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Tips if you want to sell adopts
2 years ago
As part of my tutorials and tips collection, I was asked to share some of my experience in the field of adopts in general. If you struggle with selling adopts or just start, then this might be interesting for you!
I would like to share some of my personal insights and experiences that I have made on my way here within the past 8 years regarding how it started, selling adopts, how important a community is, mental health, how to deal with "failure" and hate and envy.
How it started:
When I started selling adopts in 2015 I would've never guessed it became my main job and source of income.
I just saw someone drawing them and I thought to myself - damn, I want to do this too!
Of course I saw their sales in the bids in the comments and I immediately wished I could do this too!
So, I did some research on what adoptables were ( There are many helpful journals on DeviantArt ) and I basically copied what others were doing. Cause I had no idea how it worked. Gotta start somewhere I thought to myself. By the time I learned what worked for me and what didn't and what kind of art I enjoyed the most. I tried furries, animals, chibis, outfits, weapons, species and characters. Pretty much everything lol...
Outfits were the area where I found myself to stick around for a while. I was able to express myself best and even if I enjoy to create characters too from time to time, outfits have grown on me the most.
Types of adopts and which I chose for myself:
When I first started selling, I was SO HAPPY! (and believe it or not, until this day I am happy about every single sale I get. I appreciate every single person that decides to spend their hard earned money on something I have created). I started selling as OTA (Offer to adopt) to get a feeling how much people were willing to spend on my work. With the time I figured it out, I went with auctions and ever since I kept it this way. For me they work the best. Because I think this gives people the opportunity to purchase a design even with a smaller budget, through the SB (Starting bid) And also it gives people the opportunity to automatically win when using the AB function (Autobuy). So either way, I find this is the best way to offer your goods to more art collectors.
What to do if an adopt doesn't sell
Yeah I still struggle with this myself from time to time. Of course now it's gotten easier due to the community I have (read next point)
But in general I would say, don't get discouraged, keep creating. Keep going, you must imagine yourself like a lighthouse, always helping ships to find their way to the safe shore.
If you just put that light out, nobody can see you anymore and if you go overboard by creating fireworks all around you screaming "hey hey I'm here! Look at me, look at my work, hey!" You make the ships go dizzy and crash at the shore. This means, don't just post for the sake of it. Keep the quality up. It's always about quality > quantity. Your people will notice when you're just about the quick cash and eventually unfollow.
Stay consistent and keep creating what you love, without stressing you out about timings.
How important a community is!
Without a community, you're basically a leaf in the wind.
Yes you create awesome stuff, you wanna sell but nobody sees it and you get frustrated, so you draw even more, hoping to finally be seen and recognized. See, the problem here is that most people I recently saw joining the adopts community want to make fast money. And that is something you have to erase from your brain. If it was so easy, everyone would do it and everyone would be rich by now.
The most important thing you want to invest in, is in your community. People who appreciate you and your work. All infuencers and stars would be nothing without their fans and communities, and this works no different.
I know many artists are shy, have ADHD, can't express their thoughts in words, have autism, etc... We all struggle with our demons. It's important to learn how to communicate effectively and friendly. How to be open minded and let people in your life. By fearing to do so, you block the outter world and you cannot build a community. Selling anything needs a business mindset and a business mindset means stepping out of your comfort zone.
By just being your non perfect self, you are actually being the perfect self! You want people to appreciate you for who you are and not for what you pretend to be, your mask will sooner or later get cracks and you will not be able to keep this acting up. It will exhaust you too and you'll end up bitter and frustrated.
Be your authentic self. Let people know you're not perfect but that you love to be like that.
We already live in a world, where people want this perfection, which is just an illusion. Why would you want to be like someone else? That person already exists there, now it's time for you to present yourself and let people come into your life that will love you for YOU.
A strong community will share your work, will fav it, comment and eventually buy from you. This will spread the word! It's a win/win situation. Invest in yourself to invest in your community.
Mental health, burnout and you
Most of the artists can probably sing a song about this.
Mental health is often on the line in an artistic area, especially when it's about making a living. The burnout and struggle is real.
And I'm no different. I just recently started ALLOWING myself to have a break cause my anxiety and ADHD telling me I'm lazy and that I should do so much more ( while I work 12h each day already). It took me a few months to tell those 2 idiots to shut up and to listent to my body, when it needs rest. You won't be functioning when you're burnt out. And those thoughts get even worse and stronger, cause now you're even lazier but you're also exhausted and can't even change it, which adds more stress to the whole situation.
Here's how I have taught myself to deal with these moments: The brain likes to do what it already knows, even if it's unhealthy for you. Your body knows what's best for you. Try to focus on it, instead of thoughts and your brain, they usually sabotage you anyways.
Find something to unwind, may it be reading, going outside for a walk, swimming, dancing, hit the gym, whatever. Just don't curl up in a corner, hoping for it to go away.
You're free to have shitty days, we all have them and we need them too to know what great days feel like. Happiness can't be stacked endlessly, you gotta fall a bit, to appreciate when you're flying again.
