is putting up festive light displays, think about how you might rearrange your profile page to appeal to Christmas browsers.

1. bring more seasonal or festive images to the front of your art pages
2. think about producing some new works that tie in with the season
3. check your tags to make sure they’re relevant
4. link to related works from your description field (see mikoto’s work for an example)

Add an email signature to your personal email with links to your best sellers or more festive images. This is a great way to get your work in front of friends and family.

Make something festive and free that features your artwork (and your contact details or links back to your work) and distribute it to friends and family. Free downloadable gift cards featuring your art, table place name cards, wrapping paper patterns … useful and beautiful things that someone may like to forward to their contacts. See here for some ideas and inspiration.

Blogs and websites will be preparing festive posts, 2010 calendar wrap ups and seasonal stories. As it’s nearing the end of the decade, you can expect to see some big features on ‘the naughties’ too. Have a think about how you can creatively approach them with content.

1. take some great photos of your cards, calendars, wall art or t-shirts
2. write a wrap up of your favourite festive t-shirts (a top 5 from RB)
3. if you have images from big events that have happened during the year (the Sydney dust storm for example), make sure they’re well tagged for search

Get your calendars ready. If you haven’t got around to making up a calendar yet then get your skates on. They’re selling like hotcakes at this time of year! Let your friends and family know they’re available and offer to put together bespoke or personalised calendars if you have the time.

Have your own Christmas sale or promotion. Some great ideas include reducing your markups for a limited time or offering customers the chance to win something when they buy an item from you.

These are all great ways to make it easier for you to spread the word about your work. If you have any hints of tips of your own, or your planning any promotional activities leading up to the festive season, we’d love to hear about them below.

Nat