Brighten up your virtual Holiday parties with these free festive Zoom meeting backgrounds!
Many Christmas parties are going virtual this year, which is better than nothing and can even be fun! Safely spread some holiday cheer by adding one of these custom festive background to your Zoom or Microsoft Teams meetings.
If you don’t know how to add a custom background here are some links with instructions.
All images were created by me in Microsoft Paint 3D and Pixlr Editor.
Just right click and Save As the images below. They are all 1920x 1080 pixels which is the perfect size.
Free Festive Meeting Backgrounds
I also made some New Year themed background for your virtual New Years Eve parties!
Fun fact: I actually created these for my own office’s virtual Christmas party background, and then decided to do a whole series to share with all of you!
I’d love to know if you use any of these festive meeting backgrounds! Which one is your favourite? Let me know in the comments below.
Today I’m sharing a comprehensive guide on Redbubble vs Society6 for selling your art online.
These two popular Print on Demand websites are great options if you want to generate an income from your art and designs online without paying for inventory, shipping etc.
You can watch my video below, or read on to learn more about selling your art through Redbubble vs Society6 and determine which one is best for you!
Artist Store Front
Rebubble and Society6’s store fronts are visually quite similar.
The most obvious difference is the custom header on Redbubble is a lot larger. Both store fronts feature custom logo or bio pic, a small bio section, and can be slightly customized to show specific item categories on Society6 or feature a collection on Redbubble.
Your Redbubble storefront shows your products sorted by most relevant by default. On Society6 you can choose whether to showcase your products in order of most popular items, most recent, or random.
There store front layouts have apparently been optimized for shoppers and to increase sales based on marketing research by the respective companies.
Type of Audience
Both Society6and Redbubble cater towards a young, hip, and trendy audience. Think festival gear, college dorm or first apartment decor, stickers, and unique accessories.
Trendy pattern designs and quotes are popular on both websites, but I think Redbubble is more on the trendy side while on Society6 you will find more abstract art and modern art based designs.
The audience on Redbubble is slightly younger though than Society6 as they focus more on stickers which are popular with teenagers and young adults. However, Society6 has stickers too which can be popular with the right design.
Overall I think the target audience for both of these sites are young adults (20s and 30s) and their parents buying gifts for them.
Ease of Uploading Artwork
Redbubble’s uploading tool iseasier and more efficent than Society6, hands down.
Not to say you shouldn’t spend the time uploading your art on Society6, just expect it to take longer. Their current uploading tool is an improvement on what it used to be, and they are planning further changes for the future.
What is better about Redbubble’s uploading process?
You can upload one image for all products, and individual images as needed.
You can set a background colour for all products.
The ability to create square or offset patterns.
The “Copy” tool which allows you to copy all of the settings from an existing artwork, great to quickly upload recolours.
Products from Redbubble featuring my designs
Redbubble vs Society6 Products
Society6 and Redbubble offer a similar range of print on demand products including apparel, tech cases, home decor items, and accessories. But both have some unique products as well.
For example:
Redbubble offers more tops and blouses, mini skirts, dresses and scarves.
Myself, family and friends have purchased items from both sites. The quality has been good overall, and any time there was an issue it was resolved promptly.
Both websites add new types of products from time to time, which is fun.
Reviews of different Redbubble and Society6 products I own:
Redbubble earnings are paid automatically around the 15th of every month (to Paypal, or direct deposit), and there is a $20 minimum threshold. If you don’ t meet the threshold by the end of the year they pay you out in December.
Similarly, Society6 pays automatically to Paypal, with whatever balance you have on usually on the 1st of every month.
Both are reliable and I haven’t had any issues getting paid from either.
Can coolers from Society6
Product Marketing
Redbubble and Society6 have their own marketing departments who are professionals and good at driving traffic to their own websites. However, until your designs get their attention they probably won’t be promoting them. You will have to do some of your own marketing as well.
They do have re-targeting ads which means if someone views your design on their site a “cookie” will make it so they will see ads for your design on Facebook and Google etc.
Most products have nice mockupsthat are easy to share or take a screenshot for social media, blogs and other marketing initiatives.
You can also find some nice Photoshop mockups on the Redbubble blog.
Redbubble throw pillow mockup
Society6 sends out e-mail notices to artists prior to upcoming sales. They will often provide a link to download a .png overlay to use for your ads. Usually it’s just text containing the discount amount and promo code.
Redbubble sends an e-mail to their subscribers when there’s a sale. It’s useful to be signed up for their newsletter to get these notifications so you can promote these.
Shipping and Packaging
Redbubble and Society6 both have pretty reasonable shipping costs which vary depending on your location, the product size and weight.
Redbubble has manufaturers worldwide and products are shipped from the closest one to your location. They usually add in a free sticker with your purchase,and the packaging is cute and fun to open.
Society6 works with manufacturers in the U.S. and they often have free shipping worldwide promotions.
Both companies work with different manufacturers for different products. So, for example if you ordered a t-shirt and coasters, they might come in separate packages and at different times.
Note: Some products take longer to manufacture than others so it could take longer to ship and receive!
Summary
I hope you’ve found this breakdown of Redbubble vs Society6 helpful. Society6 and Redbubble are both great options for selling your artwork online, but overall I prefer Redbubble, mainly because of their streamlined uploading process. I think it’s better for beginners.
