It’s never been more trendy to be environmentally friendly! In honor of DC’s 16th annual Environmental Film Festival, why not create an eco-friendly Zlioshop? This year’s festival runs from March 11- 22 and looks more promising than ever.

Expect to see poignant films from award winning Native American filmmaker, Alanis Obomsawin, as well as cultural icon Charles Guggenheim, and numerous newcomers that are designed to make you think.

Subjects this year include the life of First Lady Bird Johnson and her role as an environmental pioneer, the finest tea in China, the American Prairie Reserve, and cleanup of the Hanford nuclear site in Washington State.

Create a Go Green Zlioshop that features environmentally friendly products! Our merchants offer plenty of options from environmental magazines to natural fiber clothing to energy saving air conditioners.

• Try product searches for “environment,” “organic,” “recycled,” or “energy save.”
• Look for original items like Grand Ventura’s Upside Down Tomato Garden
• Need some more ideas? Check out TreeHugger’s 10 Tips on How To Green Your Electronics.

When you’ve finished, why not promote your Zlioshop by entering it into the Environmental Web Directory!

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.  

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!

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.

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!”

You’ve probably noticed the new “Category” section that has popped up on the right hand side of your Zlio Home Page. We here at Zlio have put together a list of product categories, to help you get organized and make it easier for people to find you.

With so many ZlioShops out there, proper use of tags and categories is the best way to maximize traffic to your Zlioshop. Choose from categories like “Computers” and “Hi-Tech” to “Beauty” and “Gifts” to help put your Zlioshop at the top of the list!

Be sure to check out the top Zlioshops in each category for ideas about creating (or finishing) your Zlioshop.

Do you have a blog or a website? Get to know the ZlioZone – it’s windowshopping for your blog! It’s as simple as creating a ZlioShop and within 5 minutes you can embed a vertical skyscraper in your blog or website that allows visitors to see your products. By clicking on your products, visitors are automatically redirected to your ZlioShop.

• Create Your ZlioZone now by clicking on Modules !

Zlio is now offering a payment solution for members who may not have Paypal available in their country. You can now accept payments on your Zlioshop from Moneybookers, as well as Paypal.

Choose either Moneybookers or Paypal in the second step of asking for payment.

About Moneybookers:

Moneybookers allows customers to send, receive and hold funds in 29 currencies worldwide and offers local payments in 30+ countries. Unlike many competing online fund transfer services, Moneybookers requires identity verification before using their service to minimize fraud and prevent money laundering. Over 5 million users trust moneybookers and registration is free… For more information about Moneybookers and ewallets,  click here.

If you have access to a digital camera, then here is yet another possibility for you to promote your shop. Film an introduction of your shop, where you describe what kind of shop it is, what kind of products it has and the purpose of your shop. Then you edit it, if needed and post it to our Zlio Channel provided by Dailymotion.com. With this, people can see your shop through a video clip and then click on your shop’s link. What are you waiting for? Add to your Shop to Zlio’s Shopping TV Channel!