Saturday 23 November 2013

Zaps progress and history


let's get promoting...



I thought I'd write a quick(!) post about my Zaps journey now that it's been launched and I've got its marketing plan fully under way...

You can find out all about Zaps and (as at Nov 2013) apply for a free tryout license via the Zaps - Zazzle Automatic Promotion System link at the top of this blog.

History

June - Zazzle announced up-coming changes to their volume bonus mechanism and at the same time told all storekeepers to promote their gear like crazy to help make up for the lost VB income. But they didn't give us storekeeprs any tools to help us.

July - Zazzle changes kick in. I started to research online tools that would help me promote.  I looked at systems like Hootsuite, Twitterfeed, Tweetdeck, Gremlin and others which, between them, give scheduled sharing / posting, sharing from one social source to others and so on.

But the major drawback of each of them was that tracking codes were a pain. What's the point of putting major effort into lots of promoting and social engagement when you don't know what's working and what's not? And it it was still way too time-consuming juggling them all and having to keep copying and pasting codes all over the place.

All that time spent meant I wasn't engaging much socially - and making stuff on Zazzle suffered too.

I wanted a magic solution to meet my major needs as a Zazzle storekeeper:

  • Once set up, little or no maintenance - posts / shares would flow by themselves
  • Must support tracking codes properly (and, of course, referrer ids)
  • Must allow sharing down the major social media channels (Google+ being the exception by my choice)
  • Must support the major blog platforms Blogger and Wordpress
  • Must allow flexible selection of products to promote, including from market place, named store, specific store category 
 
August - I started to develop my own system by mashing up free online tools.
End August - Zaps guinea pigs round 1 participants sought via the Z forum
Early September - Zaps guinea pigs round 2 participants sought via the Z forum
November 10th - Zaps launch party took place with Tryout Zaps announced!

So here we are, three months since Zazzle made their announcement. After weeks and weeks and weeks of blood, sweat and tears I was able to build the Zaps tool to do all those things (and more!) and in very flexible ways. I actually exceeded my own expectations!

Next steps with Zaps

Where do we go from here...

The full Zaps (Zaps Pro)

I'm continuing to develop new features - I recently announced a Zap for pulling from Amazon's Goldbox programme - Daily Deals for Amazon affiliates. Also one for drawing from your Skreened pod store.

I'll be doing more as I come across other pods that let me!

Tryout

I sent out a newsletter today to those who signed up for the free tryout of Zaps, giving hints and tips and some background.

On Christmas Day, the free tryout of Zaps comes to an end. I'll be providing a migration path for those who want to upgrade to the paid-for version. And with a novel way to pay (basically get it for free when you spend enough in the outerspace section of my store)


Happy Zazzling,
Happy Zapping!


comments, likes, +1s, tweets are always welcome! :)

Monogram Star Superbubble, Large Magellanic Cloud Hanging Pendant Lamps

A gorgeous outer space lamp design. Fill your room with these amazing colours! Click to fill in and see it with your monogram initials.


tagged with: new born stars, star nursery, interstellar hydrogen clouds, n44 nebula, star cluster ngc 1929, supernovas, outer space, sbsblmc, star galaxies, deep space astronomy images, dust clouds, hot young stars

Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series An awesome photograph from deep space featuring a super bubble in the Large Magellanic Cloud, which is a small satellite of our Milky Way galaxy around 160000 light years from us.
The massive stars of this nebula produce intense radiation, expelling matter at high speeds, and race through their main stage finally to explode as supernovas. The stellar winds of charged hydrogen and other particles and the supernova shock waves carve out huge cavities called superbubbles in the surrounding gas. Blue shows hot regions created by these winds and shocks, while red shows where the dust and cooler gas are found. Yellow regions show where ultraviolet radiation from hot, young stars is causing gas in the nebula to glow.
more items with this image
more items in the Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series

image code: sbsblmc

Image credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/U.Mich./S.Oey, IR: NASA/JPL, Optical: ESO/WFI/2.2-m

»visit the HightonRidley store for more designs and products like this
The Zazzle Promise: We promise 100% satisfaction. If you don't absolutely love it, we'll take it back!

Atheist necklace

A gorgeous design. What would it look like with your initials? Click to personalize it and customize it with the different available styles.


tagged with: atheist, people, culture

atheist necklace

»visit the daydreamer1 store for more designs and products like this

Respect, Kindness, Trust... Virtues word art Post Cards

A gorgeous best-selling design. Click to personalize. How would it look with your name or monogram?


tagged with: honour, kindness, honesty, tolerance, peace and harmony, courage and inspiration, respect and trust, strength and patience, motivational words, hrbstslr mowds3, imagination, word art, virtues, good traits, values

Here's a great postcard design using motivational word art based around virtues that could help give the recipient a nice little boost!!
It works on the psychological principle of conscious and unconscious positive reinforcement.
more items featuring these motivational virtues words
more items in the Motivational Words series


»visit the HightonRidley store for more designs and products like this

Fractal Marble PurpleiPhone 5 Barely There Case iPhone 5 Cover

An amazing iPhone Case design featuring a beautiful fractal. Click to personalize / customize.


tagged with: purple, fractal, fractals, art, artistic, abstract, feathers, pattern, marble, digital, fractal art, surreal, surrealism, feathery, marbled, marbling, rainbow, digital art, contemporary, swirls, modern, psychedelic, black

Feathery looking Fractal marble design in bright purple on black.

iPhone 4/4S Barely There Case-Mate Case
~ Made for iPhone 4/4S on AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon carriers.
~ Impact-resistant, flexible plastic shell
~ Access to all ports, controls, and sensors
~ Lightweight & durable
~ Form-fitting with easy on-and-off

See more products with this Fractal Marble Gifts design at our ColorCrazy shop here on Zazzle.

