What's most important when starting a new business?

I love to read forums. Most of the people offer really good and thoughtful advice. The following was in response to the question, what's most important when starting a new business?

Network, Network, and Network Some More
When I started my own firm, an old hand told me that initially (because of no or few customers) there would be a good deal of down time and that time should be used to meet others and network. Later, he said, there would be no time. I wish I had listened. Join the clubs, meet your colleagues, offer free seminars at libraries, join a networking group, take on a teaching job about your profession, offer to write an article for the local paper, join a sports club, go next door and meet your neighbor, and network all of the time! Always have a flyer, card or brochure handy. Have a good contact application on your mobile phone and plug in everyone you meet and what you discussed -- build a contact database. Ask customers for referrals. If you sell widgets, figure out where the widget buyers hang out and get there. One young business woman I know had a neat little tool for needlepoint she sold at her craft store. By word of mouth at her PTA it came to the attention of a big buyer. Network!

Starting an Online Store

Day499
This article was written a year ago, but still has a lot of good information for anyone wanting to start his or her own online store. It’s called, “Starting An Online Store: The Essential Checklist” and written by James Maguire.

You may read it here

What I’ve learned starting an online store

Day385
The main thing I’ve learned about starting an online store is that it’s a lot of work. It is constant tweaking and constant reading and learning. Online storeowners don’t stop working until they can’t keep their eyes open anymore and then after a few hours of sleep they start all over again.

Most online storeowners aren’t just adding products to their shops. They are learning about being an affiliate, attracting affiliates, SEO, all forms of on and offline marketing, and the tools the Internet offers to help us.

They are reading everything they can find on AdSense, AdWords, Chitika, HTML and photoshop.

They are writing ads, articles, newsletters and press releases and looking for places to submit them. Because of this they are also reading things to teach them to write better.

They are on forums: either forums for businesses, entrepreneurs, blogging forums, (if they have a blog and many do) forums that relate to the products they sell and techy forums.

They become familiar with sites they normally wouldn’t have, i.e. My Space and Swanky Moms.

They create folders in the inboxes of their multiple email accounts filled with links to things they want to look at someday, or try on their site. Their desktop is full of icons and if it isn’t full it’s because each icon has folders and sub folders. Their “favorites” are also full of sites they mean to study. Or at least read one time.

They grit their teeth when the computer crashes while they are in the middle of typing something (which just happened to me) and start all over again instead of taking the time to cry about it. And when they do start all over again, this time they hit file and save after every paragraph!

They realize that like the Internet there is no end!

So if you are an online storeowner. I salute you. And I wish you the best!

Conclusion of Tips on Starting an online business

Day371
7. How To Promote Your Business Website

Write An Article: Write an article promoting your site or product. Write an article on a hot topic many people would like more information on and submit it to various e-zines. How do you find out what's hot? Visit a few of the message boards and see what questions are raised often.

Search Engines: Thousands of search engines exist on the Internet. But, you should only be concerned with the top eight or ten. You should manually submit to the top eight: Alta Vista, Excite, Yahoo, Hotbot, Lycos, Northern Light, Infoseek, Webcrawler, and use one of the FREE automatic submission services like *SubmitPlus* to handle the smaller search engines.

Directories: List your site here too. Directories organize sites into categories. Good examples of Directories: Yahoo, Magellan.

Ezine Listings: If you have an e-zine to promote along with your site. Why not list it with one of the many e-zine services on the Internet. E-zine Library is a good one to start with.

Free Classifieds: You will have to submit to a ton of FREE classifieds to get any significant traffic. Why? You are competing with thousands of other Ads. Remember to work on your Ad copy and make it attention grabbing. Go to one of the popular search engines, type in Free Classifieds, and surf to the top 20 classified sites for beginners.

Often, these sites will lead you to several other Free Classified Sites. In response you'll get a stack of e-mail thanking you for listing your site while barking their promo. Best to get one of those free email accounts. Hot mail is a good one. So is Yahoo mail.

FFA Pages. Free For All's are worth a try. Be prepared for an avalanche of e-mails from FFA web site owners. If your title is attention grabbing you will get a few clicks. Good Attention grabbing headlines, FREE, Limited Time, Limited Offer, Proven, Secrets, and many more if you brainstorm. Check out the sales literature delivered to you by regular mail. Check and see what headlines grab your attention. And why? Incorporate them into your Online Ads.

Tell Friends And Family: If your friends, family, acquaintances, have an Internet Connection, e-mail them telling them about your new website, and ask them to visit often. Offer a FREE incentive if they tell a few friends to surf over. Perhaps, a FREE Ad in your e-zine.

Leave Business Cards or Flyers: Leave these promo pieces with small businesses in your community. All relevant contact information; email address, URL, telephone number, should be included. Offer a freebie to anyone who visits your site. A free e-book, report.

