Holiday Roundtable, 10/30/07

[2007.10.30 18:55:33] Welcome to the CafePress Chat Room
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[2007.10.30 19:01:45] PetsPrevail: hello
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[2007.10.30 19:01:57] BrittaCP: Hi Everyone!
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[2007.10.30 19:02:05] horselovergurl: Hiiiii!
[2007.10.30 19:02:08] LoveJML: lots of pet people here tonight
[2007.10.30 19:02:12] BrittaCP: we like full rooms
[2007.10.30 19:02:16] Mr. Spaceman: Hi!
[2007.10.30 19:02:18] dreamup: hello :)
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[2007.10.30 19:02:56] BrittaCP: So today we are here to your experiences as Shopkeepers, during the Holiday season
[2007.10.30 19:03:06] AngelaCP: hi everyone
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[2007.10.30 19:03:17] Romy has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
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[2007.10.30 19:03:27] LoveJML: Hi Ang and Britta
[2007.10.30 19:03:36] Karen has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.30 19:03:41] las65: This is my first holiday season!
[2007.10.30 19:03:48] BrittaCP: If you're an old pro tell us about past years and what you expect to see this year
[2007.10.30 19:03:50] Rhea has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.30 19:03:52] horselovergurl: mine too!
[2007.10.30 19:03:59] BrittaCP: Or if it’s your first season, what are you looking forward to and what have you done?
[2007.10.30 19:04:05] Mr. Spaceman: My first too! Can't wait!
[2007.10.30 19:04:19] butterfly has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.30 19:04:22] BrittaCP: Since this is a roundtable discussion, today’s chat format will be a little different that what some of you may be used to.
[2007.10.30 19:04:31] BrittaCP: The Roundtable is all about you, and the info you want to share.
[2007.10.30 19:04:38] BrittaCP: The chat will still be moderated, since that seems to be the preferred method for easier reading.
[2007.10.30 19:04:39] AngelaCP: yes, it's not the formal tutorial/workshop format.
[2007.10.30 19:04:47] BrittaCP: We don’t have any tutorials prepared for you, so feel free to throw whatever you got on the topic at hand.
[2007.10.30 19:04:53] AngelaCP: It's all about learnings from Shopkeepers
[2007.10.30 19:05:02] Dooni Designs: I think in comparison to last year... beginning for a few holiday shoppers.. this year seems to b a little slow
[2007.10.30 19:05:16] chm has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.30 19:05:28] PetsPrevail: I am looking forward to not just sales, but traffic, trying to get the most people to see my website, and my shop
[2007.10.30 19:05:39] AngelaCP: You should see both.
[2007.10.30 19:05:40] LoveJML: I agree. My sales *just* started to pick up a bit last week
[2007.10.30 19:05:47] horselovergurl: I've made a section with sales and Hloiday designs, but i've hidden it so far...hope it works
[2007.10.30 19:05:54] AngelaCP: We’ll start the conversation going by asking, how early did you begin setting your shop up for the Holidays?
[2007.10.30 19:05:56] char has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.30 19:06:10] horselovergurl: Hmm...around August I started setting up...
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[2007.10.30 19:06:17] Fricka: I was afraid I was starting out slow but just today I've passed my best October ever (in terms of number of items sold and completed)
[2007.10.30 19:06:19] butterfly: I keep "holiday" designs visiable and available year-round.
[2007.10.30 19:06:22] LoveJML: I have a new section called seasonal, http://www.cafepress.com/seasonal
[2007.10.30 19:06:29] PetsPrevail: I started about three weeks ago and im having difficulties creatin g"Unique" designs for the holiday, anyone else?
[2007.10.30 19:06:34] Mr. Spaceman: I've been working all this month.
[2007.10.30 19:06:44] Dooni Designs: I have been working for this holiday season since last year lol.. mostly adding new designs
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[2007.10.30 19:06:52] AngelaCP: congratulations Fricka! you're an old-timer SK. Anything words of advice you want to share with other SKs?
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[2007.10.30 19:07:57] AngelaCP: PetsPrevail - remember, the holidays do not mean your designs have to be holiday-centric. Continue to design around your shop niche. It's all about SEO, promoting your shop, organizing your shop that's friendly to consumers....
[2007.10.30 19:08:06] Blonde Designs: this is my second xmas season, and i did better last year, and my store was a third of the size it is now..
[2007.10.30 19:08:17] LoveJML: that wasn't it...http://www.cafepress.com/lovejml/3856148
[2007.10.30 19:08:20] Romy: I wonder how much the U.S. economy will affect sales this year. It does seem slow for October now.
[2007.10.30 19:08:25] horselovergurl: yeah, i've been working on a lot of designs!
[2007.10.30 19:08:58] Fricka: How early did I start? Well I'm not decorated for holidays but I have been adding in some SEO stuff like more "gift" in descriptions. Right after halloween I think I will put up my "holly decorated" logo in my biggest shop.
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[2007.10.30 19:09:14] Fricka: You don't have to make holiday specific stuff... just market your existing stuff as holiday gifts. make Gifts for X sections etc.
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[2007.10.30 19:09:19] Karen: I'm seeing more foreign shoppers in my stats
[2007.10.30 19:09:28] Lekker Jen: Maybe they'll save gas and buy online ;)
[2007.10.30 19:09:32] Blonde Designs: I have been working non-stop since I opened my store last august
[2007.10.30 19:09:52] Romy: I've seen a lot more Canadians shopping in my stores.
[2007.10.30 19:10:25] char: im having my best october ever
[2007.10.30 19:10:25] BrittaCP: Great Char, and are selling more Halloween items right now, or Holiday?
[2007.10.30 19:10:35] AngelaCP: So keep in mind... the holiday season means more traffic. That means you want to optimize your shop for this increase traffic. Organize it to make it easier to find things, put your best designs forward, show gift items so shoppers realize what great stuff you have.
[2007.10.30 19:11:07] LoveJML: I notice that people come in from a search for on section, but then they look around and buy from another. People often end up in my cats section, even if that's what they weren't looking for
[2007.10.30 19:11:10] horselovergurl: How can you tell?
[2007.10.30 19:11:11] BrittaCP: Horseluver, are you asking how can the Shopkeepers tell who's visiting thier shop?
[2007.10.30 19:11:20] Mr. Spaceman: Frika. Yeah, I don't have any "holiday" designs in my store just my nitch stuff.
[2007.10.30 19:11:28] chm: Karen, what you said re international sales fits. The Chinese, et al. consider European and American goods status items.
[2007.10.30 19:11:44] mrstee: I'm not exactly a seasoned SK, but I have noticed over the past year that my sales go up when I remember to upload to Googlebase, and sales lag when I neglect to renew them.
[2007.10.30 19:11:51] char: i was selling a lot of halloween matternity...
[2007.10.30 19:11:54] char: now selling christmas
[2007.10.30 19:11:58] Lekker Jen: I think I had my second best day this month - post 04 election time
[2007.10.30 19:12:04] horselovergurl: yes, how can you tell the people from different countries apart?
[2007.10.30 19:12:37] BrittaCP: does anyone want to share how they see where thier shoppers are co,ing from?>
[2007.10.30 19:12:41] BrittaCP: *coming from?
[2007.10.30 19:12:42] char: in your stats... if you have a premium shop us should be running some sort of stats
[2007.10.30 19:12:50] foxvox has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.30 19:12:53] LoveJML: horselovergurl, do you have statcounter? that's where we all get our info. It's a tracker that tell you where your visitors come from
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[2007.10.30 19:13:01] Lekker Jen: statcountr, clicky, google analytics...
[2007.10.30 19:13:03] Blonde Designs: I use activemeter.com
[2007.10.30 19:13:13] horselovergurl: no, i have just a regular counter
[2007.10.30 19:13:16] las65: I use statcounter as well its great
[2007.10.30 19:13:33] Romy: You can see where customers live by looking in the sales reports CP provides.
[2007.10.30 19:13:39] horselovergurl: will do that last65!
[2007.10.30 19:13:56] Fricka: You can try http://www.crazyegg.com too if you have a prem shop or host your own shop
[2007.10.30 19:13:59] AngelaCP: So let's talk about past experiences - what are some of the things seasoned Sks did last year that really worked for them?
[2007.10.30 19:14:07] AngelaCP: Send out newsletters?
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[2007.10.30 19:14:29] LoveJML: Romy, that is so true. I remember for awhile I was getting a lto of sales from OH and Ct, but I never quite knew how to capitolize on that
[2007.10.30 19:14:30] AngelaCP: Search Engine Optimization - organic search?
[2007.10.30 19:14:48] Dooni Designs has left the room (logged out)
[2007.10.30 19:14:54] las65: I have noone subscr to newsletters!
[2007.10.30 19:14:58] AngelaCP: Search Engine Marketing - aka Google Ads, Ads in Yahoo, etc?
[2007.10.30 19:14:59] foxvox: SEO helps a lot. Blogging - keeping your URLs fresh and in front of people on the web too.
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[2007.10.30 19:15:13] AngelaCP: Viral? Contest? PR?
[2007.10.30 19:16:08] AngelaCP: SEO is big. If you can optimize your Premium Shop for search engines so you come up on organic search, that's big. Shoppers over the holiday use search engines such as Google to find gifts
[2007.10.30 19:16:26] Fricka: Try and get into Holiday Gift guide type articles -- offline, online, where ever they are made. Those help, though for the national magazines it may already be too late to be included.
[2007.10.30 19:16:49] AngelaCP: Blogging definitely helps keep content fresh and the content can be listed separately from your Premium Shop on search engines
[2007.10.30 19:17:04] LoveJML: One thing I should do now to improve my SEO since I've had my site re-designed is to let people know what sections are in which category.
[2007.10.30 19:17:12] foxvox: Google feeds!
[2007.10.30 19:17:23] Karen: Lately I have been really lax at updating my googlebase and working on outside dot com's and SEO. I am beginning to wonder if googlebase is all it's cracked up to be. One shop of mine will not take a google feed due to a booger when I set the google account up. I still get lots of hits to that shop due to SEO and outside links to that shop
[2007.10.30 19:17:34] Winter has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.30 19:17:35] foxvox: MSN Live Product Feeds too.
[2007.10.30 19:17:37] Sag: write articles and press releases
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[2007.10.30 19:17:52] LoveJML: I wish I could do Yahoo! products, but it's not free. :/
[2007.10.30 19:18:12] AngelaCP: CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT = ORGANIC SEARCH
[2007.10.30 19:18:19] AngelaCP: it's all related to SEO...
[2007.10.30 19:18:22] Rametta has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.30 19:18:23] AngelaCP: and it's free :)
[2007.10.30 19:18:29] AngelaCP: it's also year round....
[2007.10.30 19:18:32] Lekker Jen: Ang's got it.
[2007.10.30 19:18:35] Karen: Yahoo picks up from google. I get alot of yahoo hits
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[2007.10.30 19:18:54] Mr. Spaceman: I've been working with Google for 6 months and have not had any sales from outside the CP marketplace yet? What gives?
[2007.10.30 19:19:20] Dooni Designs: i dont do blogging or many product descriptions... not sure how but google just loves me
[2007.10.30 19:19:25] foxvox: Good products titles and descriptions for organic search - yah. :-)
[2007.10.30 19:19:28] AngelaCP: Mr Spaceman - are you seeing your shop come up on top placement on Google?
[2007.10.30 19:19:36] Romy: I gave up on Googlebase. I used to get lots of sales back when it was new though.
[2007.10.30 19:19:45] Fricka: Mr. Spaceman... cp's reporting is wonky, I bet you have had outside sales. If you look at your sitemeter or statcounter info you can do soem detective work to figure it out
[2007.10.30 19:19:56] horselovergurl: i've had a few outside the marketplace, but I'm not sure where they got the link: from me or from search engines? i blog a lot...
[2007.10.30 19:20:06] Mr. Spaceman: I'm ranked #6 under "retro sci-fi t-shirt designs".
