Image by BlueOut via Flickr

Are you looking for a little help in getting your shop started with Spreadshirt? I wanted to share some of the places you can get more information and some tips on setting up and running your Spreadshirt shop.

1. Spreadshirt Webinars - Webinars are a free, live presentation about different topics - all you need is your computer to participate. We have 2 different webinars (Spreadshirt Bootcamp and Vector Graphics 101) and we are working on some new ones that will launch in the future. Click here to see a list of upcoming webinars and to register to attend a future webinar.
2. Spreadshirt Forums - We have a very active forum where Shop Partners have shared lots of great ideas and tips. Check out the Shop Admin Forum and the HTML and Web Coders Advice Forum.
3. Shop Partner Newsletter - Each month we send out an info packed newsletter to shop partners including info on new products and tips for shop partners. Make sure you are subscribed in the Shop Admin section Your Spreadshirt->Profile->Subscriptions
4. Shop Partner Stories - see what some of the other shop partners are up to and how they get ideas for new designs. Check out the Shop Partner Stories here.
5. Tommy White’s Blog - Tommy White is the guy behind Nekkid Tee’s. Tommy has posted some great tutorials on his blog TommyWhite.com - check out his great tutorial on Organizing Your Spreadshirt Products and his Starting Grid for Spreadshirt Vectors. Thanks Tommy!

Know of some other Spreadshirt tutorials? Please share your favorites here.

Once again, I must tip my hat to our community. A twitter message fluttered into our account over the weekend

SOAP shop software for the rest of the world http://spreadshop.cute-monstr.de

Second nature and curiosity about what Bejamin Vetter had in store preceded the click and the result was very satisfying. Benjamin claims to have been able to really make your Spreadshirt shop all yours – the template:

• does not need iFrames
• is completely customizable for your website
• is based on the programming language Ruby
• can be expanded upon and
• is offered for free under the GNU General Public License.

We think this is fantastic and are planning to ask Benjamin a few questions about his work. So if you have any questions you would like to ask him, post them here by 5 p.m. on Wednesday.

Some of you might then be wondering about our new API and this year’s eventual switch from SOAP to REST. I don’t have any updates for you, but can definitely recommend signing up for the newsletter at developer.spreadshirt.net. But don’t let that keep you from trying out this new software - Benjamin has already mentioned that an update would be provided when this change occurs.

So for those who would like to give the software a try, go to spreadshop.cute-monster.de and download the source package. Enjoy and props to Benjamin!

P.S. Please be fair and acknowledge Benjamin if you end up using the template for your shop.

Each month Temple puts together her best tips for your Spreadshirt shop for our newsletter. Past newsletters and tips are available here.

Whether you are a new shop partner just starting out or an existing partner looking to increase sales the new Spreaducation sectionis just for you!

Spreaducation is packed full of useful tips and tricks on three main topics, each helping you to set up a successful Spreadshirt Shop:

• Set-up shop:  provides advice for determining your target market, so you can design to meet the needs of your intended audience, as well as useful links to help customize your Shop Layout to be individualized for your style.
• Create products:   packed full of information on our Apparel, printing techniques, design and text options for creating products, as well as pricing information.  Need some help with creating vector designs? Then check out the Design Tutorials section.
• Market your Shop: a must read for all!  SEO tips, advertising your shop, and learning how and where your customers are coming from are just a few topics covered.

Be sure to check out the reference links located within the many subtopics of each section.  You can also catch some great stories from other Shop Partners about their experiences, marketing, and their target audience!

Happy Creating,
Temple

One of the goals we’ve set for this year is to optimize our website and your shops for search engines.
We want to make it easier for the well-known search engines (Google, Yahoo, MSN,…) to find your shop. You would then start to get free and first-rate visitors from the search engines who are (hopefully) there to buy your shirts. To make this all work like it should, a little effort also needs to be put in on your side.

