Sell It With Cartfly

Featured Cartfly Merchant: HappiNest

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 Porch blog 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

Cartfly Featured Merchant: Hotrod Dolls

Lesley Slenning, from Las Vegas, is a photographer who gets her inspiration from a different time and place. "I love custom motorcycles, classic cars, heavily tattooed people, rock n roll, and eras that are long gone but not forgotten." She is inspired by pinup, glamour, and high fashion photography, and enjoys mixing it up with the world she lives in. Wanna know more...

What prompted you to get your site get started?
When I started to get more serious about my photography I decided to start a website to feature my work. At the time I just thought it would be something fun to do. I had no idea what I was doing and my first website was horrible. As time went on I started to learn more about how to build a website and created HotRodDolls.com. I also discovered MySpace which has been a wonderful way to promote my work as well.

Who are you going after in terms of customers?
I am a freelance photographer that is available for private session/commissioned work, commercial, portraits, editorial, promotional shoots for bands, and model portfolios.

Do you have things like referral programs in place? If so, how does this help your business?
I get most of my business from word of mouth, my website, past publications, and my MySpace page.

What advice can you give people who want to start an online business?
I don't know if I would consider what I do an "on line business." My website is mainly to showcase my work to potential clients that would be interested in hiring me for photo shoots. So I honestly don't have any advice for people trying to start that kind of business. I would say that starting any kind of business takes thick skin, a lot of dedication, hard work, and patience.

How many different products do you sell?
I sell signed prints of my work in my Cartfly store along with autographed magazines which my work was featured in.

What are some of  your best sellers?
My most popular print is the Pinup Dream Machine photo of Asia DeVinyl.

What can you tell me that people might want to know about you/your company?
There is nothing in the world that I would rather be doing then taking photographs. I am truly in love with photography and I put that passion into everything I shoot!

How did you find out about Cartfly?
I found out about Cartfly from my friend and model Amina Munster.

How has Cartfly helped you?
Cartfly has been a great way for me to sale prints of my photographs.  It's so easy to use and update.  It's also another great way for people to discover my work. I love Cartfly!

You can also find Lesley's on Deviant Art, Twitter and Model Mayhem. Look her up and send her some love!

Featured Merchant: Matthew Dunn

Matthew Dunn, a Melbourne, Australia based artist is working on his second book in a series of graphic novels all gathered under the title of Lonely Monsters. Lonely Monsters is set in a world 12 months after a Zombie outbreak has occurred in Australia and threatens to spread to the rest of the world. Dunn also produces a weekly webcomic Savage Bastard, sells art and t-shirts and works on various freelance illustration and storyboard projects.

Just like our other Featured Merchants, I had the chance to interview Matthew and he had lots to say.

CartFly: Who is your target audience?

Dunn: A lot of my work is geared towards people that are into comics and horror, but a lot of the work is open enough to grab the attention of others.  With each book I release the theme of my work will shift, so the possible audience will probably shift a little with it.

CartFly: What advice can you give people who want to start an online business?

Dunn: Be patient, be focused, don't give up, and make sure you have fun doing it.

Cartfly: What are some of  your best sellers?

Dunn: The graphic novel pack is popular, which includes the graphic novel, a signed print, and a fantastic soundtrack CD produced by a US-based band known as The Hope Symphony. Prints are also being received well.

Cartfly: How many different products do you sell?

Dunn: At the moment I sell my graphic novel Lonely Monsters along with original sketches and signed A3 prints. I'll be adding some t-shirts in the near-ish future.

CartFly: What can you tell me that people might want to know about you and your company?

Dunn: My company is basically me, at home, drawing comics, zombies, girls and other fun things. I occasionally leaving the house to try and sell stuff.  My second graphic novel is in the works and will be released in the latter half of 2009. In the mean time, I'm doing various freelance jobs here and there...so I can make more money to by more 3A toy robots.

Cartfly: Why should people do business with you?

Dunn: I'm upfront, efficient, honest, and definitely won't screw anyone around...as I myself hate being screwed around.

CartFly: How has Cartfly helped you?

Dunn: I have been selling my art locally but wanted to make it available to a larger audience. Print-on-demand services can be quite good, but they don't have the direct hands-on approach I was wanting to establish, so my journey led me to Cartfly. It's has provided me with a very user-friendly online home and helped get my art out to a wider audience.

You can find Dunn's Cartfly store on his blogs (above) and MySpace page. If zombie's are your thing, there is also a great review of the first Lonely Monsters book here. Good luck with the second one Matthew...we can't wait to read the stories of other survivors!!

Scouting Featured Merchants for 2009

If you read the Cartfly blog regularly, it is no news to you that we feature a new merchant each and every Tuesday. With a new year ahead of us, it is very important that we have our pipeline full of new merchants to share with the blogosphere.

