If you´re thinking of becoming a vendor and selling your props, plug ins or characters, there are some things you should be aware of. First of all, most people tend to think that all they need is a product. Well, you DO need a product – but that´s far from everything. In fact, there are thousands of great and skilled artists out there that produce stuff that could easily be sold. But it ain´t happening. Why?
Guts! Yes, you need lots of it. Selling is scary in the start. I know, I´ve been selling since 1999 and I´m a bestselling vendor at DAZ 3D since 2006. It takes a lot of courage to overcome the fear of selling. Why is that? Well, when you sell something, you trade it to the masses for money. They will look at it and they will say what they think. Scary thing! Yeah, you no longer can get away with: “Ahh well, just something I did”. Suddently, it´s supposed to give value for the money!
Selling becomes more difficult if you attatch your personal value to your products. Like I´m a bad person if it doesn´t sell. The thing is – you´re a great person no matter what!
Getting things perfect – another killer. Lots of people, me included – have been tought in school to be perfect. You need A´s or you´re out, and you´ll loose your job. Well, true when you have a job – but not true when you´re selling on your own or running a business. Lots of people tend to try to get their stuff perfect. Chances are that it will never be perfect. Part of that is due to fear of selling, I know – I`ve been there! You need to get it good enough as quickly as possible – and get it out on the market!
But then people will complain about it? So what, people will ALWAYS find something to complain about. So what – there are complainers out there. That´s what they do. Let them do their job, and you stick with yours. Did you see the first version of Windows? Was it the best possible operating system? No. Did it work? Yes, it was good enough to fill the needs of that time. And since then it has been updated several times. If Mircosoft waited until 2010 before releasing their first Windows version, they would not make it on the market.
That´s the route you want to go. Make your props good enough to be sold. Not perfect. Make your plug ins good enough to get sold. Not perfect. Time is valuable – and you will not stay ahead of the competition if you spend your time getting things perfect. Help people solve their problems – they don´t need a perfect tool. They need a tool that helps them NOW – not in a year from now.
I released the global illumination lighting package for DAZ Studio, Light Dome PRO back in November 2006. Version two in Dec 2008. That´s two years apart. The first version is not as good as the second. But it worked for the market at that time. It was good enough.
Don´t get me wrong – quality is good. You should aim high and create good quality stuff. But release your products before they reach a 10 out of 10. Get them out at 8/10. And then work on the update / upgrade. Eventually, you will get to a 10/10, but that way you will stay ahead of the game.
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