I’ve decided to take the plunge & set up my first datafeedr affiliate store, on The Green Directory, bringing together the product feeds of many eco-stores & fair trade suppliers. I’m still fine-tuning the exact settings but the whole process was pretty straightforward, the only issue so far being that as per usual with merchant datafeeds, sometimes the actual data is incorrect. For example, I’ve noticed that Adili have a lot of products in their feed, with a price of £0.00!  I’ve written to them, but who knows how long it could take to be corrected.

Datafeedr is a system which enables you to create & embed an affiliate store into your WordPress blog WITHOUT touching any clunky datafeed files, learning a programming language or hiring expensive programmers. I found the actual datafeedr shop “factory” very easy to use & enquiries have been answered within 24 hours on the support forum, which is an excellent response time. There are excellent video tutorials to help you through using the factory, integrating your shop into your WordPress blog & more.

I’m just looking into the Drip Feature which enables you to automatically post products to your blog, something that I’ve tried to do manually with my other sites. However, I also plan to add my own posts as well, rather than rely on the system, but it’s a great idea for those times when you might just be too busy with other things to post as much as you should. Just need to get it configured properly.

The one store I’ve set up initially costs $27 per month, but once this store is set up & functioning, I may upgrade to the next plan, which allows the creation of up to 5 different stores. I really want to use it on My Travel Extras to offer a decent travel accessories store, to set up the seperate ticket sales websites, for which I bought the domains www.buyeventtickets.co.uk, www.buyeventickets.co.uk, www.cheapeventtickets.co.uk & www.cheapeventickets.co.uk & to get www.webtraveloffers.com & www.scifigoodies.co.uk domains up & running. The five site plan costs $47, so hopefully, I can get enough sales to cover the costs!

It’s summer – if we can dare call it that – it’s a time for holidays, for relaxing, having fun, and forgetting about work, about everything…

If you’re about to go off on holiday or to a summer festival, in the UK or abroad, try to travel by train and public transport where you can, sample the local produce, walk or bike around when you get there, and think about what you do with your waste. You might also want to take some eco products with you – they’ll help to make your travels a whole lot more convenient, and greener.

Get 10% off your holiday essentials at Nigel’s Eco Store, just enter the code ECOHOLS at the checkout. Offer lasts until 30th July.

Natural Sun Protection

These award winning natural sun screens and creams for adults and children by Green People, are free from nasty chemicals, and provide great UV protection. They come in high and medium factor for adults, and strong and gentle for children.

Wind Up MP3 Player

Forget the latest iPod. This beauty is perfect for taking on holiday – it has 1GB memory, one minute winding gives 15 to 20 minutes play time, and fully charged it’ll play for 4 hours. No batteries required and best of all is the price!

Wind Up LED Torches

Essential holiday item No. 52: A torch for finding your way in the dark. Even better, one that needs no batteries, provides a strong beam and is sturdy and light. We have a few different ones, check them out here.

Biodegradable Flip Flops

You’ll love these flip flops. Not only are they very comfortable and look cool, but they are Fair Trade, and biodegradable to boot, (or to flip?). Puts other flip flops into the shade.

Solar Chargers

Don’t let a flat battery on your digital camera or mobile phone ruin your holiday. Make sure you have a solar powered charger handy to charge it up again. The FreeLoader is great for all budgets. For something more powerful, try the Power Monkey!

For more Summer Holiday ideas, check out the holiday range on our website.