Ooops! I'll Program Again....

My college degree is in Marketing, although I haven't used it as much as I would have liked. However, I can and do think like a Marketing person. This has helped with trying to grow our little business, as I am always looking for new and different ways to market got baby!

Lately, I've been experimenting with widgets -- which are SO cool. Yesterday, I spent several hours trying to get my widget to have a gradient background using just CSS. It started, because I was checking site traffic and came across an unfamiliar URL. When I checked it out, I saw that somebody had installed one of my widgets to sell Cafepress stuff.

Well....it looked AWFUL.....which was MY fault, not the blog owner's. I didn't realize that most blogs only allow about 170 pixels on their sidebars, and my widget is for 220+ due to the background image. Ooops! I'll program again......I just hope that they keep the widget once I update it.....

I am thinking I need to create some more customization with my widgets. Currently, they only offer someone the ability to add their Cafepress PID and maybe change the size. My latest widget features gifts for the new dad and dad-to-be, and it gives you the ability to change the background fade colors, font sizes, link colors, etc. I think I'll take it one step farther and give users the ability to add some of their own URLs. This might increase the number of installs.

So, I reorganized my store yesterday and didn't think about the possible fall-out! I had to change all the links on got baby! Then, I had to deactivate my Google Base feed. My husband purchased some software yesterday that is supposed to import everything into Google Base, so he's taking over that task -- thank GOD! Creating those spreadsheets was a PAIN.

My widgets are all updated now. I just worry about anyone linking to old product pages....oh well, it's not like there were THAT many! Thankfully, I am doing this now when we don't have tons and tons of traffic.

Oh Lord, that just reminded me of several other places that need links updated....CRAP. I know what I'm doing for the rest of the day!

Wild for Widgets!

Yesterday, I discovered widgets. I was reading an article in one of the many SEO/techie e-mail newsletters I get, and I clicked on the link to this widget Web site. Oh my GOD, they are SO cool. I really get excited by wickedly cool technology.....

My first widget was for my blog. It lists my recents posts. I added it to my got baby! Web site as a way to link to my blog. I was just going to do some boring [yawn!] graphical link, but this is SO much cooler.....

Anyway, it got me thinking......which can be a scary thing at times......but I put my Marketing guru hat on and thought, "Now, is there some way to use widgets to sell my stuff on Cafepress???" And the answer was YES!

I got busy creating a widget to link to my maternity items. In the middle of it, the site went down for some sort of maintenance, so that was a pain. But I finally got it all done.....and here is the REALLY cool thing about it....if you are a Cafepress Affiliate, then you can enter your PID into the widget. It will automatically be added to the link URL, and you will earn commission off the sales I make. How cool is THAT?

And if you aren't an affiliate, then sign up using the link above and start earning moolah by doing NOTHING. You can earn several dollars per sale, and all you need to do is add some code to your Web site. It's pretty easy money, if you ask me.....not that you did ask me, but I still had my Marketing guru hat on......

I can be SUCH a geek about this stuff......I feel like a kid on Christmas morning! I used to get this excited in my early days of Web designing......some little snippet of code would have me dancing in my cube.....

Okay, shameless self-promotion moment here before I toss the Marketing guru cap into the closet!

You can get my widgets here:

Widget to the got baby! Blog:


Widget to Sell Maternity Items:


Widget to Sell Baby Items:


We got a lot of snow yesterday.....something like 6-7". It was rather pretty, and I quite enjoyed it....especially since Nicholas and I were warm and cozy inside the house. My poor husband didn't fare so well. He missed his flight to Baltimore and ended up driving around for something like seven hours when it was all said and done! Thankfully, he got home safely.....