We wanted to share a Cartfly success story about one of our merchants and her ShopBOT.
She held a sale over the 4th of July holiday weekend and got a slew of additional sales!! This was all done by updating her status on Facebook and Twitter a couple times a day with a link to her new ShopBOT. Within one hour, she set up her ShopBOT, pushed the word out for the first time alerting her existing network and the sales started rolling in.
You might want to have your own "Post 4th of July Sale", drop the price on a few things and get the ball rolling for your shop!
If your Cartfly account is already set up... 1. Write a short, custom message about your shop or sale to use on Facebook and Twitter along with the "link" to your ShopBOT. Get your link easily by clicking the "Share" button on your ShopBOT and clicking the "Email" button. ***************************************************************
Blowout sale on prints and calendars http://www.sellit.com/shopbots/1994.html
New lowered prices on my products! Check them out here: http://www.sellit.com/shopbots/1994.html
Here are some of my favorite jewelery pieces for sale http://www.sellit.com/shopbots/1994.html
Help me spread the word by adding my ShopBOT to your profile http://www.sellit.com/shopbots/1994.html Good karma for the day ; ) *************************************************************** 2. Add the message and your ShopBOT link to your Facebook status box and Twitter (Don't forget, Twitter requires 140 characters or less so use a URL shortener if need be). 3. A couple times per day/week, tweak your message just a bit to keep it fresh (for those actually paying attention) and post it again to all your networks.
HappiNest is an online home furnishings and accessories store offering fine furnishings for your nest and was the brain child of Charisse Marie Colbert. The initial concept of the store was to be a place with six different lifestyle vignettes all if which can be seen on the banner of her Cartfly store.
Charisse is a passionate interior designer that is delirious about all aspects of design. Her official business name is CMC Design Studio and clients flock to her as she considers herself a problem solver; she finds solutions you cannot solve or do not want to solve yourself. It is up to Charisse to create the kind of interior that best meets her clients needs and enhances their environment. Her mission is to serve her clients by enhancing their surroundings with beauty.
What prompted you to get your official website and blog started? Two years ago I was going to open HappiNest, a lifestyle home furnishings and accessories store at a retail center in North Scottsdale. I did a lot of research, hired retail consultants, had a business plan, drafted the space plan and knew where everything was going to be placed in the store according to vignettes, and I even knew how much I had to sell per hour to pay the bills. When I finally got the lease from the leasing company, I just could not sign it. One of the things in the lease specifically said they could move me anywhere in the center. The only place I wanted to be was in between the busy women’s hair salon and the busy women’s clothing boutique. They would not take that verbiage out of the lease. In 2008 six stores closed in the center I was going to lease in, however, the two women’s shops were still there. I am relieved I did not open the store but I still had the dream and the desire to start a site online. I am still receptive to having a physical store someday but think the online store will always be a viable and smart way to present and offer products.
Who are you going after in terms of customers? I don’t have a particular customer in mind and think it would be anyone looking for something unique and affordable. Some of the items are recycled from interior design projects. Right now I have some lovely fabrics on there that are about 75% off of retail. I typically always have extra fabrics since beautiful fabrics are a personal addiction of mine!
What advice can you give people who want to start an online business? If you are passionate about something and there is a continual yearning within you to see your dream come true, then it is what you are suppose to do. Listen to your heart; it will always guide you to your highest self. The online Happinest store on Cartfly was a very easy business to set up in comparison to opening a physical store.
How many different products do you sell? I probably have 20 different types of items on my site right now and will continue to add inventory. My sister makes and sells jewelry on a popular and successful site for crafters. I would like to put some of her pieces on my site.
Why should people do business with your company? I am an inherently conscientious person and will always strive to exceed other’s expectations of me.
How did you find out about Cartfly? I read about a business in Arizona Women Magazine a few months ago called Bunky Boutique. I typically will visit businesses that I am interested in especially if they sell darling clothing and furnishings. After visiting the physical store, I went on the store’s website and saw the Cartfly store there. I called the owner, Rachel, and inquired about it. She was quite helpful and encouraged me to open a store for my business. I have to say, it was so easy. I am grateful I found out about it.
How has Cartfly helped you? Opening HappiNest online enabled me to finally see my dream come true and has given me a tremendous sense of accomplishment.
Charisse's Network: Charisse started blogging six months ago and needless to say is enjoying it. She has her On the
Porchblog where she talks about
anything including inspirations, design, color, pets, and personal
stories. Her CMC Design Studio
blog is strictly interior design business information where she writes about
colors, design styles, fabrics, furnishings and entertaining. Charisse is also on Vox, LinkedIn, and you can also follow her on Twitter. The HappiNest Cartfly store is
accessible on all of her blogs, her website and on Facebook.
Home
You may live in a box, a tee-pee, a cabin, a shanty or a shelter.
You may live in an abbey, a convent, a monastery or a cloister.
You may live in order, utter chaos, austerity or lavish luxury.
You may live in vogue, outdated surroundings, fashion or stylishly.
You may live on the beach, on a cliff, on a stream or the 18th tee.
You may live in the desert, the mountains, the city or the rural country.
You may live with your family, your servants, your butler or your cook.
You may live in seclusion, isolation, or with your head in a book.
You may live with canaries, snakes, turtles, horses, cats or dogs.
You may live where the sun shines, in the rain, or a blanket of fog.
You may live in an apartment, a mansion or a geodesic dome.
You may live in Chicago, Santa Fe, Manhattan, or Rome.
Wherever it is, anywhere that you go, you make it your own.
