Store Home : Web-store Setup Instructions

SIMPLE 10 STEP INSTRUCTIONS FOR
SETTING UP A PROFESSIONAL LOOKING
FREE WEB-STORE



If you would like a hard copy of these instructions
you can download a PDF version Here



Step 1 Complete your Payee Information

After completing the registration process you need to complete your PAYEE INFORMATION. Click on the “Payee Information Link” on the left hand navigation bar under My Stores to access it.

It is most important you enter your PayPal email address here otherwise we will not be able to pay you.


Step 2 Upload some digital pictures



Click on the “File Manager Link” on the left hand navigation bar under the Members Area to access it.

Simply click on the “browse button” to find the images on your computer. You can upload up to 10 images at a time by clicking on the “Upload More Files Link”.

When you are done simply click on the “Upload Image Button” and your pictures will be uploaded to your website.


Step 3 Organize your images by placing them in to files



It is important that you keep your images organized for easy reference. Click on the “Edit Folders Link” to create new folders. To move images between files check the images you want to move and click on the “Move to” drop down menu. Then select the file you want to move them to.


Step 4 Creating your First Web-Store



Click on the “All Stores Link” on the left hand navigation bar under My Stores.

Click on the “Create New Store Button” and complete the following boxes:

1 Display ID – This is the web address of your new store

2 Store Name – As it says, this is the name of your store

3 Store Title – The text people will see at the top of their browser when they visit your store (Also used by search engines)

4 Key Words – These are the words the search engines will look for. Make sure you use accurate words to describe your content properly. It is much better to use phrases rather than single words. For example use “Horse Mouse pad” rather than “Horse” and “Mouse pad” separately. So “Horse Coasters” would be correct but “Horse” and “Coasters” would be wrong. By using phrases rather than single words you will get more traffic from search engines.

5 Meta Tag Description – Use your “Keyword Phrases” in a brief 20 word description. For example “Hundreds of Horse Mouse pads and Horse Coasters to choose from……”

6 Return Page After Shopping – Leave Blank

7 Choose the currency you want your store prices denominated in from the drop down menu


MAKE SURE YOU CLICK THE SAVE BUTTON


Step 5 Creating your First Product



Click on the “All Stores Link” on the left hand navigation bar under My Stores.

Click on the “Add Product Link” in the top row of your store navigation buttons.

Tab down to the “Select Image Button” and click on it.

Select the image you want to use by clicking on the “Select Button” under the image.

Your image will appear under the Default Product Image label.

Now you are ready to create your first product.

You now need to select a product under the All Products Label.

I am going to use a Large Mousepad as an example product.

Go to the Home & Office Tab and click on the black triangle to the left of it.

The tenth item down is the Large Mousepad – check the box to the left of it.

Under your image on the right side of the page you will see a button called “Add Selected Products to your Store”. Click on this button.

Your new product will appear on the page – if the image is not the perfect size for the product it will probably not look good, but don’t worry, this can easily be corrected.

Click on the “Design Button” under the product

In the Design Your Product Box you will see four Drop Down menus:

1 Image Height – This drop down menu controls the size of your image on the product. Please note: You can only make the image smaller.

2 Horizontal Offset - This drop down menu allows you to move the image to the left or the right of the product. Please note: If you are putting a square image on a square product you cannot move it horizontally.

3 Vertical Offset - This drop down menu allows you to move the image up and down on the product. Please note: If you are putting a square image on a square product you cannot move it vertically.

4 Rotate – This drop down menu allows you to rotate the image on the product.

Play around with the design controls until you are happy with your product.

Please be aware that it will not always be possible to create an attractive product if the shape and size of your image is not compatible with the product you are trying to put the image on to.

You can check on the perfect image shape and size on the Image Templates Tab under the Members Area on the left hand navigation bar.

