Growing Stickerbook Together
Stickers are one of the few things that live on both sides of the line. People buy them, collect them and grab them on impulse. And because they’re cheap to make and people love them, breweries, bands, coffee shops and stores give them away by the handful, because every laptop and water bottle they land on puts their name in front of someone new.
Stickerbook works the same way. A good mix of free and paid stickers is what makes the Sticker Shop worth visiting, and free stickers are a promotion tool every creator can use, not only businesses.
Here’s the honest version. Stickerbook is new, and a new platform only works if people show up. I built the place. It only becomes worth visiting when it’s full of great stickers and the people who love them. So I’m asking two things of every creator, and making you some promises in return.
What I’m asking
- 1Give some stickers away. Not all of them. A few good free ones.
- 2Bring your people. Point the folks who already like your work here.
Both cost you nothing to start, and both work for you too.
What you can count on from me
- Your name travels with every sticker.
- You don’t work for the algorithm. No posting quota to stay seen.
- No plans to sell ads, so I don’t need anyone scrolling longer.
- A place to test designs before you print them.
- You keep 75% when someone buys your stickers.
What I’m asking
Give some stickers away
I know “give your work away” is something artists hear way too often, usually from someone who profits from it. So here’s exactly why I’m asking, and why it’s worth it for you.
Why Stickerbook needs it
Most people won’t spend money on a platform they just found. Free stickers are how someone new gets started: they grab a few, make their first page, and stick around. A Sticker Shop full of good free stickers is what brings people in, and it keeps Stickerbook open to everyone, whatever their budget.
What it does for artists
A free sticker promotes your work. It grows your following here and points people to your physical stickers and everything else you make, wherever you sell it. Someone who loves your free sticker is exactly who you want looking through the rest of your shop.
What it does for businesses and organizations
It’s the same giveaway you already do, without the print bill. A free sticker is a piece of your brand that people choose to keep, and every page it lands on puts your name in front of someone new.
Will giving stickers away ever cost you?
Only if you choose to. In the real world, every sticker you give away costs you money to print. Here, your first 1,000 free stickers each month are on me.
If people take that many in a month, your free stickers pause until next month. Want them to keep going? Add a card and set your own spend limit. Past 1,000 a month, a giveaway is real promotion, and each sticker costs me money to store and deliver.
You’ll never pay for anything you didn’t turn on.
How to do it well
- Keep a good mix. Pick a few you’d be happy to see everywhere, and keep selling the rest.
- Make the free ones good. A great free sticker is the best ad for the rest of your shop.
- Free stickers travel. Each one lands on someone’s page with your name on it, where their friends can tap it and find you.
- Watch what works. Stats shows how many of each one you’ve given, so you can see which ones people want.
Bring your people
You already have people who like what you make. Every sticker, sheet and background in Manage has a Share button: copy the link, send it on Stickerbook, or print the QR code for your market table. Post it, put it in your newsletter, share it on Instagram. However you reach your people, point them here.
- They see your work first. The people you bring land on your sticker, not someone else’s.
- No account needed. Links open for anyone, and show a preview in iMessage, Instagram DMs and Facebook.
- Your fans can share too. Anyone can share your stickers, inside or outside Stickerbook.
- Your profile does the rest. Your links send them to your socials, your shop, and wherever you sell.
What you can count on from me
My biggest promise
Your name travels with every sticker
I built Stickerbook so every sticker carries its creator, wherever it goes. Someone spots your sticker on a friend’s page, taps it, and there’s your name, a link to your profile, and a way to add it to their basket. From your profile they find everything else you’ve made, plus your links to your socials, your shop, and wherever you sell physical stickers.
There’s no download button for sticker files, so people collect your sticker on Stickerbook, where it carries your name.
What someone sees when they tap your sticker on a page. Your name opens your profile.
My promise
You don’t work for the algorithm
You already have enough platforms asking you to post constantly, reply to everything and stay active just to keep your work seen. I won’t build Stickerbook that way.
Your stickers and backgrounds show up in the Sticker Shop whether you were here all day or haven’t logged in all week. Being part of the community can help people get to know you, but I won’t bury your work because you didn’t spend enough time here.
Stickerbook will always use search and suggestions to help people find stickers they’ll love. It just won’t rank you by how much time you put in.
Who’s behind this
Just me, for now
I’m Austin, though you’ll see me around here as Frosty, and I’m building Stickerbook by myself. I paid for the build and the launch on my own, and I still cover what it costs to run every month. Stickerbook has no plans to sell ads, and I’m not designing it around maximizing minutes watched so I can sell more impressions.
I built it because I believe in stickers. Before social media, people wore who they were: pins on a jacket, patches on a bag, a sticker on a water bottle. Each one was a small signal that said “I’m into this, this is my world,” and each one gave a stranger a reason to say “me too.”
I think stickers still do that better than any feed. When someone puts your sticker on their page, they’re saying something about who they are, and the next person who recognizes it might become their friend. Your work is how people find each other here.
That’s why I built Stickerbook for the people who make things. It only works because real people draw, design and dream up stickers that someone else sees themselves in. Every choice I make here, from keeping your name on every sticker to the 75% you keep, starts with putting creators first.
Straight talk about money
Early days, real expectations
Stickerbook is new. I don’t know yet what a typical creator will earn here, and anyone who tells you otherwise would be guessing. So for now, I’d keep your income expectations modest, and I’d rather you hear that from me up front.
But I have high hopes for where Stickerbook is going, and for the creative community growing here with it. Being here early means you get to build a following before the crowd shows up. The people who find your work now are the ones who’ll be with you as Stickerbook grows.
Sales or not
What you get either way
A place built only for stickers
Your work isn’t fighting selfies, videos and ads for attention.
A home for your work
People can browse it, collect it and put it on their pages, with your name on it.
A testing ground
Put a design up before you pay for a physical run. Stats shows how often each one is Collected, Bought and Given, so you can see what people actually want before you’re stuck with boxes of stock that won’t move.
A sticker doesn’t have to start as a sticker
If it’s a design people would wear, carry, hang up or stick on something, it can live here as a sticker:
If it works as a sticker and meets the file requirements in the Creator Guide, it belongs here. Upload the design itself, not a photo of the finished product. Then test it, show it off, and let your profile links send people to wherever you sell the real thing.
It helps all of us
I’m not going to pretend this only helps you. The people you bring find other creators, and the people other creators bring find you. Every person who joins makes Stickerbook better for every creator on it, including you.
Thanks for being here this early.