How blogshops do advertising

Here is an example of a blogshop that understands the power of the Internet (and working with peers on the blogosphere) to leverage a COST-FREE promotional campaign.

The idea is simple: Give away some items or discounts to buyers if they would write and link the blogshop to their own blog(s) or websites.

This ensures that the blogshop's link/URL is spread all over the Web.  Chaffey calls this Online PR.


From: FASHIONISTA- YOUR FASHION PARADISE blog: http://f--ashionista.blogspot.com/2010/09/roulailai-wallets-state-colourdesign.html
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Announcements !

Hii shoppers! Great to see you again ! Hmm .. There will be a PROMOTION AGAIN!! Miss the 50% off promo ? Don't worry, now write a entry / review / wishlist / or anything and get 25% off for every items ! P/S : Note that some msg cannnot be accepted (e.g vulgarities) To participate : - You will need a blog (Blogger , LiveJournal , Tumblr , Onsugar etc.) - Write an entry about FASHIONISTA. - Link fashionista in the entry . - Send in your order together with the link of your blog post . - Blog post should be send in and stated in your blog until the promotion ends. Promotion period : 20 August - 15 September.

Are blogshops < E-commerce dotcoms?

There is evidence of perceptions among online sellers in Malaysia/Singapore that blogshops are lower in rank compared to e-commerce dotcoms.

This is an example, from an e-commerce site called Summer Dolls (http://www.summerdoll.com.sg/news/9/Please-Do-Not-Compare-Summerdoll-To-A-Blogshop!.html)  that found it necessary to devote a whole page to differentiating themselves from blogshops:
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Please Do Not Compare Summerdoll To A Blogshop!

Posted on 21st Dec 2009 @ 6:26 PM

I am sick of the (admittedly few) people who complain that the pricing of Summerdoll designs is too high and should be lowered to those of "blogshops". I shall replicate here my reply to an email I received, in which I was told:

"Just a feedback, being an avid online shopper, I think your dresses are priced way too high (as compared to other blogshops who also self-manufacture)!"

Other blogshops? (I also scoff at the term "self-manufacture" coined by blogshops.)

My reply:

"Hi xxxxxxx,

Thank you for your feedback. I would like to explain that the pricing is due to the following reasons:

1) www.summerdoll.com.sg is not a "blogshop". It is a website whereby shoppers may shop and make their purchases immediately due to the shopping cart facility. The website costed about $3000+ to build and about $280 every year to host.

2) Apparel on the multiple blogshops found here only come in one size, a "free" size, which is not consistent and varies from design to design. (Have you considered why they only "self-manufacture" them in a "free" size? Perhaps they are not really designed and sewn by them but rather *gasp* cheap mass market clothes bought from China/Bangkok?) Moreover, fabric used is usually the inferior kind manufactured in China which is thin/see-through and was dyed with inferior dye, leading to much lower cost of fabric but also much lower quality in the apparel. Such apparel often shrink/run in the wash (for a good example, look at the poor quality of Forever21 clothes). In contrast, fabric used to sew my label designs are imported from Japan and Korea, which cost more but are of higher quality.

3) It costs much more to design and sew your own unique apparel than to buy ready-made clothes from China/Bangkok.

4) Unlike a "blogshop" which does not have any overheads, I had a boutique in Holland Village for a year and my new boutique in Millenia Walk will be ready in June 2010. Pricing does factor in the cost of rent, and prices of apparels on the website have to be consistent with store prices. Prices of all brands with physical shops are always higher than "blogshops", no matter which brand, due to the honest fact that rent has to be paid. (The few shops in Far East Plaza, Orchard Central and Wisma which sell dresses at $29.90 all sell dresses which are made cheaply and are of EXTREMELY poor quality. Maybe teenagers do not mind wearing cheap thin see through dresses made by the hundreds but other women do mind.)

The benefit to shoppers is that they are able to try on all designs before purchase, unlike purchasing from a "blogshop" where, if one is honest with oneself, most of the purchases are usually unsatisfactory/does not fit/of inferior quality/was not what you expected/looked nice in the photo but not on you. Most die-hard blogshop shoppers will never admit this but this is the feedback their mothers give me, that most of the purchases end up not worn/thrown away.