Please be aware that you can make many fantastic products from images that are a different size and shape to that recommended for the product. The most important thing to understand is that the size of the image is the most important factor, if the image size exceeds that needed for the product, then you can almost always create a good looking product by playing around with the design controls.


Step 5A Creating Multiple Products at the same time



Creating multiple products at the same time is almost identical to creating a single product. To recap the process is as follows:

Click on the “All Stores Link” on the left hand navigation bar under My Stores.

Click on the “Add Product Link” in the top row of your store navigation buttons.

Tab down to the “Select Image Button” and click on it.

Select the image you want to use by clicking on the “Select Button” under the image.

Your image will appear under the Default Product Image label.

Now you are ready to create multiple products.

You now need to select your products under the All Products Label.

I am going to use a Round Italian Charm Watch, a Classic Tote Bag and a Cigarette Money Case as example products.

Go to the Jewelry & Watches Tab and click on the black triangle to the left of it.

The fourth item down is the Round Italian Charm Watch – check the box to the left of it.

Now go to the Bags Tab and click on the black triangle to the left of it.

The first item is the Classic Tote Bag – check the box to the left of it.

Now go to the Men’s Accessories Tab and click on the black triangle to the left of it.

The first item is the Cigarette Money Case – check the box to the left of it.

Just as before when you created a single product, under your image on the right side of the page you will see a button called “Add Selected Products to your Store”. Click on this button.

Your new products will appear on the page.

All you need to do now is click on the “Design Button” under each product, one at a time, and use the design drop down menus in the Design Your Product Box.

You can create as many products as you wish at the same time, but each one has to be designed individually.


Step 6 Pricing your products



Click on the “Store Price tab” in the top row of your store navigation buttons.

You will see a list of all the products we have available.

The base price is your cost price

The lowest price is the lowest price your are permitted to sell at.

The current price is the default setting that gives you a $2.00 profit on everything you sell.

Place the price you want to charge for each product into the New Price box.

MAKE SURE you click on the SAVE button at the bottom of the page after you have updated your prices.

Note on pricing: There are many products where you can make much more than $2.00 profit per item, for example watches and clocks. There are a few products, such as 9mm Italian Charms, where $2.00 is too much. You can get an idea of how to price your products by visiting www.photogiftsshowcase.com and looking at the prices.


Step 7 Designing Your Store



So, you have created and priced some products but when you look at your web-store you find everything is on one page and it does not look professional!

We recommend that you break your store down into sections, either by product or by design. By that we mean you either have different sections for watches, clocks, mousepads etc. or you have different sections for birds, animals and fish etc.

To organize your store by sections the first thing you need to do is click on the “Section tab” in the middle row of your store navigation buttons.

Go to the bottom of the page and click the “Add Section Button”.

In the “section name” box type in the name you want for the section. For example Fish Products (if you are organizing your sections by design) or Watches (if you are organizing your sections by product) MAKE SURE you click on the SAVE button.

You will automatically be taken back to the previous page.

Click on the home link at the top of the page and then on add section and repeat the process to create your second section.

Each section you create will be listed on the left side navigation bar in your web-store and it will also create a section link box on the home page of your web-store.

You can create as many sections as you wish.

If you want to create sub-sections simply click on the section instead of the home link and then click the Add Child Section button at the bottom of the page.


Step 8 Moving your products from one section to another



All of your products are currently listed on your home page. The following instructions will teach you how to move them to the appropriate sections.

To move your products into the appropriate sections click on the “Products tab” in the top row of your store navigation buttons.

You will see a list of your store sections, starting with your Home page at the top (this is where all your products currently reside).

Simply check the box on each of the products you want to move, then in the drop down menu in the box marked “Make changes to checked items”, select “Move Products to Other Store/Section” and press the “Go” button.

On the next page all you need to do is “check the box” next to the section you want to move your products to. When you are done click the “Confirm” button at the bottom of the page.

You will then be taken back to your starting product list page, in this case your home page.