8. IN CONCLUSION

Think of your first six months primarily as a training period. Don't expect large earnings until after you've educated yourself.

Even the most dynamic, highest-earning entrepreneurs in the industry took MONTHS to begin seeing an income of any real significance with their internet home business.
Don't be a negative thinker and don't let the negative attitudes of others (even if they're family members, friends, or peers) influence you.

All the great men and women in history had to overcome the naysayers who said it couldn't be done-and then went out and did it. Think for yourself!

As long as you think positive and focused on your internet home business target you're on the right way to a rich life, which is directed by you and it will lead you to tremendous success and personal satisfaction.

About The Author
Michel Richer, The Internet Home Business Specialist Can Help You Build A Successful Internet Business That Can Generate Massive Profit !!! So Start Your Own Internet Business for FREE >> Visit Now: http://hombyz.com/homebusiness.htm

Continuation of Tips on Starting an online business

Day370
I’ve decided to split the remainder of this article into two days instead of one due to length:

5. Choose a Web Hosting Company

A Web host is a company that provides server space for your website. You can think of a web host as a commercial building. The web host provides space for your website just as a commercial building provides space for your shop or office.

What are some of the things you should look for when choosing a web host? The criteria for choosing a free web host and a commercial web hosting solution are slightly different although they do overlap.

A) Web Space

Does it have enough space for your needs? If you envisage that you will expand your site eventually, you might want to cater for future expansion. Most sites use less than 5MB of web space. Indeed, at one time, one of my other web sites, thefreecountry.com, used less than 5MB of space although it had about 150 pages on the site. Your needs will vary, depending on how many pictures your pages use, whether you need sound files, video clips, etc.

B) Bandwidth allotment

Nowadays, many free web hosts impose a limit on the amount of traffic your website can use per day and per month. This means that if the pages (and graphic images) on your site are loaded by visitors beyond a certain number of times per day (or per month), the web host will disable your web site (or perhaps send you a bill).

It is difficult to recommend a specific minimum amount of bandwidth, since it depends on how you design your site, your target audience, and the number of visitors you're able to attract to your site. In general, 100MB traffic per month is too little for anything other than your personal home page and 1-3GB traffic per month is usually adequate for a simple site just starting out. Your mileage, however, will vary.

C) Reliability and speed of access

This is extremely important. A site that is frequently down will lose a lot of visitors. If someone finds your site on the search engine, and he tries to access it but finds that it is down, he'll simply go down the list to find another site. Slow access is also very frustrating for visitors (and for you too, when you upload your site).

How do you know if a host is reliable or fast? If you can't get feedback from anyone, one way is to try it out yourself over a period of time, both during peak as well as non-peak hours. After all, it is free, so you can always experiment with it.

6. Shopping Cart

No e-commerce website is complete without a secure shopping cart. There are many shopping cart options. Many e-commerce business owners make the mistake of using Pay Pal to accept payments, which immediately tells visitors that their company is very small and not professional.

A good alternative to Pay Pal is a remotely hosted shopping cart. Remote shopping carts take the burden of maintaining security and credit card numbers off your shoulder and places the responsibility on another company. Remote shopping carts can usually be configured to look similar to your website.

In fact, your customers may not realize that they have left your website to place an order. The remote shopping cart provider will give you the HTML to add to your website. When your potential customer clicks on the Buy Now button, he or she is taken to the remote shopping cart to enter the personal information and payment details.

Depending on your choice of a shopping cart, you may or may not need a merchant account to process transactions. Some shopping cart services allow you to use their merchant accounts for a slightly higher fee.

Tips on starting an online business

Day369
As you can probably tell I’ve been reading a lot! Since this blog is about starting an online store, I’d like to share another article I found called 8 Expert Tips to Start an Online Business by Michel Richer.

It’s a little long, so I’ll print half today and the rest tomorrow with a link to Mr. Richer’s information at the end. This is a very helpful article.

The start up costs for internet home businesses are next to nothing compared to the offline world of business start-ups. In fact it is a lot more simple to start and grow a business on the internet.

All you need is some computer knowledge and some internet marketing basis and a good dose of determination.

Here are some basic tips on how to start an internet home business.

1.Write Your Business Goals
It is important to set goals and objectives and then take action to accomplish them. This will be your Business Plan.

Here Are Some questions you should ask yourself:

- Why do I want to start up an Internet Home Business?
- What product or service can I provide?
- Do I have the knowledge and expertise to provide this service?
- Do I know enough about the competition?
- Where will my customers come from?

Take the time to write down your questions and answers and thoroughly research your chosen market.

2.Choose A Product or Service To Sell

On the internet you can find hundreds of product or services to sell.
You can sell your own product by creating your own, or purchasing resale rights or being an affiliate with a good internet company.

Don't put your personal gains first. Make sure that the product will deliver what it promises. When you promote a product that leaves the buyer dissatisfied, you will only be ruining your business. So sell solutions and the money will come.