5) Lastly, Summerdoll customers are more discerning shoppers who would rather own a few good quality dresses, of which only less than 20 in each design is sewn, than a hundred poor quality mass market dresses, where each design is sewn in the hundreds and chances are high you will bump into another woman wearing the same apparel. (It also costs much, much more per dress to sew very few rather than hundreds in each design.)

I hope you will understand that I do not earn a higher margin per dress compared to these blogshop owners. Due to the direction in which I have chosen to go, I do not compete with blogshops for the teen market."

I do not wish to be harsh with my reply but honestly! I am just so sick of having to explain the obvious! I have decided that life is too short and I will just say whatever needs to be said.

Another thing which I have just remembered while typing this entry, I have extremely satisfied customers from Shanghai who shop at my shop. The feedback I receive from them repeatedly is that the idea that it is much cheaper to buy dresses in China is a misconception, and that only the lousy quality apparel are cheap in China. They tell me that dresses in China of similar quality to my designs cost more in China than in Singapore, which is why they always wait to do their shopping at my shop when they are here in Singapore.

I may regret this entry tomorrow and remove it. Then again, I may not.

(Out of curiosity, do other local designers also receive emails telling them that they are too expensive, you know, "compared to other blogshops"? I would love to see the look on their faces. I mean, you guys do realise that Summerdoll designs are much cheaper compared to other local designers, right?)

Teen owned blogshops

These are blogshops owned by teens.

Just for Fashion at http://justforfashio-n.blogspot.com/2010_09_01_archive.html
Owner's name is Joey, aged 13 from Singapore.
She is a seller and a supplier.

Teen Stop: http://teens-stop.blogspot.com/ 
Three co-owners, all 14 year-olds
Based in Singapore

Teen Station: http://teensstation.blogspot.com/
Based in Malaysia

Affordable Station: http://affordablestation.blogspot.com/
Based in Malaysia

Shopaholic Teens: http://theshopaholic-teens.blogspot.com/ 
Based in Singapore

Three sisters launch own fashion label

From the SUN Daily: http://www.thesundaily.com/article.cfm?id=51511

They started out with a blogshop in 2008: http://mimpikita-clothes.blogspot.com/ which ran for about 6 months before they moved to a full EC website: http://mimpikita.com/index.html.

Now they have a brick store, and they have their own label and do their own production.

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Dream come true.
> Three sisters pool their resources to launch their own label, Mimpi Kita
by Soo Wern Jun

from left) ... Amirah Hanis, Nurul Afidah and Fatimah Ani Syahirah.

NOT over the top, not over embellished and neither are they over emphasised. If you have had enough of tacky and excessive details seen on your outfit, it is probably time to update your wardrobe to create head-turning fashion statement with selections at Mimpi Kita.
Just that and no funky or quirky name?
Yes, it does translate as "our dream" and it is a dream come true for three sisters, namely Nurul Afidah Zulkifli, Amirah Hanis Zulkifli and Fatimah Ani Syahira Zulkifli, who started their online boutique in late 2008. Although all three girls do not have formal education in fashion designing, their span of creativity stops at nothing especially when they have inherited artistic abilities from their father who is an architect and mother who has a talent in designing her own clothes.


"It has always been our dream to own a boutique like this where we get to explore on designing our own fashionable collection of clothes, shoes, bags or accessories even. We have tried making almost everything but have decided to focus more on a clothing line and a leather handbag line too," expressed Nurul, 28, who has a masters in electronic engineering and is heading her two sisters in the designing team.


Initially only operating as an online boutique selling mostly casual wear and home decorative items, Mimpi Kita was a mere hobby and leisure time-based business. It was only a space for the sisters to rant their creativity before it grew to have more shoppers purchasing from their blogshop. They also received requests to transform the business into a full-fledged boutique. This got the sisters thinking seriously and they started to plan out a more fashion and designer-driven clothing collection.


"We finally found a space we can call our boutique this year in February. Work is done at ease as now we have a workshop where our seamstress can work on custom-made or tailored orders. Mimpi Kita will be entering its second year now specialising in casual wear, traditional or festive wear and most recently we have ventured into bridal wear where we cater to full Malay wedding ceremony attire," added Nurul.


The majority of boutiques which we come across would most likely be equipped with self-designed accessories as well, but maybe not this one. Not that they are not capable of it, but the sisters instead have decided to channel their focus on handbags.