Repeat the process until all of your products reside in the appropriate section. When you have finished you should have no products left on your home page.


If you click on the “Your Store Link Is” in the orange box under “Return to all Stores” it will open a new window in which your actual web-store will be displayed. You will see that your Home Page now contains a “link box” for each section you have created.

You now need to put pictures in those boxes to give your web-store a professional look. This is very easily done.

On your actual web-store click on each section, one at a time, and then choose what you think is the best looking product in each section.

Click on the item and it will take you to that item’s “Review Product” page.

Click on the “View Larger Image” Tab.

In the new window that opens up “Right Click” the image and use the “Save Picture As” option to save the image to your computer.

Repeat this process for each section.

To add your pictures into the appropriate sections click on the “Sections tab” in the middle row of your store navigation buttons.

Click on the first section you have created and tab down to the “Browse Button”. Click on the browse button and find the image you have saved to your computer for that section. Double click the image and it will be uploaded to your website.

Make sure you click on the “SAVE Button” when you are done.

Repeat this process for each section.

Check your web-store by using “Your Store Link Is” in the orange box under “Return to all Stores” to make sure your images have been added correctly.

Your web-store is now taking shape and looking good, but there are still a couple more steps to take to finish it off.

Add a message to the top of each section.

You can very easily place a message at the top of each section page by going to the “Sections tab” in the middle row of your store navigation buttons.

Simply click each section, one at a time, and add your message text by entering it into the “Description Box”. When you are done make sure you click on SAVE.


Step 9 Managing Your Products



To manage your products click on the “Products tab” in the top row of your store navigation buttons.

Use the Make Changes to Checked Items drop down menu to manage your products.

Note: We only list the most commonly used functions below.

Check the items you want to make changes to then use the drop down menu to do any of the following:

(i) Modify Product Name – This will only make changes to the product name you have entered, it will not change the name of the actual product. For example, if you named a Wall Clock (Black) “Black & White Dog” and wanted to change it to “Dalmatian Dog” your product name would change from “Black & White Dog Wall Clock (Black)” to “Dalmatian Dog Wall Clock (Black)”

(ii) Modify Product Description – We recommend you use this function for all products. The text you enter here will be displayed on each “Review Product” page in your web-store.

(iii) Modify Product Price Markup – We suggest you do not use this function because if you have priced your products as we recommend, the markups will be different on different items.

(iv) Remove Products – If you are unhappy with any of your products you can remove them from your store very quickly by using this function.

(v) Move Products to other Store/Section – See Step 8 above for details.

(vi) Change Watch/Clock Text – Simply changes the format of your watch & clock faces

(vii) Copy Products to other Store/Section – This is a great function to use for products that are appropriate for more than one of your sections. For example, if you have sections for both Watches and Key Chains you can copy a Key Chain Watch from your Key Chain Section to your Watch Section. It then appears in both sections.


Step 10 Featured Products



It is a good idea to give your best products extra exposure by using the “Featured Product” function.

To use this function go to the “Products tab” in the top row of your store navigation buttons.

Click on the “Edit Button” located under each of your products.

Tab down the page and check the “Category Special” box. This will place that product at the top of your page.

We strongly recommend that you choose four featured products for each section. By using four you will have a complete top row of featured products that will give your best products additional exposure.

Make sure you click on SAVE after checking each box.

Warning: You will notice that there is also a Homepage Special Box. We suggest you DO NOT use this function because you will end up with a cluttered home page with too many products. Too many products on your home page will make it slow to load for your visitors.



Your website is now ready to start marketing


To monitor your web-store performance click on the following links on the left hand navigation bar under My Stores.

Sales Report – Will list your sales by product, profit, time and customer.

Earnings Report – Will list your profits by Hour, Day, Week, Month, Quarter and Year.

Dollar History – Will list your sales by Value, Time and Order Number.

Your profits will be sent to your Paypal Account on the 1st and 16th of each month.