Tips for Creating an Online Store
Speaking Tomorrow in Madison
Monday, November 17th, 2008 by rishiI am going to be speaking in Madison tomorrow at the “Entrepreneur Deli” event. I will be going over using social media to generate sales. If you are in the area please stop by.
Starts at 6:00 pm tomorrow (Tuesday, Nov. 18th) at the Pyle Center 702 Langdon St. Madison, Wi
Will it Blend?
Monday, November 17th, 2008 by rishi
Blendtec blenders can blend anything! How do I know that? They put up videos of them blending magents, glow sticks, lighters, and much more. Their YouTube Channel has 128,000 subscribers and some of their videos have over 5 Million views.
This is a great example of viral marketing. Think about videos you can possibly post to show how your products are way better than the competition. Don’t be intimidated by the professionalism of Blendtec’s videos, there are plenty of low quality videos that do just as well. Just put something out there!
Check out their most popular video where they blend an iPhone:
Slumdog Millionaire
Sunday, November 16th, 2008 by rishiI watched Slumdog Millionaire this weekend and loved it! I have never been so moved from a movie before. It is only playing in selected cities but hopefully it will open up everywhere soon.
Ask FC: How do I Add a Video?
Saturday, November 15th, 2008 by rishiQ: How do I add a YouTube Video to my Welcome Page?
A: First of all. I love videos! I really think they bring a store alive.
Follow these steps:
1. Sign in and Upload a video to YouTube (you can use your Google Account to sign in)
NOTE: Skip step #1 if the video you want to use already exists on YouTube. Feel free to check out other video sharing sites (like 5min, MetaCafe, Blip.tv, and Vimeo) for great video content.
2. Go to the video you just upload and copy the code next to “embed”
3. In your Flying Cart headquarters navigate to Store -> Homepage
4. Scroll down the click on the HTML button in the “Welcome Text” section
5. Paste the embed code you copied in step #3 and click on the “update”
6. Click the “Update Homepage” button
7. Enjoy a video on your site
Have a burning question for us? Ask Us!
Girl In Your Shirt
Friday, November 14th, 2008 by rishiI thought this was really interesting marketing. A new site called Girl In Your Shirt just launched today. The idea is simple: The girl will wear a shirt with your brand on it for an entire day and she also talks about it on all her networks (her website, YouTube, Twitter, etc). It costs $75.
Get found on Google Maps
Thursday, November 13th, 2008 by rishi
Add your store to Google Maps. A 2 minute thing you can do today to put your store on the map! woohoo
Use your own email address: [email protected]
Wednesday, November 12th, 2008 by rishi
I love Gmail! I think it is the best email service. I go through at least 300 or so emails a week and Gmail makes my life easier. Ok… I am done with my Gmail plug.
If you own your own domain, you can use Gmail technology to use your own email address (like [email protected]) with Google Apps – best of all it’s free for the standard edition! All you need to do is sign up for the Google Apps Standard Edition and follow their steps.
FYI: The standard edition is all you need if you have less than 20 people in your company and you don’t mind the unobtrusive advertisements. Feel free to checkout the premium edition if you need it.
Do they trust you?
Tuesday, November 11th, 2008 by rishiEvery few days I get an email from a concerned customer. They ask me if a certain store is legit and they want a little proof before they buy. You are definitely loosing sales by not making your store look trustworthy.
Here are a few things you can easily do:
#1 List your email address on your contact us page or on your homepage. Put your name in the email address. For example [email protected] sounds way more trustworthy than [email protected].
#2 Accept Google Checkout and/or PayPal. When an online store says they only accept money orders or western union I automatically think “This man is a scammer!”.
#3 Post a picture of yourself. A real picture.
#4 Answer your emails. When a customer asks a question all you need to do is simply answer it.
#5 Post a few customer testimonials.
#6 If your prices are too good to be true. State the reasons why in your product description.
What are some things you do to make your store gain trust? Would love to hear some of your ideas.
