365 Days of Zazzle: Day 10 Rewrite one title to make it more emotional.

I am editing one of my older products, and the title is simply:

“Turkey Thanksgiving Dinner Invitation.”

That is all.

Now, does the title describe the product? Absolutely. Does it contain relevant keywords? Yes. But does it convey any emotion? Does it make someone want the product?

Not really.

When I look at the title “Turkey Thanksgiving Dinner Invitation,” something is missing.

It is missing the warmth of family. It is missing the laughter of friends, the smell of food cooking in the kitchen, and that safe, familiar space we call home.

For some people, Thanksgiving means coming home after being away at college. Someone may be returning from military service or traveling across the country because life has taken them far away from the people they love.

But for Thanksgiving, we are gathering again.

We are coming home. We are reconnecting. We are sitting around the table together again.

And that is the emotion behind the product.

Keywords Tell. Emotion Sells.

There are some product titles that you can connect with almost immediately. The words evoke an emotional response that makes you think:

“Hey, that's me.”

Or:

“That's exactly what I want!”

That reaction is important because people don't always shop by carefully analyzing every product in front of them. Sometimes they are looking for something that reflects the picture already forming in their minds.

They aren't necessarily searching for an invitation.

They may be imagining everyone gathered around the Thanksgiving table.

The invitation is simply the product that helps them create that moment.

As Zazzle Sellers, We Have to Go Beyond Keywords

When I originally created the title “Turkey Thanksgiving Dinner Invitation,” I was thinking like a search engine.

Turkey.
Thanksgiving.
Dinner.
Invitation.

Check, check, check, check.

Those words accurately describe the product, and keywords are important. We absolutely should use words that help shoppers and search engines understand what we're selling.

But that cannot be the only job of our title.

My original title makes the shopper do all of the emotional work. They have to read “Turkey Thanksgiving Dinner Invitation” and then mentally turn those words into family, home, food, laughter, traditions, and togetherness.

I want my title to do some of that work for them.

I want words that begin to bypass all that analyzing and connect with the feeling behind why they're shopping in the first place.

Instead of simply identifying an object, we can begin describing the experience surrounding the object.

For example, I might take:

Turkey Thanksgiving Dinner Invitation

and turn it into something like:

Gather Together | Warm Family Thanksgiving Dinner Invitation

Now I haven't abandoned my keywords. Thanksgiving, Dinner, and Invitation are still there.

But I've added something else:

Gather Together. Warm. Family.

Those words begin telling a story.

And suddenly, I am not just selling an invitation.

I am selling the moment when everybody comes home.

That is the lesson for Day 10: Don't throw away your keywords. Give your keywords a heartbeat.

365 Days of Zazzling Day 9: Make Time for Zazzle

For my 9th day of Zazzling I want to talk about the importance of time.  In order to succeed at selling, you have to make time for Zazzle, and how much time you make is a personal decision.  For me, ideally, I want to work on my stores at least a few days a week. I would love to work on them every day, but I work full time and manage seven stores, which can make that difficult.

What I don't want to do, however, is leave my stores untouched for weeks at a time.

When that happens, my stores can fall lower and lower in the algorithm, making it harder to regain visibility.  However, working on Zazzle doesn't always mean sitting down and creating a bunch of new products. Sometimes I may only have enough time to improve a product description, update some tags, create a lifestyle mockup, make one new product, or do something else that helps my stores.

The important thing for me is to keep moving. If I wait until I have several free hours to work on Zazzle, I may end up doing nothing at all. Instead, I can ask myself, What can I do with the time I have today?

365 Days of Zazzling Day 8: Check Your Download Royalties

On this eighth day of Zazzling, take a moment to review the royalty settings for your downloadable greeting cards.

When creating products, I often notice that the royalty for the digital download is set higher than the royalty for the printed card. In most cases, this does not make sense because the customer is using their own paper, ink, printer, and other resources to produce the card at home.

Make sure your download royalty is priced fairly and appropriately. A quick adjustment can make the digital option more appealing to customers while still allowing you to earn a reasonable royalty from each sale.

365 Days of Zazzling Day 7: Choose one product and make the mockup feel more peaceful

For this challenge, I chose one product and focused on making the mockup feel more peaceful.

I went into my Bible Verses and Gifts store because that collection immediately comes to mind when I think about peace, reflection, and spiritual rest. I selected my latest design and placed it on a small decorative plaque that could be displayed on a wall.

Then I imagined the kind of room where this plaque might belong, a quiet prayer room where someone could retreat, breathe, read Scripture, pray, and gather their thoughts whenever life feels overwhelming.

When creating the mockup, I asked ChatGPT to give the room a feeling of serenity, warmth, and peace. I envisioned soft natural light, a comfortable chair, a Bible nearby, gentle candlelight, and a calm atmosphere that invited a person to slow down.