3. Business Domain Name

One important first step is to choose the best domain name you can. Keep it as short and simple as possible. Think of domain names like " Google " or " Yahoo ". They are short and easy to remember.

I know that some people say to use keywords in you're domain name. But if you choose " Internet Business " there are millions of sites with this term.

And if you are going to use for example "AprofitableInternethomebusiness.com" it might be a nice name but it is too long and not simple.

4. Web Site

Having a good business website is essential to succeed with an internet home business:
A) Decide on the website design (color schemes, buttons, special effects etc). To help you choose a design, you may wish to check out other people's websites or work with your web designer's pre-set templates.
(b) The content. There are many items you may wish to include on your website. The most common ones include:

1 Products And Services
2. Contact Information
3. Pricing
4. Testimonials
5. Frequently Asked Questions
6. Resources & Articles
7. Refund Policy
8. Privacy Policy
9. About Us
10. Site Map
11. Useful Links
12. On-line store

Learning about Stat Counters

Day177
I’ve been on a reading and learning kick the past couple days. Since this blog is about the trials and adventures of starting an online store I am assuming some people reading it are interested in doing that, so I invite you to learn along with me about statcounters:

Increase Your Site Traffic By Knowing Your Stats
Be honest, when was the last time you looked at your website statistics? If you're like most webmasters it's probably been a while. If so, you're missing out on a goldmine of information. By measuring and analyzing your website statistics, you can learn a lot about your site and the people who visit it.
How are site statistics gathered?
A hit is produced when any file is served. The web page itself is considered one file, as are any images. Therefore, if a page has five images, it could generate six hits.
Sometimes, web traffic is measured by packet sniffing. Usually a software program can interrupt and monitor traffic passing over a digital network.
As data passes back and forth over the network, the sniffer captures each packet and eventually deciphers and examines its content according to the appropriate specifications. All the data that the sniffer captured is recorded and included in the web traffic analysis.
What information can your site stats give?
* The average number of page views per visitor. This tells you how good your site is at encouraging people to click around. Lots of page views means visitors are finding something of interest and they'll be more likely to return - and they'll hopefully bring their friends!
* Average visit duration. Another indicator of how useful visitors find your site. If they spend a lot of time it means they're genuinely interested in what you offer.
* When people visit. Knowing the most popular days and times can give you insight into who your customers are. If most of your visitors occur during the day then chances are people are browsing while at work. Knowing the habits of your visitors will help you find ways to target them. It can also help you decide when you're best to run advertising and even schedule site maintenance.
* The most popular pages. Work on optimizing your most popular pages for the search engines, using them as advertising campaign landing pages or starting a PPC campaign for them. They must be popular for a reason and will be a good way to entice potential customers to visit your site.
* Most requested exit pages. Unless the most frequently used exit page is your "thanks for ordering" page, you have a hole in your site that visitors are slipping through. Figure out why they're leaving from this page and you'll be able to improve your conversions.
*Referring sites and search engines. Knowing where your traffic is currently coming from can help you determine where to focus your traffic generation efforts. Look for ways to get even more traffic from your best sources - and don't waste time on the ineffective ones.

* Keywords used to find your site. If visitors are finding you through the search engines, it's invaluable to know what keywords and phrases they're using. Use these keywords when writing content for your site or planning a PPC campaign since you already know they generate traffic.
The author of the above article is Gabor Olah: http://unlimitedtrafficsecrets.com/

Designs by Joan interview

Day122
Today we’re looking at: http://www.cafepress.com/designsbyjoan?pid=4370506

1.What drew you to opening an online store? Were you in a related field?

I am a professional graphic designer and illustrator and wanted somewhere to post my original designs.

2.When did you open your store?

Last summer, I think

3.What is harder about doing this then you thought it would be?

It's just time consuming loading up new designs and keeping it fresh.

4.What do you like best about being an online shopkeeper?

I finally have a place to post my art!

5.During the very first month, what do you wish you had known then that you do now?

How to tag files and to go ahead and get a premium shop.

6.Could you share some of the marketing you’ve tried so far (on or off line) and what has worked and what hasn’t?

I've only done word of mouth and have sent out two newsletters. I think the newsletters are great if you can get people to sign up for them.

7.What other sites, blogs, etc. do you have if any?

None at this moment.

Nancy’s comment – Check out Joan’s custom birthday designs. You can either put your name on or someone else’s for a gift. I also really like her Graduation 2006 design, her house warming gifts and think her “Woman scorned” section is pretty fun. Joan’s got creative ideas and she’s good artist.

Dog Play Interview

Day121
Here’s Diane’s main shop and some of her thoughts:
http://www.cafepress.com/dogplay?pid=4370506


1. What drew you to opening an online store?

An internet friend opened one just to create a mug of her dog. I started exploring around. CafePress looked like it might be fun. That I didn't have to pay anything to try it, and that I didn't have any commitments at all was a big factor in my deciding to try it. I really like playing with the artwork. CafePress gave me a reason for doing it.

