https://adwords.google.com/o/KeywordTool

You will need a google account to log in and use it. It will showyou how well (or not) your tags are earched for and will offer alternatives. Thats the short version of what it is

Well, I've been working in a local sporting goods store (hunting and fishing) for over 20 years. We are no longer in retail business meaning we sell only wholesale to other sporting goods store. We put out a catalog one for the summer and one for the fall to our customers. But in between catalogs we get specials in or new products. No one knows about them unless you show them.
Having a customer in front of you and having them hold the product and see for themselves is something else. You don't know how many times I've sold people things that they never even knew we had.

It's different selling online. First they only see a picture of it. They can't actually see the product. Remember, people look for certain items when buying, whether it's a canvas print or clock. So that canvas print might not sell for 6 months, but that one person needs a certain print for that wall in the hallway of their apartment or house and BOOM, you sold it.

As for me, I always said that I needed more things like art on my walls. But after 12 years living in our home, still not really settled in right. Love to add art to the walls. I want to take down old pictures of the family and add a freshness to the rooms. Family picturs seem to be outdated for my taste.

Maybe you can start a Squidoo Lens with your Canvas Prints. How about a website? Post your links on others lens, they are always welcoming others to do so.

I've never had a stall for my designs but I had a stall at a book festival to promote my book and I only sold one copy even though I had the best looking booth and giveaways. I also had binders of my zazzle stuff people could look at. I chalked it all up to getting the name of my book out there but still it was discouraging.

I think it's 99 percent luck and for me that's usually in short supply.

@Country1969~It's a vicious circle...the products that I want to sell don't sell which doesn't give me much money to buy anything to sell at art shows.

There's a lot of great advice on this thread. Thanks everyone for submitting all of the tips and techniques.

I've been selling on and off for a few years. What I'm finding works more than anything is GOOD designs and QUANTITY of them.

Quality and Quantity! It's the secret forumla and the more that you figure that out the more sales will start to come in.

My husband started our Zazzle store with three designs and let it sit for a few months (about five, I think. I was deep into submitting at stock photography at the time.) One day, I got a SOLD! Email from Zazzle, and our journey started...
I keyworded like I did for stock, and we got some exposure. Our sales started coming in, one every few weeks. Then as I got more into things, I started putting my designs on EVERYTHING, not just mugs and mousepads. I never did get the hang of QC, I used it once, and it got hung up, so I deleted what it made and never went back. Today I have over 11K products in my main store, with four or five pilot niche stores hanging in the background. Each one I did individually. My workflow allows me to make several hundred products in a week, but I touch every single one, and make sure the designs are well placed on every product.
I must have tightened up my keywords right, because in November, a (what I am going to assume is a high volume) affiliate picked up one of my cases, and it went hot.
Once I saw the capability of an item going hot, I got busy. Now I completely focus on high quality products. I put text on my cards, and offer options to personalize text whenever possible. The more options you allow for customization, the easier a customer will be able to envision THEIR information on your products.
I don't have the option of working outside the home. Zazzle is my only source of income, and in the last eight months, I went from earning just enough to hit payout, to now taking over a few of our bills.
Most of the sales are visual, but if you don't have the proper keywords to get IN that search, you won't be seen. What words or phrases would YOU use to search out your design? Those are the first keywords to use. Be sure to use the description area to describe the DESIGN as you would describe it to someone over the telephone. Don't bother putting product keywords in, zazzle adds those, and duplicates get stripped out anyway.
My husband does our marketing, and we're in a big push for the next three months to make my part time income turn into full time money. And we are highly confident that will happen.
Quality over quantity. Descriptive (but not spammy) tags. Variety of products. Those are the things that are working for us.
As for best sellers, I don't sell many keychains, magnets or mugs. I sell a lot of phone cases and business cards. BUT I still make the keychains, magnets and mugs
Definitely go to the Promotions forum. There are a lot of affiliate marketers that look for hungry artists there. And don't stop promoting on facebook or twitter or pinterest. The more your products get SEEN, the more likely you are to sell.
The One-Off price is too spendy for me to consider selling physical inventory in a booth, I can't compete with $12 keychains when the booth next to me is selling similar items for $5. Same with Tees, I can't compete with 3 for $10 prices. And the non-buying traffic would break my heart. AND I cannot offer customization on the products they want to walk off with right now. So we've killed that option in our heads.
I can't tell you what will work for you, only what has worked for us. Everyone has a different work pattern, and some things will go easy for some and difficult for others. All I can say is keep at it. Some of the huge affiliates make $40K a month (verified by a Z employee), and a lot of shopkeepers are making well in the $4-5K range/month. It just takes serious dedication to your craft. Zazzle can be anything you want it to be, except easy.
Wishing you all much success!!
Lori

Maybe think about dividing your time between creating and promoting. Make some things and promote them. See how it works out, and what sells for you. It can be really surprising what people like. If everyone's crazy about your yellow flower with the red tips, you don't want to spend all your time on your green tree by the blue river. Or if everyone wants your postcards, you don't want to devote all your time to designing teapots. Plus getting sales can really keep your spirits up

I work promotion into my schedule. There is one day a week where I do nothing but promotion task. It may not be the most fun day, but at least I know its getting done. It also helps if you pick promotion task you enjoy.

Lots of good advice in this thread!