Whatever you're dealing with, take the time you need for yourself to figure things out, don't stress over other people.
Make sure you come back from that negative situation and not let you eat it alive.
I know there's much more to cover here, if you found a way to be less stressed, feel free to share it!
Failures and how to deal with them
I actually don't like to call them failures. I experienced that whenever something didn't go as I planned, I found a way to adjust it and make it better.
So these "failures" will help you discover what does NOT work for you and give you the chance to find out what will work for you.
You can be annoyed and frustrated, when something didn't happen like you wish it did.
It's normal to be frustrated about these situations. Just don't let them define you.
Find a way to use them for your advantage. To adapt and adjust, instead of being sad that it didn't work out.
Sometimes what we wish for is so much less, than what we deserve.
You don't have to push away the negative feelings, they will eventually haunt you and crawl back at you out of nowhere and nobody needs that ><.
Take the time to vent and then with a fresh mind you start again, with a different approach.
Hate and envy
Oh yes... there's a lot of it. Especially online.
Let me say that I'm not a person who is very strong when it comes to hate in general.
As a highly sensitive person and empath, I do have my struggle with hateful people. I used to explain myself over and over again, thinking that they wouldn't hate me if they just understood me. I came to the conclusion that it's a waste of time and energy to talk to hateful people. Some just wake up with the intention of screwing up someone's day online for their own amusement. And you're not here to be somebody's clown.
I personally insta block people as soon as I notice there is no sense in having a conversation with them.
When I started, I had some people telling me my art sucked, my characters and anatomy was off and I shouldn't sell my art for money, cause it's not worth any.
Just last year I had someone impersonating me on YCH, scamming my customers and I had someone hacked all of my accounts as well.
I'm very cautious when it comes to my data but you know, online, shit like this happens and you gotta stay calm and not lose your head. Make sure you got it all double protected and whatnot.
Not too long ago I took some time to reflect on hate online in general.
So I could learn how to deal with it better for my inner peace. I mean, you can block someone but it still runs circles in your mind, right?
I like to tell myself now, that this hate just reflects their inner world and that they are to feel sorry for and not to be mad at. I see what beautiful things I have in my life and that I'm grateful for them. I try to shift my mind from the negative to the positive instantly.
I also like to view the hate as somekind of achievement. If someone hates on you or envys you, this means you made it to a specific point in life, where people feel the need to talk about you.
Just look at stars like Keanu Reeves, Johnny Depp, etc... In my eyes awesome guys but many other people can't stand them. That's just how it is.
You gotta accept both sides of the coin.
So! Wow, a lot more than I expected to write xD
Sorry for all the typos.
I hope this could help a bit and I'm happy to answer any questions!
I would like to share some of my personal insights and experiences that I have made on my way here within the past 8 years regarding how it started, selling adopts, how important a community is, mental health, how to deal with "failure" and hate and envy.
How it started:
When I started selling adopts in 2015 I would've never guessed it became my main job and source of income.
I just saw someone drawing them and I thought to myself - damn, I want to do this too!
Of course I saw their sales in the bids in the comments and I immediately wished I could do this too!
So, I did some research on what adoptables were ( There are many helpful journals on DeviantArt ) and I basically copied what others were doing. Cause I had no idea how it worked. Gotta start somewhere I thought to myself. By the time I learned what worked for me and what didn't and what kind of art I enjoyed the most. I tried furries, animals, chibis, outfits, weapons, species and characters. Pretty much everything lol...
Outfits were the area where I found myself to stick around for a while. I was able to express myself best and even if I enjoy to create characters too from time to time, outfits have grown on me the most.
Types of adopts and which I chose for myself:
When I first started selling, I was SO HAPPY! (and believe it or not, until this day I am happy about every single sale I get. I appreciate every single person that decides to spend their hard earned money on something I have created). I started selling as OTA (Offer to adopt) to get a feeling how much people were willing to spend on my work. With the time I figured it out, I went with auctions and ever since I kept it this way. For me they work the best. Because I think this gives people the opportunity to purchase a design even with a smaller budget, through the SB (Starting bid) And also it gives people the opportunity to automatically win when using the AB function (Autobuy). So either way, I find this is the best way to offer your goods to more art collectors.
What to do if an adopt doesn't sell
Yeah I still struggle with this myself from time to time. Of course now it's gotten easier due to the community I have (read next point)
But in general I would say, don't get discouraged, keep creating. Keep going, you must imagine yourself like a lighthouse, always helping ships to find their way to the safe shore.
If you just put that light out, nobody can see you anymore and if you go overboard by creating fireworks all around you screaming "hey hey I'm here! Look at me, look at my work, hey!" You make the ships go dizzy and crash at the shore. This means, don't just post for the sake of it. Keep the quality up. It's always about quality > quantity. Your people will notice when you're just about the quick cash and eventually unfollow.
Stay consistent and keep creating what you love, without stressing you out about timings.
How important a community is!
Without a community, you're basically a leaf in the wind.
