Anybody have their own website.

[Bucky]

I decided some time ago to start my own website. Being a bit of a Scrooge and surviving on a military pension I thought "How difficult can it be". After much cursing, my navy vocabulary helped, I have finally managed to get it somewhat usable, certainly not professional. Anyway it's mine.

What do you think. Be brutal.

welcomecreekpens.au

 

[keithbyrd]

I am certainly not an expert on website creation - but I think you did a nice job. Good narratives about your craft and the products.
Its a bit cumbersome to get to the point I can see the product description and price.
Nice job.
I have a website but I am usually just frustrated with it - to me the Shopify platform and all the integration with Google Ada, Facebook etc drive me crazy trying to stay up with the changes.
Good luck with yours!

 

[jcm71]

I had a website for over ten years up until last year. I finally let it die because the expense (time and money) required to maintain it far exceeded the sales it generated. I'm just sorry it took me so long to realize it was not worth the effort. All the best with yours.

 

[Woodchipper]

No, got out of a particular business and not needed anymore. I agree with jcm71.

 

[KMCloonan]

I think your site looks very professional. Well done!

My only critique is that the background on your product photos tends to distract from the product being displayed (example, a background with a heavy wood grain, with a pen with similar grain and color). Other than that, it's a nice website! Hope it works well for you.

 

[wood-of-1kind]

Overall your site is well done and presents well. My only criticism would be that you keep mentioning over and over
that you are a Navy veteran. Good luck with future sales. Yes, I used to maintain a free website but let it go. I now use a
blog to share what is on my mind regarding pens and other activities that are of interest to me.

-Peter-

 

[Mike]

Very nicely done.

Mike

 

[montmill]

Really as good a site as any I've seen. I agree with the comment on the photo's. I'm certainly not aware of the local economy but it seems your prices are quite low. Again, that's your business but I suspect it would take a large volume of sales to pay for expenses and the upkeep of the site. Again, I'm basing this on my situation so it's probably not relevant, it just popped out at me. I love the blog component, it makes you real and more friendly IMO.
Best of Luck!!

 

[GaryMGg]

The quality of the work seems to be good and prices too low: US $19 for a slimline and $33 for a cigar?
Those are family discount rates.

All the pictures I looked at had a disturbing shadow around the pens. You might want to investigate how to eliminate this by setting up the lighting. Lots of discussion on this site about this subject.

 

[Bucky]

The quality of the work seems to be good and prices too low: US $19 for a slimline and $33 for a cigar?
Those are family discount rates.

All the pictures I looked at had a disturbing shadow around the pens. You might want to investigate how to eliminate this by setting up the lighting. Lots of discussion on this site about this subject.

The shadow around the pens is shadow. So far I haven't found away to eliminate this. Photography isn't my strong point I use a cheap light box and iPhone. I've tried to keep my prices reasonable as postage here is $12au. I'm not selling many. I do better at a monthly local market.

 

[Bucky]

Really as good a site as any I've seen. I agree with the comment on the photo's. I'm certainly not aware of the local economy but it seems your prices are quite low. Again, that's your business but I suspect it would take a large volume of sales to pay for expenses and the upkeep of the site. Again, I'm basing this on my situation so it's probably not relevant, it just popped out at me. I love the blog component, it makes you real and more friendly IMO.
Best of Luck!!

The cost of the site is just the hosting costs, that is quite reasonable. I do everything myself. Photography is my weak spot. I'm retired so this is mainly a hobby and I just want to mainly cover my costs. I also have no idea how to price my pens.

 

[KMCloonan]

The cost of the site is just the hosting costs, that is quite reasonable. I do everything myself. Photography is my weak spot. I'm retired so this is mainly a hobby and I just want to mainly cover my costs. I also have no idea how to price my pens.

You can always do some reconnaissance on Etsy to see what other makers are charging - if they have a decent # of sales, you can probably assume their pricing is working for them. If you look at EU or US Etsy, you would need to do currency conversion to AU, but that's pretty straightforward. I also find that checking out other sellers gives me ideas on how to stage the pictures, and potential backgrounds to consider.

 

[Todd in PA]

Personal website sales are the most cost effective way to do sales. A website costs maybe $100/yr. if you do it yourself. But takes the most time (photographing, writing, inventorying, etc). My marketing cost on website sales last year was around 10%, after shipping.

Whereas the craft shows I did last year averaged 19%. And my Consignment shop positions ran about 29%.

Clive, your website looks nice. I found a few empty pages and assume you've still got some construction remaining. I hope you do very well with it!

For the record—from my experience, it's hard to recommend this as a business. You're often exchanging a massive amount of free time for a modest return. You have to have motivations beyond the money—whether that's the craft itself or the community.

I remind myself of those motivations every weekend when I'm six hours deep into shop time with a cramped neck. It's a labor of love.

 

[Bucky]

Personal website sales are the most cost effective way to do sales. A website costs maybe $100/yr. if you do it yourself. But takes the most time (photographing, writing, inventorying, etc). My marketing cost on website sales last year was around 10%, after shipping.

Whereas the craft shows I did last year averaged 19%. And my Consignment shop positions ran about 29%.

Clive, your website looks nice. I found a few empty pages and assume you've still got some construction remaining. I hope you do very well with it!

For the record—from my experience, it's hard to recommend this as a business. You're often exchanging a massive amount of free time for a modest return. You have to have motivations beyond the money—whether that's the craft itself or the community.

I remind myself of those motivations every weekend when I'm six hours deep into shop time with a cramped neck. It's a labor of love.

Thanks for your feedback. I'm retired and pen making is a hobby and therapy. I don't need or want to make a living from it. If I can make enough to cover costs and perhaps the occasional case of beer I'm satisfied. Working on my website also helps keep the mind busy and is far better than watching TV of an evening. I also donate pens to local Veterans organisations, mainly for fund raisers.