Congratulations!

Congrats on your first sale Must be very exciting.

Hi.

I glanced at some of your products, and I'll make some suggestions that may help you get sales.

Many of your phone designs do not cover the entire phone. You should use all of the space that covers the phone, or at least use background colors that help the design look more finished.

You really need to work on your tags, titles and descriptions.

Your "Lighthouse" case http://www.zazzle.com/lighthouse_i_phone_iphone_4_case-176513104690809433 has the phrase Peace, Love and Lighthouse's. I suggest you remove the apostrophe from lighthouses.

The image is very small for the case.

Your description says - peach love and lighthouse. If it's supposed to be Peace, then you should change it. You can use the colors in the description, though. You need to describe the item so the details can be given to someone who can't see the item.
Use your description box to tell customers about the design...the object in the image, the colors, etc.

You have one tag for this item - lighthouse. A person shopping for a pink phone case will type in just what they're looking for, and it will be more than one word. If I wanted to buy this type of case, I would use words and phrases like pink background, white lighthouses, pink sky, ocean themes, etc. You have to give the search engines something to work with so your items can be found.

You say you're advertising. Are you using Twitter and Facebook? They're good sources. I use them, plus I hand out business cards or get permission to leave them at other business locations. Many places allow you to put cards and flyers on their bulletin boards.


Good luck!

Hi, Gary.

I appreciate that you think I'm of help to others and that you're interested in my help, too.



I'm far from being an expert and I'm still learning, too, but I don't mind taking a look at your store to see if I can offer advice.

I don't have time at this very moment, but I will look a bit later (maybe tonight) and get back with you.

I have two stores, and my variety store is not the best example of the two for organization by category. ;) I listed the products by name (shirts, speakers, cards, etc.), instead of by theme or design, which is best. It was my first store and I wasn't sure of how to set it up, but have made a few changes and will make more as I have time.

In the meantime, you can glance over my wedding store and see the differences between the two.

dreamNwish_Photo_Art - http://www.zazzle.com/dreamnwish_photo_art

dreamNwish Wedding Designs - http://www.zazzle.com/dnw_weddingdesigns

I'll be back!

First off...very nice designs!
I suggest that you make a title banner for your store. Put the name up so we know where we're shopping.
You may want to remove the "Departments" listing that's up, now. It's up to you, but if you go by your own categories, I personally don't think you need it.

Let's use "Design 3" as an example of where I think you can improve.

Design 3 was hand-drawn while the co-creative artist partners were caring for a young man with autism. The living space was dark and dank, yet the design bubbled through the artist's hands with joy. He felt it as 'the constant stream of essence which flows through cycles of creation and dissolution.' People see in it the Nautilus Shell, the Golden Proportion, and joyful bubbles. What does it say to you? What name do you give this design? On www.emanatepresence. com, you can share your comments.


Tags -

bubbles, change, circle, healing, labyrinth, sacred, soul, spiral, spirit, source, brain, breath, conscious, design, earth, energy, environment, geometry, heart, human, inner, inspiration, intelligence, love, loving, meditation, metaphysics, myth, nautilus, non dual, peace, realization, relax, rhythm, success, transform, world

---

The story is nice, but it doesn't describe the design. You have to tell people what the design is about, not so much about how or why it came to be, though I have mentioned that the piano shown on some of my items is an antique that belonged to my mother, or that the sax belonged to my grandfather, but that's about it. I really didn't have to say that much about it, but just a little...a litte "backstory" may not hurt too much. I sell photos at another POD site and the "backstory" is often a topic of interest for many. I've gotten some nice feedback on the stories. Sometimes, more on that than just the photo. LOL!
If you're shopping for a shirt online, you'll most likely read about what color it is, the type of fabric it's made from, and if there's an image on it, like a football helmet; some details of the helmet may be mentioned. The information may tell us the color of the helmet, something about the team's logo, etc. That's basically what we need in our information section. We have to think of it as if we're reading the description to someone who can't see the screen.

Your tags for this item need a bit of work. There aren't any hearts, no image of a brain, and no human.

Tags that you have that do not pertain to the design or item may get you into trouble for tag spamming. If your design doesn't have an image of a brain on it, but you're saying it does in your tags, it will show up in a search and throw people off.
I have copied and pasted a few tags for items where I only changed the color of flower, and forgot to make it known in my tags. I had tags listed for a blue flower, when I'd changed the design to have a red one. That's basically false advertisement. I've had to make the proper changes. I came across such a mistake on an old product last night. I'm not saying that you copy and paste, I'm just telling you how I ended up with tags that shouldn't be used.

You should consider using phrases in your tags. Single words are totally fine, but if a person is shopping online for a mousepad with a photo of a bowl of fruit, they'll most likely type in more than "mousepad" or "food". They'll type something like "fruit bowl" or "bowl of fruit" under the section for mousepads.

For this design, you can use phrases like "bubbles and swirls", "multiple bubbles", "circular designs", "image of earth" (if that's earth in the background), "gold circles", "blue background", etc.
You make phrases by putting words in quotes "like this".

You can put your items in categories by theme, color or design. Maybe a category just for items with hearts on them. You can make a category titled "hearts", then but a sub-category within it, titled "gold hearts", then if you want, you can list your shirts, then your mousepads, then your mugs, etc., that have the gold hearts on them. This way, a customer knows you have items with hearts, and they can see what items you have them on. You can do the same for your black and white images, and if some are a bit less abstract, you can break them down by the design, too. Breaking things down into categories is pretty much like how things are separated in a department store. You'd go to sporting goods for a rod and reel, then while still in that department, you'd look for the aisle that has the tackle boxes, if you needed one. You'd see the various styles and brands they have to offer.

I don't know if you're interested in putting your designs on other items, but I think you should. People who are into such designs may want them in a mug, mousepad, puzzle, and more.

As for your helping me in return, I do appreciate the offer. That's very nice of you, but you don't owe me anything.
If you happen to run across a tag that doesn't belong, you can mention that to me if you like. LOL! I'm kidding.

I'm surprised at how many "goofs" I made, but as I said, a lot were due to copying and pasting in order to save time. I'm now taking time to clear up my mistakes. LOL! This is why we must be careful with copy/paste when it comes to tags and descriptions. I'm still going to do it...just try to slow down a bit and catch my mistakes.

I hope I've been of some help.


Good luck!

I don't have time to comment fully, but I will say that you can upload your banner w/o needing to use any special codes, unless something has changed since I've added mine.

If you have it designed and saved in your files, you can go to your account, appearances, and create a custom look. You'll be able to change/add any banner you want.

I'll get back to you with more comments, later.


Have a good one!