Tips for Creating an Online Store

I just got an email asking:

“Help! My product posts keep getting Flagged and Removed from Craigslist, even though they don’t violate any of the terms of use. I suspect bored teenagers or some other nefarious bandit is responsible for this. Do any Flying Cart owners know of ANYTHING I can do to keep this from happening? Thanks!”

The answer is yes!  There are a lot of things you can do to not get flagged.  Also its not bored teenagers the Craigslist community is pretty good about that kind of stuff.  Here are a few things to keep in mind if you are getting flagged:

1. Don’t over post.  Nobody likes a spammer.  So if you are posting more than 3 posts a week I think you are overdoing it.

2. Don’t over hyperlink. At most you should only include one hyperlink.

3. Include a price.

4. Sound like a real person.

5. No typos.  The more educated you sound the less likely you will get flagged.  Copy/paste the posting into a word document to check for spelling errors.

6. No naked pictures! haha – This might be an obvious one to some…. but you will be surprised at how many people get this wrong.

Let me know if you have any other tips or experiences in the comments.

I love online marketing.  I really do.  It’s cheap and effective.  But marketing offline is just as important.  Going to conferences, telling your friends, posting ads in local newspapers can really help your business out.  I reached out to people that have rocked the offline marketing world.  Here are some tips from them:

“1. Have a call to action
To drive web traffic, simply listing a web address isn’t enough: people want an invitation, a reason, or even better, a compelling offer to lure them to your site. Unless your strategy revolves around consistent frequency and long-term branding, you’ll need to have a call-to-action to see the traffic needle move.

2. Think beyond the page
Traditional print advertising in newspapers or magazines can be effective, but to conserve costs, consider promotional materials that can linger a little longer. A great example are branded tzotchkes that prospective customers might use near their desk or computer. Or, to piggy-back off of the great distribution of a newspaper or magazine, consider inserts, which might linger longer on coffee tables, or be used as bookmarks to increase reader ad recall.”

Katherine of www.criterionglobal.com

“We started offering free car seat ID cards bagged with our flyer and a coupon to offline parent events. They do not cost us a lot to produce. And it gets our products in front of many families.”

Kay of  www.MyPreciousKid.com

“I meet weekly with networking groups (BNI- Business Networking International, Chambers and Meetup.com groups) to drive them to my website to purchase different promotional products. I also market with a two prong approach. One side is verbally speaking with potential clients, followed up by an email about our discussion and linking them to our online store.”

Eric of www.dedtees.com

“We have been able to improve online sales by getting involved in local charities and events.  We donate product for charity gift bags, auctions, etc. and include product and ordering information.  We also have samples at these events for people to try the products as well.”

Jennifer of www.hemloq.com

“Do not underestimate the value of your business card to contribute to your online sales. An easy and inexpensive idea is to create a business card that simply has a one line description of your company and your URL. If a person is interested in the product or service you offer he or she is “forced” to view your website for further information. I have used this tactic to promote a client whose business card simply states “We Can Help You Stop Bedwetting” then the URL www.TryforDry.com.”

Reno of www.renoweb.net

Angela of Little Bow Peep asked me

“I had someone email me and say they placed an order for several things and never received any of it yet. What should I do if I know an order hasn’t been placed? What should I do if the person demands their products but never paid for any of it?”

That is a great question.  Also challenging.  The customer obviously wants your product so you don’t want to turn them away.

Here is what I would do:
1) Be certain that you didn’t get the money.  Triple check in your Flying Cart order section.  Check all your PayPal and Google Checkout records.
2) Apologize and ask the customer for proof of the order.  An electronic receipt or amount charged on their credit card would do.
3) Call them up and talk to them over the phone. If the still are making demands with no proof ask them to order something else and you will ship the other items at cost.

What would you do?  All ideas/comments welcome.

The folks over at Bizcard reached out to me and asked if they can give all our stores free business cards.  I said “Yes! Of course”.  You should always carry some business cards around.

Biz Card is offering each Flying Cart store one free print marketing kit to help you promote your store.  The kit includes:

* 250 business cards to help network and share your web store information
* 50 Thank You Notes to show appreciaition to your customers
* and 22 Magnets to remind them of your business.

You will need to pay the shipping fee.  If you want the deal email them at [email protected]

This is a super funny video I just saw the other day about Business Cards:

A lot of our stores are using Slide to display product slideshows on their homepage.  Check out FotoViewr.com – they allow you to create 3D interactive photo galleries.  I got a full demo of the product a few months ago and was impressed.

1. Go to Store -> Settings.

2. Scroll down to the currency section and pick the currency that you charge in.

3.  Click on “Update Settings” at the bottom of the page to save your changes.

Last week we launched a shiny new Flying Cart website. A site needs to reflect a company’s personality like the clothes we wear. The old site had us stuck in the clothes that our mother dressed us in and we wanted something new. It took some hard self-reflection but we came out with a new look that we really like. The new site is lighter, more colorful, and more playful.

Besides the new colors and layout, some of the major changes to the site include: more featured stores, new testimonials, an updated pricing structure, and a new sign-up page. The Headquarters pages and the blog also match the new site design, for a seamless Flying Cart experience.

If you are interested in getting a custom design for your Flying Cart store, take a look at the new “Find A Designer” page. We have partnered with several freelance designers and companies who will create custom designs for Flying Cart stores at a good price.

Go explore the site and see what else is new.

Kim of Savannah Gourmet Market asked me “How do I add links within a product description”.

1. Go to the product that you want to edit.

2. Click on “Edit”

2. Highlight the text you want to link

3. Click on the link button

4. Enter in the link address and hit “Insert”

Something I learned recently is that people take one word emails rudely.  A customer recently emailed me if we allow custom domains.  I replied “Yes.” and sent it off.  The customer replied back saying “How rude.  I don’t want to work with a company that is rude to me.”

Was I being rude?  I don’t think so.  I got back to the customer within 3 minutes of receiving the email and answered his question.  However I can see how it can be perceived as being rude.  This is my strategy for next time:

Hi {First Name},

Yes!  We allow custom domains.  We have setup instructions here {link to the instructions}.

Let me know if there is anything else we can help you with.

Rishi

So just watch out with one word email replies.  Your customer might think you are being rude even though you aren’t.

OMG!  You gotta check out this website.  People vote for the products they are totally in love with.  The products with the most votes hit the homepage.  I’m totally addicted to the site.  You should submit your products and/or products you are totally in love with.