Tips for Creating an Online Store

CSS Tips: Bigger Thumbnails

Wednesday, July 21st, 2010 by rishi

Flying Cart comes with some pretty great built-in themes and gives you the ability to customize your store even further with custom CSS. If you’ve never worked with HTML or CSS making changes may seem daunting at first. But if you take things one step at a time and save your progress you can learn how to make a lot of changes yourself.

To get started, here’s a tip on changing the appearance of your featured products.

original-thumbnails

Starting with the Tuxedo theme you’ll notice that all of your product thumbnails are in a white box with white space around your thumbnails.

updated-thumbnails

But what if you wanted to remove the box and make your thumbnails larger? It’s a simple CSS fix.

Read more after the jump for details on how to change your thumbnails. Read more…
Read the rest of this entry »

Shelter Angels Pit Bull Rescue

Wednesday, July 21st, 2010 by rishi

Shelter Angels Pit Bull Rescue of Atlanta: consider our heart strings officially tugged.

Shelter Angels is a non-profit group that saves pit bulls from euthanization shelters in Georgia, giving these highly misunderstood dogs a second chance at life. If you’d like to help, they have a shop where they sell art and T-shirts to dog lovers, with the proceeds going to their cause. Buy a t-shirt with the Shelter Angels logo or an original piece of artwork by local artist Holly Jones.

Need another reason to donate? How about 5 reasons? Check out this video of 5 pit bull pups that Shelter Angels took in.

Keysa’s Boutique Los Angeles Lifestyle Image

Tuesday, July 20th, 2010 by rishi

keysas-boutique-los-angeles-lifestyle-image

Just like a brick and mortar storefront puts up displays and signs to catch customers’ attention and make a great first impression, an online store should make a great first impression with a bold lifestyle image. What’s a lifestyle image? A lifestyle image captures the essence of a brand or company and helps customers relate to the product.

Keysa’s Boutique Los Angeles gives customers an impression of their overall vibe with a fantasic lifestyle image. From the picture we can tell that the shop carries casual summer wear. It also has a cool urban vibe that appeals to a young fashion foward crowd. What’s really great is that the dress featured in the lifestyle image can be from their online store.

So what kind of lifestyle images make sense for your business? Your best bet is to just show your target audience using your product, which will help you customers picture themselves using it too.

It’z Made With Love

Monday, July 12th, 2010 by rishi

Ever get a card from someone that was so sweet you wanted to keep it with you always? While the sentiment is nice, it’s not exactly practical. Unless of course the card is about business card size. Mini Cards from It’z Made with Love are only 2.5″x3″ so they’re small enough to take with you anywhere and just big enough for a short and sweet message. Each set includes 1 of each of the six handmade cards pictured.

Visit It’z Made With Love Shop and check back for new creative handmade products by Rose.

Freedom Is Good

Friday, July 9th, 2010 by rishi
Image of Flag Tee
Flag Tee
$20.00
Image of Freedom Tee
Freedom Tee
$20.00
Image of Flag Long Sleeve
Flag Long Sleeve
$24.00
Image of Freedom Long Sleeve
Freedom Long Sleeve
$24.00

It’s a simple message, but one that everyone can agree on. Having the freedom to live your life the way you want to is good. It seems that a lot of patriotic products say “God Bless America,” which is great for some folks, but it doesn’t express one of the most important freedoms we have as Americans: freedom of religion. But “Freedom is good” works for everyone.

Whether freedom to you means a strong, patriotic America, the fight for individual rights, or a weekend fishing at the lake, we all agree…

Freedom is good. Carry the message.

And to thank those who stand up for our freedom, buy a Freedom is good item for a wounded soldier at Walter Reed Medical center to boost their moral and say thanks.

Check out the Freedom is good shop for t-shirts, caps and messenger bags.

Flying Links! Marketing Tips From Around the Web

Thursday, July 8th, 2010 by rishi

the_challenge_logo

Learn How To Build A Profitable Online Business – The Challenge – Flippa
Sign Up for The Challenge for Free!

Customer Loyalty Rewards Programs – Retail Store Blog

5 YouTube Channels for Small Biz Advice – Mashable

Tips For Opening A DIY Studio – Indie Business Blog

The Beginner’s Guide to Getting Links From Bloggers (Video) – SEOmoz

Landing Page Makeover Clinic #27: HiddenSoy.com – Copyblogger

7 Essential Social Media Instincts Everyone Should Learn – Influential Marketing Blog

What Would You Do with 60 Seconds? Shortest Marketing Conference Ever – Brains on Fire

Pin Up Cosmetics

Wednesday, July 7th, 2010 by rishi

Unique branding and a memorable theme can really set a store apart. Pin Up Cosmetics is a great example of memorable branding with retro artwork and style in both their store design and product packaging. Pin-up models and vintage photographs create a distinct pretty and classic style that makes Pin Up Cosmetics stand out from other cosmetic shops.

Of course Pin Up Cosmetics doesn’t just stand out because of their branding alone—they make quality cosmetics that are cruelty-free, natural and vegan-friendly.

Shoes Ever

Monday, July 5th, 2010 by rishi


Image of Niley
Niley
$29.99

Image of Game
Game
$29.99

The best shoes ever? Every pair of shoes ever? “Shoes Ever” conjures up a lot of ideas about how incredible the collection of shoes must be. And with everything from boots to flats to heels and wedges, Shoes Ever really lives up to its name. Taking a look at some styles like Niley and Game, we think they might be the funkiest shoes ever!

Check out Shoes Ever for the complete selection of the coolest shoes ever.

Flying Links! Marketing Tips From Around the Web

Thursday, July 1st, 2010 by rishi

beginners-guide-to-seo

The Beginners Guide to SEO – SEO Moz <-- Don't miss this!

10 Easy Tips for Using Video To Build Your Brand Online – Indie Business Blog

The Grateful Dead 4-Step Guide to the Magical Influence of Content Marketing – Copyblogger

Build Buzz With a Business Blog – Entrepreneur

Retailers Can’t Ignore Facebook – Internet Retailer

Are You Really Saving Money Using Old Technology? – All Business

Connecting Social Networks Pays Off – Marketing Sherpa

Books del Sur

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010 by rishi
Image of El perro confundido
El perro confundido
$8.95
Image of Amadeo y el abuelo
Amadeo y el abuelo
$8.95
Image of Amadeo va al colegio
Amadeo va al colegio
$8.95
Image of Vacaciones
Vacaciones
$7.95

One of our most frequently asked questions at Flying Cart is how to get started. A lot of people want to start their own business but don’t know where to start. Well, sometimes the best business ideas come from your own needs. Take Heather Robertson Warren of Madinson Wisconsin for example. She’s an elementary Bilingual Instructional Resource Teacher who had a real need for authentic Spanish literature for her students. She contacted her friend Ingnacio Muñoz from Chile to send her some books. She soon realized that there was a severe lack of bestselling children’s books from South America in the US and so she opened Books del Sur (which means Books from the South).

It may sound silly, but kids books can also help adults practice learning Spanish too. Visit Books del Sur and brush up on your Spanish reading skills.