Frequently Asked Questions

Visitors to your site browse and preview your music or art and download their choice of your content to their mobile phone.

A Phone Sherpa Store is a cost effective way for record labels, music portals, bands, artists, musicians, and DJ's to reach a massive global audience through cell phones.

A Phone Sherpa Store includes the following features:

1. Web site Store display for your site using a customizable Flash component.
2. Hosted Store page on the Phone Sherpa Web site. Click here for examples of hosted stores.
3. Credit card and Premium SMS billing to hundreds of wireless carriers in the US and worldwide.
4. File hosting and encoding services for the content on your store.

Click here to get your Store running in 3 easy steps.

The most important aspect of any online Store is its distribution. No other company can match the sheer number of phone models and file encoding types that Phone Sherpa manages on its back end. Phone Sherpa is available in over 130 countries; on the networks of more than 300 wireless operators.

The technical back end is as important as distribution. You don’t want your files hacked or lost, and you want your customers to enjoy an excellent purchase experience while on your website. The platform that powers the Phone Sherpa service is a highly scaled and robust architecture that is unrivalled in its deployment stability, user friendly features and real time reporting.

Phone Sherpa is a one stop shop for mobile digital distribution. Editing and selling ringtones is made easy for you.  Files are converted on-the-fly to fit the format a specific cell phone requires.  Now, you can reach more of your fans, and promote your content to a wider audience. 

As you can see, the opportunities are endless.  Here are a few additional benefits of using the Phone Sherpa Store.

1. Sell on Cingular, Sprint, T-Mobile and 300 other operators world wide;
2. Earn revenue share on every transaction;
3. Increase the reach of your music - 75% of Americans own a cell phone;
4. Over 550 supported phone models comprising almost all new models;
5. Almost all audio and image files are supported;
6. Real time reporting of your sales;
7. Highly experienced and friendly customer service staff.

1. Create a Phone Sherpa account and select a pricing package.
2. Upload any of your music or image files using a user friendly Phone Sherpa Editor.
3. Customize and embed the Flash Store Display on your site

1. Log into your Phone Sherpa Merchant Account page.
2. Click on the orange button labeled “Add New Wallpaper”.
3. Locate and select your image file on your computer and click “Submit”.
4. Enter the information about your wallpaper, including the price.
5. Click the blue button labeled “Save".

1. Select a Picture Editor Mode to manage the aspect ratio of the preview image.
2. If in Crop or Stretch Modes, click and drag the red corners of the box to select part of the picture and click the Crop button.
3. Use the Picture Preview area to see how the photo will look on the web site.
4. Use the Select an Effect dropdown menu to manipulate your picture.
5. Repeat steps 1 thru 3 as needed, press Submit to finish editing.
6. Phone Sherpa watermark will not appear in the final picture.

1. Log into your Phone Sherpa Merchant Account page.
2. Click on the orange button labeled “Add New Ringtone”.
3. Click on the “browse” button.
4. Locate and select your audio file from your computer.
5. Click on the blue button labeled “Start Upload.”*
6. Use the Phone Sherpa Ringtone Editor to optimize your audio file.
7. Click the blue button labeled “Submit.”
8. From the Edit Ringtone Information page, enter all of the information about your ringtone, including the price.
9. Click the blue button labeled “Save.”
 

1. **Drag the middle of the Red Box to choose which part of the song you'd like to use.
2. Change the ringtone Duration by dragging the left or right edge of the Red Box.
3. Listen to the clip and repeat steps 1 thru 3 as needed.
4. Press Submit when finished.

1. Log into your Phone Sherpa Merchant Account.
2. In the left navigation menu, locate and click on the “Edit Hosted Store” link.
3. On the Manage Your Hosted Store page, scroll down and locate the blue colored “edit” link.
4. Locate the designated fields for the “Title/Header” and “Your Store Description,” and complete the information.
5. Click the blue button labeled “Save.”

1. Log into your Phone Sherpa Store Account.
2. Click on the “update logo image” link located on the right side of the page.
3. Locate and open your image file.
4. Click the blue button labeled “Start Upload.”
5. Edit your image, then click the button labeled “Submit.”
6. From the “the Phone Sherpa Store Merchant Account” page click on the “preview my Store” link located at the top of the page to see new logo.
 

1. Log into your Phone Sherpa Merchant Account.
2. Click on the “update feature image” link located on the lower right side of the page.
3. Locate and open your image file.
4. Click the blue button labeled “Start Upload.”
5. Edit your image, then click the button labeled “Submit.”
6. From the “the Phone Sherpa Store Merchant Account” page click on "the preview my Store” link located at the top of the page to see your new logo.

1. Log into your Phone Sherpa Merchant Account.
2. From the Phone Sherpa Store Merchant Account page, locate and click on the “Configure Your Store” link located in the left navigation menu.
3. From the Store Integration Wizard page, locate the section “Flash Store.”
4. Click on the corresponding “Start Wizard...” link.
5. On the Flash Store Configuration and Code page, scroll down to step #4.
6. Click the button labeled, “Finish Wizard.”
7. Copy and paste the generated Flash embed tag into your own website or blog.

1. Log into your Phone Sherpa Merchant Account.
2. In the left-hand navigation, locate and click on the link, “Configure Your Store”.
3. On the Store Intergration Wizard page, scroll down and locate the “Flash Store” section of the page.v
4. Click on the blue colored link, “Start Wizard…”
5. On the Flash Store Configuration and Code page, scroll through the Flash Store Configuration Steps until you get to step #3.
6. Click on the Custom RGB radio button.
7. **Enter the RGB hexadecimal color code of your choosing in the corresponding fields you would like to change (you can not substitute code for words describing color).
8. To immediately check your results, click on the button labeled “Refresh Preview Store”.
9. Repeat steps 7 – 8 to achieve alternate color scheme.
10. Click the “Finish Wizard” button located at the bottom of the page
11. Copy and paste the Flash embed tag into your own website or blog to see your newly updated Flash Store.

