TriumphantArtists.com is a major hub of the 'Triumphant Artists Web Network' - a collection of websites showcasing the projects Matthew L. Hornbostel is creating, sometimes with the assistance of friends and family members.
The website network has proven increasingly successful over the past two years, seeing hundreds of sales on eBay initially, then a subsequent and more sustainable wave of success on Itch.IO and Etsy. At this time, online rankings of all domains indicate that this website is among the top 1% of most visited sites on the internet, in the top 1,500,000 out of 600+ million total existing registered domains.
That popularity and widespread attention is, I believe, a direct result of the core ideals of the studio - those core ideals being to offer the best products possible for us to make, unique products made with great care and effort, and to sell them for less than any other vendor likely would. Sometimes some of our stuff is free, even - but even the things that aren't, are significantly underpriced, which allows the studio a way to prosper in several notable ways.
#1) I can survive and even thrive during bad economic situations. When times are tough, people get thrifty, and those who can undercut on price will have greater appeal. And right now, in mid 2022, we're looking at a tough economic outlook for the world - but not too bad for me. .
#2) Underpricing in the extreme can get new things to succeed. There are some products we have that nobody else offers and that a lot of the market doesn't even know to look for yet. I can get that stuff off the ground by pricing it very low and making it an 'impulse buy'.
Many of the things I offer haven't even taken off yet, and often those are the items that are the best stuff here.
#3) Exceptional value + creativity + reasonable customer service + low prices means better customer feeback and more positive tendency in customer reviews. We've gotten 400+ ratings on eBay, 80+ on Etsy. All of them, at the moment, are positive. My newest push is into the stock-media category, and Itch.IO customers are beginning to get excited about it too.
#4) Digital products mean that minimal revenue per purchase can absolutely be offset by sheer volume. The only way this works is if there are a lot of customers. Fortunately, that has been happening. The Etsy shop has seen 89% growth every quarter on average, for the last two years. The majority of revenue in the entire shop history from 2013 onward, has been in the past six months. I could not have done this without all of you.
And while this may be an insane attempt at a justification for 'insane' prices, it's hard for me as the founder of the site not to go this route. Because for me as a business owner, it's never been about money. It's always about creative project ideas and about helping people. I'm convinced that impact means more than income, that relationships are more valuable than revenue. And freedom, creative freedom to make the things I want to see made, is also essential - I only want to earn money here because it allows me the opportunity to continue creating things. Anything beyond the basic costs of living and making stuff, I fully intend to give away to others so they too can pursue their dreams. And - hopefully - together we can make the world better through those types of enthusiastic, voluntary decisions to help one another be our best.
The website network has proven increasingly successful over the past two years, seeing hundreds of sales on eBay initially, then a subsequent and more sustainable wave of success on Itch.IO and Etsy. At this time, online rankings of all domains indicate that this website is among the top 1% of most visited sites on the internet, in the top 1,500,000 out of 600+ million total existing registered domains.
That popularity and widespread attention is, I believe, a direct result of the core ideals of the studio - those core ideals being to offer the best products possible for us to make, unique products made with great care and effort, and to sell them for less than any other vendor likely would. Sometimes some of our stuff is free, even - but even the things that aren't, are significantly underpriced, which allows the studio a way to prosper in several notable ways.
#1) I can survive and even thrive during bad economic situations. When times are tough, people get thrifty, and those who can undercut on price will have greater appeal. And right now, in mid 2022, we're looking at a tough economic outlook for the world - but not too bad for me. .
#2) Underpricing in the extreme can get new things to succeed. There are some products we have that nobody else offers and that a lot of the market doesn't even know to look for yet. I can get that stuff off the ground by pricing it very low and making it an 'impulse buy'.
Many of the things I offer haven't even taken off yet, and often those are the items that are the best stuff here.
#3) Exceptional value + creativity + reasonable customer service + low prices means better customer feeback and more positive tendency in customer reviews. We've gotten 400+ ratings on eBay, 80+ on Etsy. All of them, at the moment, are positive. My newest push is into the stock-media category, and Itch.IO customers are beginning to get excited about it too.
#4) Digital products mean that minimal revenue per purchase can absolutely be offset by sheer volume. The only way this works is if there are a lot of customers. Fortunately, that has been happening. The Etsy shop has seen 89% growth every quarter on average, for the last two years. The majority of revenue in the entire shop history from 2013 onward, has been in the past six months. I could not have done this without all of you.
And while this may be an insane attempt at a justification for 'insane' prices, it's hard for me as the founder of the site not to go this route. Because for me as a business owner, it's never been about money. It's always about creative project ideas and about helping people. I'm convinced that impact means more than income, that relationships are more valuable than revenue. And freedom, creative freedom to make the things I want to see made, is also essential - I only want to earn money here because it allows me the opportunity to continue creating things. Anything beyond the basic costs of living and making stuff, I fully intend to give away to others so they too can pursue their dreams. And - hopefully - together we can make the world better through those types of enthusiastic, voluntary decisions to help one another be our best.
Ads on TriumphantArtists.com and other websites run by Matthew Hornbostel, include banner ads from several networks that allow my sites to generate at least a little income:
Top slot: ComicAd.Net - banner network, focused mostly on various comic and art sites. Unfiltered and unvetted but usually harmless.
Bottom Slot: My own banner network. Mostly my own assorted sites, shops, social feeds. Occasional affiliate links for vendors and cashback programs I've personally used, and confirmed are good.
Top slot: ComicAd.Net - banner network, focused mostly on various comic and art sites. Unfiltered and unvetted but usually harmless.
Bottom Slot: My own banner network. Mostly my own assorted sites, shops, social feeds. Occasional affiliate links for vendors and cashback programs I've personally used, and confirmed are good.