Throughout your travels, there always will be no place like home. By Charisse Marie Colbert
Biography: Rolfe Bautista launched Rolfe Art in March of 2009. He has been an artist for many years and finally decided to take it to the web. He creates all his artwork at his studio in a little place called The Gallery Underground in Fort Collins Colorado. He is currently in the process of transitioning from working a full time job to becoming a full time artist. Bautista is always focused on his artwork and making sure that it is very accessible to the public.
What prompted you to get your official blogs started?I started my blog, Rolfe Art, in order to reach more people across the world. I live in a relatively small town so I do not get much exposure around here. It would be a shame to be confined to such a small space so naturally going electronic was the way for me.
Who is your target customer? I am going for absolutely anyone who is interested in my art. It seems that the people who like my art the best are the ones not constrained by the classical notions of what art is and should be. I attract a younger more urban crowd but I find that there is also some people who are a bit older who are fascinated by my work.
What advice can you give people who want to start an online business?Be extremely patient and determined. You will get beaten down to the lowest of the low before you can see any success. Just keep doing what you do and really that is what it takes.
How many different products do you sell?I sell many different things in order to make the artwork as accessible to the customer. I sell really cheap prints and drawings of my original work. I do this so that anyone can afford artwork.
What are some of your best sellers? Well I haven't experienced much activity online yet but in my studio I find that the prints are extremely popular. It is a great way to have a piece of the artwork on a limited budget. The original drawings are also very popular and are priced low.
What can you tell me that people might want to know about you? I am a classically trained artist that is breaking free and exploring fun new ideas. I make art that people can enjoy simply for its aesthetic values but it is also infused with symbolism and metaphors. If one cares to look past the surface they will be pleased to find a whole other world waiting for them.
Why should people do business with Rolfe Art?People should do business with me because I make art that is unlike any out there. I am always trying new techniques and styles out so there will always be a surprise when you step into my store.
How did you find out about Cartfly? A world re-known artist by the name of Bryan Collins referred me to this site. See Bryan's Cartfly store and "Featured Merchant" blog post here.
How has Cartfly helped you? Cartfly has helped me greatly by allowing my business to take off from the ground up. Since I am doing all the artwork and also the business side, I do not have the time to set up everything. Cartfly has made it easy and convenient for me to sell my art and to reach many people.
Thanks for taking the time Rolfe and good luck out there on the web!! If you would like to checkout more of Rolfe's work, feel free to visit his official MySpace page and follow him on Twitter.
Cartfly Gets Bands Selling On Social Networks
Selling your unique band merchandise and CDs online can be a huge opportunity to make money and increase your band's visibility. Using Cartfly.com as your store gives you mobility and the beauty of replication because we all know you can only sell so much at your live shows.
Let's look at the Livetronica band BLVD from San Francisco. They have a website, a blog, a MySpace, a Facebook page and an Imeem page. So right off the bat, BLVD has the ability to have 5 copies of their store in 5 different web locations. Their Cartfly store enables them to sell to 15,000 fans right away.
In particular, BLVD’s MySpace page is a great place to hear their latest tracks. And now, with a Cartfly store posted on that page, we can buy their CDs right there directly from the band themselves. Cartfly only takes a 3% transaction fee, so this is really affordable and the band sees real profit.
To take it a step further, BLVD is made up of 4 musicians, a manager, a booking agent, a road manager, a graphic design artist and a marketing director. If every one of those team members copies the BLVD store to their networks, they are up to 15-30 more copies of their Cartfly store with another 5000 to 10,000 friends in the blink of an eye.
Add to this mix the venues, festivals, events, and any industry organizations who could also post BLVD’s Cartfly store to their websites and blogs to help support the band during that relevant calendar cycle.
Of course if you already have a lot of fans and you are communicating with them by email, you can start your own social network, like 50Cent did. Fitty uses Ning, a free tool that lets anyone create a social network. Pop your Cartfly store in there. And there is Linked Musicians, a social network expressly for live music. It has 874 bands on it, and over 5000 members.
It is easy to see the power behind the combination of Cartfly and your already existing social networks. It is a numbers game that is easy to solve. The way to get your store to multiply fast is to enlist your friends and fans to post your store and before you know it, there are hundreds of copies of your store out there making you money daily.
We’d love to hear about your Cartfly store success. Email us at info[at]cartfly[dot]com to be a featured Cartfly merchant and we’ll do a story about you!
The advantage of a Cartfly store is its portability. You can copy and paste your Cartfly store into your own web site, or anyone else's for that matter. If you don't have a lot of friends with web sites who will allow you to put your store on their sites, or if you want to develop followers quickly, there are populated social networks that already have traffic; MySpace, Facebook, Bebo, Friendster and Perfspot. If you join one or all of these, you will automatically get increased visibility for your products and your store.
Social networks are places on the Internet where like-minded people go to meet each other. You can copy and paste your Cartfly store into your profile page on all these networks, and you will make it much easier for people to find you and your merchandise. Your friends and fans can also copy and paste your store onto their profile pages, and so on!
Watch this video for a great overview on Social Networks:
If you are not using Cartfly to get your store out to the social networks, you are missing out on possible sales. Remember, multiple stores, means increased visibility, which equates to more sales! Get started by opening your Cartfly Store here.
FYI...If you are musician or band with a profile on Myspace, Cartfly is the perfect place for you. Our next blog post will be about how Musicians and Bands can use Cartfly on Myspace and other social networks to promote their music and sell their merchandise. Stay tuned!
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