What is Printfection doing to get the word out?

[davidlachnicht]

I am all about self-promotion, but let's face it, Printfection makes money off of every thing we sell.

So, what are they doing to get the word out to buyers, not just us ?

[PatrioticTees.com]

I am getting tons of hits from Google, Yahoo and MSN (Live search).... so they must be doing something right. MY Printfection stores often appear and number one or two in the results for very common search terms that my customers use.

Most days I get more search engine hits to my shops here, than I do to the other online shops I have at other POD companies. I have no website that points traffic to my stores, nor do I advertise. I haven't even made business cards yet.

[StarvingArtist]

They're not doing a whole lot just yet. From what I understand they're working on a huge infrastructure update before going all out with advertising. They're making sure the foundation is rock solid before building up and inviting everyone in.

Hang in there, I think it's going to be well worth the wait.

Polly

Love your shop by the way. My hubby just retired from the army.

[Pussycat]

I can only agree with PT on all points - PF is very SEO friendly!

[PF_Gavin]

I am also seeing increasingly more sales from the marketplace, so word must be getting out there. I do see the occasional adword in my travels as well.

Cheers

Gavin

[jimsz]

Even with ads, seo, etc I am see very little activity in any store here.

I like the product, I like the quality but I can't do a complete migration here until there are actual sales. No far they simply don't exist at PF in any of my shops.

[Pussycat]

If I sell one more shirt here the sales figures match those "elsewhere". So it can´t be all bad - and I haven´t started promoting seriously yet!

[davidlachnicht]

I like the product, I like the quality but I can't do a complete migration here until there are actual sales.

same here.

[gp1628]

I guess its good to ask, but I wouldnt squawk about the answer.
I consider a couple of other PoD's as being "the best choice to start out on". Tutorial PoD's for figuring out if you can and how to do it. I consider PF to be my number one recommendation for people who then need to upgrade after decide they can, and decide that shirts are the item they want to do.

So InMyHumbleOpinion I would leave it up to shopkeepers to market their shops and leave it to PF to market PF (a site to create shops). At least I wouldnt bring it up for a while longer while PF works on other things. I figure that most of us have a handle on that and can help the others. As long as PF doesnt do anything that I feel actually BREAKS the shopkeepers ability to market themselves then I will stay quiet.

I have sent (hmm I need to check and see if I had the right email address) a long email where I brought up some things about how PF handles their Custom page.

Hey PF, if you didnt get my long email the last couple of days, pop me a note as gandalf at the dead.isp of Community Net

Gandalf Parker

[PatrioticTees.com]

You're absolutely right! There is no need to migrate until you start feeling your sales are moving up and steady... and actually I don't necessarily feel you have to entirely migrate either... but many do for consistency reasons, and to prevent confusion to their customers.

Personally, my sales here are good, across all shops, except the two newest ones. When I first started out, I was really frustrated about the lack of traffic and sales I was getting. But then all of a sudden... I was picked up by the search engines... and then there was a flood of traffic. I get as many hits a day here for my patriotic shop, as I do my parallel store at CP. They are both open, and they both generate sales for me. Many established shops sell through more than one POD. Smiley Central is one... they have a gallery at Zazzle and a well known shop at CP. Same with the stick figure lady Busy Bodies... she has a shop here and at CP, and maybe more that I haven't found yet.

I am a small time business. I created some designs that I think are nice, and I share them with the public to buy. I don't have an established cartoon like Gumball Gang, or anything like that. Stores like that, have more to consider than I do. I just like getting multiple checks from multiple places. If the QC problems get too out of hand at CP, then I might close up shop... but as long as the majority of my customers recieve a product they are happy with, that's all that matters to me. They are not going to have one shirt from here, and one from there to compare. I have learned that most people are happy with good enough (sad as that may be). I do care about my reputation... however I am not kidding myself. I am not "The GAP" I do not have a true "brand" to protect. I (at least for now) cannot see throwing away the money I make there, and just doing without it... just because my shops here do just as well. I'd rather just receive TWO BIG CHECKS :)

Hey DAvid... do you know what your name means? Smile, would ya!

[davidlachnicht]

Hey David... do you know what your name means? Smile, would ya!

Yeah, we know.

Funny, years ago the family actually thought the name was fake; that the original "Lachnicht" immigrated knowing no english, and one of his buddies gave "Lachnicht" the the immigration folks as a joke. BUT IT'S REAL, and there are Lachnicht's in Germany right now.

[Shadow Boxer]

PF doesn't have anything to do with how you are picked up by search engines. The SEO that you put into your shop is what they read.

I have been quiet for a while, but the only thing that PF does is put out a few adwords. They don't even submit us to Froogle, which doesn't cost them anything.

Does anyone have any idea how many shops there is here at PF? Or just how many sales they average a day? If you have had more than one sale, it doesn't take a genius to figure it out. I made 2 purchases for myself and from my order #s and the time frame, it is about 53 sales a day. Spread that out over the amount of shops here and the pickings are mighty slim.

I will say that the shirts I received were ok, but not what I would call outstanding. One of them lost a lot of it color the first time I washed it and white speckles are showing thru the solid colors. So, in my case to say their quality is superior is a bit hard for me to swallow.

Thanks, Bill

[Pussycat]

PF doesn't have anything to do with how you are picked up by search engines. The SEO that you put into your shop is what they read.
Seeing the alt text on your section images here is the complete section description I would say they do have some influence on SEO - of course your description has to be spot on.


I will say that the shirts I received were ok, but not what I would call outstanding. One of them lost a lot of it color the first time I washed it and white speckles are showing thru the solid colors. So, in my case to say their quality is superior is a bit hard for me to swallow.

The merch I received was of very superior quality, and the print was nice and clear and exactly like my design. I have purchased several of my items from CP and have never been completely satisfied.

And no, I am not holding the flag up for PF this is just stating facts from my experience.
I have shops on both sides, and intend to leave it that way - unless CP gets even more "unfriendly" for "small" SKs than they are atm.

[jojo]

As far as submitting to Google Base (formerly Froogle), you can use something called cafe Toolbox. http://cafetoolbox.com/
It works for both cafepress and printfection shops.

Like Amstar10, I have shops at other PODs, too. I don't post on this board as much as I once did because of all the hostility I see towards people who are considered outsiders. Lighten up, people! :(

[PF_Gavin]

JoJo,

I don't see where you think there is hostility here, and I certainly don't consider anyone to be an outsider, everyone is welcome on this forum.

As for Bill, he turns up here every couple of weeks, calls every one a bunch of losers with no ambition, makes some critical remarks about the service and then threatens to go away, so please forgive anyone on this board that may be a little tired of the negative attitude.

My message to everyone has always been to do what ever you think is right for you, so have a store here there and everywhere, sell whatever where ever and most importantly have some fun whilst doing it.

Cheers

Gavin