However, both have great things to offer including unique products and audiences, so it really depends on what you like and what works for you.
I use both because, as they say, don’t put all of your eggs in one basket.
Want to learn more about selling your art online? Here are some more great posts to check out!
If you’re an artist or graphic designer, applying to sell your designs through the Amazon Merch on Demand program can definitely be worth your time.
Everyone shops on Amazon these days. And after a year of selling my designs on Amazon Merch on Demand, I thought I would share some of what I’ve learned!
What is Amazon Merch on Demand?
Firstly, what is Merch by Amazon? It’s essentially a Print on Demand service, similar to Redbubble or Society6. You can upload finished artwork to a variety of products, including t-shirts and cell phone accessories, and then they are printed and shipped out after a customer purchases that item.
Below is a screenshot of my earnings from September 2018 – August 2019. These figures are not huge compared to others out there, but it’s nothing to shake a fist at either! For reference, I only have about 100 products listed at the time of this writing.
As you can see, I’ve made about $2000 in total so far. I hope to double or even triple that figure in the next year!
Here are some things I’ve learned along the way.
Tips for Selling on Amazon Merch on Demand
Getting started can be frustrating. Application rejections don’t always make sense and are likely automated, so make sure your application is filled out correctly. One wrong thing could lead to automatic rejection.
Getting accepted takes time. Be patient. It can take a few weeks in some cases.
Once your application is approved, youstart with only 10 design slots. Think carefully about which 10 designs you want to use. Once you sell a few products you will be able to add more.
Each level is known as a “tier” and each tier comes with more design slots.
Regarding tax withholding – use your SIN number or other similar tax ID number otherwise they will withhold 30% of your earnings (if you are a seller outside of the U.S.). I couldn’t figure out what my Tax ID number was at first, so they withheld 30% of my royalties for the first 5 months. I eventually received those with-holdings but it took an additional 5 months to get it.
The brand name doesn’t matter much but may aid in search.
You don’t have a storefront unless you sign up for the Amazon Influencer program. You will also have to apply for this using one of your social media accounts, and you are not guaranteed to be accepted.
Popsockets from Amazon Merch on Demand
T-shirts and PopSockets seem to be the best selling product types.
Keywords and descriptions are very important.
Design rejectionshappen. They don’t always make sense and are often automated, so just revise and try again. Make sure to follow all of Amazon’s guidelines for keywords and descriptions to avoid this as much a possible.
Not everything will sell, and what does sell might not even be your best work.
Your design will be deleted if there are no sales after 1 year. When this happens, you can either revise your keywords and description or move on and try another design.
There are no discounts or sale promotion on Merch products.
You can sell in other marketplaces, like Germany, Italy, Spain and even Japan.
There is a lot of competition on Amazon, so make designs that are unique and stand out.
Never use anything copyrighted, or you can risk losing your account altogether.
I hope you’ve found some of this information useful. Check out my Artist Resources page for even more tips on how to sell your art online.
Have you considered selling on Merch by Amazon or are you already? I’d love to hear your thoughts below. Happy selling.
Are you an artist wanting to sell art online to make some extra income? You’ve come to the right place!
Selling your art online is an easy and low cost way to start your art business today. Below you will find out how to get started broken down into 5 easy steps.
How to Sell Your Art Online in 5 Steps
1. Build your portfolio.
In order to start selling your art online, you should have a decent sized portfolio for potential customers to choose from. Aim for 10-25 artworks.
You can either make a bunch of new artwork, or dig up some old pieces that could work digitally or physically to sell and repurpose them.
2: Decide where to sell your art
Next, you’ll have to decide where to sell your art and that will depend on your medium, style, and goals as an artist.
Identify your audience and how you want to sell your art.
Are you going to sell primarily prints? (many avenues)
Are you going to sell physical work, such as paintings? (Etsy, or Fine Art America)
Do you create sculptures, jewelry or something else tangible? (Etsy)
Are you interested in designing t-shirts and/or home decor products? (Society6, Zazzle or Redbubble)
You’ll have to optimize your art digitally, or take a nice photo of it in order to sell it online.
Scan or photograph your artwork in high resolution.
Try to get sharp lines and true colors by using a tripod and good lighting.
Post process in a program like Photoshop to fix colors, or clean up scans.
4: Upload and enable as many products as possible
Upload your art to your chosen platform.
If you are going the Print On Demand route, only add to products that look good and work with the design. You may need to customize the design for different products, like having a version with a transparent background for stickers and t-shirts.
5: Market your products
This is where a lot of artists struggle because we’re not necessarily business or marketing professionals!
Share your products and artwork on social media. Create an Instagram, Twitter, and/or Facebook page dedicated to your art. Ideally, choose one you use frequently so it’s not a burden to learn or use daily. Check out my post on 25+ Instagram Post Ideas for Artists for some inspiration.
You may also consider building a website, which can be a hub if you sell on multiple platforms. It could be a blog or just a portfolio of your work.
Learn basic marketing skills. To dive deeper into marketing, watch tutorials on YouTube or Skillshare to hone your business skills or even artistic skills as your business grows.
There is a lot to learn on the business side, but don’t neglect your art!
Consistently create new designs so you can figure out what works and what doesn’t, then make more of what resonates with your audience.