2.Were you in a related field?

Not at all. My images are in support of, and a mirror of, my Dog Play website which is devoted to helping dogs keep their homes. The Dog Play website was opened in 1996.

3.When did you open your store?

December 2003

4.What is harder about doing this then you thought it would be?
Writing the sales pitches and marketing. And maintaining the shop. I had no idea I would create so many designs. And keeping up with which designs have been added to which products (or rather which products I've accidentally skipped) is a challenge.

5.What do you like best about being an online shopkeeper?
The ego boost that comes when someone likes something I made enough to actually pay money for it. They see something there that speaks for them, and that's my goal.

6.During the very first month, what do you wish you had known then that you do now?

I really can't think of anything that would have made a difference then, except maybe to discourage me. Since I didn't start out taking it too seriously most of the things that cause stress (no sales!) weren't a big problem. Nice thing about being pessimistic is you can get pleasantly surprised when you are wrong. It is good to be wrong.

7.Could you share some of the marketing you’ve tried so far (on or off line) and what has worked and what hasn’t?

I haven't done the kind of marketing I could or should. Partly I have a mental block but also I committed myself that my primary web site would come first. I tried a blog, but couldn't keep at it. Generating income from sales should come second to keeping my web site a great resource for people to learn about their dogs. I'd like to do it all, but there aren't enough hours in the day. And I'd much rather teach or help than market.

Since I know I can count on traffic to my web site, and that will target my audience, I spend most of my marketing efforts there. This weekend for example, I've been working on extracting product and section images for a new script based display that I hope will work better than others I've tried.

I do very well in Google where I've made the effort to do good section descriptions.
I'd say the best side effect of working with CafePress is that it has convinced me that selling stuff on Dog Play can be a benefit for my visitors. That these things can support what I'm doing philosophically as well as financially.

8.What other sites, blogs, etc. do you have if any?

In addition to my premium shop I still have a LOT of basic shops, and I make sales through them.

I also have:
http://www.dogplay.com - what I call my primary web site.
http://www.dogplayshops.com - my affiliate shop.
Just because I have to check things out:
http://dogplay.blogspot.com/
http://myspace.com/dogplay
http://www.squidoo.com/Mcnabs
http://www.squidoo.com/mutts/
http://www.squidoo.com/ScienceFun/
http://www.squidoo.com/therapydogs/
http://www.squidoo.com/dogplay/


Nancy’s comment – I have found in my four months at CafePress that the shop owners are not only talented, but passionate people. Some have a special cause close to their hearts, others care about everything. They are all talented and willing to put themselves out their for their beliefs.
I read somewhere that making a commitment and putting yourself out there invites success even though it may not come instantly or through the obvious channels. Most of the shop owners I’ve interviewed don’t get in it strictly for the money, they don’t expect overnight success. They have a talent that needs to be expressed somehow and a passion that needs to find a purpose.
Diane is providing a service for dogs and you can tell she’s passionate about them, but she is also talented and smart.

Tabithadas Interview

Day120
Tabithadas has 2 premium shops with CafePress:

NaughTee Clothing and Accessories

Maternitees

1. What drew you to opening an online store? Were you in a related field?
I have always been interested in art and design, and my friends and I were always coming up with witty sayings and phrases that would make us crack up. It was only natural to put them together and make shirts!!

2. When did you open your store?

I started with Cafepress sometime in early 2004, but didn't have a "real" store up and running until around July 2005. I opened up a second premium store shortly thereafter, and have plans to open two more this year.

3. What is harder about doing this then you thought it would be?

Finding the time to work on everything! I work a full-time job with a 60+ minute commute each way, so by the time I get home, I am exhausted! I hope that one day I will be blessed enough to be able to stay at home and pursue not only my Cafepress interests but other artistic endeavors as well.

4. What do you like best about being an online shopkeeper?
I love the flexibility an online store provides. You can make sales in your sleep or while you're at work. It's great to come home after a tough day at the office and see that "You made a sale!" email in my inbox!

5. During the very first month, what do you wish you had known then that you do now?
I wish I had known how much work it takes to be successful. I think a lot of people, myself included, signed up and thought the money would just start coming in. But it takes a lot of work - advertising, marketing, designing, updating, research, and so on.

6. Could you share some of the marketing you’ve tried so far (on or off line) and what has worked and what hasn’t?
I have tried a few things... some pay off, some don't. I tried an ad on one site and had 1000 visitors practically instantly but not a single person bought anything. Start with friends and family - they will be able to look over your shop and suggest changes or other ideas you would not have thought of otherwise. Let them know about the affiliate program, and let them do a little legwork for you! The affiliate program has done very well for me so far - sales that I wouldn't get otherwise and require very little work on my part. I would advise the best way to get your shop noticed is to use great keywords and descriptions to get your site in the search engines. And don't forget about MySpace, Friendster, Facebook, email signatures, forum signatures, and trading links with sites of a similiar nature.

