CafePress is known on the web for custom imprinting of nearly everything, and for providing designers with a platform for selling original art imprinted on almost anything. CafePress has opened three walk-in brick & mortar retail stores in two Louisville, Kentucky malls and one strip mall this year. CafePress is also buying local TV advertising to promote them. CafePress Louisville stores.
It seems likely that Louisville was chosen for this new off-line venture because the main CafePress production facility for its on-line business is located in Louisville. Gateway computers had also previously tested walk-in retail locations in Louisville for a few years, with limited success.
CafePress Mall St. Matthews
5000 Shelbyville Rd. Suite 1590
Louisville, KY 40207
(502) 891-8933
CafePress Hurstbourne
2048 S Hurstbourne Pkwy
Hurstbourne Acres, KY 40220
(502) 491-7400
CafePress Jefferson Mall
4801 Outer Loop, Kiosk #T77
Louisville, KY 40219
(502) 966-2415
Showing posts with label marketing - local. Show all posts
Showing posts with label marketing - local. Show all posts
8.30.2010
Claiming my own marketing back yard with a hobby
Louisville, Kentucky, is not a big city, but it is big enough to have distinct sections and neighborhoods. I happen to live in Old Louisville, which is a historic preservation district containing more Victorian era residences than any other. I've lived here for a bit more than a year now. This spring into summer, before the weather became so brutally hot, I moseyed, sauntered and wandered around my new neighborhood with a digital camera taking snapshots. Photography has been a hobby of mine since high school. I took a lot of them, and I massaged them with Photoshop.
I intend to use these photographs to create a blog that will weld my name 'Tom Fox' with my local stomping grounds, 'Old Louisville.' It may take as long as a year to accomplish, but I'm not in any rush. I plan to use Seth Godin's 'drip' strategy, by daily posts of a new image with a street address. According to theory, this will burn the connection into Google's digital brain.
You can see my Old Louisville photos here. http://old-louisville.blogspot.com/
Once a day, every day, for the next 365 days, at least one new Old Louisville photograph will be posted on that blog. The key phrase is "Old Louisville," and for some reason I want to own it.
I think it will work, but there is only one way to find out for sure, and that is to do it. Since photography really is my hobby and I've already done the photo & Photoshop part just for fun, taking it this next step is fairly easy. If I had to pay someone else to do all the work, I could never afford it.
This is a form of search engine optimization, as a subset of search engine marketing. If anyone is searching for things related to 'Old Louisville," I want them to find me. I still need to devise a way to connect and interact with those who visit that blog. I suppose that would be classified as a variant of social marketing.
I intend to use these photographs to create a blog that will weld my name 'Tom Fox' with my local stomping grounds, 'Old Louisville.' It may take as long as a year to accomplish, but I'm not in any rush. I plan to use Seth Godin's 'drip' strategy, by daily posts of a new image with a street address. According to theory, this will burn the connection into Google's digital brain.
You can see my Old Louisville photos here. http://old-louisville.blogspot.com/
Once a day, every day, for the next 365 days, at least one new Old Louisville photograph will be posted on that blog. The key phrase is "Old Louisville," and for some reason I want to own it.
I think it will work, but there is only one way to find out for sure, and that is to do it. Since photography really is my hobby and I've already done the photo & Photoshop part just for fun, taking it this next step is fairly easy. If I had to pay someone else to do all the work, I could never afford it.
This is a form of search engine optimization, as a subset of search engine marketing. If anyone is searching for things related to 'Old Louisville," I want them to find me. I still need to devise a way to connect and interact with those who visit that blog. I suppose that would be classified as a variant of social marketing.
8.19.2010
Internet marketing for local business - LivingSocial.com and Groupon.com
LivingSocial.com is best known from its Facebook app business, but it also has a parallel web-based presence outside of Facebook. LivingSocial has pushed its web presence toward marketing local businesses. When I visit the LivingSocial.com URL, I get my location specific page, LivingSocial Presents Louisville - my home town.
The tempting offer is an opportunity to purchase a $30 gift certificate to a local Louisville business for only $12. It looks to be a very good deal. It was a business that I had never heard of before: Amazing Green Planet. I don't travel in that part of town often these days.
A list of U.S. cities served by LivingSocial can be found here.
Groupon.com offers a similar service. Today's deal that comes through Groupon is $25 to buy a $50 gift certificate from Gap.
Either of these two deals qualify as a loss-leader, being an offer to double your money. But the two deals, one from Amazing Green Planet and the other from Gap, are of different value to the advertisers. The potential benefits are:
I was tempted by the Amazing Green Planet offer because it seemed to be such a good deal, even though I wasn't sure what the store sold and there isn't much I want to buy. I fell back to my default position that the best way to save money is not to spend it.
In both instances I was tempted to take voluntary action to share these two deals with some friends. With Amazing Green Planet it was because I though the store looked cool and I want to know if any of my friends had knowledge of it. The Gap offer would go to friends who shopped at Gap anyway.
But I didn't. I did not buzz a single chirp, nor a tweet.
Seealso: Deal or no deal? What’s the deal?
The tempting offer is an opportunity to purchase a $30 gift certificate to a local Louisville business for only $12. It looks to be a very good deal. It was a business that I had never heard of before: Amazing Green Planet. I don't travel in that part of town often these days.
A list of U.S. cities served by LivingSocial can be found here.
Groupon.com offers a similar service. Today's deal that comes through Groupon is $25 to buy a $50 gift certificate from Gap.
Either of these two deals qualify as a loss-leader, being an offer to double your money. But the two deals, one from Amazing Green Planet and the other from Gap, are of different value to the advertisers. The potential benefits are:
- Awareness,
- Action, and
- Buzz
I was tempted by the Amazing Green Planet offer because it seemed to be such a good deal, even though I wasn't sure what the store sold and there isn't much I want to buy. I fell back to my default position that the best way to save money is not to spend it.
In both instances I was tempted to take voluntary action to share these two deals with some friends. With Amazing Green Planet it was because I though the store looked cool and I want to know if any of my friends had knowledge of it. The Gap offer would go to friends who shopped at Gap anyway.
But I didn't. I did not buzz a single chirp, nor a tweet.
Seealso: Deal or no deal? What’s the deal?
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