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Chats & Workshops
Election Workshop
BrittaCP:
Hi everyone! Thanks for showing for todays workshop.
I think youll like this one. BrittaCP:
Today were talking about the 2008 Elections and what you, as Shopkeepers, can
do to be a part of it. BrittaCP:
Although the Elections dont happen until November, we think that the earlier
you get items into your shop, and begin promoting the better success (and
profit) youll have when things really start to heat up. BrittaCP:
In fact, were already seeing an increase in political content being sold! BrittaCP:
With us today are a few folk here, from CafePress, to help you with creating
your own Election campaign in your shop. BrittaCP:
First we have Cindy & Ryan from our Merchandise Team.
They will tell us about what kind of products you should include in your
shop, specifically for the Election niche. BrittaCP:
Next we have Lori our Integrated Marketing Manager. Lori has been working hard
to help get our Marketplace ready for the Elections.
She will share ideas on what exactly you should be putting on this
awesome merchandise. BrittaCP:
And finally Jen, our Web Producer on the e-Commerce Team, who will give you some
tips on SEO and tagging your finished Election products. BrittaCP:
Well open the chat up to Q&A towards the end. BrittaCP:
So let's get started.... first Lori wants say something... LoriCP:
Im really glad youre here, because I think this Election season is going
to represent a great opportunity for CafePress shopkeepers. This looks like it
will be a big political season. LoriCP:
CafePress does well when there is a lot of buzz around a topic or event. When
people take sides, they look for ways to express their opinions and influence
others. This Election promises to have lots of buzz and excitement. Here are
some reasons why: LoriCP:
1- This is the first time since 1928 that neither an incumbent president nor an
incumbent vice president has run for office. What does that mean for you? It
means that not only are the Democrats fighting for the chance to represent their
party in the general elections, but so are the Republicans. LoriCP:
More candidates = more competition = more candidate t-shirts! LoriCP:
How many of you already have an election theme shop selling candidate tshirts? AmericanElephant:
I do LoveJML:
I have my Democrat Quote Shop DonkeyMart:
since 2001 NiftyGaloot:
Haven't started, don't know where to start...;) ne1512BLVD:
I have been selling a design consistently, but don't have much yet. BrittaCP:
That's what we're here to help you with today LoriCP:
Great! LoriCP:
The other reason this should be a big year.... LoriCP:
This is an election of historic firsts. We are seeing a woman and an African
American run on the Democratic side, and a Libertarian run on the Republican
side. As you may have already noticed, people have strong opinions both in favor
and against our candidates. LoriCP:
Ground-breaking = controversy = strong opinions = more t-shirt sales! LoriCP:
The third reason.... LoriCP:
Some contentious issues continue to dominate the political dialogue. We are
still fighting over issues such as the LoriCP:
A few big issues = big debates = strong opinions = more t-shirt sales! LoriCP:
So, we're predicting lots of designs... on more than tshirts! CindyCP:
Much more than T-Shirts!!! CindyCP:
Bumper Stickers, Buttons in Multipacks and the new Yard Sign are all going to be
hot items. CindyCP:
We are already seeing sales ramp up now when everyone is supposedly focused on
the holidays!!! PhotoGirl:
I have already sold hats and mugs and stickers LoveJML:
I've already sold 3.5" buttons RyanCP:
Since most of you already have shops established, you probably have a large
assortment of buttons, stickers, and t-shirts.
We wanted to remind you to add yard signs into your mix as they are a
unique way to let your customers advocated their politics CindyCP:
One thing we have noticed is that not everyone has the 10 and 100 packs of
button set up and those are particularly important at the beginning of a
political year.... DonkeyMart:
Buttons are always good, from single to 100 packs. Have not sold the big ones
... yet. I have sold several 100 packs. RyanCP:
I also wanted to point out that the aspect ratios for the 2.25 and 3.5 buttons
are exactly the same, including the bleeds,
so you can easily transfer over your 2.25 to your 3.5" buttons CindyCP:
Another item that is particularly popular during elections years is the Dog
T-Shirt. CindyCP:
Maybe people are not quite brave enough to carry their point of view on
themselves, but the dog is fair game :) ne1512BLVD:
really? CindyCP:
yes! CindyCP:
That one surprised us too! pres92:
When Wes Clark was running we had a "Bark for Renee:
We first started here at Cafe Press during the Howard Dean campaign. My husband
was creating "graphics for the grassroots" and making them available
for download. At some point someone asked us to make premade versions available
for purchase, and that's when we opened our first shop. CindyCP:
Does anyone have any questions about politics merchandise?? BrittaCP:
Nice! Jim:
That dog shirt is American Apparel, right? CindyCP:
The dog shirt is American Apparel. LoveJML:
Any chance we'll get stick signs in addition to yard signs? CindyCP:
There is no plan to do stick signs, but we found that the candidate sites ship a
sign very similar to our mini poster for use at rallies.
