https://gumroad.com/a/238646387

Gumroad Announces Grants for Small Black-Owned Businesses

SAN FRANCISCO, July 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A few days ago, the premier online platform Gumroad took to social media and announced their new initiative of launching their Small Black Businesses grants in support of the Black Community and the Black Lives Matter movement. As Gumroad, https://gumroad.com/a/238646387, is the leader in creating the solution of allowing individuals to open a store in the virtual world and sell digital and physical products, they have recognized the many Black creators that are users of the platform and want to support them and future creators on Gumroad.

Gumroad logo Gumroad Grants for Small Black Businesses,....https://gumroad.com/a/238646387,

"I'm super excited to support this critical and amazing initiative our team has created. As we continue to strive to make sure that all of our creators have a voice, we want to especially ensure that our black and brown creators are seen and supported. With this initiative, creators will be able to utilize these grants to further their creativity and we hope that Gumroad plays a significant part in their success," states Gumroad Founder, Sahil Lavingia.

10 Black creators will be provided $500 to assist them in growing their business during these very unique times. The enrollment period is July 6-15, with the winners being notified by July 17th and announced on July 31st.

For more information and to apply for the grant, please visit http://bit.ly/sbbggumroad, and for more information on Gumroad, please visit http://www.gumroad.com. For media inquiries, please email [email protected].

About Gumroad: Gumroad is an online platform, https://gumroad.com/a/238646387, that enables creators to sell products directly to consumers. It was founded by Sahil Lavingia in 2011 with the intention of making selling as easy as social sharing. Gumroad enables creatives to sell directly to their audience — so that they can make a living doing what they love.

MEDIA CONTACTCandice Nicole Candice Nicole Public Relations [email protected] 301.875.3224

SOURCE Gumroad

How to Use Gumroad: A Step-by-Step Guide to Getting Started

Making money by doing what you love might not be as complicated as you think.

If you have a book, movie, comic, podcast, class, craft or any other creative project you want to share with the world, you can put it up for sale in about five minutes with Gumroad, an online platform, https://gumroad.com/a/238646387, that lets artists, writers and other makers sell their projects.

However, before you dive into Gumroad, know that creating a product is one thing, but actually making sales takes time, effort and know-how.

How to Use Gumroad

This guide will lay out the steps you’ll need to follow to start making money with Gumroad.

1. Make Something

Gumroad is a marketplace — it’s only worth using if you have something to sell.

There’s no reason to let that discourage you, though! A wide range of products are on offer on Gumroad, including movies, books, music and courses. Your passion project almost certainly fits in there somewhere.

Check out some of the top-selling items on Gumroad, https://gumroad.com/a/238646387, to see some examples of this range. Pose, priced at $39, is a web app that lets digital illustrators draw characters better and faster. An illustrated ebook of essays about Scrubs is $20. These plans for a cornhole board go for $5 a pop.

If you have a digital product, like a podcast, film or software, Gumroad makes it easy to distribute it. They handle digital hosting, they process transactions, they send the file to clients — all you have to do is create.

You can also sell physical products on Gumroad, as long as you’re willing to take on the cost of shipping.

It’s easier to talk about what you can’t sell on Gumroad. Here’s a list of banned items:

1. Non-original works: You can only sell your original work on Gumroad. That means no vintage clothing or furniture, unlike the other creative marketplace, Etsy.

2. Racist, sexist, or other discriminatory items: Gumroad does not permit any work promoting discrimination, including Nazi ideology.

3. High-risk products: This is the big one. Gumroad doesn’t host products flagged as “high-risk.” It doesn’t deal with event tickets, jewelry, credit repair e-books, or pornography in part because those transactions often get reversed, leading to higher operating costs. If you want to sell homemade diamond earrings or explicit, adult films, you’ll have to go elsewhere.

2. Set Up Your Shop

To sell your product on Gumroad, you first need to create an account. By default, a Gumroad account is free, although if you make a sale, you’ll pay a fee of 8.5% + $0.30 per sale.

