Zlio is holding an Easter contest this year and the theme is: Chocolate.

You’ve got from March 17 – 27 to deck your Zlioshop in chocolate however you see fit. Milk, dark, white, hot, cold… It’s totally up to you as long as you stay within the delicious realm of chocolate:

• The color and theme of your Zlioshop are important, but other elements will also be considered to pick a winner.
• Personalize your store with a thoughtful introduction: We prefer Zlioshops with “human” qualities and originality.
• Choose images or illustrations that reflect the theme and your personal taste or style.
• Think about original layouts and unique categories – don’t forget to organize with subcategories!

If you already have a Zlioshop

You can participate in the contest if:

Submit your Zlioshop to the category list, once you are sure that you have followed the contest directions. From March 17 to 27, vote for your favorites! On March 28 the top 10 Zlioshops will be selected and reviewed by the Zlio Team.

The winner will be announced here on the blog on March 31!

Note: Zlioshops should not contain any advertisements other than Google adwords.

Did you know that giving your Zlioshop a specialty theme can do wonders for it’s popularity? A theme not only makes your shop more attractive and appealing, it makes it easier for your Zlioshop to be found by future clients! 

Choose a “classic” theme such as cooking or high tech, or think outside of the box and try something a little more specific such as items made from wood or gift ideas under $20.

The possibilities are endless, and the more creative and unique your Zlioshop is, the more it will stand out. Check out this Zlioshop dedicated entirely to graffiti!

The Added Benefit:  Receive much needed search engine love by adding unique search terms.  

Between Februrary 22 and March 5, 2008 Zlio’s Customer Service experienced several technical difficulties.  

If you sent us an email between these days you probably did not get a response because our server had a problem transmitting reply emails.

Rest assured, the problem has since been rectified and the Zlio Team will be in touch with you as soon as possible.

We apologize for this inconvenience and thank you for your understanding,

  

The Zlio Team  

You may have noticed that some Zlionauts are ahead of the game in shop customization.

Don’t worry, you don’t have to be a programmer to add images, photos, and graphics to your Zlioshop, all you need to know is how to cut and paste.

First, check out some of the free image hosting options like Flickr or Photobucket. These sites will host your image on their online server for free. Once you have uploaded an image that you like, a choice of codes will appear next to it.

Now, you can simply copy and paste the “HTML CODE” but if visitors click on the image, it will link back to Flickr or Photobucket. If you want to remove this link, copy the code marked “DIRECT LINK” and insert it into the url space of this code:

<img src=”your_url_here”>

If you would like the image to be centered, just add <center></center> on either side of the image code, like this:

<center><img src=”your_url_here”></center>

You can paste your html image code in several places on your Zlioshop:

• In the header section to create a custom header (found under “Store Display”)
• In the footer section to create a custom footer (also found under “Store Display”)
• In the store description: the image will appear at the top of the page, just above your first line of products. (found under “Store Identity”)
• In the store freetext: the image will appear at the bottom of the page, just below your last line of products. (also found under “Store Identity”)

See? Now that wasn’t so hard, was it? If you’re having difficulty, feel free to ask in a comment!

It’s time for the interview of the month with a super successful Zlionaut.  Hanane’s unique and original idea coincides perfectly with current events: USA President 2008 Store. 

Read below to get to know Hanane, her 30+ shops, and her advice for other Zlionauts:      

Tell us about yourself: 

My name is Hanane JO. I am 27 years old, I am French and I’m a radio journalist.      

What made you want to launch a shop, selling clothing and accessories by presidential candidate? 

I had the idea last year when Zlio started allowing us to create American shops, just after the French President Elections. I wanted to launch a unique and original shop. I thought what was happening in the United States and then, Bingo! I thought of doing something about the American elections – I sell all the products of the candidates from Hillary Clinton to John McCain and all the items useful to make this campaign unforgettable.       

How are you planning to promote it?  

I mainly promote the shop via web directories       

Do you have other shops?

Oh yes! I have 30 other shops. I sell everything really : clothes, holidays, cars, make up, food, books even weapons. That is the main strength of zlio’s concept. You can sell everything with no limits without being worried about shipping orders or answering clients. Zlio does that for you.      

What made you think of the concept that you have for your shop?

Everybody in the world is waiting for the USA president elections, that is one of the most important event in the year so I think that is more than important to do a shop that can mark this event.     

Do you get feedback from your customers based on the products you sell?

Yes, sometimes people write to me to ask me if I sell this product or that product.      

Do you have any advice for other Zlionauts?