The final image did more than display the product. It helped tell a story.

Instead of simply showing a plaque, the mockup showed the customer how the plaque could become part of a peaceful space in their own home. It created an emotional connection and helped the product feel meaningful, comforting, and useful.

That is the power of a lifestyle mockup. You are not only showing people what the product looks like, you are helping them imagine how it could make their home, routine, or special moments feel.

What product in your store could you place inside a peaceful, comforting, or meaningful scene?

365 Days of Zazzling Day 6: Update One Description with a Stronger Opening Sentence

Today’s challenge is to update one product description with a stronger opening sentence.

This idea reminds me of lesson planning as a teacher. When we write lesson plans, we often begin with a hook, something that captures the learner’s attention and pulls them into the lesson. I think the same mindset can be used when improving product descriptions.

A product description should not simply explain what the item is. It should help draw the customer in. The opening sentence is the first opportunity to create interest, communicate value, and help the buyer imagine why the product matters.

Before we begin, I want to note; these 365 Days of Zazzling challenges are meant to be small, practical steps. The goal is not to overwhelm ourselves by trying to update an entire store in one day. Instead, each challenge gives us one focused task that can become a starting point. You may update one description, or you may feel motivated to update five, ten, or even twenty. Either way, the point is to begin looking at your Zazzle store more strategically and take tangible steps toward improving it.

For today’s challenge, I went back into the backend of my store and looked for a product with very few views. I found a bridesmaid proposal invitation that was created nine years ago. It was last sold eight years ago and has not been viewed in almost seven years.

So let’s see how I can improve the description.

Here is my original description:

“What better way to choose bridesmaids for your wedding than with this lovely invitations. These invitations display a blue background with purple floral artwork. Admire these postcards today!”

Right away, I noticed a few issues.

The opening sentence says:

“What better way to choose bridesmaids for your wedding than with this lovely invitations.”

First, the grammar is incorrect. It should not say “this lovely invitations.” That alone tells me the description needs to be updated.

Second, I actually like the beginning of the sentence: “What better way to choose bridesmaids for your wedding…” However, the phrase “than with this lovely invitation” could be much stronger.

What kind of invitation is it?
What makes it lovely?
Why should the customer choose this design?

Those are the questions I want the sentence to answer.

This product is not just a general invitation. It is a bridesmaid proposal invitation with a classy vintage floral style. So I drafted this sentence:

“What better way to choose bridesmaids for your wedding than with this classy vintage lavender floral bridesmaid proposal?”

Then I asked ChatGPT to edit and polish the sentence. Here is the improved version:

“Invite your bridesmaids to stand by your side with this classy vintage lavender floral bridesmaid proposal, designed with soft elegance and timeless charm.”

That sentence is much stronger. It feels more elegant, more specific, and more emotionally connected to the purpose of the product.

However, I was not completely sure whether the invitation should be called lavender. So I took a screenshot of the design and asked ChatGPT to help describe the colors. It suggested that the design reads more like a dusty blue background with lavender-inspired floral artwork.

That gave me a better color phrase to use in the description, title, and tags: dusty blue lavender.

Now that I had a stronger opening sentence, I did not want to leave the rest of the description weak. The original second part stated:

“These invitations display a blue background with purple floral artwork. Admire these postcards today!”

That wording could definitely be improved. I also did not like the phrase “Admire these postcards today.” A customer can admire a product all day and still never purchase it. I wanted the call to action to be more functional and buyer focused.

So I drafted this:

“These bridesmaid proposals display a lovely dusty blue lavender colored background with floral artwork. Personalize these postcards today.”

That was better, but it still needed polishing. After editing, the sentence became:

“These bridesmaid proposal invitations feature a lovely dusty blue and lavender-inspired background with soft floral artwork and elegant script.”

For the call to action, I wanted to focus on the invitation being useful, not just pretty. This is not only a keepsake. It is a functional product that helps the bride ask someone to be part of her wedding party.

So, the final description became:

“Invite your bridesmaids to stand by your side with this classy vintage lavender floral bridesmaid proposal, designed with soft elegance and timeless charm. These bridesmaid proposal invitations feature a lovely dusty blue and lavender-inspired background with soft floral artwork and elegant script. Personalize yours today and send a charming bridesmaid proposal that is ready for your bridal party.”

Once the description was stronger, I also wanted to improve the title and tags. I asked ChatGPT to use the description to help create a more searchable title and better tags.

