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Community Call is Today!

The conference call is today at 8pm CST.  Here is a Time Zone Converter if you need it.  If you haven’t already please RSVP to get the number to call.

On this call I promise to:
- Teach you 1 thing you have to try today to help market your products
- Help you get better responses to your sales/customer support emails
- Tell you about the latest Flying Cart additions (Google Product Search submission, Social Bookmarking)
- Keep it under 20 minutes

Poll: Which tie would you buy?

PJ puts on a gallery show

PJ of Immortal Beloved Toys is putting on a Show.  He invited artists to paint on his toys and display them.

Immortal Beloved Toys Gallery Show Flyer

I asked him how he pulled this off!  This is what he said:

“I searched galleries all over the world via the internet.  I then hand selected who I would like to be in the show.  From there i offered each artist a chance to do a custom toy.  I ordered about 35 blank toys.  I explained to each of the artists that i am only a small mail order store and so they need pay up front.  So after I got the list all worked out i went to this new gallery that one of my friends opened and offered him a chance to hold what some of the toy websites are calling *possibly one of the best shows of the year*.  So i expect that most of the sales will come off the site, not at the actual gallery itself.  so with a lot of begging and pleading and promoting, here we are!  So basically anyone with a product on their site can offer a little more with asking someone to do a special one of a kind piece :)”

If you are in the New York area - Go check it out!

Nice job PJ!  Please let us know how it went.

Store of the Month: Do you have what it takes?

Each month we choose one outstanding store to be our Store of the Month. This store is featured at the top of our homepage for the whole month, gets a permanent spot on our featured stores page, and is interviewed for a blog post. Sound good? We choose stores that we believe show great potential for becoming successful businesses (or already are). Here are some things that we like to see:

  • A creative and unique design with customized logo
  • A complete selection of products that are well-organized within departments
  • A fan club with over 10 members
  • An interesting niche concept
  • A sales history

Do you want to be considered? Send us an email telling us why your store stands out.

Post your favorite products with link sharing

I’m excited to announce our latest feature, which will be useful for both eager shoppers and for store owners looking for some free marketing. Link sharing lets people post products from any Flying Cart store on their Facebook, MySpace, StumbleUpon, and Twitter accounts. Once a product is posted, it is seen by all of the person’s friends. Then the friends click the link to come visit the store. It’s a fun way to shop and a simple but very powerful marketing tool.

Look for the link sharing icons on product pages just below the “Add To Cart” button.

Link Sharing icons

How does it work? For example, if I find a product I like such as the Tokidoki Kaniza from Immortal Beloved Toys, I can click on the Facebook icon (third from the left) to show all my Facebook friends. A screen pops up with the product information and I can add a comment. Then I click “Post” and I am done.

Link sharing can be turned off on the Store > Settings page when logged in.

How do I get my products in Google Product Search?

Google Base LogoGoogle Product Search is a shopping database that puts your products in front of a huge worldwide audience. By following these directions to create a product feed and a Google Base FTP account you will be able to submit your products to Google Product Search from within your Flying Cart Headquarters.  We will also submit your products automatically every 30 days so they never expire from Google. Here’s how to do it.

1. Log in to your Flying Cart Headquarters and navigate to Marketing > Advanced Tools. Find your “Product Feed Filename” and write it down.

Google Base Data Feed File Name

2. Go to Google Base and sign in with your Google account. Your Gmail email address will work. If you don’t have a Google account, sign up for one. It’s free.

3. Click on “Data Feeds”.

Google Base Data Feed Link Screen Shot

4. Click on the “New Data Feed” button.

Google Base New Data Feed Button

5. Pick your Target Country, select your Item Type (in your case it will be “Products”), and select “googlebase” for the type of data feed you are registering.

Google Base Data Feed

6. Enter in your “Product Feed Filename” from step 1.  Hit the “Register Data Feed” button at the bottom.

Google Base Data Feed File Name URL

7. Next you will create a Google FTP Account. Click on “Sign Up” on the left under FTP Uploading.

Google Base FTP Uploading Screen Shot

8. Create a FTP username and password.  Write it down. Wait several hours for Google to activate your account. (Google says that it takes 15 minutes, but we have noticed that it usually takes 8 hours)

9. Log in to your Flying Cart Headquarters.  Go to Marketing > Advanced Tools.  Enter in the Google FTP username and password that you created in the previous step. Hit “Save Settings”.

10. You are now ready to submit your products. Click “Submit Products to Google”.

Need Press? Get HARO

Help a Reporter Out LogoAll business pray for press, well stop praying and subscribe to Help a Reporter Out.  Peter Shankman sends out daily emails where reporters are looking for stories.  This is how we got Flying Cart into the New York Times and Gaebler.com.

Just the other day a reporter wanted to do a story about green laptop notebook cases, just imagine if you were a store selling these.  It does take time and little bit of effort but in the long run it is totally worth it.

Register Your Domain for 5 Years

Here is a quick tip.  If you own a custom domain register it for at least 5 years.  Google favors websites that have been registered for 5 or more years.  It shows them that your website will be around for a while.

Call Us! Community Call

We see things that work and we want to share them with you to help you grow your business.

That is why we are holding our very first community call.  All you need to do is leave your store name in the comments and I will email you the phone number to call and pass code.  Feel free to leave any discussion topics you would like me to address on the call as well.

What? Conference call about marketing your store, additions to Flying Cart, and discussion topics from the comments

When? Wednesday, Dec. 10th at 8pm CST

Cost? FREE

How Long? 25 minutes

How do I attend?

1) Leave your store name in the comments

2) I will send you an email with the phone number you need to call and a pass code to get in

3) Call the number in the email on Wednesday Dec. 10th at 8pm

Customer Pictures

Last week I met Ted.  He started Powered Green.  You can buy a sticker for your laptop that goes towards buying a new wind turbine.  The wind turbine produces the amount of energy an average laptop needs in its life time.  Here is how it works.

Anyway… I bought one.  A day later Ted emails me asking if I can send him a picture of me and my powered by green laptop to post on their website.  Of course I was pumped and excited!  I sent him my picture and he posted it.

Rishi is Powered by Green!

I thought this was a great idea!  Post pictures of your customers using your product! This can be easily done with flickr or slide - Let me know if you are interested on a “How To” post about this.

Why I like it:

- The best customer testimonial you can get is a picture of your customer smiling and using your product

- It shows a sense of community

- This will get your customers involved and excited to be a part of your business.  Customers will be exited to show it off to their friends.