I think all the zlio shopkeepers have to work on their shops every day. They don’t have to create a shop and then abandon it. They should update it, add products, register it on web directories etc every day…It is a kind of part time job really. It needs patience and creativity.     

What did you think of the Zlio service?

The Zlio team is great! They are fast and efficient, and answer your questions right away.      

What new features would you like to see added on Zlio?

I would like to see more competitions like the one you did with Yoox. The Zlioshop keepers had to create the most beautiful and designed shop. But I think that the judges should  be the ones that organize the competition and not the Zlio users because sometimes people vote without objectivity.      

How do you foresee the future of your ZlioShop?

I think my shop mission will stop after November 2008 when the new president is elected. I am looking forward knowing who will be the new president. Obviously I have my favorite candidate!      

Why would you want to ban a merchant? Who knows, maybe they don’t pay enough commission, maybe you don’t like their products. It’s not really important, because it’s your decision and you can do whatever you want with your Zlioshop.    

• If you would, in fact, like to ban a merchant, first click on “Manage My Stores.” Then click on “My Revenues”  and select “Manage My Merchants” from the drop down menu.  This is where you can ban a merchant by clicking on the red button.

Don’t worry, you can bring them back if you change your mind later.

With more and more stores popping up at each day, Zlio has essentially become the largest online shopping mall! It’s important to understand how your shop ranks with us and how people find you on Zlio in order to maximize exposure for your Zlioshop:

• Each Zlioshop may be submitted to three categories. Once your shop has been submitted, you will automatically be given an overall score..

• This score is determined by Zlio and will go up and down automatically based on the activity of your Zlioshop. Zlionauts may also vote for your boutique, which raises your overall score by 1 point.

• Your shop will automatically appear in the search results and in the alphabetical index , however no score will be applied to your shop until it has been submitted to a category in the directory.

• If you’re at the top of our charts you might appear as a feature on the Zlio Home Page, which is a great way to get more traffic and shoppers to your Zlioshop!

The Category Directory is also a great way to find new Zlioshops and vote for your favorites. Check out the community activity page, where you can look at your fellow Zlionauts’ profiles!

It’s time to take a look at another one of our fun, creative, and popular ZlioShops from across the Atlantic, and today’s feature is French member: ZlioShop cravate.zliostore.com

Cravate means “neck tie” in French, and trust us when we say that this ZlioShop hasn’t forgotten anything – solids, strips, patterns, polka dots… there’s even an instructional video on how to tie the perfect knot!

What We Like:

• The Colors: Simple and modern, this shop stays bright and fun with a masculine feel.

• The Information: Between the instructional video and choice of books, you can learn the entire history of the neck tie while making the perfect Double Windsor.

• The Products: Besides having every style of necktie known to man, ZlioShop Cravate even offer accessories, so chances are if it’s made for a tie you’ll find it here!

We think neck ties are a great idea for a unique ZlioShop and we love orange too, but we have to admit that orange on orange makes it a little difficult to read.

If you would like to be featured on the blog, send us an email at zlioshopalaune@zlio.com and you could find yourself here!

When we think of Saint Patrick’s Day, thoughts of four leaf clovers, leprechauns, pinching, and alcohol tend to flow freely into the brain. Regardless of what Saint Paddy’s day reminds you of, no one can deny that spring in the air and everybody’s favorite Irish holiday is just around the corner!

Green clothes, green food, green rivers… just about anything can be dyed and tinted to match the luck of the Irish, including your ZlioShop.

Green-up your Zlioshop by changing themes and adding graphics and images. It’s time to incorporate Irish inspired products ! When choosing products, be sure to think about the merchant and category filters. If you need some help or ideas, check out our tips on Customizing Your ZlioShop! Leave us your Zlioshop’s URL in a comment here so we can see your Irish spirit, or to encourage other Zlionauts to vote for you!

Here are some interesting facts about Saint Patrick’s Day that you probably didn’t know:

- There are more Americans of Irish descent than there are Irish people in Ireland.

- Saint Patrick’s actual color is: blue. This one’s a shocker, but green didn’t become associated with Saint Patrick’s Day until the 19th Century. According to Irish legend, green was considered unlucky, as it was the color worn by the fairies and people, especially children, who wore too much green were likely to be stolen.

- Saint Patrick himself was actually born in Britain, then settled in France, and did not arrive in Ireland until 432 A.D.

And on that note it’s time to sign off with a rhyming Irish toast, because let’s be honest, who doesn’t love stuff that rhymes:

“The Scots have their whisky, the Welsh have their tongue, but the Irish have Paddy, who’s second to none!”