How do you stay awake inputting products?

[lostxpinoy]

What's your secret to staying up when inputting products into your store? I'm up to about 500+ and I have a loooong way to go... :(

 

I get tired quickly, my eyes start to droop, etc. I'm gonna try to wake up early tomorrow and get an early start. Maybe working at this thing at night is not for me. :unsure:

[Chance]

easypopulate contribution helps.

 

Do them in batches- batch process your images, put items from like manufacturers up at the same time, etc.

 

I get in a groove and can do a few hundred a night if I have stuff ready to post.

[johnk]

This is a very serious question so I think it deserves a lengthy reply.

 

The problem with any database is that it is of little value to you until the last item is entered. Anything that makes the job easier must be considered so here are a few tips I've used when entering my own data, and tips I passed on to students when I taught database management at a college.

 

Simplfy the process as much as possible by looking beyond the square. OSC's data input procedures are okay for casual data entry but not for bulk items. By utilising software like "easyPopulate" and a spreadsheet you can save hundreds of hours work and actually make the job more interesting. Spreadsheets allow you to cut and paste so if you have 100 keyrings for instance, instead of entering each one by hand in OSC, you can cut and paste the word "keyring" 100 times in a spreadsheet in a few seconds. Same goes with the price especially if most are $1.95.

 

Consider an expanded clipboard program that allows you to build a list of key words and phrases. These can be dropped in with two keystrokes instead of 20.

 

Avoid re-inventing the wheel. Your major suppliers will have databases of their products and most make them available to any customer who asks. Even if 2 or 3 suppliers come good, this could save you hundreds of hours in re-typing. (as an example, most suppliers of household and yacht fittings have available for download, scale drawings of their parts so that architects don't have to redraw them.)

 

Ask your supplier if you can use text and pictures from his web site. Most put them there for that very reason.

 

If your supplier only has a printed catalog (unusual these days) consider using an OCR program to convert the text.

 

Share the workload with your family.

 

Do what "chance" says, vary your routine so that you enter twenty or so products and then change your routine by entering pictures.

 

Keep alert and walk away from the job as soon as your attention slips. Remember the old saying..."Garbage in - Garbage out".

 

Take pride in your work. Take a break and look at the finished product (thus far) to see what you have achieved.

 

Get the site up and running with only a few products. Tell your customers it's a work in progress and ask them to call back - often. Even put a message on the home page showing many new products where entered since such and such a date.

 

People have a thirst for knowledge, share it with them.

 

Don't panic. You are the only one who knows how many products are still to be added.

 

Make your photo prep a fun thing by using a program like IrfanView (free) to batch resample photos and create thumbnails. You can do hundreds in an hour.

 

And, don't forget to play with the kids and the dog. That's more important to them than your silly database!

 

Good luck.

[lostxpinoy]

Thanks for the replies and suggestions! I'll look into using that if it can save me hours of work.

 

When I input products I use notepad to put redundant descriptions, keywords, weblinks, etc. So I just copy and paste. I use my suppliers pictures and description as well. I've pretty much got it down to a process. Most of my key strokes consist of copying & pasting, typing tags like 'br', 'li', 'ul'.

 

I should change my routine as well. I'm doing DVDs right now, but I have a lot of different product types I can do. Changing it up will probably help me keep going.

As for taking a break when my attention slips, how long should the break be? Is it as short as getting something to drink and snack on?

 

I'm not an avid coffee drinker, but maybe StarBucks is an option. :D

[Guest]

Are you writing the descriptions yourself or pulling them from another source? If pulling from another source, I'd probably whip up a quick script to do it for me. If you're comfortable with PHP, check out the fopen command. If you're familiar with shell scripting, you probably don't need my advice. :D