1. Log into your Phone Sherpa Merchant Account.
2. In the left-hand navigation, locate and click on the link, “Configure Your Store”.
3. On the Store Intergration Wizard page, scroll down and locate the “Flash Store” section of the page.
4. Click on the blue colored link, “Start Wizard…”
5. On the Flash Store Configuration and Code page, scroll through the Flash Store Configuration Steps until you get to step #1.v
6. Enter the desired number of pixels into the designated fields for width and height of your Flash Store.
7. Click on the button labeled “Finish Wizard” located at the bottom of the page.
8. Copy and paste the Flash embed tag into your own website or blog to see your newly updated Flash Store.

1. Log into your Phone Sherpa Merchant Account.
2. In the left-hand navigation, locate and click on the link, “Configure Your Store.”
3. On the Store Integration Wizard page, scroll down and locate the section titled, “Flash components for individual items.”
4. Click on the corresponding “Start Wizard…” link.
5. From the Individual Flash Component Configuration page, complete the 4 steps to configure the buttons for your Store.
6. Click on the button labeled “Finish Wizard” located at the bottom of the page.
7. To see your results, copy and paste the newly generated Flash embed tag into your own web site or blog.

Whether you are a major label artist with the backing of a marketing team or an independent, you already know the value of grassroots marketing for your band. This begins with marketing yourself or your band online. Here are some tips: 

1. Select high quality images that are crisp, interesting and detailed.
2. After uploading your ringtones, preview the ringtones for sound quality.
3. Keep your merchandise updated, varied and fairly priced.
4. Categorize and organize your Store for user friendly shopping.
5. Completeness: Did you completely and concisely describe each Store item? Missing information can impact your sales.  
6. Use popular keyword search terms in your Store description to increase your visibility in search engine results.
7. Display price for each item.
8. Get inspired by browsing other Stores for new and/or improved ideas.
9. Make sure the title, images and description are consistent, thus avoiding contradictions.
10. Include any unique information about your ringtone or wallpaper (like was your wallpaper displayed in a gallery, or is your ringtone from a top 100 song you composed?)

1. Placement: Where you place your ringtone store will impact sales. Prominently place your store in a way that fits with your site design and visitor interest; give your Flash Store to friends and fans to place on their web sites and blogs.

2. Go link crazy!  Place links and call attention to your Phone Sherpa Store in the following places:

1. Your Homepage ("We now offer real music ringtones!")
2. Site Navigation (a ringtone navigation button makes you look cool & progressive)
3. Music / Media / Downloads section
4. Merchandise area
5. Fan newsletters

3. Distribute your Store Ask friends and fans to put your Flash Store on their site. Your Flash Store can be placed on any web site and the Stores will automatically update themselves so there is no management needed.

1. If you have a message board or chat area on your web site, promote your ringtones there.
2. Interacting with your customers demonstrates that you’re serious and legitimate.
3. As well as being cool, fun, and inexpensive, ringtones enables powerful promotion of your personal expression.   
4. There are a vast number of popular music portals and social networking sites on the internet dedicated to music.
5. Places like MySpace, Yahoo Groups, & Friendster allow you to connect with music lovers all over the globe.

Taking It To The Streets:

1. Be your own street team!: Don’t forget to show people your newly created ringtones on your phone.     
2. Talk:  Generate a buzz through word-of-mouth.
3. Musical festivals, parties, and concerts are great venues for promoting your ringtones.
4. Recruit a friend or two to help you create marketing tools such as flyers, electronic invitations, buttons, etc.

1. mp3 ringtones
2. talk tones or talktones
3. real tones or realtones
4. Tru Tones or truetones
5. Sound Effects
6. Super Tones or supertones
7. Master Tones or mastertones

How is payout calculated?

1. Log into your Phone Sherpa Merchant Account.
2. On the Merchant Account page, scroll down to the blue colored link titled, “[View Payout History].” Click on link.
3. On the Billing and Payout History page, scroll down and locate the Payout History section of the page.

1. Click here to log into the Phone Sherpa Merchant Account page.
2. From the Phone Sherpa Merchant Account page, click on the “Upgrade My Store” link located in the top left-hand navigation.
3. Select a Phone Sherpa pricing package.
4. Make and confirm your purchase for the product upgrade.

1. Login to your Merchant Account
2. Click on View Account Information
3. Click on the Cancel Link

1. Log into your Phone Sherpa Merchant Account page.
2. Scroll down the center of the page to locate and click on the blue colored “[add a card]” link.
3. Enter the appropriate information in the designated fields.
4. Click on the blue button labeled “Save”.

1. Log into your Phone Sherpa Merchant Account.
2. Scroll down the center of the Merchant Account page to locate and click on the blue colored link labeled, “View Billing History.”
3. Scroll to the Billing History section of the page.

1. Log into your Phone Sherpa Merchant Account.
2. From you’re the Merchant Account, page, locate and click on the “Sales Report” link in the top left navigation.

1. Log into your Phone Sherpa Merchant Account page
2. From you’re the Merchant Account, page, locate and click on the “Sales Report” link in the top left navigation.
3. On the Realtime Sales and Usage Reports page, click on the calendar icons to select the start date and the end date.

1. File downloads by title
2. Total downloads and payout amount
3. Payment history