Geoffrey Gaskell on thu 23 oct 03
I've been finding web site construction and tinkering with HTML rather
addictive lately, so I've added some more ceramics links and some other
visual arts links. If anyone feels particularly hard done by, either by
being excluded or conversely by being included in such a whimsical
place, let me know so that I may perform the necessary addition or
subtraction operations.
Thank you Phil for leaving a message in my guestbook. Until now I had no
idea you were a "Conspiracy Theorist" :-)
The stuff I've been working on under the heading "Work in Progress" came
out of the kiln yesterday. I was satisfied with everything except the
"Cat Person Vase" which I hurled into a bucket of white glaze and will
refire.
Geoffrey Gaskell
http://www.homepages.paradise.net.nz/ggaskell/
Author of Ceramic Horror Stories
Lynn Goodman Porcelain Pottery on tue 1 aug 06
On Aug 1, 2006, at 5:21 PM, Paul Lewing wrote:
> Reading the article in Clay Times about Jeff Brown got me to thinking
> about web site links.
>
I have links on my site to friends and galleries with which I do
business. I am approached regularly by people/businesses who want to
link to my site. I politely decline. I don't link with strangers, no
matter how lovely their work may be; otherwise, where do you stop? How
long do you allow your links page to become? And it's amazing how many
totally unrelated businesses think I should link to them!
Lynn
> Lynn Goodman
Fine Porcelain Pottery
548 Court St.
Brooklyn, NY 11231
718-858-6920
Cell 347-526-9805
www.lynngoodmanporcelain.com
Paul Lewing on tue 1 aug 06
Reading the article in Clay Times about Jeff Brown got me to thinking
about web site links. Jeff said he's spent quite a lot of time
establishing mutual links to and from his web site.
I know that this supposedly helps search engines find your site, but
I always wonder what sites are appropriate to link to. I have links
on my site to shows I do and groups I belong to, and things like that.
But would one want to link to other people's sites who do much the
same thing you do? This seems counterproductive to me. Why send
people to your competition? Although I know someone who, when people
object to how high her prices are, she sends them to sites where the
prices are higher and the work isn't as good. And how closely
relevant to what you do should these links be? I have people all the
time wanting to do a mutual link, and they're something like stone
wholesalers from China. Why would I want to link to that? Or is it
worth it just to have more links?
Any opinions?
Paul Lewing
www.paullewingtile.com
Paul Lewing
www.paullewingtile.com
Craig Clark on tue 1 aug 06
Paul, this is something which I have given a considerable amount of
thought to as I build my up and coming web site. From what I have been
told by experts in the graphic and web design business, getting traffic
to ones websight is the toughest thing to do. With this in mind I'm
going to take a "the more the merrier" type of approach to linking up
with other folks.
As far as I'm concerned I'll be more than happy to link with any and
all in the greater clay community. My thinking is that if someone likes
the work that I have then they will purchase it, regardless of whether
or not I have a link to someone elses sight who may be, for example,
doing primarily Raku fired vessels as well. I have always pretty much
had this type of thinking and will extend it to any types of sales that
I do on the internet.
Not only do I not believe that it is counterproductive to link to
someone elses site who may be doing similar things, I think that this in
the end will help to stimulate more interest in high quality hand
crafted pottery, and stimulate a net increase in business. This is
precisely the same type of thinking which I have when giving and
receiving information here on ClayArt. If someone likes a glaze, form or
some aspect of the work that I do I will describe the technique in as
great a detail as possible. In the end it is my personal imprint and
voice in a piece of pottery or sculpture that attracts a client.I they
like it and have the money they will buy it.
Craig Dunn CLark
619 East 11 1/2 St.
Houston, Texas 77008
(713)861-2083
mudman@hal-pc.org
Paul Lewing wrote:
> Reading the article in Clay Times about Jeff Brown got me to thinking
> about web site links. Jeff said he's spent quite a lot of time
> establishing mutual links to and from his web site.
> I know that this supposedly helps search engines find your site, but
> I always wonder what sites are appropriate to link to. I have links
> on my site to shows I do and groups I belong to, and things like that.
> But would one want to link to other people's sites who do much the
> same thing you do? This seems counterproductive to me. Why send
> people to your competition? Although I know someone who, when people
> object to how high her prices are, she sends them to sites where the
> prices are higher and the work isn't as good. And how closely
> relevant to what you do should these links be? I have people all the
> time wanting to do a mutual link, and they're something like stone
> wholesalers from China. Why would I want to link to that? Or is it
> worth it just to have more links?
> Any opinions?
