How to sell more on CGT (and other sites)
I shall attempt to give the best advice I can for selling your models online in general, not just CGT, but mostly related to CGT as it appears to be the best I've ever encountered.
As you may, or may not know, I'm an author so that means I might just waffle on a little more than I should. Please, try to indulge me.
This advice/ guide is from my experience only, and not everything I do may work for you but I am hoping it will help the many new modellers to answer the question of "Why are my models not selling?". Here goes...
1. Select a style and stick with it.
This doesn't mean from that moment on, only make that style of model. It simply means that you are best to pick a style and then explore the possibilities. Deviating from your chosen style is a good thing when you have "modellers block".
Fantasy, Medieval, Military, Sci-Fi, there are lots to choose from.
2. Make lots of models.
It appears to me that sales are indeed linear, the more you have on offer, the more will sell. I try to upload at least one per day, but sometimes I model needs more attention than others and you might find yourself not being able to hit the target you set. Don't worry about it, it's an ongoing process and what you have uploaded already is always in the shop, ready to be bought.
3. Hit the target.
When you upload a model you are given a publishing score for that model. Decide what your score you are aiming for and try to make that the minimum score you allow before you click the publish button. 7 appears to be a reasonable value to aim for in my experience.
I try my best to get that score past 8, but that isn't always possible.
4. Review your list.
Set a day in the month where you review your list of models and figure out which ones are selling and which ones are not. Improve your description, supply more screenshots, ensure you have enough search tags etc. Do this each month and your publishing score will rise, as will your sales (if you have enough models).
5. Good screenshots.
Try to take screenshots from every possible angle that you can. This will help the prospective buyer to make the decision to buy your model instead of someone else's.
6. Promote your wears.
I've seen different approaches to this and I've even heard people say that promoting makes no difference. This is wrong. No apologies to those people for saying this either.
I have tested this theory and I have come to the conclusion that promoting your models, works.
Here are a few places I use for promotion, Twitter (with full tags for game devs/ subject of model/ model sharing bots etc), a Facebook page that is only used for your models, Pinterest, this is the best one in my opinion. You only have to do a google search for images to see that 50% or more are from Pinterest, why not have your models in that search list for free as well?
I also use my blogs to promote my models (and books). Discord and Reddit are also places I post. Sometimes I can spend as much time uploading and posting screenshots around the internet as I did making the model itself.
7. Use all the resources.
There are many more sites to explore and sell your models on than CGT. CGT in my experience is about the best thus far but I would urge you to offer your models on every site you can find. CGT, TurboSquid, Cults3D, Shapeways, 3DExport and Sketchfab are good ones to start off with. Make sure you keep the price the same for all, or you could end up with some grumpy customers after they find your teapot on CGT for less than the one they bought on TurboSquid.
8. Avoid the masses.
CGT provides you with one of the best tools you could ever wish for and it's free. The analytics tool, if used properly, can make all the difference to your sales. With a little thought and a few clicks, you can discover which models oversaturate the market, and which ones don't.
Cars, furniture, lights, I find to be a none starter. There are just too many of them out there. Look at the sales % and you will get a great idea if it's worth starting the project you was just thinking about. It may save you a whole lot of time, and time is money.
There are many more things I could tell you about selling your models online but, most people don't even manage to do the above and then they're surprised they can't make a decent profit from it. I may update this post, I may just transfer the article to my blog, either way, I hope it has helped.
Simon
Gotta say, that's a very comprehensive list there. All good points. Don't have anything to add. I agree with all the points in this list, and I actually do all of them, so I can certainly back up the effectiveness of everything in the article. It's really a cumulative effort. You need to do all these things, and do them with regular frequency. Success will not happen overnight. It will take a while. You need to keep at it. There are no shortcuts.
In overall I agree with SimonTGriffiths (and Luxxeon as well). But about point Nr. 1. I have heard that advice before, but I haven't followed it (or maybe I am not just there yet) and it seems to that have worked out for me fine.
As for Nr. 7. TurboSquid I have heard allot bad things about and it also seems a bit cumbersome to get started with, so I haven't started up there. I tried 3Dexport for a year and a half. Zero happened there me. Now I am also on Renderhub and it is okay there.
Great list! I'd like to add that Up-selling models using the collection system is beneficial. So if you offer multiple models in the same style or genre, selling them as packs or bundles can be valuable to customers. It also adds more products to your profile, increasing visibility.
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