Websites, Webhosting and Photography, Part 2

So now it was time to find someone to do it for me. When I started getting quotes on what the design would cost I was astonished! I am a (very) small business here in Waterville, Maine. My studio is in the refinished attic of my home. I don’t have thousands of dollars to put into a website.
My daughter lives in Massachusetts and I go down there fairly often. I have a favorite coffee shop down there, Bohemian Coffeehouse in Melrose. If you happen by there, tell Hillary I said hello! Anyway so I was in the coffee shop one day talking to Hillary and sipping a wonderful triple latte and she introduced me to a really nice guy that owns one of the biggest bead stores in New England. The Bead Gallery http://www.beadgalleryinc.com/
Come to find out he is also the owner of Artisans Accomplice, a designer of websites geared to the needs of artisans. I still looked around for another 6 months or so. What a waste of time and probably money! The folks at Artisans Accomplice ROCK. I told them what I wanted, simplicity, colors palette, etc and they put the whole thing together for me. They wrestled my domain away from a large company that I had it registered with. They handled setting up the shopping cart. The list goes on. Most importantly to me, someone who is computer inept, is that I can manage everything on my own! This would include photos, blog, coupons and sales, editing pages and I can even decipher the very detailed Reports page to see who is coming to shop from where! Amazing!! I tell you I am really a beginner when it comes to this stuff and I can do it. In the event I have questions they are just minutes away. Now really, I mean support is available free within minutes…not hours or days or how about never as was the case with 2 webhosting companies I tried. OK so enough about the wonders of Artisans Accomplice, Suffice to say to that if you are looking to open your own website you should check them out. Part 2 complete, I found someone to do it for me. Now, the cost…

Websites, Webhosting and Photography, OH MY

Do you want your own website? Are you confused about what came first the chicken or the egg? Me too!! It took me a year of digging so here are the steps I took to be able to open my own store cheap but with all the features I needed.
I have been designing and producing jewelry and fiber products for a few years now and had a shop on Etsy.com. That experience gave me the opportunity to break into the Internet marketing plane, something I was a little shy about for a while. I had some wholesale accounts but wanted to make this a full item occupation rather than burning the midnight oil in addition to a full time job. So I opened a little shop there. It took me 2 years to get up the courage to plunge into my own website. I am pretty much computer hostile so it took me some time to see that it might just have some benefits. I am science minded and have to analyze everything so first of course I had to do some research.
First I had to have the thing designed. I looked at other sites and came to a decision on the basic design I wanted. Something simple, not garish or trendy and I knew I did NOT want anything to dance or sing on my pages. My taste in music is not for everyone and I have left many sites because of the music or some dancing woman, flashing stuff, glitter all that stuff distracts me and makes me dizzy. I am 50, not 12; this is jewelry not dolls; so I don’t want cartoons on my pages. I love earth tones, despise neon, etc… So I had the basic concept, what next?
The next logical step is to find someone to do it for me because although I said I was computer hostile, I am really just inept! So I had to find someone to do it for me…

Fall Specials from Maine

There are lots of new and exciting works by Maine Artisans and you can get a glimpse at Etsy.com When you get there put in Mainefall in the search bar. The items pictured here are from 4 different artisans and do little to represent the variety of works you can peruse. There are clothing items, paintings, jewelry, dolls, toys, children's wear, ceramics and there are even items for your pet! So go to http://www.etsy.com/ and type in mainefall in the search bar. For even more of a treat you can type in Maineteam to so what they are all up to!

HANDMADE JEWELRY SALE

Pictured here are some of my latest designs and there is something new almost daily. I have the gemstone line, a crocheted line, lots of great earrings, bracelets and necklaces. I even have ID lanyards that have the breakaway feature.

I am having a Grand Opening sale at my new website! Come and check out all the new designs. When you go to www.divelladelights.com click on the Grand Opening link at the top of the page and enter gopen08 all lower case, all one word then click on the Gallery link watch the prices drop 15%! This offer is good until 10/15/08 so shop early for Christmas. If you would like to add your e-mail to the guestbook I can send you info on sales and new designs! Please sign the guestbook anyway and let me know you came from Blogger you don't have to put in your e-mail. I would like to know where people are visiting from.