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Hi! So I noticed that a lot of people were asking me "How do I get more people to request from my shop?", "How can I make graphics people would like?", and "How do I make graphics as good as everybody else?" Well, you've looked at the right place! Here are some tips on how you can get better at making graphics, spread word, and get requests!


* Limit your requests from other shops. Make your own siggies, profile/thread greetings, avatars, etc. so you can "show them off". If you request from other people's shops, this shows that you aren't capable of making your own graphics and that you think others make better graphics than you do.

*Enter graphic contests. Yet another way to get your graphics better and spread word of your shop. If you win, that's great! That means you did a great job at making your graphic. If you didn't, than you know that what you made was not what was expected. So this could give you a chance of realizing what you did wrong and fixing it.

* Post from other forums, not just the graphics forum. You will get attention from other people and they might even visit your graphic shop! And even better, request!

* Read graphic tutorials. My graphics had gotten so much better from doing this! Check out these graphic tutorials:

Music 21: http://taylorswift.com/forum/fan_made_graphics/1977011
KIKI: http://taylorswift.com/forum/fan-made-graphics/1861141
Bluebell: http://taylorswift.com/forum/fan-made-graphics/1324262/page/42
Allyouareismean: http://taylorswift.com/forum/fan_made_graphics/1878521
Swiftlookalike: http://taylorswift.com/forum/fan_made_graphics/1898891
FearlesslyEnchanted: http://taylorswift.com/forum/fan-made-graphics/1716391/page/6#post_10993481
escapethistown: http://taylorswift.com/forum/fan-made-graphics/1856381
tswiftlover: http://taylorswift.com/forum/fan-made-graphics/1876991
Madison13: http://taylorswift.com/forum/fan_made_graphics/1885121
Ours13: http://taylorswift.com/forum/fan_made_graphics/1889431
RedFenderAddict: http://taylorswift.com/forum/fan_made_graphics/1880951
kitkat13: http://taylorswift.com/forum/fan_made_graphics/1910561
Bea: http://taylorswift.com/forum/fan_made_graphics/1892661
countrybumpkin4life: http://taylorswift.com/forum/fan_made_graphics/1932721#post_12089561
luckythirteen: http://taylorswift.com/forum/fan_made_graphics/1949851

* Let people review your graphics. It's important to do this so you can get great tips on what others think about your graphics. It will also bring you to a new perspective of things and soon enough, your graphics will get better! (And plus, the reviewer requests from your shop!)

* Try out new sites/programs. If you try new ways of making your graphics, you will eventually find a way that you feel comfortable with. Explore new ways and that will inspire you in ways you can't imagine.

* Start a graphic contest/graphic review thread. I know this sounds...... not very helpful, but it is. By hosting a contest, you will see others people's graphics and choose the best for rounds. You can finally see how you can improve your graphics by viewing others' graphics. This will give you the chance to "judge" graphics, which will get you to spend more time on your own and give constructive critizism to yourself and others.

* Update your graphic shop. It's important for requesters to see what is the latest graphics you've made or the latest contests you've won. It's nice to see examples of your work so people get the taste of what your style is and decide if they want to request or not.

* Include forms in your shop. By doing this, you can figure out exactly what your requester wants. This will help you and the person recieving the graphic. You will be happy with the results! You do not want to change things they don't want. You want it exactly perfect!

* Practice making graphics. When you have free time or have no requests, just practice. Make any graphic you like and play around with the site/program a little.

* Check out other graphic shops. This will inspire you on how to make your shop better, how to make better graphics, and get new ideas.

* List examples of your work in your profile descripition. This way, when people visit your profile, they can see your graphics and they might even request from you! It's also a nice way to post all of your graphic wins (unless you have a lot, then it will fill the whole page!).

*Make winners graphics for your contest. This is a good way to get your graphics out there. You can also post them in your graphic shop so people can see them or if you want the winners to pick them up from there. They might even request from you sometime! And if they decide they want someone else to make their winners graphics, chances are they'll go looking at your graphics next!

*Have more than one kind of graphic for people to request. A good shop always has lots of varieties to choose from whether they are banners, profile greetings, siggies, avatars, gifs, or shape graphics. Don't only give out one kind of graphic because once people see you don't have what they are looking for, they won't request. It's nice to have different kinds of graphics to choose from, and they might even request more than one graphic!


If you don't want to download or pay for any programs, here are some great sites to use that I would recommend.

- picmonkey.com
- photobucket.com
- ipiccy.com
- pixlr.com
- fotoflexer.com
- lunapic.com

Sites like blingee.com you should avoid because the quality will come out bad, there is a logo, and you honestly don't have many choices to choose from to edit your picture. There is no cropping, resizing, or effects. All they have is text/sticker animations, which I think don't look good on most graphics.


Have you ever had lots of requests one week and suddenly, your shop goes downhill? This is a big problem to lots of graphic-makers. If this ever happens to you, think of ways of what got you to no requests at all. Is it because of something you did wrong on the last request? Is it because you're having trouble with your program? Is it because your graphics have gotten worse? Or is it because you haven't taken the time to do your requests? Lots of people don't request from shops that are too desperate for requests, have bad-quality graphics, or just don't like how they make their graphics. By reading these tips, you will get more requests in no time! If this keeps on happening repeatedly, please message me and I'll be happy to help!


If you have tips you would like to add, please reply!