And they don't ship them with sticks. CindyCP:
So, you can very well use the mini posters for rally signs. LoveJML:
What designs are appropriate for yard signs? RyanCP:
Any political designs are appropriate for yard signs, the sky's the limit.
You should keep in mind that someone has to stick it on their lawn, in
front of their home..... ne1512BLVD:
I would imagine that yard signs and buttons should have their own sections to
highlight them more. JenCP:
@ ne1512BLVD: It may make sense to have sections for the buttons & yard
signs, especially from an SEO standpoint - which will talk about later ne1512BLVD:
Thank
you JenCP, I do that for my Christmas section and highlight things like
cards and ornaments, so I figured it might work for the buttons and yard signs
for this LoriCP:
I'd like to talk a little about content to put on your merchandise..... LoriCP:
To take advantage of the election buzz, its important to develop content that
people want to buy. Here are a few tips on the kinds of things people will be
looking for LoriCP:
1- Candidate gear creative ways to support
their candidates beyond what can be found in official shops LoriCP:
2- Party gear representing the Republicans
(red) or Democrats (blue) primarily but also the other parties like Green or
Libertarians LoriCP:
3- Issues taking sides, influencing people.
Big issues like end the Iraq War vs. Homeland Security -- both sides are buying! LoriCP:
4- Tongue-in-cheek humor stuff people
cant find in traditional sites -- this is a real strength of our SKs! LoriCP:
5- Anti-designs designs that are
anti-candidates or anti-causes or anti-parties -- this really opens up
opportunities for creativity LoriCP:
6- Hits -- this is like when Cheney shot himself last election and a ton of
designs got sold..... Renee:
Er, Cheney didn't shoot *himself* as I recall. ;) LoriCP:
That's right... he shot his friend! LoriCP:
Does anybody have questions on designs? ne1512BLVD:
Yeah, I love that design that says "I have NOT been shot by Dick
Cheney" I am not witty enough to think of things like that though! LoriCP:
:) KC
Graphics: LOL same
here. I'll think of something funny
after it's already been done.:P LoriCP:
Those sold for a while, so you should have time to be fun! NiftyGaloot:
Where can some of us, not so politically astute find ideas for designs? LoriCP:
Most of the major newspapers have online resources that talk about Elections
2008 already -- like WashingtonPost or CNN -- and blogs like HuffingtonPost or
DailyKos talk about what is top of mind LoriCP:
They often highlight things that turn out to be good t-shirt sellers.... DonkeyMart:
The issue of inflammatory slogans in general merchandise shops, as political
slogans can turn off buyers of other product lines. This is why I have
DonkeyMart for opinionated Democratic stuff and another premium shop for general
merchandise. ne1512BLVD:
Visit the candidates official websites also, so you know what they stand for NiftyGaloot:
Maybe I'll have to start listening to the local call in radio show where these
neighbors talk, all the time. Not
sure if I can take it, though. LoriCP:
One other thing to think about is who is buying the designs.... LoriCP:
Think of the person who wants to influence others into believing the same way
they do. LoriCP:
It could be that neighbor who doesnt say anything but quietly puts a bumper
sticker on her car. Or a college student who is a member of the student
Republican party and wears a candidate t-shirt to class. LoriCP:
These are people who are not sitting in the sidelines, but who want to
influence. LoriCP:
Consider them activists, loudmouths, passionates, or a mother who just wants the
troops to come home - *now!*. These are the people who hope to change the tide.
