Steps

It takes only a couple of minutes to get a basic site, but give yourself more time customize your store and write good product descriptions.

1. Sign up for a PayPal account – You’ll need the email associated with your PayPal account when signing up for bigcartel.
2. Sign up for a bigcartel account – Fill out the sign-up form and choose “Band” as the “Store type”.
3. Products – Login, click on the “Products” tab at the top, and click “Add product”. Fill out the form and move on to your next product.
4. Design – click on the “Design” tab and then “Basics” to add your logo (”Header image”) and change the colors as your see fit. If your techish, change to “css” and go to town. If you have a paying account, check out the available themes to save some time.
5. Settings – click on the “Store” tab and run through the “settings” to make sure it looks ok. Then click on the “promote” tab and upload a square image for the bigcartel directory.
6. View – Check out your site! Our lame attempt can be seen at http://brokedownvan.bigcartel.com

What’s next?

Once everything is set up, it’s time to start sending your fans to the site. Link to it from your MySpace page and your other online haunts. Stick a link to the store in your signature file so that it’s at the bottom of every email you send out. Print up mini-flyers to hand out at your next gig and maybe include a promotion code to encourage fans to check out the other merch that wouldn’t fit in the back of your van.