Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Long overdue Zadyball update

I've spent the last several weeks working on giving Zadyball a bit of a face-lift. Most of the changes are pretty subtle, but I'm hoping that I'm making steps toward improving my business.

I've had an online business now for nearly two and a half years. One thing that I've learned in that time is that good pictures are CRUCIAL to online sales. In a "real" store, people can use all five senses to view a product. They can pick it up, shake it, feel it, throw it, even smell it if they really want to. But, the only sense that is available when buying online is SIGHT. So, what they are seeing had better look good!

When I first started selling online, I had a really hard time with my pictures. I was never happy with the background. Finally, I decided to take the background out completely using Gimp. This method works. Pretty well. But, it's very time consuming, and doesn't always give me the results I want.

I recently made a lot of new Zadyball styles (more on that in a minute). I wanted to post them, but the idea of spending SO much time editing the pictures really didn't make me happy. And I realized that I had several already made that I had never posted simply because I hadn't managed to get pictures I was happy with. So, I looked for a solution.

What I found was this: How to make a light tent. I followed the instructions, and in just about an hour, I had made a light box that I could use to take pictures. I still have to do a small amount of editing, but it is SO much faster than the old method. And I'm very happy with the results! (I'm still having trouble getting pictures of very light colors, but I'll keep working on it!)

Here's the light box I made: (I realize it's not super pretty, but it works, for now)


And here's some of the pictures:
Old Way:New Way:
Old Way:New Way:
Old Way:New Way:
Old Way:New Way:

I'm still working on the brightness issue -- I know it might be a little TOO much light for some of the pictures.

Here are some more new items that I took pictures of with the new light box.



More News

If you'd like a chance to WIN a Zadyball - head on over HERE to enter. They did a really sweet review of Zadyball a couple of weeks ago, and asked if I'd be willing to sponsor a giveaway. I hope you win!

One More Thing!

I'm working on expanding Zadyball's Organic/Eco-Friendly line, and just got several new colors!
I hope to have these put together and listed by the end of the month, but if you'd like to order before that, just let me know!

100% Organic Cotton French TerryReally Soft!

Bamboo/Cotton French Terry

Bamboo/Cotton Fleece

4 comments:

Ema said...

The new pictures look so great! They really have a lot more depth. The toys really seem to have more scale in the new photos. Great job on the lightbox!

The White House said...

The colors definetly seem more vibrant. Way to go being creative. You are awesome.

Gardner Family said...

They really do look alot brighter. And more professional. Good job!

hillari said...

The new pictures really do look better. Great job!