Just like any other job, when it comes to being a Blender Market creator, you need to put the time and effort in to reap the rewards. We analyzed what sets successful Blender Market creators (read: ones whose stuff sells) apart from the rest.

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If You Build it They Will Not Come.

 It's a very common misconception that if you create something cool and put it online, people will naturally find it and buy it. This is not the Field of Dreams; if you want to be successful at selling assets, you need to advertise yourself, promote your products and services, network, and hustle. Vendors whose models and add-ons are selling like hot buns are ones who understand this, letting the world know that they built something amazing - and where to get it.

Research What You're Going to Sell

 I cannot repeat this enough: Do. Your. Research. A great way to go about this is to find problem areas in Blender and then offer a product that helps fix or at the least makes that problem easier to deal with. Andrew Price does a great job of this: all his products solve a very real problem in Blender in an elegant, clean way. This is a HUGE reason his addons have been so well received...and the fact that he has a cult following doesn't hurt either (more on that later). Read my How to Make Money with Blender post to learn more about how to do this right.

Build Trust First

Ever heard of Andrew Price, Reynante Martinez or Greg Zaal? If you're a Blenderhead, you definitely have. These are household names with a serious following in the Blender Community, which is a huge advantage. Their names are recognizable, which inspires trust and their potential customers know they are getting a quality product. What if you don't have 5 years to build your own following first? Here is what Steve Lund of CG Geek did prior to releasing his Realistic Nature Asset Pack on Blender Market. First, Steve produced a tutorial showing how to create everything he was going to sell in the pack. He also put a plug in his tutorial for the product on Blender Market. The video was then sent out to all his YouTube subscribers. The result? Steve's product had one of the biggest opening weeks in Blender Market history. You may not have 50,000 subscribers to send your video to, but having any active channel that you use helps establish credibility and gets your name out there.

If at First You Don't Succeed...

 So you have a couple of products on the site but nothing is selling, now what? It's time to be honest with yourself and ask these tough questions:

Is what I'm selling really useful to Blender users?

Are you solving a problem or offering an innovation? Would you pay for your own product?

Are customers getting any bang for their buck?

If you're not making people's lives easier with your product, they are probably not going to part with their money to buy it.

Have I networked my product at all?

Use your Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram accounts. Go on relevant forums, hit up your friends and ask them to help promote your product. Now is not the time to be shy: if you want to sell, you need to reach potential buyers in every way possible.

Makes Sense, Right?

None of the above is rocket science. Build for your customers, not for yourself. Establish trust. Then promote the hell out of it. It's a simple recipe, but one that works every single time!