Opening a Cubebrush store is simple. Within minutes you could be selling your assets. The hard part is getting the word out and building your follower list. To make it easier we've asked the top Cubebrush sellers to give us their secrets on how they became so successful. 

Our contributors (aka- top sellers):

Thiago Klafke is an environment artist who became a top Cubebrush seller with his Making An Office Environment Tutorial which has spent several months on the popular Cubebrush asset list. 

Daniel Vanches became popular with this amazing software GestureDrawing! He's agreed to answer these questions to help newcomers.

Michael Pavlovich has over 17 products featured at his Cubebrush store. Between 3D models and tutorials he's one of the most popular Cubebrush sellers. 

XMD is the brainchild of 3D Environment & VFX Artist Michael Dunnam. His Cubebrush store offers a lifetime membership to XMD as well as a plethora of other brushes and textures. 

How did you build up your following?

Thiago: Over many years by being active in forums, writing tutorials and basically being a part of the community. Always striving to give back as much as I took in.

Daniel: I think my case is a little different than most Cubebrush creators. Since my product “GestureDrawing!” is a desktop app my followers are also my app’s users, and the way to keep them interested is to have a great product, and give them good support. Cubebrush helps a lot with that, because it helps you get discovered, makes the purchasing process easy and then helps your customers keep in touch. If they have a question they can leave you a comment or send you a direct message easily.

Michael: Slowly over time, starting with YouTube. I had always made "internal" training videos for companies I had worked for, but it seemed silly to keep fundamental content (like learning the basics of a program or technique) in some dusty folder on a network drive that very few people would access. By posting on YouTube, then following up with ArtStation/Facebook/Twitter (and the whole slew of other platforms I need to invest more time in...) the following naturally progressed over time. Casual Twitch streaming has also not only expanded my audience, but has also given me a content boost during "down" times where I might not have any "polished", edited content to post. 

Michael D: I heavily rely on the built in system already present in Cubebrush. The system works very well. I believe in delivering value to my customers. Giving away free products is a fantastic way to build your following.

What ways have you used to get the word out?

Thiago: Mostly mailing lists, forums, Facebook (the 10 thousand hour group is great for this) and Twitter. The polycount wiki also helps quite a bit.

Daniel: Although I don’t really have a marketing strategy yet, I’ve been lucky enough to have been noticed by some influential people who liked the app and that has helped me a lot with the advertising part. 

Word of mouth has also been extremely helpful. I’ve talked to several users who have told me that they love the app and tell their friends about it. I must say I’m very grateful to them.

Michael: I'd say almost exclusively through social media, and I do rely on good word of mouth. I'm always amazed (and grateful) that people recommend my channels when they discuss online learning resources. 

Do you think it contributes to your success?

Thiago: Making tutorials helped me solidify knowledge and also forced me to let go of tricks, allowing me to challenge myself to come up with new ideas. I love interacting with people at specific parts of development, but I found that if I post my stuff way too early or way too often my vision gets muddied. I avoid to do that these days. However, if you are at the beginning, I highly encourage you to get out there and seek feedback as much as you can.

 Don't be afraid to receive negative feedback either, that's how you develop a thick skin and are forced to see things in a different way. Worst thing that can happen to an artist in my opinion is to get stuck in a specific way of seeing things. That's even worse when you are at the beginning because it will really stop your development.

Michael: It certainly keeps me learning, in a "deeper" way than I might if I was left to my own devices. I'll get questions and feedback in areas that I won't know the answer to, but instead of going "eh, who knows", I'm more inclined to find out and explore answers, which leads to better problem solving and more options during the creation process. 

What is your best selling product? Why do you think that is? 

Thiago: Making an office environment video. It's cheaper than the bundle!

Michael: My Intro to ZBrush series is always consistent in sales; there's always people new to the 3D industry who want to learn ZBrush, but I also get a number of industry vets who either want to get back into ZBrush after a long absence, or are doing work that allows them to utilize ZBrush a bit more, and want to dive in. 

Daniel: My best product is currently my only product: GestureDrawing!

I think it’s been successful because it helps to solve a problem a lot of artists struggle with. Learning to draw can be a very hard process and by helping them practice better and more comfortably they can get more out of their time. Some users have told me they had been waiting for years for an app like GestureDrawing! so I’m super happy to know that my app is helping them become better artists.

Michael D: My Life-Time Membership is my best selling product by far. With my Life-Time I give my customers ZBrush brush releases every month. They get everything I have on Cubebrush for a one time fee, for life! They also get access to my private Facebook group for members only. 

