Zazzle Shopkeeper Interview with Joni Nickrent

Joni Nickrent, Zazzle shop owner and Pop Art Minis artist, remembers being in grade school when she came to the realization that she'd one day "do something with art". It was the one thing that held her attention. In fact, she would often challenge herself to see how she could work art into whatever she was doing.

In this interview, Joni talks about how important it is for new shopkeepers to use the frequently asked questions page and why organizing one's shop makes sense.

How did you hear about Zazzle?
I stumbled onto Zazzle when I was searching the Internet for places to print my own art on t-shirts.

What drew you to Zazzle?
When I visited the site I immediately thought, "This is pretty cool! It’s the perfect way to get my art on some awesome products and have control over the design."

I liked having the ability to add text to my art, set my own royalty rate, and upload my designs on products that could then be ready to sell in a matter of minutes. Plus, there are so many different product options; options that can appeal to a wide range of consumers!



What has been your biggest struggle with prepping your artwork for Zazzle products and how did you overcome that struggle?
When I first uploaded photos of my artwork to Zazzle I found out that they were not large enough to print on the products, and that they were fuzzy. I had to reshoot my artwork, then save the images at a higher pixel rate.

On the plus side, I discovered that Zazzle has an awesome FAQS page. It offers a lot of the answers to “newbie” questions and even questions for those who have been using Zazzle for a long time. I'd strongly suggest new shop owners read this section before uploading their images.


What has been your biggest promotional tool when it comes to driving traffic to your Zazzle shop?
To drive traffic to my shop I use every form of social media possible: my personal blog, Twitter, Facebook, networking sites for artists, forums, and even a newsletter.

My blog has a contact link on the main page. I create weekly posts that highlight timely products (i.e. seasonal gifts or holiday decor). I repost artwork that first appeared on my blog to my Facebook fan page. And I constantly tweet about products, product pages, or a new design.

The key is to make people feel like they’re a part of what I’m doing. I want my interactions with them to be an experience. I don't want to just put my work "in their face". It's not about the hard sale. With that said, I schedule time in my day, every day, to work the social media scene.


If you could share just one thing, with other shop owners, to help them improve the quality of their shops, what would it be?
Have an organized shop.

Make it easy for your customers to search your shop when they land on the main shop page. By creating a shop with plenty of categories—whether it’s by product type or product designs—your customers can dive right in to the area that interests them the most.

To see more of Joni Nickrent's designs, visit her at Pop Art Minis.

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Interview © Alyice Edrich, All Rights Reserved. www.alyiceedrich.net
Artwork © Jonie Nickrents, All Rights Reserved. www.popartminis.blogspot.com

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This post was sponsored by The Dabbling Mum.

For more articles geared towards creating art, check out The Dabbling Mum eMagazine.