Green Light by brilho-de-conta

When we first start selling on the Envato Marketplaces, we all expect to make a great amount of sales and, of course, money. But then we realize that it is not as easy as it seems. A lot of authors are frustrated because they do not have the success they expected to have, but are they doing the things correctly?

Over the last few months I have had the opportunity to interview some of the top sellers from Envato and other successful designers. So here you have a list of what you should do if you want to succeed.

Get things started, now.

First of all, you cannot expect to have sales if you don’t create stuff. Do you have a good idea? Then create it today. When I asked Collis about the best decision he made when creating Envato he said that it was to get things started.

I had no idea how Envato was going to turn out and never would have found out if we hadn’t decided to try making *something*. It’s like that famous quote that every great journey begins with a step.

- Collis Ta’eed

Don’t give up.

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and you won’t have Orman Clark’s sales from the first month. Accept it. Now let’s think about how you can achieve his fame on the second month, and giving up is never a solution. Brad Goble, the top selling author at GraphicRiver, said:

Have thick skin and don’t give up! If you get rejected/jobs turned down/negative feedback then grow from it! Come back harder, stronger, faster, better, you only live once.

Take your job seriously; put passion in what you do.

- Brad Goble

Do you think design is your hobby? If you want to succeed, then make it your job. Yuri Arcurs, world’s top selling microstock photographer, said:

If you want to succeed in stock, make sure this is not just a hobby of yours – it should be your job. It’s hard work, but if you stay at it and keep learning from your mistakes, you’ll be able to make it.

- Yuri Arcurs

Be known inside and outside the marketplaces.

Be cool with your fellows, participate in the competitions Envato organizes, and be active in the forums. This way you will gain fame and respect and you need that.

But Envato should not be your limits. Actually, most of the top seller authors bring their own clients. It is very popular these days to have a blog with free resources. Diego Monzon, Orman Clark, Alex Rivers (Webtreats) and many others have it. You will not only be known, you will also practice your skills.

My best advice for folks starting out with graphic/web design is to start a resource blog and make design freebies. The challenge of creating resource files day in day out is the greatest practice out there. And as a side benefit, by tracking downloads and comments, you get a pretty good idea of upcoming trends in premium markets as well.

–Alex Rivers

Never stop learning and don’t be afraid of having your work criticized.

Design, like most of the things in life, is not easy. But with an appropriate dedication you can achieve all the goals you set.

The best way to improve is to work on as many different projects as possible, whether they are real client projects or fictitious projects invented to test yourself. Looking at other people’s designs also helps. If you take the time to consider why their design does or doesn’t work, it can help you develop an understanding of design principles in relation to your own personal taste. Blog posts with case studies of design projects can also be a great source of understanding how other people work.

– Laura Kalbag

Don’t limit yourself to one single style or discipline. Constantly study, study and study. Regularly create work using new tools, software and design styles – even if you don’t like it – it’ll result in you discovering new tricks and processes that you can apply to your everyday work.

Even when you think you’re a fully qualified designer, you know your chosen software like the back of your hand and there’s nothing a tutorial could teach you, take a time out to follow some detailed tutorials – the chances are the process of doing so will end up teaching you something new, by having to work from some else’s work process.”

–Adam McIntyre

Work hard and you will see the consequences.