As a featured Cartfly merchant, we go out of our way to help boost your business and get as many new eyeballs on your products as possible. We send you an in depth questionnaire to gather as many details as we can and of course ask for all of your web links. When your post goes live we advertise it through all of our networks and online channels. It is all about increasing visibility and sales!

If you are interested in becoming a featured merchant in 2009, email us directly at info[at]cartfly.com and we'll send you the merchant intro pack, including templates for you to help spread the word, as soon as possible. 

We here at Cartfly wanted to extend our best wished to you and yours for a happy and healthy new year! We have many exciting things for all you merchants out there to look forward to this coming year and hope you check in often. We thank you all for your patronage and on-going support.  Here's to a profitable 2009!

Today is Free Shipping Day 2008!

Today, Thursday, December 18th is Free Shipping Day. Participating merchants give free shipping to online shoppers with guaranteed delivery by Christmas Eve. This is the last chance for many of the procrastinators out there.

Free Shipping Day is good for shoppers and good for merchants. Shoppers are rewarded with free shipping for doing their last minute Christmas shopping at home, and participating merchants have the opportunity to increase sales further into the Christmas shopping season.

Bloomingdale's, JC Penney, Kohl's, Macy's, Nordstrom, Sears, Circuit City, Crate & Barrel, Eddie Bauer, Kmart, Sears, Sur La Table, Target and Zappos are among the retailers participating in Free Shipping Day. See the full list of merchants on the Free Shipping Day homepage.

And don’t forget, Free Shipping Day benefits the shipping industry as well as the environment.

For further information you can also read an article from the E-Commerce News.

Tip: Holiday Season Is Also Networking Season

We all attend multiple Holiday Parties for family, work and for our friends. Look at each of these as opportunities to network. We all know how taxing these get after the 3rd one, but if it increases your bottom line, then it's worth it. 

1. Events to think about attending

• Friends/Neighborhood parties
• Corporate events
• Industry get-togethers
• Year-end Chamber mixers

2. Networking advice                                            

• First and foremost, you need to attend these functions to get in front of people.
• Take business cards and a pen and don’t be afraid to use them! Remember to ask others for theirs as well.
• Don’t be embarrassed to wear a name tag. Always introduce yourself and use your new friends name in conversation to remember it.
• Don’t be a wallflower. Approach people and go out of your way to meet new people.
• Find tactful opportunities to tell people what you sell online.
• Actively listen when meeting someone but remember to move on, there are a lots of new people to meet!
• Follow up via email with everyone you meet! It is professional and you never know what may come of it.

3. Keep The Momentum All Year Long

Remember to take advantage of all this hard work you are doing. Now that you have built a customer base and a network, leverage it. You should reach out to customers and fans a couple times a year and keep the conversation going. Keeping these connections alive will increase customer loyalty and increase your bottom line.

Tip: Creating Customer Loyalty
Loyalty is not about short-term promotional strategies or appreciation programs that are launched today and forgotten about tomorrow. It needs to be about ongoing customer interactions that consistently exceed the needs and expectations of your customers, even if they are online. Build loyalty through engaging your customers and winning their commitment. This can be measured in customer satisfaction, retention, referrals, sales and profits. Read more here.

Photo Credit: Fashion Copious

Tip: Cyber Holiday Selling Ideas to Boost Sales

There is still time to get this years silver lining even with the so-so financial reports from Black Friday and Cyber Monday. There are millions of shoppers out there still looking for that "perfect gift" and a great deal. With exactly three weeks and counting left until the big day, spread your cheer and sing real loud, for all to hear!!

1. Offer discounts & give-aways.
Give your customers a special incentive to shopping on your site. Offer a gift such as a free CD, free t-shirt, free anything with any purchase or a purchase over a certain amount. All you have to do is add it to their package when you ship it. You can advertise this in the 'Product' description section of your Cartfly account and also with an announcement (see #4). Be sure give a call to action by creating a promotion start and end date.

2. Offer bundled items.
Create a new product listing of a couple products sold together at a discount price. Bundle things like a CD and a t-shirt, a hat and a sticker, a poster and a button...put things together that make sense.

3. Promote free, fast shipping.
This is a great way to builds trust and makes you stand out this holiday season. Re-set your shipping options in your Cartfly account by logging in, go to the 'Payment' section and change your 'Flat Shipping Markup" to $0. Through PayPal, go to 'Merchant Services', click 'Shipping Calculator', select your 'Delivery Time' and adjust your 'Shipping Rates' to $0. Remember to advertise this promotion for certain dates only!!