"We’ve tried making accessories, but the production process was too tedious and time consuming. So, we opted to out-source the accessories. Our handbag line, Hush, is a collection which features only leather varieties which include water snake skin, python skin, lamb skin and several other types of leather selected based on the bag designs. Up to date, we have made 30 pieces of bags and we’re coming out with more," explained Amirah, 26, a business graduate.


Inspired by ideas based on each sister’s individuality, the label’s design direction follows traits and attributes which are reflected on the types of outfits, cuts and even fabric choices. Calm and toned elements represent Nurul, colour vibrancy belongs to Amirah and playful notes reflects the 23-year-old Fatimah who is the youngest of the three sisters. All three of them may have different design directions, but Mimpi Kita’s clothing line always emphasises a modern and edgy twist.


"We are in many ways glad that we three have different characters which complement each other to strike a balance in terms of design direction to keep the clothing label interesting and ever evolving. Customers who are interested can either drop by our boutique located at 21, Jalan Telawi, Bangsar or call us at 03-2284 8302 for custom-made or tailoring bookings," stated Fatimah.


Custom-made clothing includes baju kurung, dresses, tops and skirts where prices vary according to the materials chosen. Customers can also drop by the boutique to select their preferred cloth or bring their own. If you are not looking for custom-made services, ready-to-wear is also available at the boutique. Prices start from RM80 onwards.

Why aren't there more bl9ogshops for men?

Here are a couple of interesting thoughts, from the Hardwarezone Forums:


 http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/archive/index.php/t-2892204.html 

Especially this reply from yswrox:

here are two group of guys when it comes to clothes. First group are the bo chup kind, they don't really bother about what they wear. This is the group that won't shop online, thus will be unapplicable to your blogshop. Second group are the kind who care about quality, and good quality more often than not is branded. Thus, this group will also be unapplicable to your niche market because they will only go for brands. So even if your clothes are of good quality, their mindset is already set to believe no brand = poor quality. It's not that there aren't blogshops for guys, but quite often they don't get enough business to survive. I shop online, but I prefer to buy from sites that I'm familiar with and those that are reputable. Like urbanoutfitters and asos. People have bad impression of blogshop apparel's quality.

You got to declutter, honey!

This is a very good blog post and advise on the blog interface- how to present your online interface to your customers.

From: http://www.prettyandunder40.com/2010/08/situation-1-ever-walked-into-retail.html

You got to declutter, honey!

Situation 1: Ever walked into a retail shop and you find racks with clothes of all kinds hung on it. Yeah, pretty typical.

Situation 2: Now try imagining one of those shops which is cluttered to the brim. It's still bearable as you know that some gems may be hidden under and you know you'll find it if you dig deeper and longer.

Situation 3: Lastly, try imagining a shop where you'd find some fancy clothes around but the biggest distraction isn't the fact that it's packed with clothes but BANNERS - 2' x 6' banners of other shops.

Now, most of us can identify with situation 1 and 2, but definitely not 3. Not in the malls that we see. But may I just point out that a blogshop is also a retail shop. And I guess we are no stranger to the fact that as blogshoppers, we are bombarded with banners (or some call it link buttons) and of other shops and review blogs.

For the past few years, I realized that there are more blogshops in the www than ever. I've heard people singing praises and amazement on how blogshop owners can manage a business using merely a blog. And as the numbers increase, blogshop owners find that they are getting lesser of the pie. To increase sales and traffic, they do what they can to shout their presence, and this includes exchanging links/buttons/banners.

Today I'm asking the blogshop owners to DECLUTTER their shops. I know I'm making an audacious statement. I'm not suggesting that you should hire a professional website designer to whip up a cleaner website.  And please, I'm not asking you to remove all the link banners/buttons. I'm saying that you may want to reconsider the placement of the banners and links you put in your blog.

I have a few personal reasons to this. And you may want to hear me out:

Reason 1: You want shoppers to spend more time looking at your products and NOT be distracted by other banners
Banners can turn out to be a distraction, especially the flashy ones. If you ever walk into a shop, your intention is to see what they have in stock, and eventually buy it. But imagine yourself walking into Topshop and find La Senza, Guess, Marc Jacobs and Vincci banners in the shop, you'd bound to be distracted. You'd probably find yourself studying the banners and spend lesser time in adoring the clothes there. The same will translate in the blogosphere. 


