Uses up-coming texture overlays
I’ve been a busy little elf working hard on projects that are very close to completion. More on that soon! I thought I should quickly give you a heads up on important upcoming changes.
Why My Current Zenfolio / Blog store front combination isn’t working
When I started selling textures, I started with a Zenfolio store. It was exactly what I was looking for. I could easily upload and manage the textures. It has big beautiful previews of the textures so you know what you are getting. I know a lot of you really enjoy being able to pick your own textures.
As great as Zenfolio has been, it also has some major drawbacks.
- People complain that Zenfolio changes the texture names on the downloads.
- Some people have found the shopping navigation to be confusing.
- Many people would rather just buy a package without needing to spend the time picking out textures.
- I can’t sell other file formats such as brushes, actions, photoshop layered files, etc.
- I can’t offer a referral or affiliate program to people.
- I’m paying for 2 different store fronts.
I started a store on my blog to offer things I couldn’t sell on Zenfolio, but that gets confusing to people. Why are there 2 places to shop? I’ve really pondered how to unite my storefront. I’ve loved my Zenfolio store, but to go forward, I’ve realized I have to make choices and make changes.
New Storefront
I’ve spent the past few months pondering and researching a solution. I’ve finally decided to go with Shopify for my storefront. I think that Shopify will be fantastic for ease of use for both me and you. Shopify is a secure platform with PCI compliance. I plan on having the new store open next week. I won’t have everything on it yet, but it will be open. More on that soon!
What Will happen To The Zenfolio Store?
I’m not sure yet if I’ll completely shut down the Zenfolio store. I have already paid for another year and I want to see how the new system works out. What I am certain of is that as I’ll start packaging up the Zenfolio textures and moving them to the new store. I hope to get everything moved over to the new store by the end of the year so I can start on new texture packages in the coming year. The Sale next week will be a great opportunity for you to get those textures you’ve had your eye on.
30% Off Thank You Sale
This has been my first year as French Kiss Textures. What a great time to appreciate how much I’ve learned and grown and to say Thank You for your support and your constant inspiration.
Leslie Nicole
American Photographer and Designer living in France with my French husband, 2 Weimaraners and Cat Rescues. Camera, Mac, studio, garden.
I would never have guessed you had only been doing this for a year! I love your stuff and am really excited for your new storefront. It’s always good to move forward.
~ Karen
Hi Karen, I’ve been making textures for longer – but started selling them nearly a year ago now. 🙂 Thanks for your message! xx
A pal uses BigCommerce.com … it costs less and does not take the 2% transaction fee … have you checked it out? I recently licensed PhotoStore.com because I have so many photos to upload and its unlimited. I can sell digital downloads too … haven’t tried any of these out. Made eCommerce sites with first Dreamweaver, then Joomla. But a dedicated eCommerce store is THE way to go. Thanks for all you do!
Thanks, Jenny! I didn’t really research BigCommerce. I looked at about a zillion platforms. Shopify was a little more pricey upfront, but it appears to be a very safe, easy platform. I figure I’m hiring an assistant by not having to worry about back-ups, etc. I took the plan that takes 1% (plus the payment gateway fees & monthly charges) I compared a lot of them in pricing and it seems like they end up being similar as one will charge more %, but have unlimited band-width, or some have unlimited storage/bandwidth but take more percentage. It’s enough to make an art major’s head spin! I think the main thing is to make things easy and clear for my users. Is PhotoStore.com your domain? What platform is it? I tried to open the address, but it gave me a site under construction.