Tips, time savers, tricks & resources for Cafepress Premium Shopkeepers
August 28, 2007 at 11:59 pm · Filed under Automation
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August 27, 2007 at 11:59 pm · Filed under Automation
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June 14, 2007 at 8:10 pm · Filed under CafePress Tips, Design Tips
I may not make many friends with this post, but I feel it really has to be said. And I hope the few friends I have at CP understand my position. This isn’t directed at any particular shopkeeper, just a portion of the SK community at CP.
As some of you may know, I recently redesigned the navigation for Lekker Bride. I wanted to go ahead and add some more designs from other shopkeepers while I was at it (it had been a while since I had), so I started looking around the marketplace at wedding and bridal items. Why, oh why, do so many shopkeepers just copy the general theme or idea of a popular seller? How does that shopkeeper feel? Can you honestly tell me that they can find no other image than a martini glass to represent a bachelorette party? I couldn’t find one single new design that I felt was original enough to feature. I have sites that get tons of targeted traffic that I am willing to share with other designers - yet it seems everything new is just another version of a design on the first few pages in the MP. Do these designers honestly think that you’ll ever rise above a design that has been a proven seller for years? It’s doubtful. And then the same person will come into the forums and complain that they aren’t getting any sales. Originality sells. Quality sells.
I am so tired of people just feeding off popular designs and thinking it’s cool. It’s not. You can’t call yourself an artist if you can’t come up with one stinking original idea. I understand inspiration - especially in fashion. Whole lines have been inspired by a movie or one crazy sequined unicorn sweatshirt. But the marketplace at CP is beginning to look like a dern swap meet, with everyone selling their version of a popular design. All this time people spend complaining about things not in their control yet they can’t spend a few minutes brainstorming their own ideas. Everyone acts as though they care about the customer and their shop - yet they are perfectly happy copying designs of other shopkeepers, which I think is a disservice to the customer.
I’ve seen comments about people getting “tons of great ideas” from the CP Newsletters. Uh, newsflash - those newsletters aren’t made so you can just ride on the back of someone else’s hard work. The marketplace should not be a place you should troll for ideas. Why not, instead of just copying “what sells”, you create your own brand and/or your own style and go from there? Why be so content to just follow in the footsteps of others rather than blazing your own trail?
I have absolutely nothing to base this on, but I wouldn’t be surprised (or unhappy) if CP did start limiting what designs they offer in “their store” (the marketplace). In fact, I would be much, much happier, because I think that design quality in the MP is lacking in many areas and it would only improve the image of CP.
Feel free to give me your 2 cents.
May 9, 2007 at 10:02 am · Filed under Automation, CafePress Tips
I have been meaning to post about this fabulous little tool for a while. I always thought the one thing cool about basic shops was the layout - how the products are always in the same spot, in their category. It’s been a wish of many SKs for quite some time. Jim, a mod on the CP forums and the SK behind teesed.com has made this big wish a reality with his CafeWish Categories Script. I am behind on adding it to all the Lekker Shops, but you can see it in action at Lekker Politics - like in this section featuring super cool Barack Obama T-Shirts.
Here’s some of the things the category script can do: Organize products by category, change or turn off the “more colors available” graphic, find missing products in a section, “Browse by Category” just like “Browse by Product”, reorder or hide categories for specific sections (put women’s apparel first for a feminine design, baby apparel first for a baby design, etc.) & “Plus” account users can even create their own categories.
Setup is pretty easy. Theres a little piece of code you put in your section description that does all the work. It does add another thing to do when you add a new section or update a section, but updating is pretty easy and the code can be created for you by a tool available at the CafeWish site if you aren’t comfortable changing it for each section.
The plan is to eventually have the script in every section at our stores on CP. We’ll see how that goes 
CafeWish Categories Script
May 2, 2007 at 12:49 am · Filed under CP Voice
Re-reading my last post, I am worried that it comes of as flippant, which is not what I intended. It’s weird, the feeling that my words and actions are being evaluated by others. Anyhoo, I wanted to say, in not so many words that I will do all I can to represent the community and offer my feedback to CP.
As a shopkeeper, I am pretty excited by the possibilities of CPVoice. I think of it as a year long feedback session like the ones at CPConnect (the CafePress Users conference), which seemed to be helpful for everyone. I think that the council will broaden the perspective of CP and that of the shopkeeper which in the end, benefits us all. It can’t hurt, right? As someone mentioned on the CP forums, it’s not changing anything, just adding to it.
May 1, 2007 at 1:31 am · Filed under CP Voice
Nothing. I have no expectations, especially expectations of results. I can’t promise results, only that I would do all I could to improve the relationship between CP and the shopkeepers and offer every bit of feedback I can on a given subject. I don’t want you to think that my lack of expectations equals a lack of responsibility or caring either. I just have no way to say what I could accomplish when I have only a vague idea of the concept and inner workings of the council. Nominations haven’t been announced by CP (they are to be announced to all Shopkeepers tomorrow, May 2nd) and the details nominees have been given are not complete. I am under the impression that tomorrow’s announcement will clear up a lot of my questions.
I do have a lot of hopes for the council. I hope that I would be able to broaden the perspective of CP - I think many times they do not expect the reaction they get from the community (case in point: the move to Commission Junction). I think CP could benefit from the knowledge and experience of the candidates to get an better idea of what the community wants and expects. I hope I could affect the quality of the site, production and products by sharing my thoughts, experiences, pet peeves and concerns. I hope that by getting a different point of view, CP will maybe look at things in a different light and be able to make decisions that not only benefit the company but the community and shoppers as well.
Why do I want to be elected? I think that I would be a valuable asset and I would love to do anything I could to make CP a better place for shopkeepers and shoppers. CP is my job, and I notorious for wanting to improve my work environment - make things easier and better. I think I have a lot of good ideas and the right outlook. I like to keep things positive, but honest. I like to ask “why?”, which I think is a great was to see both sides of a story and to understand another point of view.
I am not in this to be the most popular or one of the cool kids. I feel I have a lot to offer - if my input can improve the CP experience, it’s good for everyone. The higher the quality is at CP, the better off we all are.
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