How to Market and Sell Images and Artwork on RedBubble

A question from an eHow member lead me to a truly unique website for photographers and artists. RedBubble is a social networking site with a purpose like eHow, except it specifically targets illustrators, artists and photographers who want to market their artwork as prints, posters, cards or T-shirts. Any photo sharing site, like Kodak Gallery, will allow you to create prints, T-shirts and mugs and let your audience purchase them. RedBubble is different in that it allows you to display your work online and sell it with a built-in markup. The site makes money by selling your stuff and you get paid your markup via PayPal--and just like with eHow--the sign-up is free. Although you will need to do your own marketing, RedBubble supplies a lot of marketing tools for you to use on your site. Let's take a look at how easy it is to sell your work online at RedBubble.

Things You'll Need

• Internet Access
• High Resolution JPEG or PNG Images

Instructions

1. 

   Create your free account. The site has an easy-to-follow sign-up procedure. You can edit your profile and add a picture and description of yourself. RedBubble offers email between members and allows you to add favorites and leave comments. It does not have a rating system like eHow.

2. 

   Once you have created a free account, go to MY BUBBLE to begin to add artwork. What you can produce from your artwork is dependent upon the resolution of the image. Card images should be 1300 by 900 pixels (1 megapixel). Print images need to be at least 1800 by 1260 pixels (2.5 megapixels). Large prints, posters and T-shirts all have different size requirements. Just click UPLOAD to browse for and upload your image.

3. 

   Browse for and select your image. After you have added your image, add a TEXT title and some information about the piece of artwork. Where it was photographed, what it is a picture of and any information that may be relevant to appreciating the image. Also add keywords that will enable people to find your artwork when they search the site. Use as many keywords as you can think of.

4. 

   Click on MAKE THIS WORK AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE. This will open up all the purchase options. Remember to check the size requirements before choosing a particular category. Also adjust the markup to what you want to get from the sale of each piece. Higher markups give more return for each sale, but may limit your audience.

5. 

   Once your work is added, you will see it on your homepage with the proper pricing displayed by your work. People can now search for it and purchase it directly from RedBubble.

6. 

   Like any online site, you need to market your work for it to be seen. RedBubble provides lots of marketing tools. It gives you codes for displaying your images in a java applet, as a banner and a host of other site marketing tools. Don't forget to use Google Bookmarks, DIGG, Facebook and other social networking sites to promote your materials.

Tips & Warnings

• Check the website's FAQs to understand the resolution requirements for your images.

• If you are submitting non-photographic artwork, make sure your scan resolution will generate the required image resolution for your artwork.

• This website is not for family photographs; Kodak Gallery and others serve that purpose; this is for artistic work.

• JPEG Images can be downloaded from the site; use a watermark if desired to protect your images.

Resources

• RedBubble
• Richard Burke's RedBubble Site