[2007.10.30 19:20:18] AngelaCP: that's a good spot -- congratulations.
[2007.10.30 19:20:35] AngelaCP: SEO drives traffic to your shop
[2007.10.30 19:20:38] Lekker Jen: horselovergurl - that's why you need a stat counter service
[2007.10.30 19:20:47] AngelaCP: what do you guys do to help increase conversion over the holidays?
[2007.10.30 19:20:57] PhotoGirl has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.30 19:21:25] AngelaCP: knowing you'll get extra traffic over the holiday means paying extra attention to any unwanted barriers on purchasing
[2007.10.30 19:21:30] LoveJML: I hand out a business card every chance I get, or if someone says they like my shirt.
[2007.10.30 19:21:46] kate @ littlelizzylou has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.30 19:21:55] Fricka: Googlebase doesnt' work so well for me, I think it's parlty because some of my items are too niche and are titled unusually. Just a guess though.
[2007.10.30 19:22:01] BrittaCP: Wearing your own items is always a good way to get your products noticed
[2007.10.30 19:22:14] ThE_RiPPeR has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.30 19:22:17] AngelaCP: Crafts fair
[2007.10.30 19:22:18] Karen: I sold two shirts to the same person in the same order. I saw they came to one of my shops from google, looked around and clicked a link to my other shop and then bought. My sales report listed the one shirt as marketplace and the other as shop. So, I disregard that column in the sales report
[2007.10.30 19:22:24] horselovergurl: Yep, I've already bought a few of my designs, and my friends all want to buy!
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[2007.10.30 19:22:46] char: i see a lot of my traffic coming from googlebase.. along with organic search results
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[2007.10.30 19:22:55] Mr. Spaceman: I just NOW Googled "Retro sci-fi t-shirt designs" and I'm ranked 3rd.
[2007.10.30 19:22:55] BrittaCP: YaY
[2007.10.30 19:22:59] Dooni Designs: i live in cp shirts!
[2007.10.30 19:23:02] LoveJML: I also have given items from my own shop as gifts to friends and family memebers
[2007.10.30 19:23:12] Fricka: congrats spaceman
[2007.10.30 19:23:32] AngelaCP: for those that have kids... you can give out goodie bags with a mini button from your shop
[2007.10.30 19:23:43] a little late has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.30 19:23:49] AngelaCP: i heard someone with a kid/family shop theme got sales and viralness from that
[2007.10.30 19:24:12] Stratman: I heard that in the past CP has extended the return period to 60 days for the holidays. Is this true?
[2007.10.30 19:24:39] AngelaCP: that is normally the case...
[2007.10.30 19:24:49] BrittaCP: Yes, we've done that in the past... extended to 60 days. There is no info on this year yet
[2007.10.30 19:24:50] AngelaCP: i don't have the details for this year yet....
[2007.10.30 19:24:58] horselovergurl: i should really put the website on the bottom of the designs: my friend bought a shirt, but since the site url was on the back, it was covered up when she put her jacket on
[2007.10.30 19:25:08] MamaD.: i plan to hand them out for christmas gifts
[2007.10.30 19:25:14] Karen: Are you running any sales on calendars like last year?
[2007.10.30 19:25:27] AngelaCP: We will be running some sales... but they are still getting finalized
[2007.10.30 19:25:41] PetsPrevail: what else can i do to advertise it would be wonderful to get a sale i think some of my products cpuld be very popular i have the myspace and craigslist accounts signing up right now
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[2007.10.30 19:26:33] AngelaCP: I have seen SKs advertise on Craiglist. I do believe it's usually relevant... similar to posting on message boards... if your merchandise is relevant to the discussion you will get some traction.
[2007.10.30 19:26:45] AngelaCP: Anyone want to share if they've done this and how successful it's been?
[2007.10.30 19:27:00] horselovergurl: i'm getting a lot of my own products as gifts for people for christmas! fun, but expensive
[2007.10.30 19:27:06] AngelaCP: Consider it a write off :)
[2007.10.30 19:27:14] foxvox: Now that the bulk pricing tool is working again you can run your own sales too. ;-)
[2007.10.30 19:27:16] Karen: Sqidoo is another avenue to promote your site
[2007.10.30 19:27:23] AngelaCP: All these sites help SEO
[2007.10.30 19:27:36] horselovergurl: I post on LiveJournal a lot, and get a huge response usually following the weeks after
[2007.10.30 19:27:41] Tex: What do you do to get folks to sign up for your shop newsletter?
[2007.10.30 19:27:50] Tex: I've posted on Craigslist, seen hits, but haven't ever been able to track a sale to it.
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[2007.10.30 19:28:11] LoveJML: I think it's somewhat a matter of lck, but I got the best results when I posted on Craig's list Providence, which was web-crawled with my listing in it.
[2007.10.30 19:28:16] AngelaCP: Sometimes letting them know they'll get access to sales and new merchandise is enough.
[2007.10.30 19:29:30] AngelaCP: I agree LoveJML -- sometimes it is all about luck. That's why if you optimize your shop for Search Engines, it's pretty much a sure thing. Then all that you do helps complement your SEO and marketing efforts.
[2007.10.30 19:29:50] chm: I am working on my CP newsletter as I type. I've heard that many of the CP newsletter subscribes are spammers. Please tell me it's not so.
[2007.10.30 19:30:03] LoveJML: I recentl joined Kaboodle, so we'll see if that sends any results my way. Checking on Keywords: I came up #8 for "Coffee Diva"
[2007.10.30 19:30:14] AngelaCP: Consider your shop content and navigation/layout the cake... good SEO the icing ... and everything else is the decorations on your cake.
[2007.10.30 19:30:17] Mr. Spaceman: What, exactly, is "Cragslist"? An online classifieds section of sorts?
[2007.10.30 19:30:18] BrittaCP: That's exactly what craigslist is
[2007.10.30 19:30:25] AngelaCP: Sorry for the lame analogy ;)
[2007.10.30 19:30:38] foxvox: mmm... cake.... ;-)
[2007.10.30 19:30:57] Mr. Spaceman: I like cake.
[2007.10.30 19:31:16] Create Genius has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.30 19:31:42] AngelaCP: Me too!
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[2007.10.30 19:32:22] AngelaCP: Okay -- so anything else to share? I can share a bit about what we're doing....
[2007.10.30 19:32:32] AngelaCP: Please throw out your past experiences w/holiday
[2007.10.30 19:33:05] Lekker Jen: They get better year after year...
[2007.10.30 19:33:09] AngelaCP: but while we're waiting... as we've done in the past, we'll have a holiday portal to help drive shoppers to your great products
[2007.10.30 19:33:34] AngelaCP: Previous years, we've focused on gift giving for the person...such as gifts for her/him, etc
[2007.10.30 19:33:53] AngelaCP: We;re still doing that, but we plan on focusing on all the diversity we have in our community
[2007.10.30 19:34:38] foxvox: That's a tall order!
[2007.10.30 19:34:39] AngelaCP: We're focusing to target interests and hobbies
[2007.10.30 19:34:53] AngelaCP: For example, the Animal Lover: horses, dogs, ferrets. The Sports fanatic: football, soccer, baseball.
[2007.10.30 19:35:32] horselovergurl: from what I hear, it builds and your holiday section grows year after year...though this is my first
[2007.10.30 19:35:44] Fricka: Be prepared to answer customer service type questions if you list a contact email, things like "I want to put my boyfriends name on this design, can you do that and how fast?" etc.
[2007.10.30 19:35:45] BrittaCP: good tip
[2007.10.30 19:36:00] AngelaCP: Just be sure to Tag your images relevantly -- I can't stress that any more
[2007.10.30 19:36:00] LoveJML: '05 was my first holiday season. Not much action until after it was over. Last year, I was sellin' with the "big boys," hitting the bonus tiers and getting the Top Shopkeeper e-mails. This year I *really* hope to do the same, but so far sales haven't been spectacular. of course I *just* redesigned my shop. http://www.cafepress.com/lovejml
[2007.10.30 19:36:06] Lekker Jen: love the sound of it!
[2007.10.30 19:36:16] butterfly: I can share a bit about what we're doing....That would be devine!
[2007.10.30 19:36:16] BrittaCP: please do
[2007.10.30 19:36:25] AngelaCP: I do not want to see your design show up on my search for horse if it has nothing to do with horse :(
[2007.10.30 19:36:41] BrittaCP: yes, ma'am
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[2007.10.30 19:37:16] Romy: Right, and please don't put a t-shirt design on a license plate frame.
[2007.10.30 19:37:21] scarebaby has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.30 19:37:28] foxvox: Yes, please tag just for the subject matter - no 'christmas' type tags just because it might make a good holiday gift. (Sorry for harping - it's a pet peeve - LOL)
[2007.10.30 19:37:33] AngelaCP: So the focus is interests, hobbies, animals, etc... but will be organized to help shoppers find what they want...
[2007.10.30 19:37:43] dreamup has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.30 19:37:45] LoveJML: So silly question, should I tag "unicorn" with "horse" or would that be bad?
[2007.10.30 19:37:51] AngelaCP: Yes FoxVox...
[2007.10.30 19:37:59] Lekker Jen: and make sure we can read every word on a button or sticker - resize is your friend and brings you $$$
[2007.10.30 19:38:08] AngelaCP: I would say it's different not to do that...
[2007.10.30 19:38:38] Fricka: LoveJML I'd say yes, that's bad. a unicorn is not a horse :)
[2007.10.30 19:39:01] las65: to be in the holiday portal do we need to add an extra tag of holiday even though it has nothing to with holidays?
[2007.10.30 19:39:20] AngelaCP: You do not. It will be based on interests. If it's tagged correctly, it will come up.
[2007.10.30 19:39:57] AngelaCP: Please do not go and add these tags to your image just to come up...
[2007.10.30 19:40:03] foxvox: I'd tag unicorn with unicorn, myth, mythology, fantasy,magic, etc. People looking for horses don't often want unicorns, do they? Ask yourself questions from the shoppers perspective.
[2007.10.30 19:40:13] AngelaCP: those are good tags FoxVox
[2007.10.30 19:40:53] Fricka: Also... I think the CP search is a little like google, if you try and use too many tags then all of your tags will have less weight. Use more releveant tags but less ones and youll do better showing up for them (google doenst use tags but insert keyword targetting in there instead)
[2007.10.30 19:40:55] munkiy has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.30 19:41:08] Sag: People shop by pricing too, so remember that and by recipient. There are some directories that cater to people looking for Christmas gifts, find good ones and get approved and listed. Write Christmas articles and get them in isnare or Ezines for one way links to shops, etc. etc. etc.
[2007.10.30 19:41:19] horselovergurl: when's the best time to open up your holiday section if it's hidden?
[2007.10.30 19:41:59] LoveJML: OK, I get it. I just figured that because I thought of a unicorn as a horse with a horn that it would be ok, but I see now that it's not.
[2007.10.30 19:42:02] Sag: yesterday, horselover
[2007.10.30 19:42:05] char: it should have been opened already
[2007.10.30 19:42:07] Dooni Designs: i never hide mine.. christmas shoppers in july is fun!
[2007.10.30 19:42:10] Lekker Jen: I keep mine up year round. You never know...
[2007.10.30 19:42:12] Tex: I'm looking at getting my Holiday stuff all up in the next 48 hours.
[2007.10.30 19:42:16] horselovergurl: lol, got it!
[2007.10.30 19:42:47] Message sent to moderator(s)
[2007.10.30 19:42:51] Blonde Designs: some do start thier holiday shopping way early....i keep mine shown at all times..
[2007.10.30 19:43:03] LoveJML: it takes a couple of weeks for the search engines to index a section
[2007.10.30 19:43:22] foxvox: I try to encourage holiday-ish feel by adding a few snowflakes here and there in my shop design too. ;)
[2007.10.30 19:43:31] Fricka: I keep ornaments in my shop all year now but I don't actually decorate my shop until after Halloween (if I get around to it at all LOL -- sometimes I think I make holiday sales in spite of myself :P )
[2007.10.30 19:43:53] horselovergurl: I'm working on decoratiing it already...
