Christopher Johnson

You name or Shopid *	Christopher Johnson
Which PODs do you work with? (in no particular order *	zazzle imagekind greeting card universe spreadshirt skreened redbubble inktastic society6 deviartart fine art america other not listed
How long have you been working with PODs? *	4-6 years
What is the best thing about working with PODs *
The best thing is that we don't have to sell directly to the public. Buying an expensive printer and handling shipping and charging would be very time consuming. This is even more important when one already has another part or full time job. Working with PODs is nice in general because you only focus on creating, uploading, describing, and promoting. Yeah, the promoting part isn't much fun, but there is so much competition out there that if we don't promote, it is unlikely that we'll sell anything at all. For me PODs are essential because people in Mexico really don't like to buy artwork or graphic design or if they do they won't want to pay more than the cost of the printing (which would mean that the designer would work for free). When I tried to sell framed prints of my work no one made me an offer higher than printing costs so it was a waste of time. No, I didn't sell at that price. Greeting cards are rarely given here either so that wouldn't be profitable either so I basically sell to strangers in other countries.
How many hours do you spend on your POD(s) - including designing, adding & promoting - on average *	40-50 hours per week
what would you say to another POD artist who is struggling and in need of motivation? *
When I teach I work between 5-15 hours a week. When I don't have classes I work more than 50 hours a week on PODs. I'm not really sure what to say. I really haven't seen much growth in the last couple years. I guess I'm the struggling artist who needs motivation. Right now I'd say. Get a part time job to pay the bills and keep working and promoting your art and design. It should eventually take off. I started selling on Imagekind back in 2007. I had heard of it from an affiliate marketing manager who just started managing that account. I didn't know that PODs existed and back then there weren't very many around. I only recall Imagekind, Cafepress, and Redbubble. I think I opened my account at Zazzle in 2008 but I didn't really use it since at the time there was no Quick Create Template option and making products one by one didn't seem like much fun. Since Cafepress had an extremely limited free option I didn't really use it after trying with a couple images. I got my first Redbubble sale in 2012! I've only had 3-4 sales at Imagekind since I started uploading there. I could use more PODs like Zazzle that actually get sales without knowing the shopper in advance.
Do you have any formal training or education in POD related fields? *	No - I am self taught
If I won the super jackpot lottery tomorrow I would... *	Keep working my POD's for fun
My zazzle stores are:	http://www.zazzle.com/livingnature http://www.zazzle.com/christopherinmexico http://www.zazzle.com/kaleidoscopeart http://www.zazzle.com/antiquedart http://www.zazzle.com/abstractfractalart http://www.zazzle.com/mosaicartwork http://www.zazzle.com/monogramsbychris http://www.zazzle.com/outdoorart http://www.zazzle.com/holidaygreetings http://www.zazzle.com/christiandevotion http://www.zazzle.com/weddingart http://www.zazzle.com/wildanimalart http://www.zazzle.com/sciencefictionart

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