{"id":17709,"date":"2018-07-24T02:13:53","date_gmt":"2018-07-24T06:13:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.spreadshop.com\/blog\/?p=17709"},"modified":"2025-09-02T10:54:47","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T14:54:47","slug":"5-mistakes-to-avoid-when-starting-your-spreadshop-adventure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spreadshop.com\/blog\/2018\/07\/24\/5-mistakes-to-avoid-when-starting-your-spreadshop-adventure\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Mistakes to Avoid With Spreadshop"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Opening your Spreadshop is the easy part. Now that your Shop is live, you\u2019re ready for some serious sales! This is the perfect time to go through the short list of failures that Thomas, Spreadshop\u2019s Project Manager, has compiled. Take a look, and you\u2019ll learn valuable lessons about the Shop experience\u2026<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Mistake #1: Wasting money<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>\u201cEmbrace search engine marketing,\u201d says the risk-friendly entrepreneur sitting on your shoulder. \u201cWhy not give your brand a boost by using Google&#8217;s marketing tools?\u201d With just a few clicks, you\u2019ll have signed up for analytics, visited the Merchant Center and registered your Shop at the Search Console. In between, you surely got asked to try the new AdWords Express for free. Promising, right?<\/p>\n<div class='wp-caption aligncenter sprd-caption'>\n<div class='wp-caption-inner'><picture><img src='https:\/\/images.spreadshop.com\/image\/upload\/f_gif,q_70,t_postImgF_d\/v1622823598\/blog\/tenor_tckzgm.gif' alt=''\/><\/picture><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2><strong>Here\u2019s my advice:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Do not go with AdWords Express. Just, no! It\u2019s a trap! The absence of granular steering options makes this product a waste of time and money. The campaign set-up options are too basic to drive serious conversions, traffic, and revenue. Trust me.<\/li>\n<li>Try Google AdWords or Facebook Ads instead. Make sure to get yourself familiar with the metrics and options ahead of time! Control your results and continue to find your optimization potential. There\u2019s a lot to discover and<\/li>\n<li>Make sure you have eye-catching marketing assets already in place. You\u2019re going to need them for your ads, blog posts and social media activity.<\/li>\n<li>A professional design tool alone won\u2019t help you become an outstanding illustrator. However, the more professional a software is, the more likely it\u2019s backed by support from users and the provider, allowing you to learn more from the community. Free software tools are generally missing an intuitive user interface and a good ol\u2019 help center. I\u2019d highly recommend using <a href=\"https:\/\/affinity.serif.com\/en-gb\/\">Affinity Photo or Affinity Designer<\/a>. They are way cheaper than, say, Adobe\u2019s product suits. Plus, you don\u2019t need to pay a monthly bill while using only 10% of their functionalities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Mistake #2: You think you\u2019re the customer <\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>People tend to assume facts out of their own experiences and perspective. I\u2019ve heard this common mistake when talking to Spreadshop users. When your order success takes a break, you might get to a point where you feel some doubt, whether it regards your product range, your website\u2019s look and feel, or your product pricing. The list is long.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Here\u2019s my advice:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Try not to base your decisions on your gut feeling(s). It\u2019s better to dive into your own data resources and find arguments there. If you don\u2019t have enough data available, you need to think of processes that\u2019ll create the data for you.<\/li>\n<li>Perform split tests with your ad campaign. This is already a standard feature of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/business\/help\/1738164643098669\">Facebook\u2019s Ads Manager<\/a>. You can learn a lot from it without spending lots of money.<\/li>\n<li>Set up a short questionnaire for your visitors. Ask your fans what they like or why they\u2019d leave your Shop without a purchase. I highly recommend checking out <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/search\/survey\/\">this library<\/a> for WordPress users.<\/li>\n<li>Use the poll feature on Instagram\u2019s story mode! It\u2019s the easiest way to quickly receive user feedback.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class='wp-caption aligncenter sprd-caption'>\n<div class='wp-caption-inner'><picture><img src='https:\/\/images.spreadshop.com\/image\/upload\/f_auto,q_70,t_postImgF_d\/v1622901905\/blog\/MDS-1245_instagramPoll_wi9l8q.jpg' alt=''\/><\/picture><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2><strong>Mistake #3: Trusting over-customization<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>We\u2019re sure you\u2019ve seen this before: a Shop or site is crammed with over-personalization and over-customization. This includes flashy banners and excessive use of CSS\/HTML. Don\u2019t overcomplicate your website or Shop, as it will vicariously impact your customer\u2019s journey.