[2007.10.30 19:44:09] Sag: Find hot blogs and get a banner on them for advertising, find niche sites where your shoppers frequent and buy some space, etc.
[2007.10.30 19:44:17] AngelaCP: Yes FoxVox - especially when it's early... put your browsers in a holiday shopping mood by making your shop festive. They may not be thinking "holiday gifts" but seeing your holiday touches can put them in the buying mood.
[2007.10.30 19:44:19] Fricka: but I definitely do other htings for holidays early (just not good with the decorating part for some reason)
[2007.10.30 19:44:30] cyi has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.30 19:44:40] las65: where can you learn code to add the pretty stuff to my shop?
[2007.10.30 19:44:57] LoveJML: So if I wanted to do a javascript falling snowflake theme, the time to set it up would be now?
[2007.10.30 19:44:57] AngelaCP: I have to say that works for me -- I know later this week... I'll see all the holiday things and want to get my shopping out of the way. Target already have their holiday section up...
[2007.10.30 19:45:07] horselovergurl: Do you have a premium shop, last 65?
[2007.10.30 19:45:21] las65: yes!!! sure do!
[2007.10.30 19:45:42] slamdunk has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.30 19:46:05] BrittaCP: anyone have some easy tutorial links for las65?
[2007.10.30 19:46:05] AngelaCP: hey everyone -- i got to get going...but britta will be here for the remainder of the chat.
[2007.10.30 19:46:19] AngelaCP: thank you and happy selling this holiday season.
[2007.10.30 19:46:25] AngelaCP has left the room (logged out)
[2007.10.30 19:46:25] Mr. Spaceman: Hi Ang!
[2007.10.30 19:46:25] LoveJML: whoops
[2007.10.30 19:46:26] las65: I work non-stop on designs but I need to create a better looking store front but don't know code. I'm a tad frustrated...does anyone have ant suggestion???
[2007.10.30 19:46:26] Dooni Designs: i have already sold a few xmas designs but for the most part, i sell lots of general designs through the season
[2007.10.30 19:46:26] Mr. Spaceman: I mean "niche" stuff
[2007.10.30 19:46:26] Blonde Designs: reg. stat counters on your page, wont tell you where your shoppers are coming fron tho
[2007.10.30 19:46:26] butterfly: instantcafe feeds help a lot, when the API's are working {cough.}:whistle:
[2007.10.30 19:46:26] Karen: The marketplace/shop source is not working
[2007.10.30 19:46:26] las65: horseluver....statcounter gives you all that info
[2007.10.30 19:46:26] MamaD.: I plan to give them to everyone for christmas
[2007.10.30 19:46:26] Mr. Spaceman: I assume that's good. How come I've not converted any sales yet ya think?
[2007.10.30 19:46:26] Romy: Just a thought, but this would have been a really good time for CP to make shipping to other nations more of a bargain (in relation to the question about sales).
[2007.10.30 19:46:26] las65: Thats not working for me!
[2007.10.30 19:46:27] horselovergurl: mods, just saying, but...we've wandered a bit from holiday like topics?
[2007.10.30 19:46:27] LoveJML: Mmm..cake...arararararararararar!!!
[2007.10.30 19:46:27] Mr. Spaceman: So, what about a ranking of "3rd" on Google? How soon can I expect to see sales conversions? Any guesses?
[2007.10.30 19:46:27] Karen: [LoveJML I'd say yes, that's bad. a unicorn is not a horse]
[2007.10.30 19:46:27] Karen: oops
[2007.10.30 19:46:27] las65: I withdraw the question foxvox
[2007.10.30 19:46:27] Dooni Designs: will the cafepress wire be updated soon?
[2007.10.30 19:46:27] butterfly: if I re-tag or change a tag from 6 months ago, will my product image loose it's place in the marketplace?
[2007.10.30 19:46:27] a little late: "Horse with a sword on its head" Scrubs reference lol
[2007.10.30 19:46:27] Romy: A unicorn might be classed as "equine", though.
[2007.10.30 19:46:27] Tex: What the heck, I had a St. Patrick's Day sale yesterday.
[2007.10.30 19:46:28] Karen: I would keep holiday sections open year round. I have sold Christmas in June. Sometimes people impulse buy. They are afraid it won't be there later
[2007.10.30 19:46:28] chm: Fricka, I make holiday sales in spite of myself too. : )
[2007.10.30 19:46:28] horselovergurl: i
[2007.10.30 19:46:33] chm: Thanks, Angela.
[2007.10.30 19:47:19] a little late: would it be a smart or silly move to open a new premium shop over the next couple of weeks? should i just focus on the shops I have already?
[2007.10.30 19:47:46] munkiy: i just got here. is there a way to get a transcript of this chat?
[2007.10.30 19:47:46] BrittaCP: it will posted later
[2007.10.30 19:47:52] horselovergurl: focus on your other shops right now, whether you open a new premium shop or not
[2007.10.30 19:48:24] Fricka: Mr Spaceman, depends on how many folsk search for that term in google, you can get an idea by using teh overture keyword tool (sorry dont have the link handy)
[2007.10.30 19:48:29] scarebaby has left the room (logged out)
[2007.10.30 19:48:43] Karen has left the room (logged out)
[2007.10.30 19:49:15] BrittaCP: Somebody earlier asked a question about what you guys do to get people to ign up for newsletters
[2007.10.30 19:49:27] BrittaCP: *sign
[2007.10.30 19:49:44] BrittaCP: any suggestions... is anyone doing anything festive with thier newsletters?
[2007.10.30 19:49:53] Mr. Spaceman: Fricka - thank you.
[2007.10.30 19:50:01] horselovergurl: i did that whole post on the CP forums for everyone to sign up for each others letters
[2007.10.30 19:50:11] horselovergurl: I'm doing the best of 2007 holiday designs
[2007.10.30 19:50:11] BrittaCP: in your newsletter?
[2007.10.30 19:50:28] horselovergurl: yep
[2007.10.30 19:50:28] horselovergurl has left the room (logged out)
[2007.10.30 19:50:30] horselovergurl: gotta go!
[2007.10.30 19:50:32] Tex: I don't care if they sign up or ign up for my newsletter, just so they do it
[2007.10.30 19:50:32] Dooni Designs has left the room (logged out)
[2007.10.30 19:50:41] BrittaCP: i guess anything helps
[2007.10.30 19:50:53] las65: me too Tex!
[2007.10.30 19:51:14] cowpie has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.30 19:51:43] Fricka: I am really bad about newsletters but they really do work! I'm lucky if I send one out but I am too scared to use a lot of html etc in them for fear of getting put in a spam folder. (I use my own hosted newsletter tool, not CP's one).
[2007.10.30 19:52:05] chm: I use the CafePress Newsletter Sign-Up Box. ( I'm still wondering about the spammers issue...??)
[2007.10.30 19:52:27] LoveJML: I unexpectedly got some newsubscribers recently, so I'll be sending another one before the week is out
[2007.10.30 19:52:32] Message sent to moderator(s)
[2007.10.30 19:52:35] foxvox: If you know someone with similar shop themes as yours and you each have a newsletter, you might consider cross promoting each other's shops in some way? Just a thought.
[2007.10.30 19:52:42] Mr. Spaceman: Spammers scare me too.
[2007.10.30 19:52:47] Blonde Designs: i think i've sent out one or two, because i dont have many that have subscribed to it...which is depressing lol
[2007.10.30 19:52:59] las65: I have the sign up box but no one signs up!
[2007.10.30 19:53:37] Tex: Those of you who are doing holiday decorating, would you post your shop id so that we can kinda drive by and see the purty lights, snowflakes, etc., etc., etc.
[2007.10.30 19:53:38] BrittaCP: I'll open up the lobby in a few minutes so that everyone can do this, and share thier festive shops
[2007.10.30 19:53:43] Winter: how do we know if someone has signed up? do we get an e-mail?
[2007.10.30 19:54:18] BrittaCP: If you're using a CafePress newsletter, there is an area where it will tell you how many subscribers you currently have
[2007.10.30 19:54:23] Tex: That's my experience, las65
[2007.10.30 19:54:26] Mr. Spaceman: Same here las65 - 'course I've only been here 6 months.
[2007.10.30 19:54:27] boldavenue has left the room (logged out)
[2007.10.30 19:54:33] chm: I have a lot of subscribers, but I'm starting to wonder how many are "real" subscribers (that possible spammer issue)
[2007.10.30 19:54:36] LoveJML: you go to view subscriber stats
[2007.10.30 19:54:39] chm: Winter, you see your number of subscribers in your CP newsletter section
[2007.10.30 19:54:42] foxvox: Snowflakes in background: http://www.cafepress.com/artoffoxvox ;)
[2007.10.30 19:54:57] chm: As JML said
[2007.10.30 19:55:07] las65: how can i decorate foxvox?
[2007.10.30 19:55:08] Winter: oh, okay, thank you, chm
[2007.10.30 19:55:58] BrittaCP: you should see the notebook icon, you can use that to grab a trasnscript
[2007.10.30 19:56:00] butterfly: can we have a re-cap? important stuff, please?!? I just don't feel like we've gained any pertinent information here...
[2007.10.30 19:56:09] BrittaCP: that was to butterfly... sorry working in reverse
[2007.10.30 19:56:13] Winter: thanks jml
[2007.10.30 19:56:14] LoveJML: very flaky, fox ;)
[2007.10.30 19:56:15] chm: You're welcome, Winter. Happy Selling.
[2007.10.30 19:56:34] las65: templates????? Any out there?
[2007.10.30 19:56:40] foxvox: las65 - it takes a bit of html knowledge, but not too much. If you don't know html, learn! Lots of good tutorials online! :)
[2007.10.30 19:56:44] Sag: If you have an independent newsletter other than CP's you can offer them a $9.99 yearly calendar for $5.99 as a Christmas gift if they sign up for your newsletter.
[2007.10.30 19:56:51] Fricka: This was a roundtable discussion so in some ways you get what you put into it
[2007.10.30 19:56:53] LoveJML: No problem folks, always glad to help
[2007.10.30 19:56:54] foxvox: LOL - thanks, LoveJML.
[2007.10.30 19:56:57] Lekker Jen: learn html or get someone to do it for you - there are links in the forums
[2007.10.30 19:56:59] Message sent to moderator(s)
[2007.10.30 19:57:06] butterfly has left the room (logged out)
[2007.10.30 19:57:08] chm: I think Angela made an important point - about the CP target for interests, hobbies, etc.
[2007.10.30 19:57:08] Winter has left the room (logged out)
[2007.10.30 19:57:13] dtdgoomba has left the room (logged out)
[2007.10.30 19:57:37] foxvox: I believe Audrie (Peon Productions) is offering shop decorating help (for $) - you can find her on the forums.
[2007.10.30 19:57:51] char has left the room (logged out)
[2007.10.30 19:57:55] Sag: Audrie did mine and she is wonderful
[2007.10.30 19:58:11] Mr. Spaceman: Yeah, I think an SK in the last meeting was doing holiday templates.
[2007.10.30 19:58:29] BrittaCP: alright gang... I hope you all got something out this.
[2007.10.30 19:59:01] BrittaCP: Question before closing up (don't worry, the lobby will be opened). Does this sort of open roundtable discussion work for you?
[2007.10.30 19:59:06] NiftyGaloot has left the room (logged out)
[2007.10.30 19:59:10] Hand & Paw: Thanks Britta..
[2007.10.30 19:59:16] las65: yes thanks!
[2007.10.30 19:59:29] Mr. Spaceman: I liked it.
