Terri of Cocoa Mint Creates Success With Digital Clip Art

We've said it before and we'll say it again, the digital world is booming and digital products are finding a welcome home on Meylah.

Meylah's digital success story today is Cocoa Mint, "simply sweet and always fresh" digital clip art designs created by Terri Henson.  We wanted to learn about the world of clip art and see how a graphic artist uses Meylah to grow her business at Cocoa Mint...so let's find out:

Meylah: How did you get started creating digital clip art?

Terri: A few years ago, I was at a point where I needed a creative outlet.  Having homeschooled my kids for most of their lives, I was considering what I would do once they left for college.  I looked on Etsy for inspiration and saw some really cute paper products.  I thought it would be fun to try my hand at designing hang tags for Etsy sellers.  So I bought an inexpensive graphics program off the internet and taught myself how to draw on a computer.  After a few months of selling tags, I quickly realized I didn't want to spend my time printing the products and shipping them out so I decided to sell digital files that my customers would be able to print themselves.  I eventually branched out into clip art and from this, I knew I had found my niche.

Meylah: For those who aren’t familiar with clip art, can you explain a little bit about your customer base and how they use your clip art?

Terri: I would say that most of my customers are those who run their own online businesses selling invitations, cards, stationery products and party supplies.  I supply the graphics that they need to design their own physical or digital products.  I also have customers who purchase my clip art to create digitized embroidery designs.  Additionally, some of my customers use the graphics for their personal use by designing their own birthday or baby shower invitations, party decor and other creative projects.

Meylah: What challenges have you found trying to sell your work online?  How has Meylah made selling your work easier?

Terri: One challenge that I've faced on Etsy is getting files to my customers in a timely manner.  For the most part I am able to stay on top of my orders and send them out as quickly as possible, but this can be difficult for me to do on weekends or other days when I work limited hours.  With Meylah's automatic download system, my customers receive their files immediately after purchase, so it's been a tremendous help in that regard.

Meylah: Do you use Meylah’s resource center and daily blog posts to help you manage your business?

Terri: Yes, I have taken advantage of the resource center and found many of the posts very helpful.  For instance, I didn't know about the Etsy Mini Widget until I read the tutorial on Meylah.  I have now integrated my Etsy shop into my Meylah storefront.

Meylah: Are you active within any online artists or digital clip art communities?

Terri: Last year I was one of the designers on Mygrafico, a growing digital arts and crafts store, and was active in the community.  Additionally, I'm a member of Paper Craft Planet, although due to time constraints, I haven't been too active in either community this year.

Meylah: What features drew you to use Meylah?

Terri: Primarily, I was looking for a system that automated the delivery of digital files and was easy to use.  I found that Meylah offered what I needed.  I had previously tried a 3rd party system that needed to be coded and integrated with the shopping cart I was using and ended up experiencing some issues with the downloads.  What's so great about Meylah is that everything is already integrated which provides seamless file delivery for my customers.

Meylah: How do you spend your free time when you’re not creating clip art?

Terri: I enjoy reading and looking at real estate.  I'm always on the look out for a great investment.

Thank you so much for sharing your story with us today Terri!  We are so happy that the automatic digital file delivery is perfect for your business and we look forward to seeing your continued success at Cocoa Mint!