7. What other sites, blogs, etc. do you have if any?

I have two more premium shops in the works but you will have to wait and see for those!

I am working on www.naughteeclothing.com with CPShop to offer my Cafepress items, as well as my personal site, www.tabithadas.com which will feature my artwork such as pencil drawings, photography, and calligraphy. Neither of these sites are ready to be unveiled at the present moment but hopefully will be ready to go live this summer! I also have two MySpace accounts - http://www.myspace.com/naughteeclothing and http://www.myspace.com/tabithadas - don't forget to add me as your friend!!

Nancy’s comment – In her maternities store check out the mom and baby “supply and demand” items. Very clever!

Denes Place interview

Day119
Take a few minutes and check out Denes Place

1. What drew you to opening an online store? Were you in a related field?

I always wanted a business of my own but never had the money to start one and couldn't talk myself into giving up a steady paycheck. No guts, I guess. CafePress gave me the chance to give it a try in my spare time without sticking a lot of money into it. No, I was not in a related field. I managed a department in a factory.

2. When did you open your store?

I opened my store in 2003. But only spent a minimum of time at it for the first year.

3. What is harder about doing this then you thought it would be?

It was actually much easier than I had thought that it would be. It's more fun than work, and (not knowing html) CafePress’s templates really make it easy.

4. What do you like best about being an online shopkeeper?

I think that what I like best is that my CafePress shop gives me a chance to express myself in my designs, and I get a chance to make money doing something that I enjoy. Never really got a chance to find my "dream job" while trying to make a living.

5. During the very first month, what do you wish you had known then that you do now?

That my tastes are not necessarily the same as everyone else’s, and that your designs improve with practice. I really thought that some of my first designs were great. Looking back, I think that I was the only one who thought so. Some of my original designs may have done more to hurt my shop then help.
Someone just starting their shop should get a few opinions on their designs before jumping in feet first. Family and friends opinions don't count! They always seem to love what you do. At least, that's what they say!

6. Could you share some of the marketing you've tried so far (on or off line) and what has worked and what hasn't?

I've tried short ads in local papers. (Most people ignore them.) Links from my Pet Heaven site. (Quite a
few sales come through Pet Heaven.) My signature on different forums. (Some forums forbid this.) Started an affiliate blog. (Have had some sales this way.) Still haven't found a real great way to spread the word on my shop, but think business has picked up since CafePress started the affiliate program. I think that some of the better selling shops are doing big ads in magazines or paid ads on popular sites, but this can get pretty expensive.

7. What other sites, blogs, etc. do you have if any?

Pet
Heaven!
The Shirt
Shop!
Firefighters!

Nancy’s comment: This site has a little of everything. From items for the socially conscience to maternity t-shirts you are sure to find something that you love.

Ursine Logic's interview

Day118
Take a look at Ursine Logic’s Store while she share’s her experiences;
http://www.cafepress.com/ursinelogic?pid=4370506

1.What drew you to opening an online store? Were you in a related field?

I've been a free-lance graphic artist/web designer for several years now. One of my clients hired me to fix some of his images so they would work on black t-shirts. I went to look at this site and thought hey, I can do this with my art and photographs. It's better than having them sit on my hard drive all lonely and forgotten.

2.When did you open your store?

February 2006

3.What is harder about doing this then you thought it would be?

Getting traffic to the site. I usually can manage to get decent traffic to websites I design in about three months. This one is taking forever, although I've done everything and more that I usually do, with a focus on descriptions, keywords, and manually registering with the big search engines plus ones specific to what I offer in my store. I never show up in any of the CafePress marketplace searches even though I do everything I'm supposed to do. That's another mystery. However I am still optimizing my shop for what usually works and not on CafePress marketplace listings.

4.What do you like best about being an online shopkeeper?

Being able to have complete and total control over the designs and products. It's a great way also to show people who want to hire me for jobs what I do. It's a great portfolio page if nothing else.

5.During the very first month, what do you wish you had known then that you do now?

I think the most important was how to organize my shop. I set it up by product at first and then realized the other shops that were doing well were set up by design. Knowing this without going through all the message board stuff ahead of time would have been good information. I had to redo it.

6.Could you share some of the marketing you’ve tried so far (on or off line) and what has worked and what hasn’t?

Adwords totally sucked. It is expensive and I only had one sale that came from them. Don't even bother unless you are an adwords expert because that is what it takes to figure it all out. Sure, they have all the help files, but I think for the amount of money it costs, there should be more support when you first start. You're left there to figure it out yourself and by the time you do, your advertising budget has been eaten up with nothing to show for it.

Most of my traffic, little that it is, comes from my blog. I've had that since September and since I love to write, I put up my designs and use them to illustrate what I'm writing about that day. I'm an odd duck in many ways and so I think people come to look out of curiosity.

