chaosmachine Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 I'm launching a new business selling Photoshop layer styles. The site just went live yesterday, so please check it out and let me know what you think. This is roughly my 10th attempt at launching a new business, but it's the first one that involves directly selling my own creations. My goal is to corner the high-end of the layer styles market. Launching this site is the first step, but it will probably take a few more iterations to get where I want. The styles are all based on my own photography. I spent about 4 months shooting high-resolution textures at locations all over the place. The textures are meant to be the thing that separates my products from some of the lower-quality styles people sell, but I'm not sure if I've emphasized that enough on the site. Anyway, let me know what you think. Any feedback, good or bad, would be helpful. PS: If you have a design related blog/forum/etc, and you want a review copy or a free copy to give away to your readers, just send me a PM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ruiagnelo Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 The work you display on the webpage is quite polished and suggestive. Seems like a good idea, but remember that you need to be original nowadays and bring the most creative solutions, because competition is really tough. Also i have noticed this: When you buy our style collections, we also include our original high resolution textures in PNG format, absolutely free. That means you’re getting more than Photoshop styles, you’re getting a complete set of texture photography, too Maybe it's giving to much. i don't know details, but if it is the complete hi res image, then you are giving a great part of your work, for free. maybe it could be a good idea to give a sample and think about how the hi res textures can also be profitable to you. just a suggestion tho. i sincerely hope you succeed mate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaosmachine Posted August 9, 2010 Author Share Posted August 9, 2010 The work you display on the webpage is quite polished and suggestive. Seems like a good idea, but remember that you need to be original nowadays and bring the most creative solutions, because competition is really tough. Also i have noticed this: When you buy our style collections, we also include our original high resolution textures in PNG format, absolutely free. That means you’re getting more than Photoshop styles, you’re getting a complete set of texture photography, too Maybe it's giving to much. i don't know details, but if it is the complete hi res image, then you are giving a great part of your work, for free. maybe it could be a good idea to give a sample and think about how the hi res textures can also be profitable to you. just a suggestion tho. i sincerely hope you succeed mate. Thanks. I agree about the textures, I put a ton of work into them. I originally had these priced at $49/set, but initial feedback from a design forum I posted this on yesterday was "you're charging too much!", so I cut the price to $12 as an experiment. *shrug* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest abusivegeorge Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 They look awesome chaosmachine, I would agree that $50 a set is too much, but $12 a set is too low, just my 2 cents. Excellent work man. The work you display on the webpage is quite polished and suggestive. Seems like a good idea, but remember that you need to be original nowadays and bring the most creative solutions, because competition is really tough. Maybe it's giving to much. i don't know details, but if it is the complete hi res image, then you are giving a great part of your work, for free. maybe it could be a good idea to give a sample and think about how the hi res textures can also be profitable to you. just a suggestion tho. i sincerely hope you succeed mate. Comepltely agree. Hence my thinking that $12 a set is too low. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chim Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 Excellent stuff man, the styles look amazing, well presented and very tempting. Everybody thinks everybody is charging too much, but time and time again it's been proven people associate value with price. Then again, when you don't have a market base it's difficult. The only thing I can think of is, don't just leave the site lying around, advertise it, but I'm sure you already know that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaosmachine Posted August 9, 2010 Author Share Posted August 9, 2010 Excellent stuff man, the styles look amazing, well presented and very tempting. Everybody thinks everybody is charging too much, but time and time again it's been proven people associate value with price. Then again, when you don't have a market base it's difficult. The only thing I can think of is, don't just leave the site lying around, advertise it, but I'm sure you already know that. Thanks. Yeah, I am going to do everything I can to make it successful. I bought an advertisement on Reddit that will run on Thursday, it will be interesting to see how it goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ruiagnelo Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 i took a second look and they really look good. specially the stone ones. now i think you should move forward with new approaches. like trying different fonts, maybe work on fonts that are flexible to the point of getting a lot of different texture works. more ideas. innovation. i know of a lot of new businesses and i can say they can grow huge if there is an initial effort. all that is needed is to grab attention and show originality. the biggest human conflict is the competition for new ideas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaini Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 maybe try a two-tiered price structure - a cheaper price for just styles, and a higher price for 'pro' sets that include the original images? