If you're having trouble viewing this CafePress email, click here. Make sure you don't miss out on any
CafePress goodies; please add sellers@info.cafepress.com to your address book. Thanks!

Shop Talk: July 28, 2005
Hello Shopkeepers,

I hope you're all enjoying your summer... I sure can't believe it's already time to start thinking about getting your shop ready for back-to-school. Check out the tips in this issue of Shop Talk to make the most of your efforts for back-to-school - one of our busiest times of year.

Also, we're creating a special forum called "Free for all - help us help you" available for one week. We'd like you to visit this forum and just let us know how we can make CafePress.com better for you. It's similar to the other Feedback Forums, except we will have more discussions and want to hear everything - even services or features that you think may sound far-fetched. Feel free to post comments you've made before. Leslie and Chris will actively moderate this forum.

Happy Selling!

Angela - your Community Advocate
Prep for the Back-to-School craze

Back-to-School starts in August so start brainstorming and use these tips to appeal to student shoppers.

Add Back-to-School products - Make sure that your shop is stocked with products such as Apparel, Messenger Bags, Totebags, Journals, Posters, Wall Clocks, Calendars, Throw Pillows and other dorm accessories. Coming in early August, kids' apparel and our Light Switch plate will be available so be sure to add these as part of your Back-to-School product offerings.

Create a special Back-to-School section - Within this section, create categories to help target your Back-to-School customers. Here are some ideas for categories:
  • Apparel
    Separate by year or age depending on your audience. For example: Ringer Tees, Baseball Jerseys, Raglans, and Hats for high school and college students.
  • Dorm Room Accessories
    Posters, Pillows, Wall Clocks, Calendars, Magnets, Light Switch plate
  • Bags & On-the-Go Gear
    Messenger Bags, Totebags, Journals, Buttons
  • Back-to-School Special under $15
    Add this section for the budget conscious student with products such as Value Tees, Journals, Mousepads, Wall Clocks, Stickers, Magnets, etc.
Make sure your designs are appropriate for your audience - If your customers are older, create designs that are hip, trendy, retro, and college-humored. For a grade school audience, parents are most likely doing the shopping so keep that in mind and create designs that are cute, fun, and segment designs for boys and girls.

Promote Back-to-School on your shop and web site - Now that you have the Back-to-School products, sections, and designs created, make sure you are promoting it to your visitors.
  • Put a Back-to-School banner on your shop and web site
  • Spotlight a different product weekly
  • Feature each category of your Back-to-School sections
  • Show models wearing the t-shirts, holding bags, a poster on the wall
  • Send a newsletter to get the word out to your customers about your new Back-to-School products
SEO your Back-to-School products - Use the right keywords in your Product Title and Product Description so search engines pick up your products.

Time's Ticking - Get your shop prepped for Back-to-School now!

Light Switch Cover Template:
For Shopkeepers who want an early start designing the Light Switch Cover, you can access the template on the Product Templates page under Housewares.

The Light Switch Cover, along with Women's Cap Sleeve Raglans, and Youth apparel are expected to go online early August.


Shopkeeper Stock-up Sale:

Receive 20% off everything in your shop*. Sale ends August 4th.

* Excludes 10 & 100 pack buttons/magnets.


Events
  • August 4 - Moderated Chat: Merchandise Update
  • August 9 - Chat: College Portal
  • August 11 - Chat: Affiliate Program

Shopkeeper Spotlight

Our Shopkeeper Spotlight feature is SongLi from hantranslation. Get ready for a great read – SongLi's profile on the Shopkeeper Spotlight page.

"If you design the types of things you love, then you will enjoy your work."

Interested in being featured in the Shopkeeper Spotlight? Please request a form by sending an email to spotlight@cafepress.com


Board Talk: Straight from message board

Here's LauraCP asking for your input for the College Portal she's working on:

"We're building a brand new college portal to cater to a younger group of buyers. If you think your designs might cater to college students - post your link here. Products that mention beer, college humor, Greek Life, or that are trendy are all great. Your items could be showcased on our new portal!"

Post your items here.

You received this email because we have you subscribed as #emailaddr#. If you do not want to receive any more emails just click here: #mailing:unsubemail#

We use an email delivery and marketing company to send emails that you have agreed to receive. Web beacons and cookies are used in those email messages and at our website to help us measure the effectiveness of our advertising and how visitors use our site. If you do not want to help us learn how to improve our offers and marketing strategy, you can "opt out" of this email cookie by clicking here.

If you have any questions about our privacy policy click here, or contact CafePress.com Customer Service via email, toll-free at 1-877-809-1659 or by writing to CafePress.com Customer Service, 1515 Aurora Drive, San Leandro, CA 94577.

All Content Copyright © 1999-2005 CafePress.com.
CafePress.com® and CafePress® are registered trademarks of CafePress.com. All rights reserved.
All product images and ideas used in connection with the CafePress.com Service have been provided to CafePress.com by users and do not reflect the opinions of CafePress.com.