I know there are many people in this forum with the same question, but I have tried all those things and none work. I want to reach 200 followers for the commercial license membership, and I only have 78. My account has a fairly good amount of prints (2.4k) and I always answer to the ratings and comments. What else can I do? Or is the only method waiting? Also, it suprises me since 95% of the reviews are good and they are 2400prints of which only 78 people have hit the “follow” button.
Let’s be honest: The system that relies on followers is just junk compared to actual print figures. Because what’s the current situation?
People join certain Reddit subs or Discord servers, and everyone helps each other out. Follow for follow, and so on. However, that was too much of a hassle for me, so I thought to myself: Nope, no thanks. Either it happens or it doesn’t. Aside from the fact that it’s against the rules, but those who don’t follow them get a huge advantage.
The only way to do it by the book is to advertise over and over again on every possible channel, but that’s also hard because you’re not the only one doing it, and a lot of people get really annoyed - unless it’s a great project.
My advice would be: If you want to do something commercial, expand your presence across multiple platforms and websites.
For me to follow a creator they need to make something I like, and have a good chance of doing the same again in future. The models on your page, while good, are not exactly in popular categories, nor do they fill a poorly-served niche.
Not at all being disrespectful. Just being honest from where I sit. I’d never “Follow” a designer. Why in the world would I ever want to? Genuinely makes no sense. If I need a model that I either don’t want to or flat out can’t design, I search and locate what I require. I mod it for my purposes and print it. I store that file in a “Printed” collection for later use and/or reference. The idea that I’d want to “Follow” an individual designer is weird. Why would I be interested in keeping up with the growth and development of an individuals modeling journey? It’s just very strange behavior to expect.
Wanted to add - thanks for putting it out there that you’re building your business. It’s not up to me how anyone runs their chosen fields. I just felt it important enough to share an alternative viewpoint that may not have been considered in this equation. And sometimes it can come across as too direct, which is not my intent. Respect to you for doing what you do. I wish you the best.
So, in this case, I felt the same grind you are feeling but once I hit 200, I didn’t turn on the commercial membership. I feel like it is a double-edged sword. I don’t have a bunch of content that I feel someone might want to sell but I have a few items I know people have tried to sell on other platforms. For now, I just request them be taken down. My understanding is there are tiers to the commercial membership and if I set them up, they cannot be changed. I worry setting this up prematurely could have a negative impact on the future. I guess I’m not in hurry. If I was getting regular requests from people for it, I would turn it on quicker.
I will give you an example of why a person might follow a designer.
Basically, it’s collectors, and/or people with niche hobbies.
As personal examples, I follow a few nerf blaster designers on Printables. By following the designers I get updates when a new model is published, which for me happens approximately one a month as each designer generally has a 3-6 month release cadence, given how long the design and testing takes. Yes, I could just check the internet on the 1st of each month, but following is easier and less work. Yes I could also design these myself (and I have) but it’s a lot of work, but aesthetics is not a strong suite of mine, so they tend to be rather square and blocky in appearance.
I also follow several 3d model sculptors on MyMiniFactory and Cults3d. On MMF I am a member of several “tribes” (equivalent to Patreons) and receive monthly STLs for tabletop gaming pieces and display models to paint.. Again I could design Warhammer tanks myself, but I can’t do organic shapes like figures.
To add to what CincinnatiDesigns said, it helps to put out quality models with some sort of overarching theme. That way people who are interested in those types of models will follow you. You seem to have had success with lizard related prints. You could lean into that or find something else you’re passionate about. That way people who follow you will know you’ll post something they would likely be interested in.
I’ll add my two cents here - I now consider the following feature to be essential. Basically, it’s just an additional search filter or bookmark.
Unfortunately, the Trends page is flooded with junk like AI and the thousandth remix. However, when I specifically select that option on the page, I’m guaranteed to see only models from reputable 3D designers - no junk, no waste of time:
It’s simply a filtered result, rather than letting the algorithm decide what I should see. It’s actually a matter of self-determination: I decide what I want to see, not Bambu. Since Bambu still doesn’t have a way to reliably filter out AI content, it’s currently the tool of choice if users don’t want their start page cluttered.
Regain the freedom to see what I want.
I think some people still underestimate this tool because they think it’s all about idolizing a designer, but the tool is actually much more powerful when used correctly: it’s a way to filter and bookmark content - without immediately including specific models into a collection.
I print a lot of things and my printer is running most of the time, but there are only a couple of designers I follow. One has a series of magnetic toys I am printing for my granddaughter so I want a notification when a new one comes out. The other is a really, really great designer with stuff that is breath taking. Don’t print a lot of his stuff, but the design is so good I like to see his new things and wish I could design things like that.
I looked at your stuff. Most of is for reptiles, and I don’t have any, but if I did that is something I would probably do a search to see what my options were. The rest are useful things, but random things and again, if I wanted any of those I would search for what the options are.
I think if you want more followers you need to specialize in a niche people are going to want a lot of that kind of item and then fine tune the designs so that they are so good people want your designs.
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