A Premium account, which starts at $10 a month, shrinks Gumroad’s cut to 3.5% + $.30 per sale. In addition, Gumroad will remove its branding from receipts, allow custom domains and enable bigger file uploads for digital products.

The premium features are useful, but the free account is a perfectly functional place to start.

Once you’ve got your account, you can customize your storefront, which displays your name, bio, products, and updates. Gumroad makes this part pretty easy:

Choose one of the eight themes available.

Pick a background color or image, making sure it’s pleasing to the eye and doesn’t visually distract from your products.

Fill in all your information: tagline, website, social media handles, etc. Don’t leave anything out. More information means more engagement and more credibility.

And you’re done! It’s relatively simple to make a pretty and professional storefront using default settings.

Pro Tip

Gumroad allows custom CSS to change the appearance of your storefront.,,,,https://gumroad.com/a/238646387,,,,, You can see some examples here. (Don’t know how to use CSS? This guide can help.)

3. Price Your Product

You’ve got your product, your shop is set up — now it’s time to set your prices.

You can set a standard price, or you can use one of Gumroad’s unique features for creators, which is its flexible pricing tool. This lets you offer products for free, for “pay-as-you-will” or for a set minimum.

Flexible pricing allows newbies to gauge how much an audience is willing to pay for their work.

That said, there are pros and cons to each pricing strategy. Here’s what you’ll want to consider for each model:

Offering Products for Free

Offering products for free is obviously not a long-term solution if you want to make money.

In the short term, however, it can help build your audience and prove your credibility. Nothing wrong with a free sample!

Pay-As-You-Will

Pay-as-you-will products are basically free with an option to pay. By listing your price as “$0+” you allow customers to download the product for any dollar amount they choose, including nothing at all.

This is a good alternative to listing your product for free, because it allows supporters to contribute while allowing prospective customers to try the product out.

Set Minimums

A variation on pay-as-you-will pricing is set minimums. With set minimums, you’ll list the product price as “$1+,” “$5+,” “$20+,” etc.

If someone wants to buy your product, they have to pay at least your set price. Then, once they’re at check-out, they can pay extra. For example, if you list a product for $3+, and a friend wants to show their support, they can pay $10.

Standard Pricing

Then there’s good old-fashioned standard pricing. But how do you choose the right price for your product?

Economics 101 tells us that higher prices could mean lower sales and vice versa, but psychological factors can affect sales too. For example, if your product seems chic or upscale, customers will raise an eyebrow if the price is too low. No one will believe they are buying a legitimate diamond ring for $5. Make sure the price fits the product.

Pro Tip

Depending on your product, it may also make sense to explore a subscription model.,, https://gumroad.com/a/238646387,, You can read more about pricing options here.

The takeaway? Experiment with different strategies and see which earns the most revenue for your products.

4. Market Your Work

While people can find your product organically through Gumroad’s search function, chances are you’re not going to make many sales that way. Sure, Gumroad hosts the product, but you still have to market it.

Not sure where to start? Make sure you have an online presence, which could mean a website or social media pages for your business. By posting engaging content regularly, you can build an audience who will be more likely to check out your products.

Pro Tip

Gumroad also offers an e-commerce widget. That means you can easily set up an online shop on your personal website by embedding Gumroad’s code.

Join Facebook groups about your passion. These can be a great place to learn and network! There are numerous marketing resources available online where you can learn more.

Gumroad also offers some useful built-in marketing features for free and Premium users. First off, it can feature your product on its Discover page. If a user buys your product from there, Gumroad takes an extra 10% cut, for a total of 18.5% + $.30 for free users or 13.5% + $.30 for Premium users. But hey — a sale’s a sale.

Gumroad also offers affiliate marketing. Here’s how it works: You generate a link on Gumroad’s affiliate marketing page and share it with an influencer. They, in turn, share it with their audience. If someone clicks, the influencer gets a percentage of the sale (you get to decide how big).

Finally, you can communicate with followers of your Gumroad profile using the newsletter function, building a relationship and encouraging repeat customers.