Fun + Folding: An Interview with The Good Envelope Party
Monday, November 10th, 2008 by rishi |
Our featured store this month is The Good Envelope Party, a collective that makes stationary out of recycled materials. I interviewed founder Jenny Rask. |
Margo: How did your group get started and how did you come up with the idea of using recycled materials to make stationary?
Jenny: We got started meeting as a group last spring. It started out as some of my neighborhood friends hanging out together socializing. Some of us have children so I felt like I wanted to create a reason to meet and socialize more often. I had been making my own envelopes for a while and it dawned on me that my friends might like learning to do it as well. We are definitely all multi-taskers. We can fold, drink and chat. We started making them for our local schools to sell at fundraisers to raise money for them. When more people joined the group we realized how many we could make in an evening and realized that as a monthly collective we could produce even more and use the money towards helping people in need. So a great equation of Fun + Folding = Helping Others.
The reason we use recycled materials is to give old books and magazines another life and to to reduce waste while demonstrating how easy it is to be creative with materials we all may already have in your home. Anyone can fold an envelope or make their own gift wrap out of almost anything. We aren’t reinventing the wheel here. We are hopefully demonstrating to the consumer that we don’t have to buy “new” from new resources, that beautiful products can come from being resourceful with everyday things around us.
Margo: Can you explain a little about how a collective works?
Jenny: Well we all are very motivated in helping others who are in need. So that is really our common goal when we come together for this party. We really felt that if we could help one person or one family locally and directly that it would be incredible! So during our party we vote on short term goals who we would like to help the most immediately and then vote on long term ideas, who we would like to see receive our money in the future. The more stationery we sell obviously the better for whoever is the recipient of the money. We also vote on how much money we will donate for each cause.
So there is a lot of voting and then I help manage and guide the group a lot about where our stuff will be sold in shops, manage the online store and work with the daily orders. I source the materials we use too. We love donations of salvaged books and magazines with great full page photos or illustrations in them as well : ) 12 inches at least in height please!!!
Our meetings are really a fun party. It really is about having a laugh, hanging out together, helping others and building community. We welcome newcomers in our area. The stationery is our way of giving back to our community through maybe a little bit different approach.
Margo: Your site says that you donate all your profits to charitable organizations. How do you choose where to donate?
Jenny: We cover our costs first with the money which are fairly minimal and then the rest of the profit is saved until we have a recipient we agree on and have the sum of money saved in our account that we agree on. We vote on the recipient at our party. We have not yet donated as our store is new and profits are just finally coming in. We have voted on who will receive the first money though and it is someone local.
Margo: How did you sell your stationary before you started your online store with Flying Cart?
Jenny: We used to donate it to school fundraisers and had our stationery in a local store in L.A. called O.K. on 3rd Street.
Margo: In a very short time, you are having amazing success with sales and have a nice fan following. What have you done to get the word out about your store?
Jenny: We are so lucky! Being published in Daily Candy has been a huge help : )
Margo: Tell me a little about your blog and about some of the other projects you are working on.
Jenny: Well, let’s see. Ask WoollyM. (www.askwoollym.typepad.com) is an eco-friendly help site that I started last year. I am a mom of two kids and had been researching living more sustainably and toxin free since they were babies. It really inspired me to help others because there is so much information out there and I wanted to take a guilt-free user-friendly approach to it.
My friends kept asking me about their toxin concerns in their daily lives so it seemed kind of like a fun idea to help them by creating this and maybe help anyone else who might need a head start on their green path. I started this site to test the waters a bit and see how I might be able to contribute in this way. It is a question and answer site. So anyone can ask a question and I will research the question and post the a personal solution with my research. It is an amazing way to learn about other’s needs in this area or what their concerns are. Kind of like going to school again, but on my terms.
I am working on a few other eco-education projects that will hopefully be accessible online soon. They are coming from a different angle than other “How to live green” approaches. Hopefully the projects will be entertaining and educational. Check out www.theguidegirls.com in a couple weeks.