[2007.10.30 19:59:30] Tex: Somewhat
[2007.10.30 19:59:36] las65 has left the room (logged out)

Holiday Prep CP Chat 10-18-2007

[2007.10.18 18:59:32] Welcome to the CafePress Chat Room
[2007.10.18 18:59:32] Dooni Designs has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.18 18:59:32] All users in this room have been allowed to talk
[2007.10.18 18:59:37] peon: I'm having a "deck your shop's halls" promo. AM I allowed to mention that here?
[2007.10.18 18:59:43] AngelaCP: Sure!
[2007.10.18 18:59:48] SFFriar has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.18 18:59:49] BabyDave has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.18 18:59:59] AngelaCP: We want to keep this interactive so throw out tips and experiences for the rest of the SKs in chat :)
[2007.10.18 19:00:16] AngelaCP: okay, so we're ready to begin....
[2007.10.18 19:00:17] AngelaCP: Thank you for joining us for chat today. Today’s chat topic is Holiday Shop Navigation.
[2007.10.18 19:00:19] BrittaCP: You can give more detail at the end of the chat, if you'd like - peon
[2007.10.18 19:00:26] magadog1 has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.18 19:00:48] AngelaCP: What we’re really sharing with you are the best practices of shop layout/navigation to make sure you’re doing all you can to help conversion over the holidays. We all know that’s the biggest shopping season of the year!
[2007.10.18 19:01:03] AngelaCP: Before we begin, this is a reminder that this chat is moderated. For those new to chat, your questions or comments will be put in a queue and will only be posted once we push it live. We do get a lot of posts coming in and we’ll do our best to get to as many questions and comments possible.
[2007.10.18 19:01:12] AngelaCP: sooo.... So let’s get started.
[2007.10.18 19:01:32] Trevor has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.18 19:01:44] AngelaCP: There are two main things to think about for shop navigation. We'll cover two and later you can toss out more ideas...
[2007.10.18 19:01:53] AngelaCP: The first one is making sure what you want your customers to see is above the fold.
[2007.10.18 19:02:04] AngelaCP: Dedicate at least the top ½ or 1/3 of your shop to the Holidays. This is called placing things above the fold or above the scroll– “folds” meaning that part of a screen where you have to start scrolling down.
[2007.10.18 19:02:19] AngelaCP: This is where you want to have keep the stuff that you want people to see first, and in this case that would be your most festive and awesome Holiday designs.
[2007.10.18 19:02:32] AngelaCP: Since this is the place that customers will see first, use it as a starting spot to get them excited about not only Holiday shopping, but holiday shopping in YOUR shop. Get your customers in and get them clicking on the goods all the way to checkout.
[2007.10.18 19:02:38] sanetv has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.18 19:02:41] magadog1: Move holiday items and 2008 calendar sections to the top of your shop in its own sections?
[2007.10.18 19:02:46] peon2 has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.18 19:03:02] AngelaCP: Yes, that would be a good idea! We'll have a chat to go over top products and content over the holidays...
[2007.10.18 19:03:22] AngelaCP: but calendars are definitely one of the better selling holiday items... it's calendar season
[2007.10.18 19:03:26] Blonde Designs has left the room (logged out)
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[2007.10.18 19:04:03] AngelaCP: For those that attended last week’s Holiday SEO chat, you’ll know this is also the area to put your shop intro. Be sure to add keywords that are relevant to your shop towards the top.
[2007.10.18 19:04:10] saneTV has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
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[2007.10.18 19:04:25] ninaPA has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.18 19:04:30] AngelaCP: Search Engines places a higher priority on content found in the header/top of your site
[2007.10.18 19:04:48] AngelaCP: I'll be honest and say that's what I learned today... but most of you may already know this fact
[2007.10.18 19:05:01] doh has left the room (logged out)
[2007.10.18 19:05:07] AngelaCP: SEO content is most beneficial on the top of the site vs footer
[2007.10.18 19:05:10] saneTV: In the < head>?
[2007.10.18 19:05:29] AngelaCP: Does anyone know? I don't know the details of the code as I do the general placement?
[2007.10.18 19:05:34] peon2: so, as far as navigation goes, which is more effective - links n a sidebar or a dropdown menu?
[2007.10.18 19:05:47] AngelaCP: Links in a side bar
[2007.10.18 19:05:48] peon2: yes, that would be the head
[2007.10.18 19:06:13] AngelaCP: Thanks peon2. So add your SEO copy in the head
[2007.10.18 19:06:16] magadog1: If there is too much copy in the description, is that detrimental
[2007.10.18 19:06:18] AngelaCP: Yes
[2007.10.18 19:06:33] AngelaCP: Since this is the visible area to your customers, do not use all your space on the shop intro. I have seen shops that have LONG shop intros. That may be good for SEO, but not a very good customer experience…
[2007.10.18 19:06:57] AngelaCP: you guys have seen THOSE shops right ;)
[2007.10.18 19:07:10] AngelaCP: where the content is over and beyond the "above the fold" area?
[2007.10.18 19:07:13] Lekker Jen has left the room (logged out)
[2007.10.18 19:07:14] saneTV: Knowing if SEO content goes best in the head or body would help enormously
[2007.10.18 19:07:21] Lekker Jen has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.18 19:07:31] AngelaCP: Good to know... yes, head is optimal SEO area
[2007.10.18 19:07:36] saneTV: I find that some of what usually goes into shop intros can go into other parts, even product descriptions
[2007.10.18 19:07:39] Karen has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.18 19:08:00] AngelaCP: So back to long shop intro: Customers may see and leave because they are not enticed to move on and explore your shop further.
[2007.10.18 19:08:04] BabyDave: There is no BEST in SEO ther is only "better" or "Not as good"
[2007.10.18 19:08:17] AngelaCP: thanks for correcting me BabyDave ;)
[2007.10.18 19:08:43] roro1279 has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.18 19:08:49] AngelaCP: I'll say I know my SEO from learnings from SKs, experts, and what I read
[2007.10.18 19:08:56] maryo has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.18 19:09:05] AngelaCP: I think if we can all share our thoughts...that would help everyone here :)
[2007.10.18 19:09:20] rametta: I think you have mistaken the head for the header section
[2007.10.18 19:09:34] peon2: does putting a lot of text in an "alt" work then?
[2007.10.18 19:09:48] AngelaCP: Putting good keywords in Alt Tags definitely work
[2007.10.18 19:09:49] palmetto has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.18 19:09:51] dtdgoomba: Head tags like keywords, descriptions are treated no differently than normal page content. Don't go overboard, or you'll be seen as a spammer. Just write a nice short clean description, and use some keywords that really describe the content on the page. Then try to keep important elements in your initial opening content like H1, H2 Tags. Just make it user readable, be concise with keywords.
[2007.10.18 19:10:05] Lekker Jen: peon - definitely.
[2007.10.18 19:10:13] BabyDave: well, ALL text is useful formthe SEO side, but some text is more useful and too much of anything is not a good buyer experience
[2007.10.18 19:10:51] dtdgoomba: Alt tags help search engines, people with slow connections loading images, and people that are visually impaired, so it's all win.
[2007.10.18 19:10:55] peon2: doesn't google ignore the meta tag - keywords though?
[2007.10.18 19:11:16] AngelaCP: I don't believe so...but I'll let the SEO experts here weigh in
[2007.10.18 19:11:24] magadog1: extra prepositions, adjectives, adverbs should be minimized?
[2007.10.18 19:11:34] roro1279 has left the room (logged out)
[2007.10.18 19:11:43] Lekker Jen: I don't think they ignore it - they just don't rank it as important as other stuff. Yahoo seems to like them.
[2007.10.18 19:11:48] AngelaCP: No because there is more than SEO. There's customer experience, conversion, etc.
[2007.10.18 19:11:49] dtdgoomba: google will ignore some things, but it won't hurt you for all other engines. As long as you don't spam them, you can't be hurt by it
[2007.10.18 19:12:00] saneTV: More words are not better than the *right* words :)
[2007.10.18 19:12:06] AngelaCP: bingo :)
[2007.10.18 19:12:11] cowpie: When is the best time to move our Christmas items to the forefront? After halloween? Now?
[2007.10.18 19:12:54] AngelaCP: after halloween will be good...but you can even do it now if you are ready. Make halloween your highlight and the holiday as a lowlight
[2007.10.18 19:12:55] ninaPA: I've started moving my Christmas sections front and center
[2007.10.18 19:13:10] saneTV: I have too
[2007.10.18 19:13:20] ninaPA: Also adding Christmas text to shop description and section description areas where appropriate
[2007.10.18 19:13:20] AngelaCP: Once halloween is over, you're ready to make holidays your highlight and have gotten the SEO out while you're waiting
[2007.10.18 19:13:30] cowpie: I know some people get turned off if you start pushing Christmas too soon.
[2007.10.18 19:13:33] BabyDave: Now is the bet time to write SEO oriented text for holiday shoppers -- we are not likely to get more than one more visit form google bots before years end
[2007.10.18 19:13:37] AngelaCP: so lowlight will work
[2007.10.18 19:13:55] AngelaCP: get your sectoins all ready, but no need to put on all the festive dressings for your shop
[2007.10.18 19:14:09] peon2: so is using google's keyword suggestor not the best way to find the "right" words then?
[2007.10.18 19:14:20] peon2: me like-y the festive dressings
[2007.10.18 19:14:23] AngelaCP: me too!
[2007.10.18 19:14:35] AngelaCP: any questions about above the fold?
[2007.10.18 19:14:55] AngelaCP: this is really important in terms of shopping experience
[2007.10.18 19:15:08] AngelaCP: Make the “above the fold” area visually appealing and display what you have to offer. This is a first impression for your first time visitors.
[2007.10.18 19:15:08] Blonde Designs has left the room (logged out)
[2007.10.18 19:15:10] ninaPA: I'm getting a lot of holiday shoppers already, based on what they are buying. Personally I think internet shoppers may start early, wanting to make sure they get things shipped to them in time.
[2007.10.18 19:15:22] AngelaCP: Based on data... they start as early as 10/28
[2007.10.18 19:15:29] AngelaCP: oops 10/23
[2007.10.18 19:15:38] cynthia.nicole has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
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[2007.10.18 19:16:02] AngelaCP: so, i guess it's never too early... but that doesn't mean the full package early on...
[2007.10.18 19:16:09] magadog1: Do we remove the holiday keywords from every level after the holidays and "store" them?
[2007.10.18 19:16:16] bridey has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.18 19:16:26] Blonde Designs has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.18 19:16:34] AngelaCP: What I've seen SKs do is hide or lowlight their holiday seasons but leave the keywords for SEO
[2007.10.18 19:16:58] AngelaCP: On your storefront, definitely remove holidays if i'ts not relevant. You can keep a link on the side bar for holiday
[2007.10.18 19:17:21] AngelaCP: So no more questions on above the fold? We'll move on to how to organize your shop.
[2007.10.18 19:17:26] BrittaCP: There are several different ways to organize your shop.
[2007.10.18 19:17:51] designsbyshawn has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.18 19:17:52] BrittaCP: With your premium shops you can create sections. Have all of you created a Holiday section in your shop yet?
[2007.10.18 19:18:08] Butterfly: yep!
[2007.10.18 19:18:21] cowpie: Yep!
[2007.10.18 19:18:22] peon2: that's a big 10-4 ghostrider
[2007.10.18 19:18:24] BrittaCP: sweet
[2007.10.18 19:18:28] magadog1: Yes. Separated into cards, gifts, calendars.
[2007.10.18 19:18:35] BrittaCP: To reiterate - make sure you have this section above the fold.
[2007.10.18 19:19:03] BrittaCP: You can create your sections according to...