7.What other sites, blogs, etc. do you have if any?

My main blog is:

http://mishkabear.blogspot.com

I am also on MySpace, but I write less in that one. I'm there more for the social aspect of MySpace which I love. I could cut and paste from my main blog for the MySpace one I suppose, but that would seem kind of slimy and dishonest somehow.

Nancy’s comment – Urzine Logic has done a great job with text and descriptions on her site. She mentions in her interview she likes to write and it shows. I especially like her world peace greeting cards, buttons, magnets and stickers and her peace star design.

Cradlesong interview

Day117
Today we are hearing from Pam who’s site is at http://www.cradlesong.com

1. What drew you to opening an online store? Were you in a related field?

To tell the truth, it just seemed like the thing to do because that's how everyone shops and looks for things. In a related field...no, motherhood was primary job for the last 14+ years, before that I sold overnight mail and did marketing for a Pizza Hut franchisee.

2.When did you open your store?

August 2004

3.What is harder about doing this then you thought it would be?

Trying to keep things new and fresh, keep changing the site to keep it interesting for returning customers.


4.What do you like best about being an online shopkeeper?

Expands my market to world-wide, simple explanation for those who want to see what I do...just refer them to the site and they can see for themselves.

5.During the very first month, what do you wish you had known then that you do now?

How to work with tables!!! As best as I can tell it is the primary way to keep information & images where you want them. Things NEVER look the same on the back-end of the site as the do on the front-end.

6.Could you share some of the marketing you’ve tried so far (on or off line) and what has worked and what hasn’t?

Marketing started with an initial mailing (approx. 200) of brochures and a cover letter letting friends/acquaintances know what I was doing. To present a professional front although my products are handmade, I had taffeta labels made that have my logo on them (laundering instructions on the reverse). Both "cradlesong" & "cradlesong musical pillows" come up #1 on yahoo, google and msn searches so I consider even the tags as advertisement. Word of mouth, repeat and secondary business (those who receive my products often turn around and order them) are also good sources for additional business.

7.What other sites, blogs, etc. do you have if any? No other sites or blogs.

Drop ship from one site, Chicblvd.com and another potential in the works.

Nancy’s comment – I’ve been familiar with Pam’s work since before she set up her site and I have to tell you, the quality and detail are topnotch. These are the type of gifts that really do become heirlooms! She told me once that she gets a lot of traffic from her links (which are highly related) and she has a lot of links! Pam also offers gift certificates and gift-wrapping.

Ghost Raven interview

Day116
Today’s interview is with Randall, who’s store Ghost Raven Designs is
http://www.cafepress.com/ghost_raven?pid=4370506

1. What drew you to opening an online store? Were you in a related field?

Well, extra money is always good to have. In honesty, I'm not all that fond of my "day job," and am hoping to eventually make it to college so I can get a job I actually like. When I found out about cafepress.com, I'd already been doing a bit of work on the side as a freelance graphic artist, and being able to have my designs printed on items for everyone to see, and not losing ownership of them just seemed very appealing to me.

2. When did you open your store?

I opened up my first free store last September, and my paid store in March, I think.

3. What is harder about doing this then you thought it would be?

In honesty, I never expected this part to be easy, but marketing my stuff. My best sellers seem to be my political stuff... namely, my anti-Bush stuff. I certainly am not complaining, but I hope to see more sales on my original artwork sometime in the near future.

4. What do you like best about being an online shopkeeper?

The freedom I have. I can be just about as gutsy as I want to be, do things the way I want to do them, and all that good stuff.

5. During the very first month, what do you wish you had known then that you do now?

Heheh... I'm not sure I've learned anything since then that would've helped me much.

6. Could you share some of the marketing you’ve tried so far (on or off line) and what has worked and what hasn’t?

I take pretty much any free marketing opportunity I can... stickerpedia.com, shirtrank.com, the classifieds on craigslist.org, and the online classifieds on alibi.com (a local alternative newspaper). In addition, I will sometimes leave a couple business cards in a strategic location. So far, though my marketing has resulted in increased traffic, it's not resulted in many sales.

7. What other sites, blogs, etc. do you have if any?

Well, I have a livejournal.com free account, a myspace.com account that I don't pay much attention to, and a couple free pages on angelfire.com

Nancy’s comment – I like and relate to Randall’s own comment on his site “I got into this largely because it's an amazing feeling to know that people are willing to pay for my designs... not so much the money itself, but the feeling knowing that someone is wearing or proudly displaying a design I made is indescribable. I think that's the ultimate reward for any artist”
To go beyond just artists I think it’s true with any small business owner. It’s a great feeling when someone supports your business because it’s a tangible sign that they think what you are doing has value.

