Richard Jeffery on sun 26 aug 01
2080? you lucky thing.... in the UK I reckon we won't see broad band at an
acceptable price and contention ratios until about 3 years after the mars
settlement.
More seriously - and I do understand the problem with moving around ISPs -
when it comes to cost is it worth thinking about your web site less as a
sales channel that pays for itself, and more as part of your marketing and
publicity costs? Depends what you want it to be, and the site design needs
to reflect your goals for it.
My experience in the UK (and I've just been asked to run a short workshop
for gallery owners in Sussex) is that actually selling anything - especially
3D work - has yet to make any impact on the buying public. I guess you may
be some years ahead of us in the US. I will be taking a look in the
archives later, and I know someone else did a trawl of web site owners
recently through Clayart - but if anyone has positive or negative web sales
experience they would share with me, I would be very grateful - either on or
off -line.
I do think the public attitude to domain names is changing - again, this is
UK experience. 2 years ago, a small business using a free/ el cheapo ISP
could get away with it. I don't think that holds true any longer. Not to
have a domain name may well brand you as a second class or non-professional
outfit. Even having a domain name that points at free ISP space is starting
to feel a little dodgy. - I'm in the process of changing web hosting now
because of that.
I don't know what things are like near you, but the market has changed
dramatically in the past 12 months. In UK we're starting to see a split
between web hosting companies, who will host a domain name, and rent server
space and email facilities but who do not provide dial-up or other access
channels, and the traditional ISP. I use one company trading in the UK, but
who host the site from a (very quick) server in Germany - they also trade
there and in France. Excellent service so far, and for less than £10 per
month I get a good business web server package - database support, own cgi
facilities, proper web logs, etc. I believe this is a sensible split in the
marketplace, and which separates web hosting costs from the needs of old
telephone companies to generate an income stream from dial-up technology.
OK - you still need a dial-up facility in order to use this, but if you are
not moving huge amounts of data around once the web site is up, you can
carry on using any number of free accounts to get your email, etc. I'm sure
there are other models like this - take a look at www.oneandone.com
you also won't get visitors being really pee'd off because of the annoying
pop up windows all over the place....
Regards
Richard
Bournemouth UK
www.TheEleventhHour.co.uk
info@theeleventhhour.co.uk
-----Original Message-----
From: Ceramic Arts Discussion List [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG]On
Behalf Of Brad Sondahl
Sent: 26 August 2001 04:35
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: Re: Sondahl website imperilled
Thanks to those who have expressed support. I'm not planning on having
my info disappear from the web, but moving is hard, having just handed
out my web address to hundreds of customers this summer... I'm still
hoping there will be some solution to staying at my current free
provider.
As regards Gary Elfring's post (quoted below), I'm cautious to spend
money on webhosting and names. The 243.40 cited would represent about
my total sales from the web for a year, and although that kind of
balance sheet is the envy of dot.coms, I prefer to let people do a bit
of typing and stick with free servers. Unfortunately, they are folding
rapidly. I used to have my pottery page on "Freemerchant.com" which now
charges everyone. I know I can move my page to my local dialup
provider, Earthnet, except I've been hoping to leave dialup land behind
in favor of the fast lane which will probably reach Spirit Lake in 2080.
Brad Sondahl
Elfring: (snip)You could buy oneof those domain names for two years for
about $30 - $40. A reliable web site with pair.com (unix based) costs
$16.95 a month (less if you pay quarterly or yearly). With your name
recognition, it would seem like you could make the $243.40 a year this
would cost in one or two sales.
--
For original art, music, pottery, and literature, visit my homepage
http://pages.about.com/bsondahl
Pottery homepage http://sondahl.freeyellow.com
New music site at mp3.com http://www.mp3.com/sondahl
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