The success of this product goes back years. Giving the customer value goes quite a long way. For your customers to walk away with a smile on their face, and the feeling that they actually got more than what they paid for can transform your business. 

Do you utilize social media to advertise your products?

Thiago: I'm very social media averse today, because it turned out to have a negative impact in me and my work, there's just way too much noise out there. Today I prefer to be alone with my work to really understand what I'm trying to communicate, let the idea grow organically but from inside of me, and not from a collective hive mind. I did use Twitter and Facebook to announce my tutorial when I launched it though, but I never bothered to repost it. I thought people who followed me on those platforms were like-minded artists who enjoyed my work, and just like myself wouldn't enjoy being shoved ads down their throats every now and then.

This is where Cubebrush comes in. 

The marketplace here is amazing. I basically didn't have to do any promotion work because the platform already has a structure in place to highlight good content. As someone who can't be bothered to do the marketing work, this is huge for me, and definitely encourages me to make another tutorial in the future :)

Michael:  I do, and like I mentioned before I could certainly be better at it. I'd say this is far and away my weakest area, I'm pretty inconsistent when it comes to Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, ArtStation, Pinterest, Tumblr, Discord, and probably a dozen other platforms I, again, should pay more attention to. I'll make an attempt this year, I really will! Probably. 

Michael D: I use Twitter and Facebook to advertise. Most of my advertising success has actually been word of mouth. If you keep your customers happy, they will tell their friends and co-workers.

Do trailer videos make a difference in the sales of your products?

Michael: I like to think so, since those videos take me a while to cobble together! It is a quick way for a potential customer to decide if what you're going to cover is something they'd be interested in, as well as giving you the best opportunity to "movie trailer" your product and convince a "maybe" customer your product is what they're looking for more than just a pretty image.

Don't get me wrong, a pretty image is plenty important, but for people who have been burned by pretty images and sub-par content, a trailer could make the difference. 

Michael D: Videos make a huge difference on sales. Creating a 2 minute video to show off your product can double or quadruple your sales.  

Shameless question, what is your favorite part about the Cubebrush platform?

Michael: It's SUPER EASY. Whenever I'm done organizing, recording, editing, organizing again, recording addendums, editing again, adding intro/end screens, marketing screen shots, posting on a dozen platforms, etc... the LAST thing I want to do is struggle my way though trying to upload videos, add images, descriptions, etc... Cubebrush is as simple as upload > publish, and is far and away the least stressful part of content creation. 

Michael D: My favorite part of Cubebrush is the marketplace. The way it functions is brilliant. The trending product section is the place to strive for. Here is a tip.

1. Give something away for free that has a ton of value that people are going to want.

2. Take all of those customers and send them a coupon for the product you actually want to sell. (Or tell them about a sale that is going on. This gets on the on sale section.)

3. If you have enough value in the product, you will see sales. Sales = trending = more sales = best seller.

Are there specific Cubebrush features you've found particularly useful?

Daniel: As a customer, I especially like that the site recommends content based on your interests. You can find very interesting and useful stuff quickly. I’ve used other platforms and Cubebrush has a much better discover experience.

As a seller, I like how easy it is to upload/update your content and to stay in touch with your customers. The site gives you a list of all your customers so you can notify them of updates and new products in just a few steps. 

Michael: The ability to browse and search on the site itself sets Cubebrush apart from other selling websites, and the fact that it's geared strictly toward art related resources helps filter out the noise as well. The forums and blogs also help highlight products which might be overlooked elsewhere, especially if you don't have a built in following!

Is there any advice you’d give to new Cubebrush sellers?

Thiago: Don't try to think of what would sell. Instead, try to come up with something unique that represents your skills and the things that you like, and the audience will come. That might be a really bad advice though, I don't know because I only made one tutorial haha

Daniel: Yes, first thing is to offer a great quality product, but also to give great support. A happy customer will be more than glad to tell others about your product, and the feel of achievement when you help someone and they get back to you to say thanks puts a big smile on your face.
Also listen to your customers’ feedback. They can come up with some great ideas you may not have thought of. GestureDrawing! has grown a lot thanks to them.

Michael: Get comfortable with editing video! You don't have to be super fancy with effects or anything (although if you've got it, for sure flaunt it), but at the very least get able to cut out dead noise, hunting for folders and menus, etc... That's not to say don't make mistakes, especially if you correct them on the fly, that can be very useful to people learning. But get comfortable with your ability to edit out the "dumb" stuff that isn't useful for anybody. It doesn't make you look good, and it makes your product experience worse. 

Michael D: Always give value to your customers. They will come back. They will tell their friends and co-workers. The more you love your customers, the more they will love you and share!