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webpages

updated mon 30 aug 99

 

Tom Gray on wed 15 may 96

I've been following the thread on web pages & have questions for those of you
that employ them.
Are you creating your own pages or having someone do it for you?
If you are creating them yourselves-are you using helpers (netscape gold-
ms word internet assistant-etc.)?
Are you getting any return on your investment other than the satisfaction of
creating and having a web page?
From what I've read on clayart & through private postings- not too many of you
are selling pots on the web. Are people using your page as a resource when
traveling to your area? Are you getting any responses at all?
I haven't seen any counters on your pages- how do you know whether anyone is
accessing your page?
The reason I'm asking (of course) is because we are considering the possibility
of having a web page- but are concerned whether anyone will ever see it &
respond to it! Our goal is not to sell pots over the internet. Our goal is to
provide information to travelers coming to North Carolina & announce our
workshops. Is this a viable means of doing so?
Do you feel that its important to get your foot in the door while the web is in
its (relative) infancy?
TIA

Tom Gray
Tom Gray Pottery
Seagrove,NC
tgraypots@atomic.net

Wiltjer Pottery on thu 16 may 96

-- [ From: WILTJER POTTERY * EMC.Ver #2.3 ] --

>Are you creating your own pages or having someone do it for you?
>Are you getting any return on your investment other creating and having a web
page?
>From what I've read on clayart & through private postings
>not too many of you are selling pots on the web.
>I haven't seen any counters on your pages
>how do you know whether anyone is accessing your page?
>Tom Gray

Hi Tom,
I did my own page, and I am doing more business than are my running costs.
I certainly couldn't soley rely on the income from it, and that should be the
first
question you ask yourself, that is, what do expect from a page.
For me, it is just one more sales tool to plug into my marketing scheme.
Net visibility is really not any different than hardcopy strategies, that being,
to target your work at specific groups of people interested in that product.
All of my major net sales have been from browsers querying specific product
ideas/concepts not from them going to Yahoo & typing Pottery-Ceramics-etc.
I get requests every week from Wholesalers wanting to market/sell my work.
I'm not interested in that market, I'm looking for end-user sales and
I don't think that particular buyer is browsing in great numbers yet.
My ISP sends me daily hit logs and I also have a 3rd party counter
that tracks them and does daily, weekly & monthly averages.
I average a low 12 hits per day, but the numbers aren't what's important,
it's who is hitting on your page, so the important number are the sales that
result.
The point being, if you setup at K-mart & 1,000 people pass your display,
and you end up with 50 bucks at the end of the day,,,,,,,,,,,,,so what.
I hope this view point will be of some value to you,
if you would like more details feel free to contact me.

Rusty,,,
Wiltjer Pottery
So.Waterford Maine
wiltjer@maine.com
http://www.maine.com/shops/wiltjer

Lee Jaffe on thu 16 may 96

I can offer some pointers on the technical side of things. A lot
depends on your situation. Do you already have a work station that
will allow you to create and maintain WWW pages? Are you already
familiar with basic Internet operations such as FTP and Telnet? If
those are in place, the jump to WWW publishing is not too bad. If
the Internet is daunting and your computer is a dinoasaur, you may
want to have someone else do it for you.

HTML is the basic language for creating WWW pages. I think you
can learn the 10-12 most important elements in a single sitting.
I teach a 1 hour session that covers the basics. There is a version
of my handout at http://www.ucsc.edu:80/help/HTML_guide.html. You
can do a lot with just this much.

One critical hurdle is graphics. If you are talking about rendering
images of 3D objects (in other words, photos of your pottery) for
your WWW page, you have to have a means of converting pictures into
graphics files. You can scan existing photos, take pictures with
a digital camera, or have photos processed onto PhotoCD.

Then you need to be able to manipulate the images for presentation
and convert them to a WWW-compatible format (GIF or JPEG, usually).
This last part usually means PhotoShop, which costs $600-800 and
requires 12MB RAM plus a few other high-end specs.

If your other job makes this available, or you work at a university,
or there is a Kinkos in your area, you can borrow this technology
for the one-time or occasional graphics session, no problem. But
this is a stiff investment otherwise. This is where a lot of folks
are going to go to a "we'll do it for you" type of provider. Send
them your text and five photos and they'll make a page for you.
Not a bad deal, but it does lack a certain involvement in the
process that makes it more meaningful.

-- Lee Jaffe, Santa Cruz

www.jaffebros.com/lee

Shrope/Ratcliffe on thu 16 may 96

One of the greatest resources for software and information on it,I've
found is CW Stroud's Consummate Winsock Applications List. My ISP is a
mirror site, http://www.charm.net/CWSApps/
http://www.charm.net/CWSApps/cwsapps.html for other mirror sites.
I mention this first because this "Stroud" provides a star rating system
when comparing software, gives a full description of the pros and cons,
gives you a direct ftp link for downloading. All of it is shareware, or
try before you buy, which is really great!
I settled on Hot Dog Standard for my html editor. It's 30 or 40 bucks.
I started with HTMLWriter ($10). I've also tried WebPublish and WebEdit.
If you can work with Pagemaker or MS Publisher, you can learn html.
Besides it's actually creative, deciding what you want to do after you
figure out what you can do!I had a blast doing it!
No cash return yet, only the satisfaction and knowledge.
As for Counters. My personal opinion is that they are like a popularity
contest. Sure, the big software sites might need them, but for the
personal or small business site, I think they're unnecessary.
I can find out how many hits I've had, and who has been to my site, by
running a command to my providers main terminal thru Telnet. So the
counter thing doesn't interest me.
The web may be an infant, but you'll be able to get in anytime.

Regards, Peter
http://www.charm.net/~pssr/

Berry Silverman on sun 29 aug 99




It is too early for me to respond about sales from
websites, since our site has only been open about a
week and we've only had a couple of sales. But I
realize that the job isn't over once the site is up
and running. For example, our first order was to be
sent as a gift, and we had to alter the order page to
include space for a gift card. Then we had to set up
a nice looking gift card. Then I wanted to be able to
include a professional looking "thank you" card for
the order, outlining what the customer can do if they
are not satisfied, so now that's in the works. Then,
since I have so many people in and out of the studio,
I had to set up a secure filing system, since I will
have access to other people's credit card numbers and
I don't want there to be any liability for theft.
Then I realized I needed a supply of smaller shipping
cartons, since our wholesale orders are sent out in
large boxes, not suitable for shipping single pieces.
Well, you get the idea. And it doesn't all have to be
accomplished at once, but it does have to be
addressed.

By the way, on the issue of customer satisfaction,
someone else gave me good advice: You have to be
willing to accept returns for any reason. Because if
you only accept returns if a piece is damaged or
defective, then you can be sure it _will_ be by the
time it comes back to you.



===
Berry Silverman,
Berryware, Tucson, Arizona
http://berrywareusa.com
berry@berrywareusa.com
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