In honor of Carrie Bradshaw and the opening of the much anticipated Sex and the City movie (which is tonight by the way!), we thought we’d take a look at some of our hottest shoe shops. Loved by women, men, and shoe fetishists alike, everybody’s favorite foot accessory deserves to stand front and center.

Take a look at some of the shoe shops popping up on Zlio right now and see if you can do better:

Norman’s Skate Shoes

Twinkle Toes

Shoe Dolly

In Need of Shoes

Fashion Shoes For Business

Shoe Shimmer

Prom Shoes

Diva Shoes

The Perfect Feet

The Espadrilles & Sandals Store

Notice a Zlioshop or a trend that you think we should feature on the blog? Let us know in a comment!

Academy Award-winning director Sydney Pollack passed away on Monday. Mr. Pollack had been battling cancer, and unfortunately lost the fight in his Pacific Palisades home.

The director, producer, and actor was widely know for his work in critically acclaimed movies such as “Out of Africa,” “Tootsie,” and of course, “The Way We Were.” The Indiana native’s renowned work ethic and vast experience earned him the title of an “actor’s director.”

Mr. Pollack was born in 1934 to a Pharmacist in Lafayette, Indiana. He later moved his family to South Bend and spoke of living there as a “cultural desert” that he looked back upon with “great sadness” due to the anti-Semetic attitudes.

Sydney Pollack also made numerous appearances in blockbusters like Woody Allen’s “Husband’s and Wives”, “Eyes Wide Shut,” and the more recent Oscar nominated film “Michael Clayton.”

He will be greatly missed.

Summer is finally here which means sun, fun, and of course babies. Why babies you ask? Because if you haven’t noticed the rapid outbreak of baby fever across the country, you must be living under a rock. Or perhaps in a cave.

Starting with Tinsel Town, it seems like these days just about everybody might be pregnant… until a photo of them in a bikini with an über flat stomach mysteriously pops up on blogs all over the net.

For the many Hollywood A-listers that have jumped on the baby band wagon, it seems like they all have some sort of super work out routine with a personal trainer named Sven. It must be the reason why moms-to-be like Nicole Kidman and Jessica Alba are still expecting, it doesn’t really seem to show like it does on the rest of the world.

But it’s not just Hollywood… doesn’t it seem like everyone you know is having a baby?

Let’s help the ladies out by stocking our Zlioshops with fab exercise gear (and of course, the cute outfits that go with it), vitamins, supplements, and other healthy products to transform that post baby body. Hey, if Nicole Richie can do it, so can your sister.

What’s as American as apple pie? Baseball, of course! Get in the mood for summer’s official sport with peanuts and cracker jacks galore. Why not set your Zlioshop now up with everything a baseball lover needs to make it through the summer?

Add fun baseball products to your shop like the Sports Furniture New York Yankees desk or the Jugs Jr. pitching machine. For the real die-hard fan, check out the autographed baseballs by stars like Willy Mays and Derek Jeter. You can even add Sammy Sosa’s batting helmet!

For those of you who are are so into baseball that you forget about life itself, try signing up for Yahoo’s fully customizable and interactive Fantasy Baseball. Add your stats and prediction to your Zlioshop store description when you’re done!

We showed you how to customize your Zlioshop by adding images and video, but we also noticed that we received several inquiries about how to add slideshows. So, without further ado, here’s the 101 on how to add a slideshow to your Zlioshop.

Choose one of the many free websites that will host your photos and slideshow for you. Some of the most popular include:

1. RockYou
   
2. Slide
   
3. Smile Box
   
4. Image Loop
   
5. Photobucket
   
6. Moblying
   
7. Picture Trail

You will have to register and create a free account with most of them, but we promise it’s very easy and 10 year olds all across the country are doing it. Upload your photos, follow the directions to customize your slideshow, then look for the EMBED code.

Copy the EMBED code and paste it:

• In the store description of your Zlioshop: 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”)

School is almost out and gaming studios know that now is the time to let the big titles out of the bag! The summer started off with the highly anticipated release of Grand Theft Auto 4, which has already earned a Guiness World Record for fastest selling game in history with $310 million on the first day (so sorry to last year’s record holder, Halo 3, but it’s hard to deny all the GTA hype!).

Now you can expect top games for PS3, Xbox 360, PC, Mac, and Wii from major development studios like Electronic Arts Inc., Capcom’s Platinum, Sega, and more. 