[2007.10.18 19:19:23] BrittaCP: (and I have some examples that i will be showing you in a seconf
[2007.10.18 19:19:24] Kate @ LittleLizzyLou has left the room (logged out)
[2007.10.18 19:19:33] BrittaCP: Design
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[2007.10.18 19:20:01] BrittaCP sent a picture:
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[2007.10.18 19:20:31] BrittaCP: So when you click on the sectio, you'll see all the prodcuts with that same design
[2007.10.18 19:20:44] BrittaCP: I think this is the most common way that SK's will create thier sections
[2007.10.18 19:21:04] BrittaCP: Occasion
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[2007.10.18 19:21:44] BrittaCP: I don't have a picture for occasion, but what it means is creating sections like: Birthday, Wedding, Congrats!
[2007.10.18 19:22:03] Mr. Spaceman has left the room (logged out)
[2007.10.18 19:22:21] BrittaCP: or if you're doing holiday perhaps: Xmas, Kwanza, Winter Solitice
[2007.10.18 19:22:26] AngelaCP: Hanukkah
[2007.10.18 19:22:50] magadog1: What if you have TONS of designs?
[2007.10.18 19:22:55] AngelaCP: She's share more...
[2007.10.18 19:22:58] AngelaCP: or we'll cover that ;)
[2007.10.18 19:23:14] BrittaCP: Product type
[2007.10.18 19:23:29] BrittaCP sent a picture:
[2007.10.18 19:24:05] BrittaCP: here you're breaking your sections down in Stationary, ornaments, hoodies...
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[2007.10.18 19:24:19] BrittaCP: Demographic: women, men, baby
[2007.10.18 19:24:26] SlackerPlanet: What do you suggest should be put in a Holiday Section? My shop does not have Holiday Themed designs.
[2007.10.18 19:24:51] AngelaCP: So slackerplanet, for a shop that will not have holiday themed designs this is what you should do
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[2007.10.18 19:25:20] AngelaCP: You can still festive your shop and get your customers to buy gifts for the family, friends, and loved ones for the holiday
[2007.10.18 19:25:36] AngelaCP: organize by putting a his/her/baby/pet section
[2007.10.18 19:26:18] AngelaCP: You can also add some product stuff such as ornaments or stationary. You can add a Happy Holidays copy to your existing designs and add it on cards for the holidays.
[2007.10.18 19:26:28] BrittaCP: With Demographic, you can create sections "For Her," "For Him"
[2007.10.18 19:26:37] peon2: stress what great gifts your non-holiday designs would be
[2007.10.18 19:26:40] BrittaCP: get all your girly stuff in one section
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[2007.10.18 19:27:04] magadog1: That works, Britta?
[2007.10.18 19:27:19] BrittaCP: it creates another form of easy navigation for your cutomers
[2007.10.18 19:27:49] BrittaCP: it's helps in making browsing easier... for instance I know i want to get something for my mom
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[2007.10.18 19:28:05] ninaPA: it works for us!
[2007.10.18 19:28:18] BrittaCP: so I may look under the :for her" section, or if you have a "For Mom" section
[2007.10.18 19:28:29] magadog1: That is probably my worst problem-- keeping up with the products and keeping them organized.
[2007.10.18 19:28:41] Ophelia: The "browse by type" menu links are a great way to pull up all of one item like say ornaments, even if you have your shop organized by design
[2007.10.18 19:28:44] ninaPA has left the room (logged out)
[2007.10.18 19:29:01] BrittaCP: exactly.... you can place one of these in your shop if you don't currently use one
[2007.10.18 19:29:05] BrittaCP: Ang is pulling up the code
[2007.10.18 19:29:33] AngelaCP: http://www.cafepress.com/cp/info/help/help_pulldown.aspx
[2007.10.18 19:29:39] AngelaCP: it's on that page
[2007.10.18 19:29:53] photographz: Do you move the products out of the regular sections or "mirror" them somehow?
[2007.10.18 19:30:20] BrittaCP: So eevn if your shop is organized by design, or demographic.... and perhaps I don't care who I'm giving the gift to... i just know i want to buy a bunch of ornaments for coworkers... the drop down menu will help me find them in your shop in a snap
[2007.10.18 19:30:48] BrittaCP: Ok... next organization method: Category: Hot sellers, new arrivals, special deals
[2007.10.18 19:30:51] AngelaCP: Photographz, it's hard to manage so the Product Pull down is your best bet. Does anyone have an example you can share? I'll see if I can pull one up
[2007.10.18 19:31:12] BabyDave: mirror them only -- don't move products from standard sections
[2007.10.18 19:31:13] Mr. Spaceman has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.18 19:31:20] peon2: is there a product type number for the new products?
[2007.10.18 19:31:30] BrittaCP sent a picture:
[2007.10.18 19:31:31] AngelaCP: The buttons and yardsigns?
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[2007.10.18 19:31:58] BrittaCP: Catagories means things like : "What's hot," "What's New" "limited Edition"
[2007.10.18 19:32:22] BrittaCP: Now... if you have a whole bunch of designs... you can also create subsections
[2007.10.18 19:32:42] BrittaCP: so your 1st section is perhaps Design Type
[2007.10.18 19:32:54] BrittaCP: like "retro" or "gothic"
[2007.10.18 19:33:15] BrittaCP sent a picture:
[2007.10.18 19:33:35] BrittaCP: Or in the case of Garfield, Attitude designs, and vintage designs
[2007.10.18 19:34:06] BrittaCP: when you go inside, you'll see the sub sections with the designs inside
[2007.10.18 19:34:06] saneTV: Britta, I have a "Best sellers' section that is just that: designs that have proved to be classics. Word-of-mouth sends people to my shop, and people want to see these popular designs right away
[2007.10.18 19:34:09] BrittaCP: make sense?
[2007.10.18 19:34:15] SFFriar: BabyDave, How do you mirror a section?
[2007.10.18 19:34:17] photographz: @ babydave-how do you mirror them?
[2007.10.18 19:34:19] boldavenue: photographz you can use "import" to copy objects into your holiday section
[2007.10.18 19:34:24] BrittaCP: Great Sane
[2007.10.18 19:34:33] bridey: can you set up a link in the side bar to just ornaments, or just greeting cards where it will just pull up the results as if the clicked on one of the items in the pull down menu?
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[2007.10.18 19:34:41] AngelaCP: Yes and SKs have done that.
[2007.10.18 19:35:36] saneTV has left the room (logged out)
[2007.10.18 19:35:38] AngelaCP: I love seeing the shops that put their product specific categories in the top navbar. Does anyone here have that?
[2007.10.18 19:35:46] BrittaCP: so with all the different methods to organize, think about which one will work best for you. Do you have a few designs, many? how can they bundled into a nice package?
[2007.10.18 19:36:06] Lifeinazoo has left the room (logged out)
[2007.10.18 19:36:18] AngelaCP: To an earlier question about the product type:
[2007.10.18 19:36:20] Ophelia: 3.5 button = 203, 10 pack=204, 100 pack=205, yard sign = 206
[2007.10.18 19:36:27] AngelaCP: Thanks Ophelia
[2007.10.18 19:36:34] CYI: Most of my search engine traffic lands in one of my sub-sections (motorcycles, Halloween, etc). I put banners in each of these subsections as well to make them more visually appealing to buyers.
[2007.10.18 19:36:44] AngelaCP: That's a great idea CYI... thanks for sharing
[2007.10.18 19:36:48] photographz: I believe someone told me Google base doesn't like duplicate information (same name, description).
[2007.10.18 19:36:54] peon2: sorry, Ang. Yes, buttons and yard signs. Those yard signs are going to make some cool holiday decorations.
[2007.10.18 19:37:15] AngelaCP: yes. These election geared products will work for the holidays or any occasion
[2007.10.18 19:37:19] peon2: cafepress.com/weddwear has done that
[2007.10.18 19:37:54] AngelaCP: nice! thanks for sharing peon
[2007.10.18 19:38:11] saneTV: Get all the arm-weather sweats and long sleevesd in one area for a winter section -- even mugs, for hot cocoa!
[2007.10.18 19:38:28] AngelaCP: That's a great idea Sane
[2007.10.18 19:38:59] AngelaCP: Let us know if you have any questions... we'll go back and answer some of the unanwered questions earlier....
[2007.10.18 19:39:14] peon has left the room (logged out)
[2007.10.18 19:39:25] BrittaCP: I like that idea... you don't neccisarly need "holiday" items, but can still sell your winter themed stuff
[2007.10.18 19:39:32] AngelaCP: we are focusing on these two areas so your shop for the holidays are optimized for the big rush of shopping :)
[2007.10.18 19:39:52] BabyDave: SKs worried about sending duplicate info to google base can nirror products into holiday sections and give them new names.
[2007.10.18 19:40:37] BabyDave: These special sections should be IN ADDITION to the normal design based sections, not replecements -- don't mess up affiliates that link to your design sections
[2007.10.18 19:40:52] Ophelia: You'll probably want different descriptions in the holiday section anyway... more holiday-ish text
[2007.10.18 19:40:59] BrittaCP: for sure
[2007.10.18 19:41:23] AngelaCP: Looks like we got most of the questoins answered... if not, feel free to post again
[2007.10.18 19:41:40] designsbyshawn has left the room (logged out)
[2007.10.18 19:41:54] AngelaCP: I know there are some SEO questions before we moved on... so we're more than happy to answer questions about that now... seems like that's an area you all want to focus on
[2007.10.18 19:42:11] peon2 sent a picture:
[2007.10.18 19:42:16] bearabull7 has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.18 19:42:29] peon2: oops
[2007.10.18 19:42:32] AngelaCP: haha
[2007.10.18 19:42:35] AngelaCP: we were lost...
[2007.10.18 19:42:42] AngelaCP: anything to share peon?
[2007.10.18 19:42:47] BrittaCP: well... now you have to explain, young lady
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[2007.10.18 19:42:58] AngelaCP: your holiday logos?
[2007.10.18 19:43:00] Lekker Jen: those are great, girl!
[2007.10.18 19:43:05] peon2: um, I'm offering holiday makeovers for cafepress shops.
[2007.10.18 19:43:11] AngelaCP: haha
[2007.10.18 19:43:16] peon2: details at peonproductions.com
[2007.10.18 19:43:45] AngelaCP: we have 15 minutes left...and it's fairly quiet... no questions coming in or comments
[2007.10.18 19:43:49] cynthia.nicole has left the room (logged out)
[2007.10.18 19:43:54] peon2: I'm giving seven makeover options, $20 each or 3 for $50
[2007.10.18 19:44:04] peon2: and the logo makeover is one option
[2007.10.18 19:44:15] SlackerPlanet has left the room (logged out)
[2007.10.18 19:44:19] AngelaCP: If there are no more, we can get everyone in open chat in the lobby to brainstorm and chat...
[2007.10.18 19:44:29] SFFriar: Angela ~ is there a group within CP that analyzes your website and gives suggestions... or, can you recomend any software that is best for doing this?
[2007.10.18 19:44:34] Sag: put me down, Audrie!
[2007.10.18 19:44:45] AngelaCP: Are you talking about for a SK shop?
[2007.10.18 19:44:50] peon2: no waiting list for this one, sag!
[2007.10.18 19:44:54] SFFriar: Yes
[2007.10.18 19:44:55] AngelaCP: you mean critiquing?
[2007.10.18 19:45:19] SFFriar: Yes LOL
[2007.10.18 19:45:29] AngelaCP: I would suggest the CafePress Community Forums
[2007.10.18 19:45:34] bridey has left the room (logged out)
[2007.10.18 19:45:49] AngelaCP: There's a forum for shop/design feedback: http://forums.cafepress.com/eve/forums/a/frm/f/784104
[2007.10.18 19:46:10] peon2: hmmm - I smell a new service. Guess I need to improve my SEO skills a bit
[2007.10.18 19:46:13] bearabull7: angela, any chance for a quick synopsis?
[2007.10.18 19:46:28] AngelaCP: We'll have a transcript up by early next week...
[2007.10.18 19:46:53] Ophelia: Another nice thing theme to do for holidays is "gifts under $20", "gifts under $10" etc.