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Here\u2019s my advice:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>It\u2019s not about the number of features. Your Shop has everything you need to start selling. We\u2019re monitoring your Spreadshop\u2019s performance 24\/7, and we improve the feature set based on our data. If you want to experiment or customize the basic look and feel, you\u2019ll find the most important features within the Shop admin. You can also go and write your own CSS (we\u2019ve listed some useful tips <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.spreadshirt.net\/us\/2018\/04\/24\/css-tips-youve-always-wanted-to-know\/\">here<\/a>). But don\u2019t forget: it\u2019s the marketing that drives your sales. If you do this right, the Shop does the rest.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Mistake #4: Forgetting that less is more<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The more experienced people are with T-shirt designing, the more they\u2019ll want to showcase their talents and assets. Combine this factor with a ton of product combinations, and there is real danger of messing up the layout of the Spreadshop. Similar to searching the results page of Google, your customers won\u2019t browse from page 1 to 11 trying to find their desired product.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Here&#8217;s my advice:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Keep your Shop clean and simple &#8211; start easy! If you display only a few designs, it\u2019s worth it to use the product-based Shop layout. If you have many designs, go for the design-based layout. You can adjust these settings under Page Settings &gt; Product List Page &gt; Display Items as Product\/Designs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class='wp-caption aligncenter sprd-caption'>\n<div class='wp-caption-inner'><picture><img src='https:\/\/images.spreadshop.com\/image\/upload\/f_auto,q_70,t_postImgF_d\/v1622901988\/blog\/MDS-1245_Design_vs_Product_psvoaa.jpg' alt=''\/><\/picture><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>Start filling your merchandise Shop with some apparel standards. You\u2019ll never go wrong with a narrow assortment. Choose one Men\u2019s T-Shirt and a Women\u2019s T-shirt per design. If it\u2019s winter, feel free to add a hoodie or sweater. You should not have more than 10 items per design, and this includes accessories.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Mistake #5: Neglecting to activate your Shop<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Activating your Shop is a vital part of the process. Your efforts will prove to be fruitless if you fail to complete this step.<\/p>\n<div class='wp-caption aligncenter sprd-caption'>\n<div class='wp-caption-inner'><picture><img src='https:\/\/images.spreadshop.com\/image\/upload\/f_auto,q_70,t_postImgF_d\/v1622902108\/blog\/MDS-1245_LaunchShop_uw2pl1.jpg' alt=''\/><\/picture><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2><strong>Here\u2019s my advice:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>No joke! This is the perfect opportunity to activate your Spreadshop. Right now, you can capitalize on a 15% shop-opening offer, which you should advertise to all your customers. Don\u2019t let this chance pass by; activate your Shop and promote your merchandise at the beginning of your e-commerce journey!<\/p>\n<div class='wp-caption aligncenter sprd-caption'>\n<div class='wp-caption-inner'><picture><img src='https:\/\/images.spreadshop.com\/image\/upload\/f_auto,q_70,t_postImgF_d\/v1622902305\/blog\/MDS-1245_CouponCode_olglpf.jpg' alt=''\/><\/picture><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><em>What are your personal failures as a Shop Owner? Do you have some valuable advice for fellow Shop Owners? Leave us a comment below!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Opening your Spreadshop is the easy part. Now that your Shop is live, you\u2019re ready for some serious sales! This is the perfect time to go through the short list of failures that Thomas, Spreadshop\u2019s Project Manager, has compiled. Take a look, and you\u2019ll learn value lessons about the Shop experience\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spreadshop.com\/blog\/2018\/07\/24\/5-mistakes-to-avoid-when-starting-your-spreadshop-adventure\/\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":674,"featured_media":17710,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"publish_to_discourse":"0","publish_post_category":"","wpdc_auto_publish_overridden":"","wpdc_topic_tags":"","wpdc_pin_topic":"","wpdc_pin_until":"","discourse_post_id":"","discourse_permalink":"","wpdc_publishing_response":"","wpdc_publishing_error":"","_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false},"categories":[45872,18625],"tags":[46049,18608,30554],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v19.3 (Yoast SEO v19.7.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>5 Mistakes to Avoid With Spreadshop - The Spreadshop Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Now that your Shop is live, you\u2019re ready for some serious sales! 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