Here’s an early reminder for the thousands of us ungrateful children who always forget: Mother’s Day is next Sunday!

Honor that most important woman who gave you life by sending something pretty to brighten up her day.

Stock your Zlioshop today with products like Dan’s Chocolate’s Mother’s Day Chocolate Tower or Flower Bouquet With Assorted Chocolates. For ultra-smart shopper status, order from your own Zlioshop and save some money by getting cash back. 

Looking for something out of the ordinary? Try the Carved Pink Flower Ring or Personalized Mother Jewlery from LimogesJewelry.com.

Whatever you send your mom, she’ll be happy you remembered!

We have deactivated the integrated statistics function of Zlio (currently in beta) due to several problems with results. 

We recommend that you try Google Analytics for free to obtain the most accurate stats about your Zlioshop. We hope to integrate Google Analytics into Zlio in the near future.

Once you’ve registered, copy your tracking code and insert it in the statistic tags module that is already available for your Zlioshop. 

You will be able to access your stats within a few hours. 

We’ve mentioned before that we’d like to see introductions to your Zlioshop – but it’s not just because we’re demanding people with high expectations of you. Search engines are more likely to pick up your Zlioshop if it contains relevant text. That’s why it’s time for and intro to introductions.

If you don’t know what to say, or have no idea how to write an introduction, just answer these questions about your Zlioshop and put them together in a paragraph:

1. What is the name of my Zlioshop? Make sure you include the title in your sentence. 
2. What do you sell? Do you focus on a particular product or another theme? Specify what you do.
3. What is special about your shop? It could be low prices, great selection, green products, or hard to find items… but you should point out why it’s different (and better!)
4. Give a brief rundown of your products: List some important brands or maybe some important products to give the visitor an idea about the contents of your Zlioshop.
5. Try to find a little extra information: Search the web for fun or unusual facts, or anything interesting and relevant to your shop.

Feel free to post ideas/questions/drafts of your intro in the comments if you need a little help!

NYC is warming up just in time for the infamous Tribeca Film Festival!

Founded by Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal in 2001, the TriBeCa Film Festival aims to restore vitality and contribute to the long term recovery of the TriBeCa neighborhood after the Septermber 11 World Trade Center attacks.

With over 1,000 screenings in 2006 and 2007, The TriBeCa Film Festival has become on of the most prominent film festivals in the world. Over two million attendees have generated more than $425 million in economic acitivity in New York City since the festival’s founding.

If you’re going to be in town or can make the trip, tickets are still on sale! If not, you can still get in the mood by spicing up your Zlioshop with movie and New York themed products. When you’re finished, grab a couple of DVDs and some popcorn and host a film festival of your own!

You may have celebrated on Sunday, but Earth Day 2008 is actually today! Besides going green with your Zlioshop, here’s some other things you can do everday to save energy and help the planet:

• Recycle: It may seem annoying to separate the plastics from the glass, but if you take a look at how much we use everday you can see what a real difference recycling makes.
• Turn off the lights when you leave the room: If you’re not there, you won’t notice, so turn stuff off when you leave!
• Turn off the water when brushing your teeth: This small action can save GALLONS of water per week. Really.
• Use Energy Star appliances: Nobody’s saying you have to replace everything you own, but if you’re buying something new, why not help the environment at the same time? 
• Fix those leaks: Leaky faucets, refrigerators, pipes, AC units, and washing machines can be incredible wasteful – so get them fixed and save your self some money while saving the planet some water. 
• Plant a tree: There’s even organizations that will help you do it like ArborDay.org
• Walk Somewhere: Why not get some exercise and fresh air by walking somewhere instead of driving? Too far? Be European and ride a bike

Remember: Our merchants have tons of energy saving appliances, recycled and organic products, and other environmentally friendly items for your Zlioshops!

It’s about that time of year again… Prom. All over the country, teenagers everywhere will strap on their heels and cumberbuns for a night of limos, extended curfews, and probably some awkward hand holding.

