The first thing to know is that you can set up a Meta Description and Meta Keywords on your site setup page from your dashboard.

Site Set-up Screen

It is important to note that even after having set up these fields in your account it can take anywhere from a week to a month for search engines to pick up on your site.

The best way to get your site to show up in searches is to start promoting it by advertising it. Without any links going to your site, it will be hard for search engines to find it.

Printmojo does offer two points of contact for your public (your website – http://www.printmojo.com/yourstorename and our “mojo mall” – http://www.t-shirtmojo.com) for you to list your products on, but without letting people know they should look, it is tough to get traffic actually routing to your website.

A beautiful website helps, but it doesn’t matter how awesome your website looks if nobody ever sees it!

You can manually add your site to Google using this link:

http://www.google.com/addurl/?continue=/addurl but for your store to show up for the phrases that customers actually search for you will need to start making sure that there are links to your site on other places on the web. (You can get a quick start on this by utilizing our embed link code on your social networking sites ie Facebook, Twitter and MySpace.)

Google has a great PDF that gives an overview of how to make sure your site shows up in search engines. Page 20 talks about how to promote your site in other ways to help your site in the search engines:

http://www.google.com/webmasters/docs/search-engine-optimization-starter-guide.pdf

A little time and research and a strong marketing strategy are well worth it to ensure that you get the traffic through your store that you want and deserve!

In honor of the new batch of puppies born to a friends pet this morning

I am highlighting our Featured Merchant’s (Donkeyshines) Monkey and Bulldog shirt today.

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This design is printed on a bamboo shirt, my newest “favorite” – super soft and surprisingly durable. Limited number of shipping coupons available. Contact me for more information – kylene@printmojo.com

“Mmmmm…how your plan for world domination didn’t work out?” shaking my head

This last weekend we went swimming for the first time this summer. We are lucky in that our house is within walking distance of Bidwell Park. We found a gorgeous spot along the creek deep enough for the boys to swim and with a shallow bank ideal for lounging.

While we were hanging out playing in the water Karl told me about an article that he had recently read about cyber bullying. It made me realize that while every generation has it’s own challenges, my kids really do have a whole worlds worth of issues that I never even had to consider.

I went looking for information later and was stunned by how much information there is out there on this subject. My son only brought it up because of something that he had read, but it lead to a good conversation about choices and consequences, privacy and the invasion of, etc.

I love that I have the kind of kids who think about these kinds of issue’s on a philosophical and ethical level. I love even more the fact that I have the kind of kids who will instigate conversations about them – with me!

Not only was it an interesting and entertaining conversation, but it raised my awareness and made me research something that I might not have otherwise. Contemplating the future generation that my kids will be a part of, and not at all certain that my plans for world domination have failed.

Also, use shipping coupon code 61mojo5 to get $5.00 off shipping (usually covers priority mail shipping for 1 shirt) – first five customers only.

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PrintMojo: Where did you get the inspiration for the shirts you sell? Is there a story behind them?

Donkeyshines: I would say the inspiration for the graphic style mostly comes from the 1979 “Superman” movie. On Superman’s home planet of Krypton, we see that the “S” he wears on his chest is actually a coat of arms. Both of his parents sport that logo on all of their clothes, and other Kryptonians wear their own family crests on their clothes as well.

PM: What about that design appealed to you?

D: The graphics were all simple, one color designs that I just found appealing for some reason. Initially, I chose to do one color designs because I couldn’t afford to print multiple colors, but I eventually grew to appreciate the simplicity and crispness. As far as why I chose to only make animal designs, well, I guess I just like animals. Animals behaving strangely, that is.

PM: What fun things do you have in the works that we can look forward to in the near future?

D: I will soon be printing my Donkey Pegasus design on bamboo t-shirts. This is one of my most popular designs, and I thought it was time to upgrade it to “”super-soft”". I’m planning to do the same for the Gorilla and Duck design, but that one might take a while. For my cotton shirts, I am going to make a switch from American Apparel to Next Level Apparel because I like the fit and colors more. Both the Jesus Turtle and Dino Volleyball designs are on NLA, and I really like the look and feel of them.

I’m also thinking about becoming an astronaut.

PM: Do you have any suggestions for improving our Featured Merchant interview or experience?

D: I always like answering questions about which superpowers I would want to have, and stuff like that. In case you were wondering, I would love to have the power to turn into any animal- current or extinct. Although I guess that’s a good way to get poached.

