What do I do when I need an answer to something? I Google it, like most people in this generation. So I Googled "success of cafepress" and the first site I found was:
http://www.cafepress.com/thelaststraw/1949281
The site seems to be a page on her CafePress shop with a lot of tips. Her shop looks pretty nice. there is a lot of variety and nice "pixel art" as she calls it. Let's see what she says in her list.
(To be fair, she explains these more, I am merely comparing my original thoughts with her headings. If you want more details about her explanations, click the link above. I don't want to copy and paste her page which she created from her experience, just to analyze my store based on her list.)
"Find your niche" At the moment my niche is "Travel" but I know I need to find a more specific niche. But first the research.
"Be Original" Um, They are pictures I took myself, how much more original do I need to be? That is what I thought at first, but obviously I was wrong. I need to figure out how to be more original, whatever that means.
"Add Image Tags" Hmm, let me check...Yep, I have tags, but they are really vague. I should change those when I redo my shop. Research first... And I don't have my shop on Private (which she mentions). She ends this section with a CafePress page to help people understand image tags. That will be helpful.
"Open a Premium Shop" I'm not willing to spend money on something I don't know can pay it's own way so I will wait until my shop is making $5 a month before I shell out the $70 a year. Her other suggestion is to open multiple basic shops and link them. I've been debating that but I need more information on how branded a store should be. (and if I can figure out how to draw or think of good sayings for a shirt)
Next she says to Get a Counter. Here she mentions "marketing and linking and word-of-mouthing" and wanting to know if it works. That seems to be my major problem. What is this "marketing" I hear about? How do I market an online store? As to the counter, I'm hooked up to Google Analytics for my shops and websites. However, she does mention affiliates with other CafePress stores. That might be worth looking into. (once I figure out my audience which is later in my process.)
"Do the Math" She talks about keeping track of monthly income, which I think is a great moral booster and great for tax season. (yes, you should pay taxes on online income, I'm just not sure all the steps.) However, it is not so motivating when it is at 0 all the time, unless it makes you want to raise the number.
Set Goals I am all for setting goals, I have dozens set right now. I'm just horrible at meeting them. At the moment my goal for March (as far as CafePress, or CP as I prefer. I have many other projects between school, blogs, and life) is to map a route to getting a steady income on CafePress then adjust my shop to fit that plan. In April I plan to market and get my first sale. Beyond that will be a steady raise to financial freedom (not all from CP. I figure CP will be just a little extra spending money throughout my life, not a well paid job. I'm not that creative.)
Next she talks about affiliates, both creating your own and linking with other people's designs. Affiliates are people who link to a product and if that product is bought, they get a small percentage. It may be a good way to see what actually works, what people want to buy on CafePress. If you find something your audience may want that someone else has, you can link to it in your shop. Depending on the design, it may not be against intellectual copyrights to create something of your own that would fit that place in the market, or a more specific item to fit your specific niche. Play around with possibilities. I think it could be possible to create a shop of affiliate products but I'd have to check the rules first... She has some links provided. She also recommends creating a blog to drive viewers to the shop. In that case, which is the site I market? The blog or the CafePress shop?
Go to community forums. I agree that forums (on CP or in the designated niche) are great ways to market a shop. I'm just not good at getting involved anywhere. I need to work on this no matter what online income stream I focus on. The most important thing is to make sure your comment is relevant and useful. There is nothing more annoying than when I go on a blog and see a "this post is awesome! come visit my store/site that has nothing to do with your niche!" Yes, I understand backlinks are useful in search engine rankings but it detracts from my blog and informs me that you didn't really read my post. I especially "love" the comments that are put there by programs or robots. They are in broken English and what I can understand has nothing to do with the post it is on. Thank you soo much marketers. Okay: the meaning of the rant is to always be relevant when posting on a forum. Commenting on a travel site when you are selling tabloids probably won't get you as much sales as commenting on a celebrity blog would.
Next she recommends paying attention to CafePress Wire for trends, looking at top ranked shops (which is on my list to do), and to keep trying new things, and to join t-shirt ranking sites. That last part only works for people who have t-shirts to sell, which I don't yet. I need to figure out how to get some as those are more commonly bought online than pillows or huge pictures in frames. decisions, decisions.
Obviously, that isn't a list of everything to do for success. As she points out, new shops mean more competition for her shop but it is a useful list to get me thinking. What do you think of my interpretation of her list? What do you think is necessary for success on CafePress?
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