The Alliance of Shopkeepers on CP

I'm sure many cafepress shopkeepers have heard of Squidoo. I have mentioned it, myself, on this blog (not that anyone is reading this blog). Squidoo is an excellent resource for the CPSK. There is quite a large CP community and a ton of valuable information to the new or experienced SK.

As I have spent an considerable amount of time in that community in the past week or so, I realized that many of the group members were not using this tool to it's full potential. Too many SKs and lensmasters are trying to (here's that word again) exploit the technology for their own benefit when it would be so easy for them to partner up so everyone benefits equally. I am not trying to say that everyone is just trying to make a buck and just looking out for themselves but, in all honesty, I think most people are. 

Now... even though I am talking like this, who's to say that I'm not full of carp and just looking out for myself myself? There's not, but that's not where I'm coming from.

As someone that has been in the professional creative field for over 20 years, I think that is the way of most artists. Most designers welcome a good critique. They are driven by the competition. And when it all comes down to it, they are over confident enough to think that it really is no contest anyway because their stuff is the best by far.

So what I have proposed with the creation of this new group is an alliance– a partnership between all members of the group to collectively gain more exposure– to network and promote all of the shops so everyone benefits equally.

Its a really simple idea that could really take the members of the group to new levels... all on the simple concept of: You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours.

If you would like to explore the opportunities of partnership go to: http://www/squidoo.com/groups/askcp

Cafepress Marketing

I am becoming more fluent on SEO (search engine optimization), Affiliate Programs and other ways to market www.cafepress.com/skeetzteez. Cafepress and the people in the community do a great job of educating the new shop owner. There are a ton of tutorials and posts in the forums and message boards that are provided to help you sell your product.

As suggested by the community, I have signed up for two new Web services in the last week or so that I hope will increase my exposure:

The blog you are reading right now are the first of those attempts. The concept behind http://skeetzteez.blogspot.com is to attract an individual that has some interest in a particular topic that I have developed designs for and then drive them to http://www.cafepress.com/skeetzteez. It really is a slick site... and it is free. I don't think, however, that I have seen much action from it. 

From what I understand, though, it can take up to 3-4 months before some of the search engines will direct anybody to a new site. This is somewhat encouraging me as I do have some content that people are searching for so I will continue adding content in the hope that it will someday be read. Besides, it is fun to write, thinking that everyone is reading, and my wife thinks I'm funny sometimes.

The second one is: http://www.squidoo.com/cafepress/skeetzteez. Squidoo is more of a mystery to me as I have only been a member for a couple of days. From what I can tell, though, it is basically a networking portal like Facebook or MySpace. I created a lens for free-- a lens is, basically, what they call a web page-- and then added the provided modules to customize my page. I think there are two primary concepts behind this site:

1) They are an affiliate of cafepress so any shopper that finds my skeetzteez product through squidoo, they get a cut of my profits. I'm not exactly sure how it all works but I guess, in the long run, everyone comes out ahead.

2) There is a community of cafepress owners that each has their own page and they partner (for lack of a better term) by linking together to increase the exposure. This, I'm not too sure about. I don't want to partner with just anybody. I think it could be beneficial to both parties if you get in the right relationship but I think it is important to find a good match.

Anyway... I am looking for that good match. I would like to partner with someone who is fairly new to cafepress and is excited, like me, to get things going; someone with high-quality and creative designs that will complement but not clash with mine; and, most importantly, someone with similar visions, philosophies and goals.

Tall order? No... not really, but don't rush into anything. Do your research. Check out the site at: http://cafepress.com/skeetzteez and if you are interested, reply through comments on this site or on one of the others mentioned in this blog.