[2007.10.18 19:46:56] AngelaCP: Some SKs may already have the chat notes so you can review
[2007.10.18 19:47:07] BrittaCP: that's an excellent idea... during the holidays, everyone loves a deal
[2007.10.18 19:47:17] AngelaCP: Yes Ophelia! I like the stocking stuffer section
[2007.10.18 19:47:17] BabyDave: I suggest SK do a lot of reading in the forums -- many MANY questions have been answered very well already
[2007.10.18 19:47:19] Message sent to moderator(s)
[2007.10.18 19:47:26] photographz: No one has mentioned count down banners yet
[2007.10.18 19:47:38] BrittaCP: I've been seeing these a lot this year
[2007.10.18 19:47:38] Lekker Jen has left the room (logged out)
[2007.10.18 19:47:38] Mr. Spaceman: One suggestion I have to Mr. SFFriar is to study the shops of more experienced SKs. I've looked at several including Lekker Designs.
[2007.10.18 19:47:47] BrittaCP: care to share where you can find one photo?
[2007.10.18 19:47:50] peon2: oh - great idea! i will add that to my options
[2007.10.18 19:48:22] photographz: Here's a URL: http://ult-tex.net/counts/index.cgi
[2007.10.18 19:49:08] SFFriar: Does anyone use a specific software to SEO your site?
[2007.10.18 19:49:20] Fricka: funny sharing related to the countdown: http://www.isitchristmas.com
[2007.10.18 19:49:24] AngelaCP: Not the actual seoing... that's all in your brain ;)
[2007.10.18 19:49:35] BrittaCP: the cheapest software of them all
[2007.10.18 19:49:38] AngelaCP: There are tools you can use to help you come up with more keywords, etc
[2007.10.18 19:49:47] BabyDave: There is no such thing as SEO software -- SEO is all about writing
[2007.10.18 19:49:54] Butterfly: Fricka: Haaaaaaaaa!:-D
[2007.10.18 19:50:02] peon2: um, my software must be obselete
[2007.10.18 19:50:09] BrittaCP: i know that feeling... mine needs an upgrade
[2007.10.18 19:50:14] photographz: lol fricka
[2007.10.18 19:50:33] bearabull7: will there be holiday banners that cafepress will make available for SK's?
[2007.10.18 19:50:58] AngelaCP: we are working on a few things and hope to have banners....
[2007.10.18 19:51:08] peon2: [I'll be offering custom banners for your individual shop to offer to your affiliates]
[2007.10.18 19:51:12] SFFriar: It sure is nice using all you guys software! :whistle:
[2007.10.18 19:51:23] magadog1: or templates?
[2007.10.18 19:51:40] AngelaCP: we probably won't have templates.
[2007.10.18 19:51:47] Ophelia: i liked the promotion calendar last year, is CP doing that again this year?
[2007.10.18 19:51:54] BrittaCP: we don't genreally have holiday templates... but it sounds like peon has some goodies
[2007.10.18 19:52:09] AngelaCP: We're working on a few things. Are you asking about the sweepstakes or the calendar about dates to remember?
[2007.10.18 19:52:15] peon2: SFFriar is piratin software! somebody stop him!!!
[2007.10.18 19:52:25] peon2: I'll try to add a few to cplayouts if I can
[2007.10.18 19:52:39] CYI: Now you have to tell about the sweepstakes for us newbies!
[2007.10.18 19:52:53] AngelaCP: Last year we had a sweepstakes for the 12 day of holiday
[2007.10.18 19:53:11] AngelaCP: it was more for buyers...they come to our site and get a chance to win the prize for that day.
[2007.10.18 19:53:31] photographz: There's a cany cane stripy template on CP in the Holidays & occasions part
[2007.10.18 19:53:37] Ophelia: There was a calendar of promotions... free shipping such and such dates, shipping free upgrade these dates, maybe that was the year before?
[2007.10.18 19:53:49] Winter has left the room (logged out)
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[2007.10.18 19:54:06] AngelaCP: We might have... my memory isn't too clear :') but will have some things for this year
[2007.10.18 19:54:08] magadog1: photographz, where is that??
[2007.10.18 19:54:10] photographz: Sample shop url: http://www.cafepress.com/templates0031e
[2007.10.18 19:54:38] Winter has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.18 19:54:41] AngelaCP: So the hour is up and we want you to continue chatting so we'll open up the lobby
[2007.10.18 19:54:46] Winter has left the room (logged out)
[2007.10.18 19:54:46] AngelaCP: we do hope the chat today helped
[2007.10.18 19:54:57] AngelaCP: We hope to see lots of great holiday shops :)
[2007.10.18 19:55:06] bearabull7: where do we find peon2's info at?
[2007.10.18 19:55:08] AngelaCP: as all the seasoned SKs know...holidays are BIG!!!
[2007.10.18 19:55:13] photographz: Go to Customize, templates, by topic, holidays & occasions
[2007.10.18 19:55:29] AngelaCP: so thank you everyone for attending!
[2007.10.18 19:55:43] AngelaCP: The week after...we'll have a holiday sharing chat
[2007.10.18 19:56:03] BabyDave has left the room
[2007.10.18 19:56:03] AngelaCP: basically an open chat with holidays as the main topic
[2007.10.18 19:56:06] chm: Thanks, Angela, Britta, and all! :)
[2007.10.18 19:56:06] CYI: Thank you Ang & Britta!
[2007.10.18 19:56:07] cowpie: Thanks Angela....thanks Britta!
[2007.10.18 19:56:08] magadog1: thanks
[2007.10.18 19:56:11] peon2: http://www.peonproductions.com
[2007.10.18 19:56:14] peon2: off to the lobby
[2007.10.18 19:56:17] AngelaCP: bye everyone!

Holiday SEO Meeting

[2007.10.09 19:03:49] Welcome to the CafePress Chat Room
[2007.10.09 19:03:49] Blonde Designs has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.09 19:03:49] All users in this room have been allowed to talk
[2007.10.09 19:03:53] AngelaCP: Based on previous chats, instead of focusing on one Holiday Prep chat we’ve decided to make our Holiday Prep chat a series focused on each area so we can cover more information during the chat...
[2007.10.09 19:04:03] Valerie1 has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.09 19:04:04] scarebaby has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.09 19:04:10] AngelaCP: Before we begin, this is a reminder that this chat is moderated. For those new to chat, your questions or comments will be put in a queue and will only be posted once we push it live. We do get a lot of posts coming in and we’ll do our best to get to as many questions and comments possible.
[2007.10.09 19:04:22] AngelaCP: So let’s get started. I recognize a lot seasoned Shopkeepers (sks) today… I bet most, if not all, of you that have experienced a few holidays with CafePress is already on top of Holiday SEO for your shop?
[2007.10.09 19:04:23] scarebaby has left the room (logged out)
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[2007.10.09 19:04:32] scarebaby has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.09 19:04:37] AngelaCP: GET AN EARLY START ON HOLIDAY SEO
[2007.10.09 19:04:49] AngelaCP: As most seasoned SKs know, getting an early start on optimizing your shop for search engines is BENEFICIAL.
[2007.10.09 19:04:55] magadog1 has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.09 19:05:07] AngelaCP: During the Holiday season, everybody's shopping for everything and search engines are one of the top ways to find gifts during the Holidays.
[2007.10.09 19:05:13] AngelaCP: Do you all agree? ;)
[2007.10.09 19:05:25] birdface@comcast.net: si
[2007.10.09 19:05:27] magadog1: yes. . .
[2007.10.09 19:05:29] AngelaCP: Starting early means your pages get indexed for the related holiday terms… terms customers are using to search on search engines such as Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc…
[2007.10.09 19:05:42] AngelaCP: Can anyone share more about this? Experiences of how early SEO have paid off.
[2007.10.09 19:05:45] The Shadow: Google is your friend... sometimes :)
[2007.10.09 19:05:51] AngelaCP: it's good to have google as your friend ;)
[2007.10.09 19:05:58] BGryphon has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.09 19:05:58] AngelaCP: very rewarding isn't it?
[2007.10.09 19:06:04] NiftyGaloot: Yep, Xmas 2009's comin' up soon! Time to get the SEO goin'
[2007.10.09 19:06:19] KC Graphics: lol:-D
[2007.10.09 19:06:22] CKrawesky has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.09 19:06:37] AngelaCP: no sharing of past experiences w/early SEO?
[2007.10.09 19:06:40] magadog1: Do you have to sign up for additional search engine services?
[2007.10.09 19:06:57] Not Sure has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.09 19:06:57] AngelaCP: No. It's a matter of optimizing your for search engines - to get indexed
[2007.10.09 19:07:07] kippy: Google is absolutely indexing new sites like mad right now, FYI, so it's not too late to get a quality site out there and seen!
[2007.10.09 19:07:14] The Shadow: I have only been late with SEO but Google seems to pick me up fast
[2007.10.09 19:07:17] AngelaCP: I'll touch upon how in a moment... britta made fancy screen shots to help illustrate it
[2007.10.09 19:07:19] magadog1: Search Engine Optimization=SEO?
[2007.10.09 19:07:24] BrittaCP: YES, EXACTLY
[2007.10.09 19:07:29] AngelaCP: correct Kippy... For Holidays, if you already started great! If you haven’t…now is the time. It’s early October. Ideally you’ll want to be ready now so your pages are indexed for early Holiday shoppers.
[2007.10.09 19:07:53] The Shadow: remember you main page is probably indexed the most often so that is where I try to make the largest effect
[2007.10.09 19:08:15] Stratman has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.09 19:08:20] AngelaCP: Thanks Shadow. I agree. You can add more to this in a moment when I share where to SEO ;)
[2007.10.09 19:08:34] AngelaCP: Although it’s better early… it’s always better late than never!
[2007.10.09 19:08:37] The Shadow: ok :)
[2007.10.09 19:08:40] magadog1: Oh, so you change the copy a bit on yours shop home page?
[2007.10.09 19:08:46] balance has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.09 19:09:06] AngelaCP: Yes. You have more flexibility if you have a Premium Shop though...
[2007.10.09 19:09:13] magadog1: Or do you add a bunch of words like "holiday" "Christmas," etc to your images?
[2007.10.09 19:09:19] Robb has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.09 19:09:24] foxvox: I usually put up featured gifts, lots of good holiday text, and perhaps make a snowflake background to make it look more festive. ;-)
[2007.10.09 19:09:37] AngelaCP: That's tagging. Last week we went over this. It's better to describe the image vs putting things like christmas, holiday, etc.
[2007.10.09 19:09:39] The Shadow: copy, titles, descriptions, links, images.. everything will help maddog
[2007.10.09 19:09:56] foxvox: Remember that google can't see what's in your images so you have to use text for good SEO.
[2007.10.09 19:10:05] NiftyGaloot: I try to write descriptions for good SEO year round and holidays both.
[2007.10.09 19:10:05] AngelaCP: wow, you guys are definitely on top of this
[2007.10.09 19:10:18] AngelaCP: Well, you'll see that I'll be covering some of this so let me move on
[2007.10.09 19:10:27] AngelaCP: HOW TO SEO YOUR SHOP?
[2007.10.09 19:10:35] AngelaCP: Now that you know SEOing your shop early is important and gets you in the game of search, the next question is how do I optimize my shop for the holidays?
[2007.10.09 19:10:39] Robb: Hello all. Looking forward to learning more here.
[2007.10.09 19:10:45] AngelaCP: We’ll start with the “Where.”
[2007.10.09 19:10:56] AngelaCP: that's great Robb! we hope you learn a lot :)
[2007.10.09 19:11:01] michigal has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.09 19:11:03] AngelaCP: I’ll start out by listing all the areas of a Premium Shop where you can add content to optimize your shop for search engines.