Not in high school anymore? Don’t have teenagers? That doesn’t mean that you can’t take advantage of the blatant commercial opportunity that is prom. Why not add some prom preparations to your Zlioshop and fancy it up for that most important end of the year dance?

If you’re feeling particularly generous and happen to be a woman who keeps her clothes, think about donating your old prom dresses to one of the many charities that collects them for underprivileged girls who want to go to prom like DonateMyDress.org!

You can also donate all of the proceeds from your Zlioshop to a charity – it’s under “options” when you set up a new store. 

Here’s some product ideas to get you started:

• Dresses
• Shoes
• Make-Up
• Hair Products/Accessories
• Evening Bags
• Jewelry
• Cuff links
• Digital Cameras/Camcorders

 And finally, if you are way past prom age, don’t be sad about it! For many of us from the “web” generation, the number one song for prom was Chumbawumba’s Tub Thumping, which does not exactly need to be revisited. 

In case you didn’t get the memo, it’s cool to be a nerd now. What better excuse is there to geekify your Zlioshop than NASA’s 50th anniversary?

That’s half a century of life altering scientific advancements, discoveries, and dogs in space. Plus we can now all say the sentence, “When I was your age, Pluto was a planet…” and that counts for something, right?

Not sure what NASA has done for you? Check out the interactive NASA City, which shows how space exploration  impacts our daily lives. It’ll even show you how NASA has changed your bathroom with discoveries like ingestible toothpaste! 

Get your inner scientist on by adding fun (and educational) NASA inspired products to your Zlioshop, like books on Physics, Astrology, or the great scientists of history like Galileo and Copernicus.

Looking for something more interesting? Try the Galileo Gravitator Desktop lamp    or one of the many Galileo telescopes offered through Buy.com. Our merchants also stock chemistry sets, microscopes, digital camera binoculars, and much much more to quench your thirst for knowledge. So go get lost in space!

(For more information on NASA’s 50th anniversary and events, check out the homepage.)

Just when you thought it was safe:

 Get started on your spring cleaning by revamping that forgotten Zlioshop… or opening a new one! (After all, you are allowed up to 50 ) With 8 new templates to choose from, including coffee, toys, gaming, and music, there’s bound to be something up your alley.

It’s time to show your hometown pride and enter the Local’s Contest!

Love where you’re from? Promote your hometown by getting your Zlioshop in tip top local shape. This is your chance to show what shines in your neck of the woods – culture, food, festivals, monuments – whatever you think best reps your local flavor.

Tell us a little about your area, and don’t forget to include some fun facts and figures… or even a few anecdotes! Here’s an interesting example: Did you know that there are 4 cities in the US actually named “Hometown?” That’s right, Illinois, Pennsylvania, West Virgina, and Missouri are all “home” to a “Hometown.”

Submission Criteria:

• One Zlioshop per person
• Older Zlioshops can be entered as long as they have been updated within 24 hours and contain NO EXPIRED PRODUCTS
• Zlioshops entered into the contest must have a theme for one location, and one location only
• Customization and personalization are greatly appreciated
• Categories and Subcategories should reflect an easy navigation
• Category and Subcategory titles should be well thought out
• Shoot for original products – surprise us!
• And last but certainly not least, all Zlioshops should follow the standard Zlio guidelines.

Contest Schedule:

1. Submit you Zlioshops between April 15 – 26
2. From April 16 – 27, vote for your favorites
3. On April 28th the Zlio Team will select a winner from the community’s top 10 list
4. The winner will be announced on the blog on April 29th!

Unleash the pride within!

We want to know: what do you want to know?

Zlio works on a community function, so it matters what Zlionauts think! It’s time to voice your opinion and send your questions in … and Zlio Founder and CEO Jeremie Berrebi will answer you himself via video!

That’s right, email us your questions about Zlio to itwjb@zlio.com and the answers, in video, will be aired right here on the blog on April 30, 2008!

We anticipate a lot of questions, so be sure to make yours as precise as possible – questions having to do with the Zlio service are more likely to be answered