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gary C Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 Nice domain. Good luck with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaosmachine Posted August 9, 2010 Author Share Posted August 9, 2010 Nice domain. Good luck with it. Yeah, I was very surprised it was available. Google says there's 33K searches every month for the phrase "photoshop layer styles", so I'm hoping to capitalize on that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gary C Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 I've definitely searched those exact phrases before. Wouldn't pay for them personally, but then I'm not a professional graphic designer, so I'm not your market. $12 sounds decent to me. Maybe make a bundle for $30. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awepittance Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 The work you display on the webpage is quite polished and suggestive. Seems like a good idea, but remember that you need to be original nowadays and bring the most creative solutions, because competition is really tough. Also i have noticed this: When you buy our style collections, we also include our original high resolution textures in PNG format, absolutely free. That means you’re getting more than Photoshop styles, you’re getting a complete set of texture photography, too Maybe it's giving to much. i don't know details, but if it is the complete hi res image, then you are giving a great part of your work, for free. maybe it could be a good idea to give a sample and think about how the hi res textures can also be profitable to you. just a suggestion tho. i sincerely hope you succeed mate. Thanks. I agree about the textures, I put a ton of work into them. I originally had these priced at $49/set, but initial feedback from a design forum I posted this on yesterday was "you're charging too much!", so I cut the price to $12 as an experiment. *shrug* it's always the dilemma when trying to sell products that you've put a lot of work into. a high price tag entices a certain type of customer who falsely think that price reflects quality. my suggestion is you up the price a little bit, maybe $25, somewhere in the middle edit: can one convert or use these styles in adobe illustrator? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaosmachine Posted August 9, 2010 Author Share Posted August 9, 2010 edit: can one convert or use these styles in adobe illustrator? unfortunately not. i thought about doing a separate set for illustrator, but google says there's almost no demand. I've definitely searched those exact phrases before. Wouldn't pay for them personally, but then I'm not a professional graphic designer, so I'm not your market. $12 sounds decent to me. Maybe make a bundle for $30. There is a bundle. For $29 :) http://photoshoplayerstyles.com/sale It's not visible from the front page (there's a link on the style pages), but it will be soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ominous Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 I really like the textures, good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awesomeperson Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 Sell the textures instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaosmachine Posted August 10, 2010 Author Share Posted August 10, 2010 Sell the textures instead. It's a good idea, and I've thought about it, but the texture market is dominated by huge players. If the styles angle doesn't work out, ultimately I may end up just putting them up as stock photos somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jules Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 great job chaos. $50 may be high but dont sell yourself too short. if you price the textures separately make them maybe a tad higher than istock? the layer styles are nice. well done man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tht tne Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 i don't have photoshop but i understand it is the shit so good on ya Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaen Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 charge more, dont add your original high res textures go Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktait2 Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 Sell the textures instead. It's a good idea, and I've thought about it, but the texture market is dominated by huge players. If the styles angle doesn't work out, ultimately I may end up just putting them up as stock photos somewhere. even the fall back of supplying stock photos/textures might be difficult in a market which is overly-saturated. those in the know either take their own, search google, or just head to deviantart (i think? it's what i did years ago). i think you have a good niche going on with the styles; and the domain to back it up. have the textures available for a bonus fee. you should throw up some logos as examples other than just text; exactly what you provided in this thread. i think the price is fair until you get some sort of market going; when your domain yields a top result for google or what have you. after that jack the price. clever idea which i wish i thought of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaen Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 yeah i dont think text sell the textures that well tbh, add some different shiz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest underscore Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 pretty fucking cool dude, hope this becomes very successful for you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gary C Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 When you've sold a few you should open a feedback section so customers can leave reviews and/or examples. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ruiagnelo Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 When you've sold a few you should open a feedback section so customers can leave reviews and/or examples. i thought that too. like a guestbook or something. it's good for the one selling and for those about to buy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest iamabe Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 excellent textures chaos. I agree with some people here that you could charge a wee bit more than $12 a pack but I am no expert. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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