4. Send a holiday greeting and announce holiday specials.
Post messages on all your social networks, like MySpace, on your blog, and send out an email so people know you are offering specials either ongoing or on that one certain day. It also never hurts to ask people to forward the message along to help spread the word.

Tip: Blogging for E-Commerce Success
So you have your Cartfly store and are doing your best to turn a profit. Our question for you is are you communicating with your customers without actually interacting with them? If you are having trouble reaching your customers, you might want to think about starting a blog. Read more here.

Tip: Join The Social Media Party with Cartfly
There isn't a single magic trick for being successful online. It is important for online merchants to be creative and open to new opportunities, like Cartfly, when introducing your products to customers. When entering the social networking world, be honest, be personal, be a friend and in return, your new friends may become your lifelong customers. Read more here.

Tip: Twitter!

What is Twitter?

According to Wiki, it is is a free social networking and micro-blogging service, that allows its users to send and read other users' updates (otherwise known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length. 

The 'About Us' page on Twitter says, "In countries all around the world, people follow the sources most relevant to them and access information via Twitter as it happens—from breaking world news to updates from friends."

Regardless of what "they" say about Twitter it is has allowed people, in 140 characters or less, to more deeply connect, share resources, share online opportunities, collaborate and even poll each other.

We found a video from the good people at Common Craft that will sum this all up for you. Cartfly is loving Twitter, so come follow us!

Tip: Creating Customer Loyalty

Loyalty is not about short-term promotional strategies or appreciation programs that are launched today and forgotten about tomorrow. It needs to be about ongoing customer interactions that consistently exceed the needs and expectations of your customers, even if they are online. Build loyalty through engaging your customers and winning their commitment. This can be measured in customer satisfaction, retention, referrals, sales and profits.

Loyalty is a give and take relationship. A customer spends money, provides their personal data and hopefully becomes a potential advocate for your store. You give your customers recognition, use their information to better meet their needs and may even reward them for their loyalty. Building loyalty is not just about points and rewards though. It is about identifying and nurturing the yield a long-term, reciprocal, value-added relationship. It requires putting your customer at the center of your business process.

Since it costs 5 times as much to bring in a new customer than to keep an existing one, the easiest way to ensure loyalty is through customer service. Customers want to be loyal, so why do they leave? They leave because of a lack of attention to plain-old customer service. If you want your customers to be loyal, follow these tips:

1. Always tell customers what you CAN do for them. Never tell them what you CAN’T do. If they have a problem, give them a solution.
2. If a customer is angry, let them vent. Remember it’s not personal and do not interrupt them.
3. Remember your customer’s name and use it. Write it down during the conversation if necessary so you don’t forget.
4. Always end each contact (email or conversation) with a “Thank you” or a message of appreciation for their business.
5. When speaking to a customer, make certain that your tone of voice matches your words. Remember, your tone of voice can contradict your message. Actively listening and wear a smile even while on the phone!
6. Follow up on your solution. Contact the customer, at a later date, to make sure that their problem has been resolved and they are pleased with the outcome.
7. Ask if there is anything else that you can do for your customer. Taking the time to ask shows the customer that you value them and often results in increased business and a more than satisfied customer.

Coming Up Tues: Featured Cartfly

Tip: Blogging for E-Commerce Success

So you have your online store and are doing your best to turn a profit. Our question for you is: are you communicating with your customers without actually interacting with them? If you find you are having trouble reaching your customers, you might want to think about starting a blog.

If you have an online store, you already have a niche. Without a niche, you will simply get lost out there in the online jungle. Think about who you want to reach and where they play online; this is where you should be.  Once you know where you want to be and you have all you store elements ready, including Cartfly stores on the appropriate your social networks, you're ready to start your blog.

• Choose the home for your blog. Blogger, TypePad or WordPress seem to be the most popular these days.
• Register your blog with FeedBurner or Syndic8 to promote the content, build & measure your audience and allow content to be delivered and subscribed to.
• Start creating interesting content to drive traffic to your online store. Post hot deals, discount coupon, new products, announcements and industry news.
• Interact with your potential customer by asking for reviews on products and offering freebies for commenting on posts.
• Comment on your competitors blogs. Show you are making progress and why your products are superior and selling.
• Sell merchandise on your blog. Create a FREE Cartfly store by simply registering and adding your merchandise. Then add it to your blog by clicking the green 'Share' button, grab the embed code and you now have an instant store front in yet another location!
• Show your customer that your are serious about your business with frequent posts, answering their questions and talking about things they may be interested in...not always trying to sell them stuff.
• Strive to be the number one blog in your niche!

We hope this gives you a good idea of how to get your blog up and running. This plan will give you a leg up on the competition and hopefully drive more sales, increasing your revenue.

Coming Up Tues: Featured Cartfly