Gumroad’s features aside, standard marketing techniques are key for success. It’s a business, so act like it — tell your friends, get on social media and spread the word.

5. Made a Sale? Time to Cash Out!

You’ve listed your product and made some sales — congratulations! If you’re from the United States, UK, Canada, or Australia, your payment is en route via direct deposit. If you live anywhere else, it will come through PayPal.....https://gumroad.com/a/238646387

Don’t forget to keep records of sales — it’ll come in handy when taxes are due. Gumroad only issues a 1099-K if you make over $20,000 in gross sales.

Keep in mind that the payout could end up smaller than you expect because of the aforementioned fees, charges and Gumroad’s standard cut. Treat it as a learning experience and consider upping your prices next time.

Ciara McLaren is a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in HuffPost, MoneyGeek, and Supermaker. You can read more of her writing on Substack and — you guessed it — Gumroad.

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, a personal finance website that empowers millions of readers nationwide to make smart decisions with their money through actionable and inspirational advice, and resources about how to make, save and manage money.

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.

Best Shots Rapid-Fire Reviews: X-Force #10, Detective Comics #1023, Willow #1, more

Greetings, 'Rama readers! Ready for your pellets? Best Shost has you covered with our latest Rapid-Fire Reviews! Let’s kick things off with the latest issue of Detective Comics…

X-Force #10 (Published by Marvel Comics; Review by David Pepose; 'Rama Rating: 7 out of 10): Wolverine, Domino, and Kid Omega grapple with an invasive species in X-Force #10, a solid actioner that might be more memorable in its final two pages than necessarily with the fisticuffs that precede it. Writer Benjamin Percy delivers some fun beats involving Domino's luck powers, as she has to blindly navigate the traps of a telefloronic temple of doom. Artist Joshua Cassara is at his best leaning into these fun horror beats as well, like the normally indefatigable Wolverine being dragged into the darkness, his adamantium claws finding him no purchase against stone floors. But fans of X-Men soap operatics will much prefer the Logan-Jean epilogue, which confirms the polyamorous twist to the franchise’s classic love triangle (and all but confirms Wolverine's in-canon bisexuality). While the actual action can at times feel a little by-the-numbers, Percy and Cassara stick the landing nicely on X-Force #10.

a close up of a book: (Image credit: DC)

Detective Comics #1023 (Published by DC; Review by David Pepose; 'Rama Rating: 9 out of 10): Between Peter Tomasi digging into Scott Snyder’s Batman mythology — not to mention the incredible way that Brad Walker brings it all to life — and you’ve got yourself a rollicking good time in Detective Comics #1023. While the Joker brings Court of Owls baddie Lincoln March back from the dead, Batman tackles Hugo Strange, the Mad Hatter, and Two-Face wearing the 'Rookie' armor from Jim Gordon's 'Superheavy' days. Tomasi keeps the pacing light on its feet, drawing a lot from recent continuity, but it’s Walker who's the real superstar of this book. The way that Walker plays around with visual vocabulary for Batman's silhouette is a great look for this series, and honestly, he might have one-upped Greg Capullo for his take on the Court of Owls suit, which now has an almost Iron Man-like power to it now. Don’t miss out on this.

a close up of a book: (Image credit: BOOM! Studios)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Willow #1 (Published by BOOM! Studios; Review by Kat Calamia; 'Rama Rating: 7 out of 10): Following the events of 'Hellmouth,' Willow gets a much-deserved spotlight as she embarks on her own journey of self-discovery. Writer Mariko Tamaki is a master at writing internal monologues, as she transports readers into the inner turmoil of Willow's anguish. That said, Tamaki doesn't leave much room to tell a visually striking narrative as Willow jarringly moves from several different settings without much action - leaning too heavily on the title's stream-of-conscious narrative. This is a shame, as penciler Natacha Bustos showcases some of her best work yet as she trades her cartoony pencils for a more mature look, without betraying the style we've seen in her most prominent works like Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur. Willow #1 is not a perfect first issue, but delivers a promising character journey for this Buffy fan favorite.