We hope theyll use our election gear to do that! NiftyGaloot:
Hmmm... Like some of my ultra
conservative neighbors? What would
they buy? LoriCP:
We sell both conservative and liberal gear.... Maybe an ultra conservative might
put their sentiment on a dog shirt or buy a "Wee Republican" baby
shirt for a grandson.... DonkeyMart:
Baby stuff sells ne1512BLVD:
My biggest worry is that the person I want to be president won't make it past
the primaries :( LoriCP:
@ne1512BLVD -- primaries are coming up in January, it's important to
get your shop visible now with good SEO! JenCP:
Political products are very hot during a presidential election year and
optimizing your shop is essential in order to capture the demand for political
gear & products. Now well
discuss some SEO and tagging tips to help optimize your political shop for
external search engines and the CafePress.com Marketplace. JenCP:
Well discuss SEO strategies first. JenCP:
Ill start out by listing all the areas of a Premium Shop where you can add
content to optimize your shop for search engines. JenCP:
Shop Introduction (custom copy area on your storefront) Section
Descriptions (shows up at the top of the page at a section level) Section
Names (title for section page and shows up in the bread crumbs) Section
Teasers (short copy under Section Names) Shop
Name (shows up in the bread crumbs) Shop
Title (shows up in the title bar) Image
Alt Tags (displays when you mouse over an image) JenCP:
Metatags (in your source code) JenCP:
If youre unsure where these sections are featured in your shop, you can
review the JenCP:
The chat thread can be found at http://www.cafepress.com/cp/community/workshop_holidayprep2
JenCP:
One thing to note is SEO impacts external search engine results (Google, MSN,
Yahoo, etc.) SEO does NOT impact
searches performed in the CafePress Marketplace.
Only Tags, which well discuss later on, impact searches performed in
the CafePress Marketplace. JenCP:
Now that we know where to focus your SEO efforts, lets discuss key election
copy for SEO. JenCP:
Use Variation & Election Terms JenCP:
If you have a Hillary shop, dont just put Hillary Clinton everywhere. JenCP:
Variations on the name are important and adding key election descriptive like
for president 2008 or 08 will help your SEO efforts as well. JenCP:
Some example variations are: Hillary 08, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Hillary for
President, Hillary Clinton 08, Clinton 2008 JenCP:
Another tip is to list Products JenCP:
many people search on a candidate or party + a product name, such as Republican
Party T-shirts. JenCP:
T-shirts, buttons, bumper stickers and yard signs are popular election products
so be sure to feature these products in your copy since these products will
often be listed in customer search strings. JenCP:
Assuming you have these products in your shop of course! JenCP:
Some sample threads: Democratic Party T-Shirts, Bumper Stickers, Buttons and
more Ron Paul
for President Buttons JenCP:
Another tip: Enter Product Names & Descriptions & use SEO key terms JenCP:
For example, if Hillary Clinton is part of your SEO strategy, you want to
feature a variation of her name in the product name & description. JenCP:
Sample Product Name: Hillary as First Woman President Sweatshirt is better than
Women President Sweatshirt. JenCP:
Sample product description: Want to put Hillary in the White House?
Show your support for Hillary Clinton with our 3.5" button. JenCP:
Key SEO take aways: JenCP:
Vary how you list the candidate names and use election terms: Thompson for
president, Edwards 08, Mitt Romney 2008, etc. JenCP:
List popular election products in the copy: Democratic Buttons, Stickers &
Yard signs JenCP:
Add candidate & party references into your shop descriptions, product
descriptions, sections names, etc. all the places listed previously JenCP:
Before we move onto tagging, I want to answer some questions that were
submitted. dirtyword:
what are your thoughts on optimization software like IBP or WebCEO? JenCP:
@dirtyword: I haven't worked with IBP or WebCEO before so I can't really comment
on if it's worth the investment. JenCP:
My suggestion is to first try some things on your own and measure the results JenCP:
On to tagging JenCP:
SEO tips help your shop show up in external search engines (Google, Yahoo, MSN,
etc). Tagging impacts how your shop
shows up in the CafePress marketplace. JenCP:
Key Tagging Tips JenCP:
Variety of Relevant Terms - relevant is key! JenCP:
You want to have multiple tags on your designs so theyre captured in various
search strings, but all tags should be relevant.
