What's Your Story?
I am very amazed at how I overlooked using my digital camera, and my love for visual arts and media, as a tool for selling or earning a living. I have seen so many visual artists display their awesome works all over the internet for some time now, and while creating digital art myself, I was so wrapped up in other forms of "marketing", I completely did not see the forest for the trees.
One day a bell rang while I was creating yet another fansite for a close friend. While my experience at this form of art is not nearly at the level of some, it ain't bad, as one would say
To make a longer story short, I began researching, and experimenting with different platforms, and ideas to sell my own works. Some of those platforms are fabulous, while some are so so, and others still, are just not worth the time (and money) to get someone like me, and countless others started. You see in this world today, the majority are just struggling to stay afloat. I for one certainly do not have any "extra" cash to invest in buying store software or hosting, (I bought hosting for 8 years to support my music and other projects, but that became far too costly), nor can I afford to pay a website platform aka marketplace, to add my shop items, and pay for each listing upfront, regardless of a sale or not (Etsy, Ebay).
I will not bash any platform, but some are just better than others. This is one reason, while I am still experimenting with platforms, and most likely always will, you can and will currently find art and other digital items I have available in several places.
I do currently have ETSY items up at https:/shopnoir.etsy.com/ which I more than likely will not restock again, if I can not at least break even there.
I also have a shop on STORENVY, another marketplace similar to MEYLAH, except the one drawback there is if you sell digital products, your customer must wait up to 48 hours to receive the item(s). Many free platforms do not support digital downloads, and I have managed to work around this feature by adding my own cart, with the explanation that the visitor can use either, but this sort of selling can be cumbersome, in the sense that you must watch to sets of carts instead of one. Find my STORENVY shop here:
http://digiscrapcafe.storenvy.comI have also built several stores from scratch, using buttons and carts from Paypal, Payloadz, and DigitalGoodsStore. I have built on Jimdo, Miduu, eCrater, and used free platforms to build such as Ucoz, and Webnode, and so far out of the countless free store AND hosting platforms I have researched and used, WEBNODE stands out "so far" as the best, although yet again, can be a cumbersome task to not only add your products, but create your downloads, and create the buttons to support them. In any case, visit my "hand made" store here:
http://tagmeart.webnode.com (cart not working but example is still useful)
And then there was ZAZZLE!
Oh how I love Zazzle! Have been happy there for years. Do you need more testimony than that! I have 10 stores there, please check out my SCRAP ART store, and my PROFILE where you will find links to ALL my stores.
http://www.zazzle.com/timelessvintage*Another reason I give you this info may also be a little shameless self promotion, but hey, after being in music and media all my life, "ain't nothin wrong with that"!
So now we get to MEYLAH!
http://meylah.com/DigiScrapCafeI've only been here less than a month, and I am very impressed. While it is a fact that many things on the Meylah website are outdated, and in some cases simply not there, such as many of the features that are shown on the free tutorials about Meylah here, it has many other qualities no other platform has had so far.
PERSONAL AND QUICK CUSTOMER SERVICE!
This is Priceless, I can not explain to you just how priceless having a direct, quick and personal response and communication with your customers, clients, or potentials can be. With that said, KUDOS MEYLAH! I can not wait for the next (and coming ) generation of this platform. I am positive I will be praising this website further in the near future, but in the meantime, if you are an artist, try it.
Self Promo Bottom Line!
I invite you all, and hope you will join our website. Members can promote their art and products, plus you will find, freebies, tutorials, friendship and more. While still in a somewhat new state, I am accepting requests for Moderators and Admins, so if you would like to be a part of the network team, join and let me know
Angela aka ZSAdmin
Originally posted on My
Meylah BlogUPDATE:
The above still rings true, altho I have been through several more experiences since then, including trying out Weebly premium for 6 months, but judging likable but still too costly for what you do or do not receive for you fee.
I recently retained hosting on an inexpensive host located here:
I launched a website based on Vintage collectibles, crafts, and gifts. It houses a shop for my collectibles,
Here is the entry page
http://treasuredscrapsrva.comand a store for my digital art, and graphic resources.
Entry page:
http://www.digiscrapcafe.com Digital Resale Store:
http://treasuredscrapsrva.net/storeThanks for reading