> Paul Lewing
> www.paullewingtile.com
>
> Paul Lewing
> www.paullewingtile.com
>
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>
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>
David Hendley on tue 1 aug 06
Like many bits of conventional business wisdom, I think
much of the advice about internet links and search engines
does not really apply to potters and artists.
I think it would be very rare for someone to search for
"pottery", find your website, and actually buy something,
never having heard of you before.
The more usual scenario I have experienced is that someone
does a search, finds my website, and then wastes my time
asking questions. For instance, the phrase "moonshine jug"
is in a couple of places on my site, so, from time to time, since
it shows up in the search engines, I get inquiries about them.
When I reply with the prices, the usual response is shock, since
these are not people looking for handmade pottery and who are
used to mass produced "made in China" ceramics.
Frankly, I do not want my website to have a "high ranking"
in a search engine unless the search specifically includes my
name, town, or name of my shop. Anyone who types in my
name will find me in a nano-second.
Likewise, I see no reason to link to other potters, unless it's
just something I want to do.
David Hendley
Maydelle, Texas
david(at)farmpots(dot)com
"EXTRUDE IT! Getting the Most From
Your Clay Extruder" available at
http://www.farmpots.com
----- Original Message -----
> Reading the article in Clay Times about Jeff Brown got me to thinking
> about web site links. Jeff said he's spent quite a lot of time
> establishing mutual links to and from his web site.
> I know that this supposedly helps search engines find your site, but
> I always wonder what sites are appropriate to link to. I have links
> on my site to shows I do and groups I belong to, and things like that.
> But would one want to link to other people's sites who do much the
> same thing you do? This seems counterproductive to me. Why send
> people to your competition? Although I know someone who, when people
> object to how high her prices are, she sends them to sites where the
> prices are higher and the work isn't as good. And how closely
> relevant to what you do should these links be? I have people all the
> time wanting to do a mutual link, and they're something like stone
> wholesalers from China. Why would I want to link to that? Or is it
> worth it just to have more links?
> Any opinions?
> Paul Lewing
primalmommy on tue 1 aug 06
Paul,
I have never had much luck selling pots as pots on my site. I suppose if
a potter had work in magazines or did a lot of workshops, folks like me
might say, "Hey, for Mother's day I want a pot by ___________, here's
the site" --I've sent my mom with heavy hints to Ann Arbor art fair for
Richard Aernie pots, or given her mel's phone number oon a christmas
wish list. A website would be so much more fun than a phone call,
though, because you get to pick.
Maybe workshoppers who are annoyed that potters like mel >:0( don't pimp
pots at workshops, might come home wanting to own one, and go look
what's for sale on the site.
The pots I sell like crazy on line are my niche-market pots. A nice note
from paypal saying "You Have Cash!" is a happy thing. I have one of
those sites that can't make up its mind whether it's a pottery site or a
blog or a recipe exchange or a scrapbook for family and friends. So when
I look to see where visitors to my site come from (in my site statistic
info), a lot of them come looking for a how-to-make-your-own-tofu recipe
(and maybe buy a stoneware tofu press) -- or come to look at how to
build a clay-cob bread oven (and maybe buy a sourdough crock) -- or come
from some granola-mom's discussion board to read a poem about sleeping
with babies (and look at my niche-market women's pots.)
I don't have reciprocal links because I am not sufficiently organized
(or motivated) to keep up with other people's changing URL, but when I
type my info to google I find a lot of non-potters who link to my site
for various reasons, without my knowledge.
So I think if you're a famous potter whose pots folks might like to buy
-- because they like you or your work, and maybe want to buy everybody a
mug for christmas -- then they will google your name. I'm not one of
those but most people who come to my site google my name or primalmommy,
unless they click a link someone posts at a discussion board.
Or if you are selling beer-butt chicken cookers, you might want to trade
links with Bubba'sBackyardBarbecueSauce.com, and if you are selling
lovely candlesticks you might swap links with a beeswax candle dipper.
Soap dishes w/ soap maker, bonsai pots w/bonsai nuts, honey pots with
beekeepers, mini teapots w/miniature society. I belong to a web ring
that cycles visitors through several websites owned by work from home
moms making eco-friendly women's products. We like to support each
others' businesses.
I love site statistics. One of the most outrageous, irreverent,
informative women's discussion boards I belong to was one I discovered
when they made a "field trip" to admire or ridicule my pots. I'd noticed
I had a couple hundred hits overnight, looked up where they came from,
went to visit and ended up joining the group!
Yours
Kelly in Ohio
_______________________________________________________________
Get the FREE email that has everyone talking at http://www.mail2world.com
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Graham Mercer on wed 2 aug 06
Hi Paul,
Having reciprocal links is good, provided that they are relevant. Not only
do your visitors want to see relevant links, not rubbish, but also search
engines look for the relevance of the sites that you share links with.