PM: It does seem a little dangerous.

D: Maybe the power to become any animal combined with super invulnerability and healing powers would be nice. Also, I would retain human intelligence and consciousness no matter what animal I became. Otherwise, how would I know how to turn back into a human? And I would imagine that no good could come from a mindless, yet invulnerable t-rex running around town. Everyone would just have to stay out of my way until I got tired of wreckin’ stuff and decided to take a nap.

PM: Aside from dreaming up super-animals, do you have any other hobbies?

D: I am totally obsessed with exercise. I wish I could stop getting up at 5:30 AM to do handstand push-ups, but I can’t. Also, I do this sort of performance art/wrestling thing called Kaiju Big Battel (intentional spelling error). We dress up like Japanese-style monsters and fight it out in a wrestling ring. I am a giant smiling Plantain called Pedro, and also a bee/man called Dai Hache Hache. Here’s a video clip of us on ESPN’s E 60: http://tinyurl.com/kaiju-e60

PM: Thanks Ryan for taking the time to talk with us. We’re probably not going to join you in the ring, but we’ll wear your shirts!

I love art. I am a great aficionado and I tend to surround myself with people who *are* artistic, or musically inclined, or are intensely creative in some other way that I find “artistic” (incredible cooks, skillful seamstresses, dancers…) Some of the happiest moments in my life have been spent immersed in the artistic expressions of others.

I have tried many things throughout the years, and given up on almost all of them when I couldn’t just innately “do it”. When I was younger, if I couldn’t do something Well then I just didn’t do it … which makes achieving that whole 10,000 hours to mastery thing a little difficult. As I’ve gotten a little older I find that I am far more willing to “take risks” and look like a fool while I am learning to do new things. It makes doing them much more enjoyable!

But this isn’t really meant to be about any of that. I really only meant to issue a disclaimer. I am not an artist. I know I’m not an artist. Please forgive any poor art that follows.

Spring is here (well, mostly … it is raining again today, which is just weird,) and along with it the urge to create. I had this brilliant idea that I would get together a handful of my artist friends and we could all take easels out to the park and paint.

The nice thing about going out to the park to paint is that there are lots of things to look at and to be inspired by. This year the weather has been terribly sporadic though and so we have not made it to the park. Even so, I was still excited by the prospect of playing at painting. So I started thinking about what do I want to paint?

This year my life has been touched from several directions by cancer. I myself, *knock on wood* am healthy, but I have several people in my life who are currently struggling against the dreaded big “C” word. It has all of the sudden become something incredibly prevalent in my life as people I know and care for are affected by this disease.

The thing that has struck me the most, in every instance, is how incredibly strong, brave and positive these people have remained. This is only a bump in the rode, a challenge to be surmounted. I have been incredibly inspired by this and have felt honored to be a part of the support network holding them up. That was the thought that sparked off the creative flow for this painting.

I actually started thinking about computer code and how it can be a virus, or a good usable program and how cancer is similar in some ways. So I thought about the idea of computer code flowing into and out of a cancer cell and fading off. That was the beginning, and interestingly as I have gone through the process it has evolved and now I am not even using computer code in the picture at all.

Here is a photo of my original rough sketch and the background “fade” layer.

Anyhow … I am very excited about the silly painting because I am having a great time doing it, playing with the paints and mixing colors, figuring out how to execute what is in my head and also – putting my creative energies into the idea of defeating the cancer.

It is a journey and a process and even through I know that it will never come out on the canvas as cool as it is in my head … it kind of doesn’t matter because I’m having a blast taking the journey. I told my husband that I kind of feel like I am back in kindergarten and every time I add something new I am like a proud little kid … Look What *I* Did!!!

I meant to do a photo documentation of all of the steps along the way, but I neglected to take a picture of step 2, which was simply sketching all of the objects in and then painting their shapes with a white coat. I will add additional photo’s in the comments as I progress, in case anybody is interested.

This is “Kinda” what I hope it will end up as.

Working with Ryan of Donkeyshines is always a pleasure. Recently we asked Ryan some questions about his business. We find him talented and witty and would like to introduce him to you.

Meet the man behind the Donkeyshines – Part 1

PrintMojo : Hi there, would you mind introducing yourself?

Donkeyshines: I’m Ryan, CEO of Donkeyshines. CEO is kind of a funny word to use, as I am really the only person in the company. I AM Donkeyshines.