[2007.10.09 19:11:12] AngelaCP: • Shop Introduction (custom copy area on your storefront)
[2007.10.09 19:11:19] AngelaCP: • Section Descriptions (shows up at the top of the page at a section level)
[2007.10.09 19:11:26] AngelaCP: • Section Names (title for section page and shows up in the bread crumbs)
[2007.10.09 19:11:32] AngelaCP: • Section Teasers (short copy under Section Names)
[2007.10.09 19:11:40] AngelaCP: • Shop Name (shows up in the bread crumbs)
[2007.10.09 19:11:45] AngelaCP: • Shop Title (shows up in the title bar)
[2007.10.09 19:11:52] AngelaCP: • Image Alt Tags (displays when you mouse over an image)
[2007.10.09 19:12:04] AngelaCP: •Metatags (in your source code)
[2007.10.09 19:12:12] AngelaCP: I’ll share some screen shots pointing out where the areas are to optimize. In the next example, you’ll see the Section Name, Section Description, and Section Teaser.
[2007.10.09 19:12:30] Care2007 has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.09 19:12:37] Carl has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.09 19:12:38] Syzygy has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.09 19:13:04] Butterfly: Don't forget "alt" tags on images...
[2007.10.09 19:13:12] Care2007 has left the room (logged out)
[2007.10.09 19:13:18] BrittaCP: oh yeah... we'll talk about those in justa a second
[2007.10.09 19:13:24] electricgreen: Links to what? (re Shadow's post)
[2007.10.09 19:13:35] camobabygifts has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.09 19:13:40] wave720 has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.09 19:13:42] AngelaCP sent a picture:
[2007.10.09 19:13:42] The Shadow: In summation.... anywhere you can type
[2007.10.09 19:13:52] AngelaCP: sorry it took so long
[2007.10.09 19:14:22] AngelaCP: This SK did a great job in optimizing her page with keywords to that’s relevant to her shop and product offerings.
[2007.10.09 19:14:40] AngelaCP: can you see all the keywords that was used? the way it's content focused...
[2007.10.09 19:14:44] AngelaCP: very good for seo
[2007.10.09 19:14:51] pugalanche has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.09 19:14:52] Rhea: Google likes sentences. Don't forget to use punctuation.
[2007.10.09 19:15:02] Tanith has left the room (logged out)
[2007.10.09 19:15:12] Robb: Great content so far, Angela - I'm looking forward to the transcript already.
[2007.10.09 19:15:14] AngelaCP: On the next example, you will see the Product Name and Product Description filled out.
[2007.10.09 19:15:28] The Shadow: and remember not to keyword spam... google hates that
[2007.10.09 19:15:28] RobSanPedro has left the room (logged out)
[2007.10.09 19:15:35] AngelaCP sent a picture:
[2007.10.09 19:15:52] AngelaCP: Something that wasn’t pointed out but I will is the bread crumbs up on the top of the page. Notice the first link “kippygo Designs”, that’s the Shop Title. The following links are Section Names. Using good Section Names helps SEO because it shows up on other pages as bread crumbs.
[2007.10.09 19:16:00] AngelaCP: Thanks Kippy :)
[2007.10.09 19:16:08] BZ has left the room (logged out)
[2007.10.09 19:16:16] AngelaCP: and thanks michigal for the first example ;)
[2007.10.09 19:16:22] Alan (deadhippo) has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.09 19:16:38] kippy: Two fabulous shops, eh? ;)
[2007.10.09 19:16:46] BrittaCP: thumbs up!
[2007.10.09 19:16:48] AngelaCP: very much so :).
[2007.10.09 19:16:51] AngelaCP: Last screen shot is the Image Alt Tags, commonly referred to as alt tags. When you mouse over an image and that image has alt tags coded, a small display with the description shows up. See the example below. The image over the “flying ace” grabber image shows the alt tag below.
[2007.10.09 19:17:05] AngelaCP sent a picture:
[2007.10.09 19:17:21] BrittaCP: FYI... you can click on the picture to see it better
[2007.10.09 19:17:23] AngelaCP: this is a very small image... can you see the alt tag?
[2007.10.09 19:17:42] birdface@comcast.net: how do you do alt tags?
[2007.10.09 19:17:55] AngelaCP: Does anyone here know the code for alt tags off hand?
[2007.10.09 19:17:58] scarebaby: i never knew this was there
[2007.10.09 19:18:01] wave720 has left the room (logged out)
[2007.10.09 19:18:08] AngelaCP: So FoxVox mentioned this already....
[2007.10.09 19:18:09] Winter: I didn't know we could do that with our CP shops
[2007.10.09 19:18:11] AngelaCP: Another thing I have noticed. We have creative, talented SKs that use a lot of images on their shop. Some of these images are in place of text… Search Engines cannot read images. If you must use images in place of text, be sure to add alt tags.
[2007.10.09 19:18:14] foxvox: CLICK HERE
[2007.10.09 19:18:24] The Shadow: where you define the image add alt=whatever"
[2007.10.09 19:18:37] AngelaCP: Take a look at the SnoopStore example, the left nav “Meet the Gang” and other similar text is actually an image. If you go to the actual snoopystore, you will the text images have alt tags.
[2007.10.09 19:18:44] Top Tee Designs has left the room (logged out)
[2007.10.09 19:18:57] magadog1: Will this chat be archived?
[2007.10.09 19:18:58] BrittaCP: yes, the transcript will be posted
[2007.10.09 19:19:10] foxvox: You can only do it with images you add to your template, not with cp images like section or product images, etc.
[2007.10.09 19:19:27] kippy: SEO totally gets in the way of being an artist... It's frustrating, but an unfortunate fact if we actually want to sell our gear! :)
[2007.10.09 19:19:29] Alan (deadhippo):
[2007.10.09 19:19:32] ThE_RiPPeR:
[2007.10.09 19:19:45] Winter: So these alt tags are added to the images we create not the images of each individual item in the store you sell?
[2007.10.09 19:19:49] AngelaCP: I agree with that Kippy... it's a balancing act. There are SKs that do a great job in doing both.
[2007.10.09 19:20:03] Winter: Okay, nevermind. FoxVox answered my question. Thank you.
[2007.10.09 19:20:07] AngelaCP: She always does ;)
[2007.10.09 19:20:11] AngelaCP: Last example is the Shop Title copy and where you can input this in the Member Account.
[2007.10.09 19:20:13] PeggyWvB has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.09 19:20:23] Alan (deadhippo): You can also add a title tag which will have the same effect in Firefox
[2007.10.09 19:20:27] foxvox: ;-)
[2007.10.09 19:20:36] AngelaCP sent a picture:
[2007.10.09 19:20:46] AngelaCP: Britta's fancy image here.
[2007.10.09 19:20:55] The Shadow: CP automatically adds alt tags to your section image thumbnails and your product thumbnails
[2007.10.09 19:21:05] AngelaCP: That is correct Shadow :)
[2007.10.09 19:21:20] AngelaCP: the alt tags should be used on your storefront
[2007.10.09 19:21:28] dorothy has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.09 19:21:34] AngelaCP: on images you placed that's not generated from your shop
[2007.10.09 19:21:51] Butterfly: Shadow: keyword spam? Please explain, thank you!:)
[2007.10.09 19:22:02] Alan (deadhippo): Why don't our thumbs apppear in google search
[2007.10.09 19:22:15] AngelaCP: I'm not sure... you mean the Google image search?
[2007.10.09 19:22:24] Alan (deadhippo): yes
[2007.10.09 19:22:25] camobabygifts: is there a limit on meda tags descriptions?
[2007.10.09 19:22:32] AngelaCP: I believe it's 250 characters
[2007.10.09 19:22:44] magadog1: I am lost. How do you add them if they're automatically added?
[2007.10.09 19:23:01] BrittaCP has left the room (logged out)
[2007.10.09 19:23:01] magadog1: Will Google pick up on the sections and products if you use the KEY words?
[2007.10.09 19:23:01] magadog1: Okay, I am the dummy here. Don't you need to know HTML to use the alt tags?
[2007.10.09 19:23:01] Alan (deadhippo): and maybe other browsers
[2007.10.09 19:23:02] Robb: I have a slightly off topic question - how to reset/delete 'old' product sets when submitting multiple products...not important right now...
[2007.10.09 19:23:10] Mousecrafter has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
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[2007.10.09 19:23:35] AngelaCP: Magadog1, For the section thumbnails and product thumbnails, the alt tags are the same as the Section Name and Product Name
[2007.10.09 19:23:41] BrittaCP has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.09 19:23:51] AngelaCP: so you don't have to do special coding as you would for the storefront of your shop
[2007.10.09 19:24:19] foxvox: You should feel at least somewhat comfortable with HTML before messing with your Custom HTML to add alt tags, yes. But CP automatically does alt tags on section and product images, so no worries there.
[2007.10.09 19:24:39] AngelaCP: So let's move on to ...
[2007.10.09 19:24:44] AngelaCP: USE THE “RIGHT” KEYWORDS
[2007.10.09 19:24:44] magadog1: ok, thanks
[2007.10.09 19:24:57] AngelaCP: Now that we know when to SEO, where to SEO, how about what to SEO?
[2007.10.09 19:25:09] AngelaCP: During the Holidays the keyword “gift” will get a lot of hits. Combine the keyword “gift” with words related to the theme of your shop/merchandise.
[2007.10.09 19:25:20] AngelaCP: What you really want to do is focus your keywords on the theme of your shop/merchandise.
[2007.10.09 19:25:29] AngelaCP: If your shop is already optimize for search engines, add the top Holiday gift search terms. For example, if your target audience is dog lovers, then let them know you have "dog lover gifts" or "dog lover gift ideas."
[2007.10.09 19:25:44] AngelaCP: Here a list of Top Holiday Search Terms…
[2007.10.09 19:25:51] AngelaCP: Gift idea, gift, gifts, merchandise, unique gift, online gift, baby gift, gift shop, holiday presents, Christmas presents, holiday gifts, Christmas gifts, personalized gift, gift for her, gift for him, Christmas decorations, holiday decorations, “your product/theme” gift…
[2007.10.09 19:25:59] boldavenue has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.09 19:26:07] AngelaCP: Find a way to work it into your shop descriptions, product descriptions, sections, etc
[2007.10.09 19:26:18] kippy: are these top holiday search terms for the marketplace?
[2007.10.09 19:26:22] Robb: Cool - makes sense.
[2007.10.09 19:26:40] AngelaCP: These are for your shop. The marketplace is based on description of designs so no need to enter these terms in your tag
[2007.10.09 19:26:58] AngelaCP: we may use them for our seo, but in terms of tags focus on describing your design
[2007.10.09 19:27:06] foxvox: "Merchandise"? really? I would never have thought to search for that - heh.
[2007.10.09 19:27:15] CKrawesky has left the room (logged out)
[2007.10.09 19:27:18] AngelaCP: I was told this was the topic list from SEO gurus
[2007.10.09 19:27:24] dorothy: Hi
[2007.10.09 19:27:25] BrittaCP: Hi Dorothy, welcome. We're talking about Holiday Search Engine Optimization right now
[2007.10.09 19:27:35] dorothy: why are all my messages being sent to moderators and not to the chat room
[2007.10.09 19:27:37] AngelaCP: Keep in mind these keywords are competitive so do not expect to search for the word “gift” on Google and expect to see it on page one. If you don’t, it’s not that youre doing something wrong… it just means there’s more people trying to get their stuff ahead of you.
[2007.10.09 19:27:51] AngelaCP: That’s why you should combine the keyword “gift” with something related to your shop.
[2007.10.09 19:27:54] BrittaCP: this is a moderated chat... so you messages will go into a queue before being pushed out
[2007.10.09 19:27:55] CKrawesky has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.09 19:28:03] AngelaCP: As a customer, they are more likely to narrow their search based on the results. If they are getting pages of gift sites that may not be specific to what they are looking for, they will try again by adding the topic… for example “pop culture gifts.”
[2007.10.09 19:28:07] NiftyGaloot: e.g. Makes a great Christmas gift for Grandma or any woman.
[2007.10.09 19:28:10] Butterfly: All hail the SEO gurus!!!!!!!!
