The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
IÕm probably the least artistic or musical person in the world. About the only instrument that I play is my iPod. But for those people who actually have some talent, now is your time. It used to cost a lot of money to open a store and put your talent to work. If you managed to be artistic, you had to first work on your craft, second, put together enough money to open a store of some type, and then third, hope that enough people who lived in your area had the same taste that you do, allowing you to make a living doing what you want. Unless you lived in a large urban centre, the odds were quite slim of this actually happening. Not any more. With the web, you can live where you wish and set up any type of store that you might want to. With over a billion people online around the world, as long as your customers can find you, you can pursue your dream. Lets start with caf press. One of the most famous do Ð it Ð yourself stores on the web, it takes approximately ten minutes to set up a store at this website. All you need to do is take your art or designs and upload them to the site. You set your prices, give them your account information and tell them how to pay you and then select your products. What do you want people to be able to buy? Want coffee mugs and t-shirts? Maybe aprons and boxers? Possibly even clocks, cards, magnets and mouse pads? Caf press has them all. This is a great site for a club or other small organization looking to do some fund raising as well. If you have logo drawing or art talent, you can set up a store in minutes.Ê Another hugely popular store online is threadless. Threadless sells only one thing: t-shirts, but the way they do it is interesting. Anyone can upload logos and designs, then, like at caf press, people can buy your shirts.Ê But also at threadless, they hold a design competition. Every few weeks, designs uploaded for the contest will be voted on by people who come to the site and the winning shirts are sold in massive amounts; guaranteeing a good paycheque to whoever is fortunate enough to win. Threadless has amazing designs. You can find originals that you will find nowhere else and over time, a lot of people buy repeatedly from the same artist. This isnÕt only possible with art or drawing. Its also possible if you are crafty, maybe a knitter, or a jewelry maker. You might make candles, sew bags, or do ceramics; then etsy.com is the site for you. Etsy is basically the worldÕs largest craft show that is happening all year long. Like at caf press, setting up a store is as easy as making a free account and designing a page. You upload pictures and descriptions of your creations and people will soon be able to see whatever you are making. Ponoko.com is the same idea, but this time for all sorts of wood creations and furniture. You set up a store, upload your photos, and people can see whatever creations you can make. Ponoko also has a twist though. On this site, the people using the site can design plans for something they would like to have built, choose the materials, and then people will offer bids to make your piece. If youÕve got a certain idea about a piece of furniture you want but just havenÕt been able to find it in any store, then this site will meet your needs. Whatever your talent, before setting up a store anyplace online, you need to check out several things: How are you going to be paid and how often? How big is the percentage that the website is taking? Do your designs remain your property? Are there size limits on the files you can upload and are there any time limits on sales that you need to know about? Once youÕve chosen a place and made a name for yourself, the sky is the limit. And you can work from home in your jammies. ([email protected])