Reason 2: The more successful blogshops are those who are least cluttered
Off my mind, I can tell of 2 blogs who are successful and have carved a name for themselves. Moreover, they get repeated customers. At Phat Culture and Shopaholics Unite, you'd find that their sidebar is filled with stuff that matters to them - about them, contacts, labels/tags, terms and conditions, twitter, and postal rates. Keep it simple and your potential customers wouldn't get a headache.


Reason 3: Do not feel obliged to link all the reviewers in order to get a review from them
Personally, I don't believe in favors like this one. I have heard of reviewers who'd only review the blogshop IF their link button/banner is in that blogshop. Having your clothes featured in another's blog is important. But you can be clever about it too. Create a PAGE in your blog where you can list all the reviewers in it. That's the art of decluttering. 


Reason 4: A cleaner-looking blog gives you the allowance to price your products higher
The idea is not selling it cheap and sell more. Your goal is to sell it at a higher price and sell more. A simple illustration - some are willing to pay slightly more for your Char Kwey Teow at a fancy cafe though they know that the same dish will cost lesser at any kopitiam (hawker stalls). It's comfort and appeal that we want. Why do some prefer to shop at Bangsar boutiques when you can most probably get the same thing in Sungei Wang? Comfort and appeal again.


The purpose of this post is to help blogshop owners to increase traffic and sales. No ill intentions to anyone at all. After all, as humans, aesthetic appeal is important. So what should you do?


Solution: Don't stop exchanging links, find a way around it
 May I reiterate one last time, I'm not asking anyone to stop exchanging links. I know some of you are wondering what can you do? Make use of the 'Pages'. Like what I do here.

I consider myself a social entrepreneur and I have a list of banners where people can click-to-donate. So, I created a page to compile them all.

See, you can still have them all by decluttering.


I know there are some who beg to differ and we welcome your comments. Ultimately, we want to see all blogshop owners succeed and build a business that thrives. Adios.

Home-based Internet businesses

Here is an article about home based Internet businesses.

The writing is not all that great.

From: http://madpropstobakedpotatoes.com/2010/08/why-risk-with-home-business-internet-marketing-ventures.html

Why Risk With Home Business Internet Marketing Ventures?

Last Updated on Saturday, 28 August 2010 11:18 Written by admin Saturday, 28 August 2010 11:18

Blame it on Robert Kiyosaki and other enterprising people who built their future and fortune by getting into business. Nowadays, most people maintain a positive outlook that the way to a better life is by establishing a business. Well, actually there is nothing wrong with encouraging people to delve into business. After all, more businesses in a country mean that there is a greater chance of making that country’s economy stronger. That is why as days go by, more and more people are turning to home business internet marketing options to augment their monthly income.
And the good thing that comes with the changing environment and societal landscape is that people are able to take advantage of the platform that the internet provides. It has been used since time immemorial to support human activities such as shopping and paying of bills (there are now online shops and online payment of utility bills), why not utilize it in setting up a business?
Online marketing seems to be the best idea that was conceptualized at the turn of the century. The next thing people know is that eBay and Amazon are already selling things on the internet, both brand new and hand-me-downs. Soon, other companies also utilized the internet to expand their operations. Fast food restaurants now have online ordering systems, flowers can now be purchased online and have it delivered to whomever it is intended for, and also online boutiques set up by individuals who might be manufacturing their own products for sale or simply reselling things that they bought on bulk.
Home business internet marketing may appear in various forms. Some people make their own products using their house as a workplace. This is true especially among people who want to establish small-scale businesses with the internet as a medium for ordering. Chefs and cooks are already exploring the possibility of marketing the food they cook online. People who make homemade soaps or liquid detergents can also market their products online. And even garage sales can now take place in the internet.
With this kind of sideline job, people are able get additional income without leaving their current occupation. And the beauty of online marketing is that it is not as time consuming as setting up a business by renting a physical office and selling wares over there. With an online store, all that businessmen need to do is to find a nice website name, take a picture of their products, post the price for each product, and wait for people to respond to the advertisements in various websites. The business person can attend to the responses after he gets home from his day job. This gives people the leeway they need to continue their occupation while starting a new business.
With the following strengths of a home business internet marketing activity, it is definitely a must-try for people in need of another income-generating venture. There are many kinds of online business that can be set up—all that entrepreneurs have to worry about is in choosing which one to implement.