The Death of Nancy Drew #2 (Published by Dynamite Entertainment; Review by Kat Calamia; 'Rama Rating: 7 out of 10): Well, the cat is out of the bag — Nancy Drew isn't actually dead. Case closed, right? Not quite — The Death of Nancy Drew isn't about the teen detective’s figurative death, but instead her metaphorical one. Writer Anthony Del Col expertly switches his point of view from Joe Hardy to the series' namesake to dig deeper into what forced Nancy to fake her own death and take on a new identity. Only problem is, the mystery is far less interesting than the possibility of Nancy Drew's murder. Did this series show its cards too early? Luckily, the Hardy Boys' dynamic and Nancy Drew's narration make for an entertaining and character-driven issue. On artwork, Joe Eisma's pencils and Salvator Aiala's colors make for a visually striking modern noir tale, even if some of the character moments feel a bit rushed. The Death of Nancy Drew #2 may not have the same punch as its premiere, but still has splendid character work to make the series a worthwhile pick-up.

Superman #23 (Published by DC; Review by David Pepose; 'Rama Rating: 3 out of 10): In the aftermath of revealing his secret identity to the world, Superman checks in with a professional to make sure his mind hasn't been tampered with — which means an appointment with Doctor Fate. While writer Brian Michael Bendis' high concept is a promising one, the result winds up feeling more like a recap of his tenure on the Superman books rather than any new insights — I get that Clark has been through a lot given the death of his father and the behind-the-scenes finagling to get Jon Kent out of the main series, but I wish there was a bit more specific insight from Fate, both as a magical being and as average joe Khalid Nassour. Artist Kevin Maguire has a tough time making an impact here as well, given that he’s mostly boxed in with talking-head conversations — John Timms fares a bit better with the more action-y Xanadoth interludes, but given the largely disconnected nature of that subplot, it doesn't help much. Superman is a title that feels like it's spinning its wheels, which doesn't bode well for Clark Kent's supposedly world-shaking new status quo.

Dungeons & Dragons: Infernal Tides #4 (Published by IDW Publishing; Review by Forrest C. Helvie; 'Rama Rating: 7 out of 10): This issue continues the story of Minsc, Boo, and the rest of the party of adventurers as they struggle against the infernal tides of demons and devils in Avernus — the first layer of Hell and the home of the Blood War between these two armies of evil. Jim Zub and Max Dunbar serve up a familiar dish of action/adventure that fans have come to know and love, as the story is grand in setting while creating moments for the characters to grow and become more than simple two-dimensional NPCs. This issue in particular allows Krydle and Nerys to open up and breathe a bit more as we see just how much their friendships mean to them and how far they'll step outside of their past comfort zones to be the heroes we know they'll become. Overall, we're clearly in the middle of the story here, so new readers will need to get caught up; however, those already following along will find Infernal Tides #4 is a satisfying read and does a fine job of setting readers up for the major conflict that will play out in the next issue.

a close up of a clock: (Image credit: Joe Palmer)

Write it in Blood #4 (Published by Gumroad; Review by Forrest C. Helvie; 'Rama Rating: 8 out of 10): Sometimes, you find a comic that's diamond in the rough that acquisition editors at the known publishers seem to have missed. Write it in Blood is one of those self-published miniseries. Write it in Blood tells the story of two ne'er-do-well brothers, Cosmo and Arthur, who are foot soldiers in the Irish mob with an eye towards retirement. But as is the case for most mobsters, there's never really making a clean break with a past life of crime. The story could go a few ways in this final issue, and while Rory McConville's ending won't necessarily shock fans of mafia stories, it doesn't make it any less satisfying. There's a charming awkwardness to the brothers that will leave readers hoping for the best as their boss, the Baron, comes barreling down on them. Likewise, Joe Palmer and Chris O'Halloran's work on the line art, inks and colors has that sort of sharp, grittiness that one expects in a hard-boiled crime comic like this. All in all, this issue caps off a great indie crime miniseries that fans of the genres would do well to pick up.

Search This Blog

SKYTRAX GROUP