PM : How did you get started as a t-shirt designer and seller?

D: I started this business (if you want to call it that) for two reasons: 1) I aspire to one day not have a “real job” 2) I like to wear a specific style of t-shirt that nobody else is making, so I need to make them for myself.

PM: What is that style?

D: I would describe the style I like to wear as simple, with an understated sense of humor. Also, there are animals on the shirts.

PM: What kind of animals?

D: Animals behaving strangely.

PM: Does your business offer services or products outside of your PrintMojo store?

D: Short Answer: No.
Long answer: Not really, because Printmojo allows me to sell items other than shirts. I used to have a greeting card company which had a name that was really similar to the name of a popular t-shirt company. When I decided to focus more on T-shirts, I realized I had to come up with a new company name. I still make greeting cards, but luckily, Printmojo has allowed me to add these items to my inventory so that I can keep it all part of one brand and sell all of my merchandise from one site.

PM: Do you sell your t-shirts anywhere other than your PrintMojo powered store?

D: Aside from Donkeyshines, I sometimes submit designs to those t-shirt contest sites, but my style isn’t very popular with the voters on these sites. They seem to prefer more brightly colored designs, and also ones featuring human skulls. It’s probably for the best because the winning designs are taken over by the sites, and the designer forfeits all rights to the images. I prefer to hold on to ownership, even if it means I don’t get any prize money.

PM: Do you have any other webpages?

D: Actually, I recently started a webcomic, called Mirthless Myth. It is the story of a girl, a minotaur, and a talking diamond from outer space. You can check it out at http://mirthlessmyth.com/

We definitely recommend that you check out Mirthless Myth both for the artwork and the humor. Join us again next week for Part 2 in which we discover which super power Ryan wishes he could have!

This week is different though. I have a daughter who has been gone to college for the last semester in San Diego – 9 hour drive away. She gets home for the summer *today*, which means I get to hug her. *s* In addition to that, my “baby” has been gone all week on a school field trip and they get back tonight. His fifth grade class took a trip to Monterey to visit the aquarium, go tide pooling and on the way home they get to go to Discovery Kingdom. I didn’t expect to miss him so much. He’s gone away on trips without me before and it hasn’t upset me the way I got upset this time.

I realized that this *Is* the first long trip that he has ever taken without a family member, however. Intellectually I know he is fine, his teachers and the other parent chaperons are all responsible and able adults. I also know that he is having a great time. My eldest son took the same trip a couple of years ago (my husband got to go as a parent chaperon that year) and still talks about how amazing and fun it was. I didn’t freak out when the older one went, but then his dad was with him.

I kind of think that was part of the problem; I am certain that my son is just fine, and in fact having a fabulous time and I am feeling a little unneeded. Plus, he’s my baby … and he’s so grown up and … I will be *very* happy when I get to hug all three of my kids – Tonight! *smile*

So yeah, today has been all about TGIF.

It’s gonna be a great weekend.

Suicycle offers some great products.

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Don’t forget – we still have a few shipping coupons available – $5.00 off your choice of shipping method. The coupon code is mojo416

Also you can follow Suicycle on Twitter, check out some great footage on their Youtube Channel and become a fan on Facebook!

Thanks again for supporting our Featured Merchant program. I am looking forward to getting to know more about many of our merchants in coming months!

I started to write about re-purposing t-shirts, but I want to *do* some of those projects and have pictures. Then I started to write a “helpful hints for first time buyers … sellers …???” Things our sales people wish you knew … that’s it. Boy was I unhappy with that one!

I think that maybe the trouble is that it’s Spring, approaching Summer. I mentioned a week or two ago that we’d been having some really erratic weather. Well, this week has been gorgeous! It’s been warm and sunny and not too windy … the kind of weather to make you want to be outside.

I guess that means it’s almost time to pack away the hoodies and bust out the t-shirts and tank-tops. I have been really impressed with some of the newer “fashion” oriented t-shirts that are popular right now, but I tend to feel that for a “thin” t-shirt, even though it is soft and comfy, that they are often way over priced. That is why I am so happy to see that because of the popularity there are some less expensive alternatives showing up out there like the Port Authority “Concept” line. They even have several varieties of ladies tees.

Warm weather is a good excuse for new additions to the wardrobe, right? I’m excited to hit the retail stores just to see what fun new things are showing up there! Maybe that’s what I’ll do with my weekend.