Yes you create awesome stuff, you wanna sell but nobody sees it and you get frustrated, so you draw even more, hoping to finally be seen and recognized. See, the problem here is that most people I recently saw joining the adopts community want to make fast money. And that is something you have to erase from your brain. If it was so easy, everyone would do it and everyone would be rich by now.
The most important thing you want to invest in, is in your community. People who appreciate you and your work. All infuencers and stars would be nothing without their fans and communities, and this works no different.
I know many artists are shy, have ADHD, can't express their thoughts in words, have autism, etc... We all struggle with our demons. It's important to learn how to communicate effectively and friendly. How to be open minded and let people in your life. By fearing to do so, you block the outter world and you cannot build a community. Selling anything needs a business mindset and a business mindset means stepping out of your comfort zone.
By just being your non perfect self, you are actually being the perfect self! You want people to appreciate you for who you are and not for what you pretend to be, your mask will sooner or later get cracks and you will not be able to keep this acting up. It will exhaust you too and you'll end up bitter and frustrated.
Be your authentic self. Let people know you're not perfect but that you love to be like that.
We already live in a world, where people want this perfection, which is just an illusion. Why would you want to be like someone else? That person already exists there, now it's time for you to present yourself and let people come into your life that will love you for YOU.
A strong community will share your work, will fav it, comment and eventually buy from you. This will spread the word! It's a win/win situation. Invest in yourself to invest in your community.
Mental health, burnout and you
Most of the artists can probably sing a song about this.
Mental health is often on the line in an artistic area, especially when it's about making a living. The burnout and struggle is real.
And I'm no different. I just recently started ALLOWING myself to have a break cause my anxiety and ADHD telling me I'm lazy and that I should do so much more ( while I work 12h each day already). It took me a few months to tell those 2 idiots to shut up and to listent to my body, when it needs rest. You won't be functioning when you're burnt out. And those thoughts get even worse and stronger, cause now you're even lazier but you're also exhausted and can't even change it, which adds more stress to the whole situation.
Here's how I have taught myself to deal with these moments: The brain likes to do what it already knows, even if it's unhealthy for you. Your body knows what's best for you. Try to focus on it, instead of thoughts and your brain, they usually sabotage you anyways.
Find something to unwind, may it be reading, going outside for a walk, swimming, dancing, hit the gym, whatever. Just don't curl up in a corner, hoping for it to go away.
You're free to have shitty days, we all have them and we need them too to know what great days feel like. Happiness can't be stacked endlessly, you gotta fall a bit, to appreciate when you're flying again.
Whatever you're dealing with, take the time you need for yourself to figure things out, don't stress over other people.
Make sure you come back from that negative situation and not let you eat it alive.
I know there's much more to cover here, if you found a way to be less stressed, feel free to share it!
Failures and how to deal with them
I actually don't like to call them failures. I experienced that whenever something didn't go as I planned, I found a way to adjust it and make it better.
So these "failures" will help you discover what does NOT work for you and give you the chance to find out what will work for you.
You can be annoyed and frustrated, when something didn't happen like you wish it did.
It's normal to be frustrated about these situations. Just don't let them define you.
Find a way to use them for your advantage. To adapt and adjust, instead of being sad that it didn't work out.
Sometimes what we wish for is so much less, than what we deserve.
You don't have to push away the negative feelings, they will eventually haunt you and crawl back at you out of nowhere and nobody needs that ><.
Take the time to vent and then with a fresh mind you start again, with a different approach.
Hate and envy
Oh yes... there's a lot of it. Especially online.
Let me say that I'm not a person who is very strong when it comes to hate in general.
As a highly sensitive person and empath, I do have my struggle with hateful people. I used to explain myself over and over again, thinking that they wouldn't hate me if they just understood me. I came to the conclusion that it's a waste of time and energy to talk to hateful people. Some just wake up with the intention of screwing up someone's day online for their own amusement. And you're not here to be somebody's clown.
I personally insta block people as soon as I notice there is no sense in having a conversation with them.
When I started, I had some people telling me my art sucked, my characters and anatomy was off and I shouldn't sell my art for money, cause it's not worth any.
Just last year I had someone impersonating me on YCH, scamming my customers and I had someone hacked all of my accounts as well.
I'm very cautious when it comes to my data but you know, online, shit like this happens and you gotta stay calm and not lose your head. Make sure you got it all double protected and whatnot.
Not too long ago I took some time to reflect on hate online in general.
So I could learn how to deal with it better for my inner peace. I mean, you can block someone but it still runs circles in your mind, right?
I like to tell myself now, that this hate just reflects their inner world and that they are to feel sorry for and not to be mad at. I see what beautiful things I have in my life and that I'm grateful for them. I try to shift my mind from the negative to the positive instantly.
I also like to view the hate as somekind of achievement. If someone hates on you or envys you, this means you made it to a specific point in life, where people feel the need to talk about you.
Just look at stars like Keanu Reeves, Johnny Depp, etc... In my eyes awesome guys but many other people can't stand them. That's just how it is.
You gotta accept both sides of the coin.
So! Wow, a lot more than I expected to write xD
Sorry for all the typos.
I hope this could help a bit and I'm happy to answer any questions!
