Cyber Monday Myth But Self Fulfilling Prophecy?

Posted on November 27th, 2006 by thetshirtnexus.
Categories: Marketing.

Cyber Monday has been good but not spectacular for me as a shopkeeper, how was it for you?

According to Wikipedia and a few other resources I was reading on the web, Cyber Monday started as a marketing gimmick. It may turn out to be a self fulfilling prophecy though for some retailers who choose to offer great deals today designed to draw customers in.

For the rest of us, our biggest order day is expected to be between December 5th and 15th.

No complaints from me :)

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1 comment.

Great Deal on an External Hard Drive - Back Up Lately?

Posted on November 21st, 2006 by thetshirtnexus.
Categories: Deals.

500 Gig Iomega External Hard drive - $154.10 after rebate and deal

This is a great deal if you use the $50 rebate. If you use Google Checkout you’ll even get an additional $10 off which will put you at $154.10 with free shipping!
I’ll post more on the topic of Back Ups but I wanted to post this before the deal expired. Iomega is a brand long in the storage business (raise your hand if you have Zip or Syquest discs lying around from early graphic design days!). I don’t personally own this product (just put together a 400 Gig drive) but my Iomega Zip Drive is still working so I have confidence in their brand. I have also purchased from Buy.com before using Google Checkout and had no problems getting the $10 off deal as well. Get this for business use and the tax write off is also nice.

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Reading Your Customer

Posted on November 20th, 2006 by thetshirtnexus.
Categories: Marketing.

Mysterion the Mind Reader Picture by miss rogueInteresting article from CNN Money on companies which exist to “read minds” by essentially looking at correlations and data.

Good to browse through even if you can’t do this for your own shop you can keep this in mind when setting up your store and design sets.

Link to article.

Photo at left from miss rogue’s flickr set.

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Beta Version of the Tips and Tricks Shop - A Graphic Designer’s and Entrepreneur’s Library

Posted on November 18th, 2006 by thetshirtnexus.
Categories: Marketing, Showcased Posts, Design.

From Tips and Tric…

I’ve set up a shop with my recommended books and software for a graphic designer’s library and for a t-shirt entrepreneur’s library. I’ve included some gadgets as well based on things I personally own and added my own personal notes to each item.

You might want to leave a link to the shop lying around in case someone needs help doing Christmas shopping for you!

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Animated Snow Tutorial

Posted on November 17th, 2006 by thetshirtnexus.
Categories: Design.

This is for Photoshop and Image Ready but can be applied to other programs as well.

You can use a variation of this to make “sparkle graphics” but for goodness sake, don’t go crazy with that sort of thing.
Tutorial link.

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2 comments.

The McDonald’s Post - Post Script

Posted on November 16th, 2006 by thetshirtnexus.
Categories: Marketing.

So I mentioned how I got the initial $10 because my post was picked. But it seems I will also get $2 because someone used my referral (Thanks Heidi!).

This apparently does not show up right away in one’s PayPal account like the first payment does but will come at the end of the “Conversation”.

Still, it all seems legit and I’m up $10 already :)

Link to the original McDonald’s post.

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CafePress Shopkeeper Contest - $500 American Express Card

Posted on November 14th, 2006 by thetshirtnexus.
Categories: CafePress.

Pick what you think will be your best selling product, enter it into the contest to go up against others items and you can win a $500, $250 or $100 gift card.

Only the first 200 entrants will be considered so apply fast!

Even if you don’t win, the entrants will have their products featured in a contest portal!

Details here.

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CafePress Adds New Products

Posted on November 3rd, 2006 by thetshirtnexus.
Categories: CafePress.

Posted Today (but hinted about at CPConnect):

Hi Shopkeepers,

Surprise! Just in time for the Holidays – we’re pleased to announce new merchandise! We’ve added more colors and women’s long sleeved t-shirt. Check out the new merchandise:

• Women’s Long Sleeve T-shirt (White)
• Women’s Long Sleeve Dark T-shirt (Black and Brown)
• Men’s Long Sleeve Dark T-shirt (Black, Navy, and Ash Grey)
• Dark T-shirt (Navy and Military Green – are already found under the Dark T-shirt)

Selling Tip:
Create a “New Arrival” or “What’s New” section on your shop to showcase new merchandise with your best selling designs. It’s a quick way to get your new merchandise in front of your customers while you add the new merchandise to your sections.

Add these products to your shop today!

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Microsoft Ad Center First Impressions

Posted on November 2nd, 2006 by thetshirtnexus.
Categories: Advertising.

While at eComXpo (related post) I picked up a coupon for $50 of advertising with Microsoft Ad Center.

After a $5 signup fee, I was all set to create ads. I thought I’d give you my quick first impressions.

The Interface

I was happy with the interface, it was straight forward. I created a campaign and then an “order” which contained ads and keywords.

Setting Preferences

I liked the tools they had in place to create keywords and negative keywords. I also appreciated the ad preview on the right side of the screen which was updated as I typed in my variables.

Bonus Tool

The Keyword Generation Tool, listed under a tab called “Research”:

This tool will automatically generate keywords based on the word or website address you type. Please only select keywords which meet editorial guidelines and do not infringe upon trademarks owned by other parties.

I gave this a shot for the page I wanted folks to land on and got some great results with stats on how many times someone search for those words.
My first impression? Favorable, quite favorable. I really appreciated the keyword The proof shall be in the pudding as the saying goes though, we’ll see how my test ad performs.

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4 Lists for Getting Your Shop Ready for the Holidays

Posted on November 1st, 2006 by thetshirtnexus.
Categories: Marketing, Website Tips.


Yep, it’s that time already, Halloween is just over but you need to get your shop ready for Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanzaa!

CafePress Tips
CafePress has already put up their tips on this handy Holiday Prep page. They have a lot of information including a “4 Day Program” guide which includes these topic highlights:

  • The right keyword can lead shoppers straight from a search engine to your shop
  • Target the Traffic
  • Add your top-selling merchandise to your shop for the Holiday season
  • Group your merchandise and shoppers will love you for it
  • Top Ten Holiday Products
  • Tag your images with words that work
  • Dress up your shop for the Holiday rush

5 Mistakes that could ruin your holiday sales
From Microsoft Small Business:

  • Betting too heavily on discount pricing.
  • Spending too little on advertising.
  • Marketing to some customers and not others.
  • Overlooking feedback.
  • Forgetting last-minute shoppers.

Last Minute Site Fix Ups
About.com gives us 5 tips for Last Minute Site Fix Ups

  • Use e-mail or themed e-mail newsletters to offer gift ideas to your current customers.
  • Offer Gift Certificates
  • Offer a discount or promotion for several items if purchased together (i.e. robe, slippers, and pajamas).
  • Discount items that aren’t selling well.
  • Make shipping info easily available.

TnT for TsE’s List
What I’ve already done:

  • Set up some SEO (Search Engine Optimization) terms on my sites
  • Sent out Pre-Holiday Newsletters with hints that shopping time is coming around and a coupon code
  • Purchased offline advertising

What I’ll be doing next:

  • Updating my Google Base feeds
  • Sending out a Christmas themed newsletter
  • Setting up/tweaking online advertising campaigns
  • Following up on PR opportunities

What I’ll do in December and What I’ll do, time willing:

  • Adding Holiday themed decorations to my shops
  • Sending out another newsletter with shipping deadlines
  • Reaching out with grass roots marketing (message boards, etc)

How about you? What have you got planned? Will you be running with any of the ideas listed here?

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