Not a stock site - New way of Cross Promotion

hospitalera · #1 (**permalink**) 05-19-2007, 11:27 AM

;-) Attention! Contains some referral links! ;-)

Some weeks ago I was contacted by this people: Print Business Cards and after thinking quite a while about and asking some more questions I decided to give it a try because I noticed it might be a good possibility to promote my portfolio to other markets/ buyers. So what it is about? First of all joining is free, you then start to design templates for business cards (Stock images make great templates for business cards as we are hopefully used to design/ shoot with copy-space in mind!)and put them on line. Customers can then buy business cards with your design, but not the file itself!, from PrintBusinessCards.
You get $5 per (first) sale/ customer, if the SAME customer comes back and buys the same card again you get nothing ;-( .
Minimum pay out is 25$. You retain the copyright and the image is non-exclusive to them, means it is an additional outlet for your work and you don't have to put up exclusive work there.

And now the interesting part, if you have min 12 templates submitted they set up a mini-site for you with links to your web site, blog or portfolio, here is mine: My Mini Site
The other great thing is that you can link each template to the original image you have with a stock agency like FeaturePics! So if somebody wants not only the business cards with your design but also the image to put it for exemple on their web page s/he can buy it from your portfolio at FeaturePics (and becomes your referral at FeaturePics also!). More sales for you! I think that is a very clever idea to promote your portfolio to other markets. I have choosen to link to FeaturePics because of the high percentage you get there of each sale and the possibility that each of YOUR images serves as a referral link for you, but you can equally link the template to an other site that allows per image sales, your own home page etc.
Edit, they just send me my very own, private cookie! how nice! Obsolet now: Only draw back for me, they don?t have a decent referral programme! At least not one that uses tracking cookies, ;-( nethertheless if you invite somebody to join and forward the name to them you get $25 as soon as this person has 25 templates approved! This referral programme is only valid until the end of this month (May). So if anybody wants to join I would be very grateful if you pm me or respond to this thread as soon as you signed up. ;-) In exchange I volunteer to answer your questions, provided I know the answer! SY

hospitalera · #2 (**permalink**) 05-22-2007, 12:16 AM

Update: PrintBusinessCards just extended the programme until end of June ;-) And provided me with my very own tracking cookie, sweet, I like people who listen to your suggestions ;-) Nevertheless if you have some questions feel free to ask me SY

dbvirago · #3 (**permalink**) 05-23-2007, 03:44 PM

Yeah, I've been there for a few weeks now. Actually have one sale. I see it more of a cross-promotion than a revenue stream, but you never know. It has generated some hits to my website. They are very responsive to suggestions.

Here is mine Darryl Brooks, Featured Artist

FlemishDreams · #4 (**permalink**) 05-27-2007, 04:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hospitalera

First of all joining is free, you then start to design templates for business cards (Stock images make great templates for business cards as we are hopefully used to design/ shoot with copy-space in mind!)and put them on line. Customers can then buy business cards with your design, but not the file itself

Maybe I missed it but I didn't find any guidelines and conditions for contributors.
Contributors should upload "templates".

What's the layout and content of a template?
Format (PSD?), size, color space, design, etc...

How to register as a contributor, what are the conditions, where is the procedure, where are all the goodies mentioned in this post? The site seems only to have links and FAQ's for buyers.

hospitalera · #5 (**permalink**) 05-27-2007, 07:28 AM

Design Requirements is a good starting point and they have also a helpful forum... SY

dbvirago · #6 (**permalink**) 05-27-2007, 11:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hospitalera

Design Requirements is a good starting point and they have also a helpful forum... SY

Also, not advertised well, but you don't have to upload 'templates'. Once registered, use site mail to upload and send your jpgs. They will do the work needed to convert the image. You lose some control of the output, but don't put the work into it.

hospitalera · #7 (**permalink**) 06-27-2007, 03:53 PM

Had my first sale there! SY