Having hundreds of reciprocal links on a site that have no relevance is
called link farming, and can lead to your site being downgraded or even
blocked by search engines for what the consider spamming the site with
useless links.
I am sure that there are plenty of relevant sites that you could swap links
with that are not direct competitors. Suppliers? Galleries? Associations?
fellow potters? Other art organisations? Artists working in other media? etc
etc
As for direct competitors - what is wrong with working cooperatively rather
than competitively? It is a case of 'swings and roundabouts', you may lose a
potential customer through linking, but you may also gain customers through
the same process.
Other options to consider are links via resources such as webrings, link
directories and clayart (yes, even having your site url in clayart messages
adds to your incoming links). Writing articles for online magazines such as
Ceramics Today all help to develop incoming links as long as you make sure
that your url is contained in the article or as part of the article credits.
So, in short, RELEVANT links are worth developing.
Cheers,
Graham
Graham Mercer
Potters Online www.pottersonline.com.au
Skype ID graham.mercer
Arnold Howard on wed 2 aug 06
From: "Graham Mercer"
> I am sure that there are plenty of relevant sites that you
> could swap links
> with that are not direct competitors. Suppliers?
> Galleries? Associations?
> fellow potters? Other art organisations? Artists working
> in other media?
Here are links that I have collected for several years:
http://www.paragonweb.com/Links.cfm
Sincerely,
Arnold Howard
Paragon Industries, L.P., Mesquite, Texas USA
ahoward@paragonweb.com / www.paragonweb.com
Russel Fouts on thu 3 aug 06
Lynn,
>> .... where do you stop? <<
How about over 3100 links! ;-)
http://users.skynet.be/russel.fouts/favorite.htm
This is my links page, "The Potters' Portal". The links are all links
I've added myself, all related to pottery and what interests potters.
The VAST majority of them were gleaned from Clayart posts. Either
sites recommended by Clayarters or taken from peoples' signatures in
their posts.
I get invitations to link to other sites and I used to look at them
and sometimes add them but now, in the interest of time, I only link
to other potters when asked.
I can't say it's helped my business any but I get a lot of
compliments on the page and it gets lots of hits. I think a lot of
people come to my site just for the "Portal". I look at it more as
providing a service for potters and people interested in pottery 'stuff'
Russel
Russel Fouts
Mes Potes & Mes Pots
Brussels, Belgium
Tel: +32 2 223 02 75
Mobile: +32 476 55 38 75
Http://www.mypots.com
Home of "The Potters Portal"
Over 3000 Pottery Related Links!
Updated frequently
"The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights
shall not be construed to deny or disparage others
retained by the people"
9th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America
Bonnie Staffel on thu 3 aug 06
Fellow Clayarters,
I have a site meter recorder which I can open to see who has visited my =
site
through links. The most referrals I get are from the Vicki Hardin site. =
I
get visitors from my other linkages but have noticed that Hardin's is =
the
most prevalent. I have had links ever since setting up my web page but =
with
those whose work I admire or where there are group sites with my web =
address
included. Since I cannot sell from my site I use it for self promotion =
as
well as to promote my DVD's. My site costs me nothing and my webmaster =
is a
personal friend. How could life be any sweeter. I feel there is a =
bonding
among the potters who live in this area. We have carved out a niche to
bring our art to an area that when I had arrived, there was not a lot =
going
on. =20
There was an Art Craft Trails brochure when I moved to Charlevoix, but =
it
only covered the Traverse City area. We worked with the "powers that =
be"
namely Ed Gray, to have our studio listed even though we were 45 miles =
north
of Traverse City. This came to pass and then my husband took over the
publication of the Trails which he redesigned and recruited the new =
artists
in this neck of the woods to sign up too. The premise was to distribute =
the
brochures with each listed artist and for them to pass the visitors on =
to
the next one as well as to distribute them to local motels and Chambers =
of
Commerce. There is one gallery listed on the map that I know of who =
feels
threatened by the competition so he doesn't pass the brochure on unless
someone asks specifically. Sorry to say, this is a broken link in the
chain. =20
By the way, the Helen Bates referral to Susan Spear is another friend of
mine and the ArtistsNorth site is designed and maintained by my =
webmaster.
As an aside, Susan was very influential in establishing the Northern
Michigan Sculptors and Potters Guild in Traverse City a few years ago as
well as being a top notch free lance writer. If you go to the gallery
section at the top right of the ArtistsNorth page you will be referred =
to my
name and others as well. You will see a gathering of many talented =
artists
who make their living in this northern clime.
Enjoy your visit.
Warm regards,
Bonnie Staffel
http://webpages.charter.net/bstaffel/
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