Part 1 – Meta Element Changes
Shop meta tags will be the first change which will be undertaken (planned for mid-March, but could also be delayed by a few days).
In the future, we will automatically generate the meta tags (title, description, keywords) for your shop from information which you have provided in the user area.
Here’s how the meta tags will look in the future on a product detail page:

continue reading ‘Search Engine Optimization for your Shops: Meta Tag Changes’

We offer 2 different  shiny silver metallic flex colors - silver metallic flex and reflective flex.  While these look similar when you are designing online the end result is a little different.  I took some pictures of a shirt with silver metallic flex next to a shirt with reflective flex so you could see the difference.  the reflective flex is on the left.

This picture is without the flash, the reflective flex is a little darker color silver than the metallic.

This picture is with the flash, you can see how the reflective flex really reflects the light - I put this design on the back of my workout shirt so that it really stands out if I am out running/walking at night.

We found this tutorial on t-shirt forums from a Spreadshirt shop partner Exittheory posted on T-shirt Forums. He has put together a step-by-step guide for creating a Favicon for your website, Spreadshirt shop or blog. I have always wondered how you get your own little graphic up there in the URL bar so I am so happy to discover this tip.

Favicon Tutorial from T-shirt Forums

Check out the Exittheory shop here. I really like this little red riding hood hoodie. Exittheory has some other great designs in their shop.

One of the easiest ways to sell more shirts is to make it easy for people to find your shop. You can create your own Spreadshirt URL. For example, my Spreadshirt shop is available at http://IheartPGH.spreadshirt.com. Your url with the numbers in it will still continue to work so you don’t have to go back and change old links.

Setting up the URL is easy:

• log-in to your shop
• click Shops
• click Linking
• type in your custom name
• click Save

You can click on this image to see a larger screen shot of the Linking page

More information and a detailed tutorial is available here.

I was going over the shop settings with someone today and they asked me “what is RSS?”  This is one of my favorite questions and I LOVE rss, but it is also one of the hardest things to explain in one sentence.  I have made many attempts at trying to explain RSS and blogging - it took me 3 months to “get” RSS thanks to my friend Dave who never gave up on explaining it to me.

Well thankfully the guys from Creative Commons have put together this nifty 5 minute video that does an amazing job of explaining RSS in a quick convenient format.  If you are new to RSS, I think you will find this helpful.

I know this has been one feature we have received a ton of requests for - edit and existing product. The wait is over, let the editing begin. Temple announced the arrival of product editing in the forums today, here are the details:

Today we released a new feature in the Shop Admin for your products. You can now edit an existing product or clone a product! Products can be altered for your shop or the Marketplace independently or both at the same time.

Editing a product to for replacement:

If you edit your product in the ?Product Overview? screen, it will be altered in both your shop and within the Marketplace (assuming that your product has been opened in both areas).

Here?s how it works:: Your original product is deleted and replaced by the new product (e.g. with a new color or alternate design). The editable attributes given to the old product (i.e. the commission rate, product name, etc) are automatically transferred to the new product. The product will get moved to the top of the ?Product Overview? list the same as every new product.

Editing a product to create a new version:

Please remember this will change your product in all areas. If you would prefer to change the product in just one of the selling areas (i.e. in your shop OR the marketplace) then simply use the small blue ?My Products? drop-down menu to the top left of the product overview screen and select either your shop or the marketplace.

If you want create new version of a pre-existing product WITHOUT deleting the original, then click on the ‘Clone Product’ option. A copy of the product will be provided which you can then change according to your desires. Great for creating the same design layout on different products, colors, etc!

Let me know if you have any questions!

Each month our amazing customer service specialist, Temple, shares her top tips for improving your shop. Click here to see past tips from Temple.

First, let’s discuss Colors! Choosing a color scheme can be a difficult task, but there are tools to make it a bit easier! Under Shops > Shop Layout > Colors and Fonts, you can choose from our predesigned color scheme or create your own with hex codes. One cool tool, the Color Combo Library , provides different palettes of colors that are complimentary. If you have a favorite hex code, then enter it and find a palette to fit your style! Another site, Color Match, allows you to choose from complimentary colors, analogic, and other choices to find your shop color scheme!
FireFox offers ColorZilla which is a browser add-on and provides the hex code to any color you select on your screen.