»visit the CaseByCase store for more designs and products like this

I shoot people - Metallic Paper (photography) Business Cards

An impressive metallic-effect business card design. How will it look with your name and business details? Click to personalize and find out!


tagged with: photographer, photography, professional, cool, camera, i shoot people, digital camera, funny, digital, lens, aluminum, photos, photographs, len, modern1

Note: Please purchase the revise version below. Fixed the overlapping graphic.
I shoot people - Metallic Paper (photography) Funny "I shoot people" Professional Photographer Camera Lens Business Card. With Metallic Paper.

Note! Please be sure to make sure all contents you add or modify are within the safe zone. (Red dashed lines). Any contents outside the dashed lines will be cut-off when printed.


»visit the AV_Designs store for more designs and products like this

Custom Pi 3.14 Math Geek Tie

A fantastic tie design. Maybe you'd like to see your initials / monogram on it? Click to personalize and see what it looks like.


tagged with: geek, nerd, dork, math, science, physics, 3.14, forever, infinity, family, computer, computers, calculator, sciences

3.14159...... The perfect tie for your favorite math genius. White background with black repeating text and the standard Pi symbol.

»visit the bellamandu store for more designs and products like this

Monogram Star Superbubble, Large Magellanic Cloud Lamps

A gorgeous outer space lamp design. Fill your room with these amazing colours! Click to fill in and see it with your monogram initials.


tagged with: new born stars, star nursery, interstellar hydrogen clouds, n44 nebula, supernovas, outer space, sbsblmc, star galaxies, deep space astronomy images, monogram initials, star cluster ngc 1929, dust clouds, hot young stars

Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series An awesome photograph from deep space featuring a super bubble in the Large Magellanic Cloud, which is a small satellite of our Milky Way galaxy around 160000 light years from us.
The massive stars of this nebula produce intense radiation, expelling matter at high speeds, and race through their main stage finally to explode as supernovas. The stellar winds of charged hydrogen and other particles and the supernova shock waves carve out huge cavities called superbubbles in the surrounding gas. Blue shows hot regions created by these winds and shocks, while red shows where the dust and cooler gas are found. Yellow regions show where ultraviolet radiation from hot, young stars is causing gas in the nebula to glow.
more items with this image
more items in the Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series

image code: sbsblmc

Image credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/U.Mich./S.Oey, IR: NASA/JPL, Optical: ESO/WFI/2.2-m

»visit the HightonRidley store for more designs and products like this
The Zazzle Promise: We promise 100% satisfaction. If you don't absolutely love it, we'll take it back!

Whimsical turtles with girly floral retro pattern galaxy SIII cases

Cute Alert!

How cute a Samsung phone case design is this? Maybe you'd like to see your name / initials / monogram on it? Click to personalize and see!

today I've chosen for you this popular design from Zazzle. It was created by _Angelique_,
another talented creative from the Zazzle community!


tagged with: turtle, whimsicall, nautical turtle, floral, girly, fashion, cute, pattern, marine, pink, teal, teal blue, navy blue, floral pattern, white, turtles, animals, sea, pastel, preppy, rose, lilies, tulips, lotus, vintage, retro, chic, hipster, vintage floral, retro floral, turtle pattern, tulip, fashionable, nature, floral turtle, cool, cool turtle, beautiful, trendy, turtle trend

A vintage and retro girly floral pattern design with whimsical and cute turtles animals, with pink, blue, red, yellow, teal blue, black, purple, gray, white, turquoise blue, navy blue pastel colors, lots of different floral colorful retro design with roses, lilies, tulips, sunflowers, lotus and other beautiful preppy flowers. Perfect gift for her, the turtle, animals and wildlife lover, marine lover, flower and nature lovers, great for the trendanista, the sister and the fashionista

»visit the _Angelique_ store for more designs and products like this
The Zazzle Promise: We promise 100% satisfaction. If you don't absolutely love it, we'll take it back!

Quartz and Slate effect vase coaster

A gorgeous best-selling design. Click to personalize. How would it look with your name or monogram?


tagged with: iron pyrites, stone, table protectors, hot drink shield, stain shield, ring stopper, hrcol81 hrbstslr, rock, slate effect, quartz-look, ceramic

A river of gold appears to run from the opening at the base of concrete stairs, reddened by lichens and the stains of rust seeping through.
In my inner vision the vein of quartz and iron pyrites that's pushed its way through the slate looks like a molten river of gold, pouring from a melted heart.
more items with this image
more items in the Abstract series


»visit the HightonRidley store for more designs and products like this