Forum Moderators: skibum
After that, i scatter the preview library all through the site in various spaces under the menu and on the far right table opposite to the left menu system. Im wondering if im doing this right. It seems to be taking up alot of time, and i plan on having well over 300 items for sale. Would it be smart to use a shopping cart program and create a fake shop? Im really new at this, and any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
You can also randomize it to show different products.
There are different ways to handle the random part, do some searching on that as well.
Php use is similar. You don't have to "learn php" to understand basic functions and use them.
Search hotscripts.com for "randomizer" for some code examples.
In my experience, it's okay to do some randomizing, but there will be some items you'll probably want to have available all the time. Watch what visitors tend to click on and/or purchase most often and think about having those items always visible and easy to find. If you haven't yet, check out amazon's "recommended product links" which will randomize from a product area ("music" for example) and a keyword. This only works for amazon stuff, of course. I use these in the page margins, in somewhat the same way you seem to use your preview library.
Probably half of my sales on the actor fan site come from newly available DVDs/VHS. When your band has a new CD out, or there's a new poster released for an upcoming tour, etc., etc., get it on your site fast, with a blurb to get people excited about it. If you have amazon links, you can even start this when the CD is listed for pre-order: you don't get paid til it ships, but you catch the buyer before he or she has bought it somewhere else. There are much bigger fan sites out there than mine for "my" actor, but if my site has an item posted first, it can pick up sales before the big sites even have it available. [I also have an author/book-related site, where exactly the same thing is true.]
--The other half of my sales comes from a combination of people who buy something through a product link but then throw other things into their shopping cart before they check out, and new fans who buy copies of the actor's old movies (from before they were fans).
If you're going to be using affiliate links, I'm afraid you'd run into some problems trying to set up a "fake shopping cart," as most links will take the buyer to the merchant's website to make the actual purchase. Amazon has a "remote shopping cart" option so visitors can put several things into their "cart" before leaving your site--but, again, it only works with amazon items. Not everyone would agree with me on the following, but I think it's best to have the link open a new window (if possible--not all affiliate links will even allow it), so that the buyer can close the window following a purchase and be back on your site. However you set up your links, it's best to make it clear which merchant it's going to, so the shopper isn't surprised to end up on a different site (and most affiliate programs require you to make that clear, anyway).
Right now im just using dreamweaver for the site, and using libraries. I cant find too much information on SSI's because im not searching for the right thing. Same for the random content, but i will research it more tonight.