Gethsememerose interview

Day115
Today’s interview is with gethsemenerose. He used to be in the navy. Even though my husband went to West Point and Navy beat us this year – I like this site!

http://www.cafepress.com/gethsemenerose?pid=4370506

1.What drew you to opening an online store? Were you in a related field?
Well I was talking to some of the guys in my life group and I mentioned a purity wear line of clothing that had recently made the news. We discussed if we thought the idea had merit I said it did but when I went to the site I found their designs were limited (this was not a CP shop) I found myself thinking "I could do better." It turns out I am a terrible artist but great DESIGNER and IDEA MAN.

2.When did you open your store?
I opened my account last week (April 15th) and quickly built this store with the help of reading all the forums and posting a lot of stupid questions (and getting yelled at by some of the CP Cops) and generally not sleeping for 4 days. All the designs were created this week and one day I might hire a graphics designer to help me with some bigger and more involved projects than these.

3.What is harder about doing this then you thought it would be?
The art. I used to love drawing when I was in the Navy. I would spend hours drawing when I was out to sea, but the problem is one drawing took a week or so. The whole exercise was to pass time during long tours under the polar icecap, (I was in submarines) but now I have felt pressure to do 3 sometimes 4 designs a day and drawing with a mouse is not as easy as a pencil and pens. Also JASC Photoshop is not something I have ever used before (I bought my computer a year ago and I had a free 60 day trial version installed. I had never activated it until this week) I may buy an easier program and an art tablet later if this makes any money.

4.What do you like best about being an online shopkeeper?
Freedom to do my own thing. The ability to get my message out in a fun way. (Purity is Cool)

5. During the very first month, what do you wish you had known then that you do now?
Well it is still my first week I do not know anything but I sold something my first day to someone who I do not know.(It came through an affiliate and they got $0.60 and I got $2.40) Kinda wish I had understood price points better because that was 3 shirts sold.

6. Could you share some of the marketing you’ve tried so far (on or off line) and what has worked and what hasn’t?
I was in real estate for a year so I understand drip e-mail marketing. I had a decent size list of email addresses (over 150) that I painstakingly entered into the newsletter database then I sent out a newsletter. I advertised a sale immediately. I have also taken that list of 300 sites that have free listings and have been working my way through it about 5 or six a day. (Many are not free anymore but I have been annotating it and when I have finished I will repost it.)

7. What other sites, blogs, etc. do you have if any?
I had never thought of a site before (although I helped my old broker set up her real estate site at www.888grantct.com ) I have set up a blog this week because I read in the forums it would be good to do but I haven't had time to write in it because I have been making art and setting up the site. http://www.cafepress.com/gethsemenerose?pid=4370506

8. The unasked question. Do I think there is a place for a site like this in today’s world? Well I can only hope so. Purity is Cool and it is a possibility. Just try it you might like it.

Nancy’s comment – It’s hard to believe this site is only about 10 days old. He’s a talented guy and obviously working hard at this!

Dr Fizzics interview

Day114
Lyle is our next shopkeeper interviewee http://www.cafepress.com/drfizzics?pid=4370506

1.What drew you to opening an online store? Were you in a related field?

While I've had other online stores, I came to Café Press because it is a great outlet for my photography.

2.When did you open your store?

I opened my Café Press shop in the fall of 2005.

3.What is harder about doing this then you thought it would be?

The parts of this that were harder than I expected revolve around the learning curve; it's taken me longer than I expected to understand how Café Press works and how to promote my shop online. Certainly I learned a lot in my first few months of being a shopkeeper and I'm still learning.

4.What do you like best about being an online shopkeeper?

I enjoy being able to finally get my photography out where it can be seen and purchased. Café Press is a great avenue for visual artists to offer their work to a large audience.

5.During the very first month, what do you wish you had known then that you do now?

I wish I had cable Internet service that first month! It was painfully slow to learn Café Press and upload images over dial-up Internet service. I would also have gone to a premium shop right away, but felt I needed to test the waters with a basic shop first.

6.Could you share some of the marketing you’ve tried so far (on or off line) and what has worked and what hasn’t?

So far I use word of mouth and email signatures and updates via email and instant message to my friends and relatives. I also submitted my site to various services online, such as http://www.dmoz.org/. I’m branching out with blogs now too.

7.What other sites, blogs, etc. do you have if any?

I have a blog at http://www.drfizzics.blogspot.com/, a My Space site at http://www.myspace.com/drfizzics, an online store at www.talkvalue.net.

Wildlife and Scenic Photography Framed Prints, Posters, Mugs, Shirts, and More!
Custom Items Also Available Using Your Photographs
Lyle Ford, Photographer

Nancy's comment - Lyle’s photographs are beautiful and his pictures of Monument Valley and sunsets are breathtaking!

Arielles Gifts interview

Day113
I now have 34 shopkeepers waiting in line to share their thoughts. So I have made another command decision. I will post an interview four or five days a week for as long as I have interesting people (and interested people!)