The new title is:

Dusty Blue Lavender Floral Bridesmaid Proposal Invitation

The new tags are:

bridesmaid proposal, wedding, dusty blue, lavender, floral, bridal party, will you be my bridesmaid, elegant, soft purple flowers, romantic

This entire process reminded me that sometimes an older product does not need to be abandoned. It may simply need better wording, clearer keywords, and a stronger presentation.

Today’s assignment: Update one product description with a stronger opening sentence. Then, take it one step further and improve the rest of the description, title, and tags if needed. A small update can help give an older product a fresh chance to be seen.

It's not just a cover photo, it's a whole vibe

When I was working on my Zazzle challenge for Day 5, I created this particular mockup, and I immediately fell in love with it.

Not just with the product, but with the entire cover photo. It was a whole vibe.

I am not even particularly interested in football games, but this mockup made me want to go to one. The outfit, the hair, the sunglasses, the soft makeup, the stadium setting, everything came together in a way that felt stylish, fun, and inviting.

Now think about your Zazzle customers. They may come to the marketplace searching for one specific product, but a strong mockup can help them imagine an entire experience.

For example, imagine a woman searching for a stadium cushion for herself or her family to use at her son’s football games. At first, she may only be thinking about comfort on the bleachers. But when she sees a lifestyle mockup like this, the product becomes part of a bigger story.

Now she may begin imagining the whole game day atmosphere: the outfit, the coffee tumbler, the pom-poms, the tailgating party before the game, the family gathering afterward, or the fun of supporting her child, school, or favorite team in style.

That is the power of mockups.

A good mockup does not just show the product. It shows the buyer the feeling, the setting, and the lifestyle that can go with it. It can make a simple item feel like part of a memorable day.

This mockup even inspired me to consider going to a football game with my husband this fall, maybe a local high school game or a nearby college game.

That is when you know a mockup is doing something special. It does not just sell the item; it sparks imagination.

So here is my question for you: In what ways do mockups inspire you?

365 Days of Zazzling: Day 5 rewrite one product title to make it more searchable

 

One very important part of selling on Zazzle is searchability. A beautiful product can sit on the marketplace for years, but if the title is not clear, searchable, or easy for customers to understand, the product may remain almost invisible.

This is why SEO matters. A strong product title can help bring more customers to your store over time. It tells the search engine what the product is, and it tells the customer why the product may be useful to them.

My challenge today is to rewrite at least one product title to make it more searchable.

To begin, I went into the back end of my Zazzle store and looked for older products that either had no views or very few views. I searched by total views and went to the last page, where I found products that had only one view.

One of those products was a stadium cushion. It is actually a cute and useful item, but after five years on Zazzle’s marketplace, it only had one view, no sales, and no likes. In other words, it was basically invisible.

The original title was:

Rustic Reddish Pink Name Stadium Cushion

The title described the product somewhat, but it felt choppy. It did not flow well, and it did not clearly communicate the strongest features of the design. I wanted something that sounded smoother, more natural, and more like what a customer might actually type into the search bar.

So I asked ChatGPT for help. I explained that the stadium cushion had only one view in five years and that I wanted to improve the title.

ChatGPT pointed out that the original title sounded a little vague and awkward. It described the design, but it did not strongly tell the buyer what the product was for or why they might want it.

One of the suggested titles was:

Personalized Pink Wood Grain Stadium Seat Cushion

That title was definitely clearer. It used stronger searchable words like pink wood grain and stadium seat cushion. ChatGPT also noted that “reddish pink” may be accurate, but it does not sound as natural as “pink wood grain” or “rustic pink wood.”

However, I decided to remove the word personalized from the title. In the past, Zazzle has advised creators not to rely on terms like personalized or customized in titles and tags because Zazzle’s platform is already centered around personalization. Instead, I wanted the title to focus on another attribute of the product.

The title I decided to use was:

Pink Rustic Wood Grain Stadium Seat Cushion

This title flows much better than the original. “Pink Rustic Wood Grain” sounds more natural than “Rustic Reddish Pink Name.” It also describes the actual look of the design more clearly. The cushion has a soft pink weathered wood texture, so this title helps communicate that visual style right away.

Looking back, I can see that my original title was not sequenced clearly. I was trying to say that the cushion had a rustic reddish-pink background with a red name, but the wording did not translate well. A potential customer may not have understood exactly what the product looked like or why they should click on it.

While I was working on the title, I also improved the description, updated the tags, and added a strong cover photo. I want to give this product a real chance to be seen.

That is the purpose of today’s task. Sometimes improving a product does not mean creating something completely new. Sometimes it means going back to an older product and giving it better words, better presentation, and a better opportunity to show up in search.

Today’s assignment: Find one older product with very few views and rewrite the title to make it clearer, smoother, and more searchable. Then, if you have time, improve the description, tags, and cover photo too. A small update may help breathe new life into a product that has been sitting quietly in your store.