Have A Custom Online Store
Up and Running in Less than 30 Days for $0 Cost

InstepFundraising.com has designed a free 30 Day Action Plan which will help you set up your own custom online fundraising store based from this case study. The program takes advantage of what went right in the following case study and improves significantly on what went wrong.

Week One: Introduction to Fundraising with a Custom Online Store

• Sign up for a free store at Cafe Press
• Download our free report: Introduction to Fundraising with Cafe Press (.pdf 27kbs)
• Familiarize yourself with the your account settings:
  
  Key Areas:
  My Images: (add designs to be used in your store)
  My Earnings: Displays you sales reports
  My Shops: Add, price and categorize products in your store
  
  
  
  
• Sign up for CaféPress updates which include helpful tips and if you wish click the checkbox to be notified by email every time a sale is made.

Week Two: Choose Your Product Line

• Begin brainstorming the design of the image and wording that will appear on your items: See examples here:
  Pregnancy/Infant Loss Awareness
  Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
  Iota Phi Theta Fraternity
  
  
• Understand the rules regarding Prohibited Content and make sure you have permission to use your organizations logos.
  In accordance with intellectual property laws, CafePress.com has certain rules regarding the types of merchandise that you can make and sell through its service. For example:
  
  

  • NO UNOFFICIAL MERCHANDISE • NO use of names, logos, pictures or other intellectual property of musical groups or musical artists. For example, you cannot make Britney Spears merchandise simply because you run a fan-based Britney Spears website or just because you downloaded her image from an internet website. You also cannot modify the name or other intellectual property of a musical group and avoid infringement, (e.g., using Metalika instead of Metallica). • NO use of names, logos, pictures, or other intellectual property of sports teams, colleges/universities, clubs, or organizations such as the Los Angeles Lakers, Harvard University, or The Boy Scouts. Again, modifications may not avoid infringement. • NO photos, logos, caricatures, or other artwork depicting celebrities, such as Michael Jackson or Madonna, or other third parties. Just because you take a photograph of a celebrity does not give you the right to use that photograph on merchandise, even if you digitally manipulate the photograph. • NO use of trademarks, names, or logos of companies. For example, you cannot use the name of a company such as Nike, a company logo such as the Nike "swoosh" trademark, or brand name such as Coca Cola, or a modified version of a trademark, (e.g., "Just Did It"). • NO pictures or photographs of products (such as toys). Even if you own a product, trademark laws may still prohibit you from selling merchandise that features pictures of it.

  
  
  
• Use the following naming conventions for your image files. If using the mug template the image you create with the mug will be instep_mug.png instep_tshirt_png
  
  
• Use the image tutorials and specifically the image templates to create your images for uploading: *if you do not use the image templates as a guide you will be disappointed with the results.
  If you are looking to save time and use one image for multiple products A good tip is that an image: 10" x 10" @ 200 DPI (2000 pixels X 2000 pixels) While it won't fit on all our products, it does fit on all apparel items, mugs and print products. Products such as bumper stickers, hats, and clocks have different shapes and sizes so will not work with the above universal image option.
  
  
• Upload images to your media basket under images
  
  
• Select the items you would like to sell in your shop, you have the choice of aprons, clocks, posters, t-shirts, golf shirts, buttons and much more. Click here for a list of all the products you can carry in your store.
  
  
• Create The Description Of Your Products: Market your products using descriptions. Name your products and include interesting and accurate descriptions for each item. Not only will it tell a story about your products, but will help optimize your products for search engines
  
  
• Select a pricing strategy for the items in your store. The following document gives suggested price mark-ups for each product.
  
  
• Select the pages you will send customers to after they have made a purchase. This could be a "Thank You For Your Support Page" on your website.
  
  
• Ask for help if you are stuck at this stage: Cafe Press Toll Free Help: 1-877-809-1659

Week Three: Open Shop

• Review your shop and make sure it is just the way you want it
• Understand what your links and html will look like :
  "http://www.cafepress.com/ShopID" - where ShopID is your Shop id. For example, if there was a shop with a ShopID of "InstepFundraising", the shop would be at http://www.cafepress.com/InstepFundraising Linking:
  Using basic HTML, you could cut and paste this link code onto your own web page (just replace StoreID with your store name):
  

  <a href="http://www.cafepress.com/StoreID">Come visit our custom store</a>

  
  
  
• Here are 5 Great Tips for Fundraising with CafePress:
  
  Take Advantage of Special Offers: CaféPress often has unique promotions you can offer to your supporters. Free shipping and other sorts of discounts are offered throught the year.

  Consider Buying in Bulk: Purchases in quantities of 15 or more to qualify for big discounts. Not only can you sell the items offline for a larger profit but wearing your items is a great way to get word-of-mouth advertising and you can show supporters what the products look like before they buy. Bulk pricing is great for rallying team spirit, club fundraisers, non-profit and charitable events. **Bulk discounts are only applicable to products you have created. Bulk discount is not available for Buttons, Magnets, Value T-Shirts, Black T-shirts or Custom Postage.

  Utilize the CafePress Forums: Great tips on managing and promoting your shop.

  Utilize CafePress Chats & Workshops: These are live interactive chats hosted by CafePress staff designed to educate members on how to be more successful using the CafePress.com website and the services offered. They also give members the opportunity to ask questions and interact with CafePress staff and other members in real-time. The archive section is also very helpful.

  Be selective on your product choices: Don't feel compelled to offer every product for every design. Choose products that are well-suited to showcase your designs. Think of just offering one, one-of-a-kind product. Don't over clutter your store and offer something special that can only be purchased in one place.

Week Four: Promote Your Shop

• Build buzz by telling the story behind your shop or designs. Be relevant, timely and compelling.
• Wear your designs. If your prodcuts are cool and interesting, chances are people will ask where to get them. Wear them during an event your group is hosting.
• Create a catalog or flyer. Showcase your products in a catalog or flyer and distribute it. Pass it out at events, send out a direct mail, leave a stack at a public place, etc. Get your products seen offline.
• Read the promotion section of the Instepfundraising.com website for other tips
• Your store comes with a free newsletter you can send to your supporters. Your newsletter is a valuable marketing tool to spread the word about what's happening in your shop. Create a newsletter that's relevant to your Web site with updates, tips, anything that is newsworthy to your subscribers with a featured product.
• Here are some ideas of people to promote your store to:
  • Co-workers
  • Parents
  • Parents co-worker
  • Aunts
  • Uncles
  • Grand parents
  • Alumni of your group
  • Directors/Board Members of your club
  
• Continuously use word of mouth advertising to promote you store
• Now all that's left is monitor the success of your program and keep track of sales. Cafe press provides you with real time tracking and access to your stats. Payments are made after 45 days of a sale because Cafe press has a return policy of 30 days and cannot pass on revenues to you until this time has passed.