The first questions I got back came from Arielle: http://www.ariellesgifts.com?pid=4370506

1.What drew you to opening an online store? Were you in a related field?
I've always been an artist of sorts, but I first created t-shirts my senior year of high school. We used screen-printing. It was a lot harder than CafePress because I had to isolate each color and then line up the screens so the t-shirts were printed correctly. I've redone some of the designs I originally used in high school for my CafePress store.

2 When did you open your store?
I played around with the free stores since August, but I opened my premium shop after I made my first sale last month.

3.What is harder about doing this then you thought it would be?
Promoting the site takes up more time than actually designing all of the t-shirts!

4 What do you like best about being an online shopkeeper?
I'm my own boss and I make my own hours.

5.During the very first month, what do you wish you had known then that you do now?
I wish I'd known about cpcoupons.com. By giving my customers the means to use a discount (which comes off of the base price), I am encouraging them to shop in my store.
Also, someone hacked my account and deleted my premium store a few weeks ago. I wish I'd known to back everything up. It wasn't so bad because a lot of the stuff in my premium store was also in free stores (so all I had to do was import the products into the store again), but it was a pain and the neck and very time consuming to rebuild. I still don't have all of the html right.

6. Could you share some of the marketing you've tried so far (on or off line) and what has worked and what hasn't?
Marketing through My Space works. I also gave my best friends some cute t-shirts with the URL to my store printed on the back.

7. What other sites, blogs, etc. do you have if any?http://www.myspace.com/ariellesgifts - I just started that one because I want to keep my CafePress notes on My Space separate from my personal notes.
http://groups.myspace.com/thetrendsetters <- A My Space group used to Promote CafePress stores and trendy designs http://www.myspace.com/jewsinmyspace <- My personal My Space account http://www.xanga.com/arielleruti <- My Xanga Blog

Note from Nancy: Arielle is a college student, but you would never guess that looking at her sharp shop. She’s got lots of selections to appeal to everyone. I wish I had started at her age!

My home office

Day52
Speaking of My Space….I’m starting to get used to my little office. My husband also works out of the house and has a very nice office, huge desk, big comfortable chair…
He has a laptop and we share a desktop computer. Or at least we shared it until I started my store and needed about 10 times more hours at the computer then I did before!
I thought since he had a laptop he could just pick it up and take it somewhere else in the house. But, it turns out he uses both computers and likes being close to his drawers, files and printer.
One day he led me into the furnace room (where his workbench is). There on a small wooden table next to a file cabinet was our old computer we had sort of trashed when we bought the new one. The only reason we still had it was because we thought a school might find a use for it. John had hooked it up and put a folding chair in front of the table.
This was to be my office!
Well, the computer worked, so I spent the rest of the day trying to clean up old folders and email addresses in there and get organized. The next day when I entered the room John had added an artificial tree and a bunch of artificial flowers (no windows in the furnace room).
The next day there was a lamp and he had hung one of my business cards and a cartoon I had cut out of the paper of a homeless person holding a “Zero hits on Google” sign up on the wall in front of my “desk.” As I sat down, I noticed he had made my logo into a magnet and put it on the file cabinet next to me and I now had a smiley face mug for my pencils!I told him I need to take a picture so that when I am a multi million-dollar company and I tell people I literally started in the basement they would believe me. But, it’s cozy, and if I ever need a hammer I just have to turn around to the workbench.

Catch up

Day38
In case you are just joining me (38 days into my adventure) let me catch you up on just the basics. I started an online store called givitup - http://www.cafepress.com/givitup
and have been blogging about all my trials and errors and occasional successes….but, mostly trials and errors! It has definitely been a learning process! If anyone has read this from the beginning and thinks they would like to open their own shop, click on: Open Your Own Shop

The emotional part of owning a business

Day37
It took John about 4 hours to put on my link last night!! I felt SO guilty! I brought him cake!
This store is such a roller coaster of emotions. Down at the very bottom when I check for sales L Then starting to climb when I get another idea or read something that gives me hope. Then at the top when I look at my site or what I’ve done so far. Today it hit bottom at one point: I was reading a CafePress forum and someone mentioned getting a hit from the CafePress Marketplace search. And then someone else talked about the descriptions being so important again. So I thought I would check which of my descriptions were showing up on the Marketplace and just randomly picked “no TV” A site called antiuniverse came up and had ALL words with lines through them! I mean every word you could think of! My stomach actually felt like I hit the bottom of the roller coaster!
I don’t know who’s site was up first, but after just sitting there about 5 minutes I realized we had different takes on the theme. My site is about giving things up to make you a better person. Theirs is anti everything. Kind of like being anti for the sake of being anti. So I took a breath and moved on. Tweaked all my designs for, hopefully, better placement in the marketplace.Went to an art fundraiser tonight and talked to a couple who own an art shop about being small business owners. We all immediately relate to each other that’s for sure!