Quality is more important than quantity. JenCP:
Lets take a look at an example design using tags that are not relevant. JenCP:
Someone might decided to tag a design for weepublicans (i.e. Im a baby
republican) that had the following tags: JenCP:
anti-democrat, anti-hillary, anti-liberal, baby, Fred Thompson, John McCain ,
Mike Huckabee, political, republican, Right Wing, Ron Paul, Rudy Giuliani,
toddler, vote JenCP:
Is this design really anti-liberal? Anti-Hillary? Would someone searching for
Huckabee products want a wee republican product? JenCP:
Probably not JenCP:
Irrelevant tags promote your designs in the wrong spot to the wrong audience,
adding SPAM to the Marketplace and making it more difficult for customers to
find your products. JenCP:
Tags that would be more appropriate: baby
republican, Republican Party, toddler republican, weepublican, little
republican, kid republican, infant republican, right wing baby. JenCP:
Remember adding tags are useless if the tags are not relevant. JenCP:
Youll want to include common misspellings as tags too JenCP:
If you have a name like Giuliani, its probably going to get misspelled.
Hillary is often misspelled as Hilary, Barack as Barak. JenCP:
So if you have a shop for Rudy Giuliani, make sure to add some misspelled
versions of his name like Rudi Giuliani, Rudy Guilianie, etc JenCP:
If you need help with finding misspelled terms check out http://www.searchspell.com/typo/.
Type in a word and it will display several misspellings. Renee:
Thanks for that tip, Jen! JenCP:
One last tip: Avoid Spamming JenCP:
If your design is about Barack Obama, its shouldnt be tagged with Hillary
or Edwards. JenCP:
In summary, when tagging your designs, variety and relevancy is good (including
common misspellings). Irrelevant
terms and flat out SPAM is bad. Its
about quality, not quantity of the tags. JenCP:
Any questions? BrittaCP:
We've got a few minutes left, so we can take a couple of question, if you have
them liberty:
I have a political design which is popular and have considered opening a premium
shop but wanted to know which performs better a general political shop or a
focused to one group shop? I think I
could go either way. JenCP:
@liberty: I'm going to post another shopkeeper's comment as a response to this. dirtyword:
I cover both sides of the fence on my shops on one I have 'Hillary Sucks' and
'Bush Sucks'...on another I have 'I Love Hillary' and 'I Love Bush', etc. I even
cover both the love and hate aspects. I get sales for both. Especially from the
marketplace, where they don't see the other side, just what is being searched. JenCP:
Here it is JenCP:
So you can do a focused shop or one that carries various topics - just follow
the SEO and tagging tips regardless of which direction you take. boldavenue:
ok, question about your irrelevant tags example: someone searching for a
huckabee product is likely republican and might like the weebulican design. Also
they might be anti-democrat, etc. (No those aren't my tags) I understand why
tagging a Hillary design with the word Edwards is spam, but what about the first
example? I feel like those terms apply. Can you explain why that's no good? JenCP:
I see your point that some of the example 'wrong tags' may be appropriate. JenCP:
But if someone wants an anti democrat design, is weerepublican anti democrat? JenCP:
It's the opposite of democrat, but it's not really about slamming democrats or
being anti dreamupdreamup:
I dont have any political designs in my store "yet",
so when is the real push for these designs, like now its holiday
shopping, what month will be a heavy hitter for political shoppers? LoriCP:
@dreamupdreamup: January is the start of really big primaries like LoveJML:
Yeah, I have quotes from all the Democratic candidates. Should I keep them up
even when they drop out of the race? LoriCP:
@Love JML: Some people did wear dropped out candidate gear after their
candidate dropped out. Like I voted for Kerry after Bush won so you
may still get sales after the candidates drop out. You could move them to the
bottom of your shop to give more visibility to candidates till in the race. BrittaCP:
Alright folks, I'm sorry but the time has come BrittaCP:
I hope this was interesting for all of you AmericanElephant:
Thanks boldavenue:
thanks for fitting this chat in to the busy holiday schedule! BrittaCP:
of course LoveJML:
Thank you very much BrittaCP:
Again, I hope you all got something out of this and are inspired to add election
merch to your shop LoriCP:
Thanks! Bye! dirtyword:
thanks for answering my questions...you've all been a big help :) BrittaCP:
Enjoy the rest of your afternoon, or evening! JenCP:
Have a nice evening everyone! |
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