Take a look at some of the hottest summer titles that you should probably be adding to your Zlioshop:

Battlefield: Bad Company: Fans are crazy about this cinematic style warfare game, where renegade soldiers tax maximum risk. Ships June 23rd.

Burnout Paradise: Expect new game content from the Playstation Store and XBox Live Marketplace for this amazing racing game – like 3 new online game modes, 7 new cars, and hours of additional game play. Ships June 2008

Command & Conquer 3: Kane’s Wrath: The all new revolutionary CommandStick is set to company this over-the-top Xbox 360 warfare game. Ships June 2008.

Mercenaries 2: World in Flames: This hyper interactive action game is set in ultra-detailed, beautiful Venezuela and ships to the US around August 31. (September 5 for the UK and Europe.)

Rock Band: After Guitar Hero comes the all inclusive music game Rock Band. Expect this Wii game to ship around June 22.

Wii Fit: The already sold out copies of Wii Fit are keeping people moving and shaking in their basements this summer.

UEFA Euro 2008: Soccer is always a top pick, and this new release for Xbox 360 and PS3 doesn’t disappoint.

Singstar: This American Idol inspired Karaoke game for PS3 is already a huge hit.

With the recent birth of Zlio Germany, we’d like to take the time to introduce you to our newest Country Manager: Alexander Koësters.

Good Morning Alexander! Could you start off by telling our American Zlionauts a little bit more about yourself?

Of course! My name is Alexander Koësters, I am 35 years old, and I live outside of Münster, in Westphalie. Since the beginning of my professional career in 1999, I have concentrated entirely on E-Commerce. In fact, I have just as much of a life online as off.

What would you say is the current potential for a shop owner in the German E-Commerce market?

Well, the German E-Commerce market has already attained the highest growth rate of any European country besides the United Kingdom. To compare with France [Zlio's home country] there is about twice as much potential in terms of actual numbers – German blogger may not be as active as French bloggers, but the Web 2.0 trend and concepts like Zlio have shown a large increase in popularity in Germany. I am confident that our Zlionauts are opening their shops at the right time in the right place.

Which are the most popular E-Commerce products in Germany?

The highest demand for internet shopping and E-Commerce would definitely be all different types of media – CD, DVD, ebooks, downloads. Fashion and accessories are also very popular.

But personally, I don’t feel that we have to limit ourselves specifically to the areas that are already showing great numbers. It’s a better idea to choose products that you know you can promote and sell, and would personally be capable of ordering.

Can foreign users open a shop with Zlio Germany?

Absolutely. Our system is designed so that by opening one account, you can access and manage Zlioshops in all of the available countries.

What do we need to know if we’re interested in opening a German Zlioshop?

Actually, not much more than if you were opening a Zlioshop in any other country.When you sign up, you automatically agree to our terms and conditions, so if you have any doubts it might be a good idea to read about brand and author rights in Germany.

Another important point for you to keep in mind is language. As you could well imagine, Zlio Germany is entirely in German, so you’ll need to be able to create, update, and manage your shop in our mother tongue.

Seems like what’s really hot only Zlio right now is everyone’s favorite caffeinated beverage: Coffee!

More and more coffeeshops are popping up on Zlio everyday, so check them out and see if you can do better:

• Coffee Junkie
• The Coffee Bean
• Coffee Jungle
• Coffee Specials
• Coffee Information
• Cafe Cafe

Got a favorite or maybe a coffee shop that we missed? Let us know in a comment!

Just an important little  reminder:

Please don’t forget amidst the glorious promotion of your fabulous Zlioshop that it is not okay to SPAM. SPAM is absolutely 100% not tolerated on Zlio and will unfortunately result in the deletion of your account.

Never ever send non-solicited emails to people you don’t know – using these mailing lists is not only against Zlio’s regulations, but will also have a negative effect on our overall reputation, and likewise, your Zlioshop. 

Keep your rep and Zlio’s clean as a whistle by staying clear of SPAM. Besides, aren’t you yourself tired of getting emails regarding your $9,000,000 check from Nigeria?

While we are very excited about the level of response to Your Questions Answered in Video, it seems as though many of you are sending in technical questions. If you’re having difficulty or don’t understand a particular function on the Zlio site, please contact us directly at tech support using the contact form we’ve provided for you.

Questions regarding the business aspect of Zlio.com will be answered by Jeremie in video as planned (the clip is on it’s way!), but we ask you to please send your technical questions to tech support! You’ll note that you have the option to report a bug or suggest an idea if you feel there’s something we’re missing. 

Sending your complaints and questions directly to tech support allows us to get to them faster, and hopefully help you!