[2007.10.09 19:28:46] AngelaCP: that's good nifty...including a holiday keyword with the recipient is good
[2007.10.09 19:28:56] Robb: Dorothy - the moderators filter relevant content to the chat...
[2007.10.09 19:29:11] magadog1: And should GIFT be a staple word in all your shops and tagged on all your images?
[2007.10.09 19:29:25] AngelaCP: No. Do not use gift in your Tags. Use words that describe your image.
[2007.10.09 19:29:39] The Shadow: you are far better to target long tail searches, like "Cool children's christmas gift" and not short tail searches like"gift"
[2007.10.09 19:30:02] AngelaCP: Correct. It's less competitive.
[2007.10.09 19:30:07] Robb: Hmmm....interesting Angela. Removing gift tags :-)
[2007.10.09 19:30:13] AngelaCP: [[applauds]]
[2007.10.09 19:30:20] Tanith has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.09 19:30:20] kippy: I meant is the list you just gave based on search terms for the marketplace or for search engines?
[2007.10.09 19:30:28] BrittaCP: Search Engines
[2007.10.09 19:30:49] dorothy: wow I asked a question about premium shops and how to get the grpahics in and I guess it wasnt the right stuff for the moderators
[2007.10.09 19:30:51] chm has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.09 19:31:05] AngelaCP: dorothy, the chat topic is holiday seo and we're working our way on the list...
[2007.10.09 19:31:17] AngelaCP: all responses goes into a queue... i'll see if i can find your question
[2007.10.09 19:31:23] BrittaCP: We'll be opening up the lobby in about 15 minutes where you can ask this question to other Shopkeepers
[2007.10.09 19:31:29] BrittaCP: who can help you out
[2007.10.09 19:31:39] foxvox: Dorothy - that might be a question better asked on the forums themselves, since this chat has a specific topic.
[2007.10.09 19:31:55] dorothy: I see! Ok, thought it was a open type thing where I could get some help. Thanks!
[2007.10.09 19:32:02] AngelaCP: Thanks dorothy!
[2007.10.09 19:32:14] magadog1: well, that gives me a few more characters to broaden my descriptors.
[2007.10.09 19:32:26] AngelaCP: so we can open this up
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[2007.10.09 19:32:35] NiftyGaloot: Even better - Great Birthday, Mother's day, or Christmas gift for your girlfriend, wife, grandma, or mom.
[2007.10.09 19:32:36] AngelaCP: i did a speedy run down of all the top things to do
[2007.10.09 19:32:54] AngelaCP: i think shadow shared what are the important areas to focused on... i agree the storefront is priority 1
[2007.10.09 19:33:36] AngelaCP: Product descriptions take a lot of time so focus on Section Names, descriptions and teasers
[2007.10.09 19:33:45] AngelaCP: you get more bang for your resource buck
[2007.10.09 19:33:46] AngelaCP: ;)
[2007.10.09 19:33:56] magadog1: Shop descriptors and then sections and then items.
[2007.10.09 19:33:59] AngelaCP: Yes
[2007.10.09 19:34:08] AngelaCP: Number one is storefront
[2007.10.09 19:34:49] AngelaCP: Remember in one of my examples, I showed that the Section Names also carries across to other pages as you drill down... that's good for SEO on other pages
[2007.10.09 19:34:51] sobamelaquena: Angela, what is the web site to query for the variations of a search term and the count of hits for each search term? i know that there is some site out there but i dont remember the url
[2007.10.09 19:35:03] BrittaCP: this one was recommended in a previous chat: morekeywords.com
[2007.10.09 19:35:12] Robb: I've been storing phrases and search friendly text in an Excel sheet, and then just cutting and pasting from there - speeds thing up a little...
[2007.10.09 19:35:26] AngelaCP: great tip.
[2007.10.09 19:35:34] kippy: Number two is feed kippy.
[2007.10.09 19:35:37] magadog1: arcchived. Good. I see I got a little stuck in tagging instead of SEO
[2007.10.09 19:35:38] AngelaCP: It's a spreadsheet you can reuse next year when it's time to remove the holiday keywords
[2007.10.09 19:35:40] Timewarp has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.09 19:35:47] Alan (deadhippo): Here is another - http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/
[2007.10.09 19:36:13] AngelaCP: I believe some Sks keep their holiday sections but bury them deep to continue to get their pages indexed
[2007.10.09 19:36:26] AngelaCP: I don't hvae experience on this but perhaps someone can share?
[2007.10.09 19:36:30] NiftyGaloot: For keywords I use: http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/
[2007.10.09 19:36:32] kippy: You could use yahoo's overture tool. Wordtracker also has a free, but very limited, tool at http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com/. If you're really serious, a paid subscirption to wordtracker is WELL worth it.
[2007.10.09 19:36:35] ESP's Christian Designs has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.09 19:36:35] The Shadow: your homepage typically has the highest page rank and the most links, which factors into most SERP's... the idea is to capture them once you have your claws on them.... I mean their attention to draw them into the rest of your store :)
[2007.10.09 19:36:40] sobamelaquena: Thanks ALAN, that is
[2007.10.09 19:36:59] ThE_RiPPeR: morekeywords.com This service has been taken down. Don't fret. It'll be coming back with 10 times better data under a new suite of kicking tools.
[2007.10.09 19:37:03] jean/rotemgear has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.09 19:37:08] BrittaCP: good to know!
[2007.10.09 19:37:41] The Shadow: Butterfly - don't just do Christmas Christmas T-Shirts chrismas ... it needs to be natural sentences in descriptions
[2007.10.09 19:37:41] NiftyGaloot: Google's keyword tool: https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
[2007.10.09 19:38:10] Butterfly: Shadow ~ THANK YOU!
[2007.10.09 19:38:11] AngelaCP: Agreed shadow. Do not just list a bunch of top keywords. That will make your site look bad... a bit unprofessional imho
[2007.10.09 19:38:24] AngelaCP: My tip:
[2007.10.09 19:38:35] artmaker has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.09 19:38:45] kippy: and it's also a HUGE turn off for affiliates to list keywords!
[2007.10.09 19:38:49] AngelaCP: List all the keywords that are great for your specific shop, incorporate the holiday keywords and then make them into sentences
[2007.10.09 19:39:08] AngelaCP: you can play around with a great compelling sentence that's also good for search engines
[2007.10.09 19:39:21] Alan (deadhippo): Sorry for repeating my concern but I think it deserves an answer of some sort - some of our shoppers search the marketplace for words like t-shirt and gifts etc. Surely if we don't use these words as tags we are losing out.
[2007.10.09 19:39:29] The Shadow: one thing to do is just enter a search you want to target in google... if there are 25million results, you probably are going to have a tough time competing... if there are say 100,00 you have a much better chace to compete
[2007.10.09 19:39:43] AngelaCP: Our search will pull all products for t-shirts
[2007.10.09 19:39:53] AngelaCP: there's no need to add the products in your tags
[2007.10.09 19:40:05] CKrawesky has left the room (logged out)
[2007.10.09 19:40:20] AngelaCP: This is more of a Tag question than SEO... we'll have last week's Tag chat transcript up soon. This was covered
[2007.10.09 19:40:41] KC Graphics has left the room (logged out)
[2007.10.09 19:40:45] Rhea: so angela, is it a waste of time to use the names of products in tags, like "mug" or "magnets?"
[2007.10.09 19:40:59] AngelaCP: It's not necessary, but people are doing it
[2007.10.09 19:41:12] Alan (deadhippo): For example if I search the marketplace for "africa t-shirt" there are 3000 designs but just "africa" has 13,000 designs
[2007.10.09 19:41:46] AngelaCP: I'm not sure why it does that... perhaps images that do not have t-shirts but with tags of tshirts come up?
[2007.10.09 19:42:08] AngelaCP: SKs are using bulk tags and probably tagged : mug, tshirt, mousepad, etc all on a collection of images
[2007.10.09 19:42:18] AngelaCP: that would explain why there's more results.
[2007.10.09 19:42:20] Alan (deadhippo): Sorry for hijacking
[2007.10.09 19:42:31] AngelaCP: it's okay... so email me if you have any more questions...
[2007.10.09 19:42:31] ESP's Christian Designs has left the room (logged out)
[2007.10.09 19:42:35] electricgreen: Doesn't it take a while to be indexed in search engines? If so, wouldn't it be counter productive to change your keywords for holidays, since it could take months for them to be picked up?
[2007.10.09 19:42:49] AngelaCP: It's better earlier.. but it's not harmful
[2007.10.09 19:43:01] magadog1: I try to vary them because I have a lot of products and designs\
[2007.10.09 19:43:32] AngelaCP: so if you already have your keywords in place.. you want to add gifts, holidays along with your keywords
[2007.10.09 19:43:35] AngelaCP: that won't harm you
[2007.10.09 19:43:44] AngelaCP: but can get you to come up for the holiday searchs
[2007.10.09 19:43:59] The Shadow: electricgreen it depends how often google indexes you... you can check the google cache of your site daily for a while and you can determine how long it will take
[2007.10.09 19:44:13] AngelaCP: I nominate The Shadow as SEO guru!
[2007.10.09 19:44:19] AngelaCP: thanks for all the tips and sharing :)
[2007.10.09 19:44:28] CKrawesky has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.09 19:44:29] electricgreen: I second Angela's nomination!'
[2007.10.09 19:44:32] The Shadow: google reindexes my offsite 8 times a month now
[2007.10.09 19:44:40] Alan (deadhippo): New pages can take a while to be re-indexed but edited pages can be re-indexed very very fast sometimes
[2007.10.09 19:44:43] care2007 has entered the room "CafePress Chat Room"
[2007.10.09 19:44:52] Robb: Yup - thanks Shadow. Write an article or something...
[2007.10.09 19:44:54] The Shadow: lol..thanks Angela and you're welcome
[2007.10.09 19:44:56] AngelaCP: So everyone it's closing time for Britta and I.
[2007.10.09 19:45:17] AngelaCP: Sorry we have to leave... carpool awaits us
[2007.10.09 19:45:18] rasael: Thank you Angela and Britta
[2007.10.09 19:45:18] rasael has left the room (logged out)
[2007.10.09 19:45:27] AngelaCP: We hope this is helpful!
[2007.10.09 19:45:29] The Shadow: i know enough to be dangerous :)
[2007.10.09 19:45:32] birdface@comcast.net: thanx guys. Good stuff!!!
[2007.10.09 19:45:35] care2007 has left the room (logged out)
[2007.10.09 19:45:42] AngelaCP: we made Holiday seo number 1 in the series because it's VERY IMPORTANT
[2007.10.09 19:45:52] Robb: Well, thanks for your info and help, A+B...take care!
[2007.10.09 19:45:52] Rhea: 10Q! angela and britta
[2007.10.09 19:45:55] The Shadow: thanks Angela and Britta!! take care
[2007.10.09 19:45:57] NiftyGaloot: Thanks Angela and Britta! :)
[2007.10.09 19:46:01] AngelaCP: Thakns everyone
[2007.10.09 19:46:10] AngelaCP: I encourage everyone who can to stay and chat in the lobby
[2007.10.09 19:46:10] CKrawesky has left the room (logged out)
[2007.10.09 19:46:14] BrittaCP: Lobby is open
[2007.10.09 19:46:18] Winter has left the room (logged out)
[2007.10.09 19:46:20] AngelaCP: we have a lot of seasoned SKs here that can help answer any questions
[2007.10.09 19:46:21] AngelaCP: share
[2007.10.09 19:46:28] AngelaCP: you guys can learn from each other
[2007.10.09 19:46:40] AngelaCP: Maybe The Shadow might even stay for a bit ;)
[2007.10.09 19:46:48] kippy: bye ang and britta, thanks!
[2007.10.09 19:47:09] BrittaCP: this room will be closing in t-minus 3 seconds
[2007.10.09 19:47:16] The room has been closed by the system