There seems to be an increasing number of “on-line” communities, some supposedly independent and other that are obviously sponsored by a particular supplier – that really are dedicated to providing a sales venue of real or downloadable products.

Neither is good or bad in it own right – but what is becoming increasingly common to all is that self publishing authors, or those who offer limited production may have tied all their marketing and sales into one or two of these entities.

Still not good or bad, so why this note.

Over the last year or so I have observed several increasingly common occurrences.

First, business oriented publications have had a constant stream of articles and such about the loss of productivity because employees are “surfing the web” on company time – not just lunch hour or breaks.

Those involved with IS (information systems) have always (since before the WWW) had access to “lists” of troublesome IP’s commonly used by the nastier fo spammers – but most companies have been reluctant to get involved in the expense tracking individual sites.

That is changing. As we all try to do more with less, many companies are looking to see how they can make their existing work force more effective.

What are they finding? That are losing far to many hours of work due to employees surfing.

Just think about how often you see ” I will look when I get to work” or “… only have dial up at home so I will upload that from work”

Within the past few weeks, I have read, across many groups and communities, reference to how “suddenly” I cannot access such and so community or web site.

“The technology exists” and because of the need for doing more with less, IS people are now being directed to pay attention to sites that are being accessed thru “work computers”.

To be fair to these businesses, they are just trying to keep their business going and believe it or not keep those employees employed.

For the individual consumer, well, unless they upgrade what they have at home, they will no longer be your customers.

BUT for the Self Publishing Author or Niche Artisan – sorry folks but it is not just me being a control freak,

YOU need to control your distribution

YOU need to control your presence on the web

YOU have to find new and more inventive ways to reach your target audience as well as make sure consumers are aware of your goods and services.

YOU need to make sure that every consumer can access your products and publications easily and effectively.

There is so much more to running your small art inspired business than just producing publication and products.

There are many things related to business and in this case shopping that confuse me. There are almost too many easy ways for the consumer to do a bit of research and get the best price.

Add to that the exponentially increasing number of manufacturers, etc who realize no single retailer of any size can usually carry their “full” line, have set up information and in some cases “shopping opportunities” on the web.

Let me be very clear, I have NO PROBLEM with any single individual deciding to sell their personal stash in any of the many ethical ways from auctions on-line to weekend garage sales.

I am a member/observer in many of these groups and sometimes am very conflicted. On the one hand, I am, a “guest” in the listowner/sellers’ so speaking up is not a polite/politcally correct option.

On the other hand, about 95% of the time, they have obtained the merchandise by using false credentials. I won’t bore you with the nuances, but in most cases, the seller has given, at best misleading and worst, out right lies to gain wholesale accounts.

Some might say this is just Wheat whining because she sells on line but no that is not the issues.

Nor, is it that legitimately set up businesses both brick and click have greater expenses and so may need to ask for more to maintain extra services offered to you.

What confuses me is WHY with the information so available, Consumers would choose to buy in to a situation where they are often paying the same or more than suggested retail AND paying in advance.

Over and over, consumers say they shop on line so they can get what they want and get it now.

So last but not least they have to WAIT for the items they want.

Why not support the independent retailers whether you choose a local shop or an . on-line seller

Or, am I missing something here…

Looking forward to enlightenment

Wheat Wants To Know,

Your opinions on Postage and Handling when shopping On-Line

It may not change anything, but then again, you never know.

Peace of the Season

Wheat

What software should be used to develop a web site is a question gets asked at least once a month someplace in the various groups dedicated to Fiber/Needle Art professionals by those who make their art to sell, or self-publish instruction or teach and Retailers

Abiding by my new resolution to make an FAQ type entry for these type of questions (and with the clear understanding this ONLY WHEAT’s Opinion.

Please note: I am NOT looking for work, after more than two years of dealing with major illnesses; I also don’t have all that many extra pennies to rub together. Even so, I am not yet ready to again assume responsibility for any client – Although sitting around treatment places does give you a lot of time to think – Although once we get this the apps all working together, that (selling our services) will change.

Let’s me begin by saying the principle problem with *any* Microsoft product is, well you may know the old joke about “how many MS programmers to change a light bulb?” ” NONE, they just declare dark a new standard.” and that is just when you want it to work with Internet Exploder it boggles the mind what happens when something generated by an MS product is viewed in a non-MS app.

The absolutely critical difficulty with blindly recommending ANY software is that unless one has a feel for the PURPOSE it will be used for, you cannot make an intelligent suggestion.

Please let me make it clear that what works best for me and mine, may not be what you need, but a lot of thought and planning when into our choices, so for this discussion, while not the only options, ZenCart! is the one I know best.

The second step/recommendation I prefer to make is to get and read until your head stops hurting Liz Castro’s book Creating a Web Page with HTML

So what is an Artisan, Self-Publisher or Teacher of Fiber/Needle Artisan or Retailer to do?

It really does not matter if you are an individual artisan, or doing business as a wholesaler or even a retailer who does or does not wish to “sell on the web”.

FWIW – I think anyone who wants to build and/or maintain their own website needs to realize that there are at least THREE maybe FOUR Browsers you need to be sure the final product looks at least OKAY when viewed using those – FireFox, Opera, Safari and possibly Google’s Chrome and maybe others.

In addition, one needs to at least consider how/if it will display in Iphone and similar apps.

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I think that ANYONE who sells at ANY Level, should at least consider using a Shopping Cart as their primary “vehicle”. There are several that are open source (free) and well supported by their individual community. In addition, there are a variety of add-in/mods

Personally I am a fan of ZenCart! but then I have invested a serious amount of time energy and effort over the last two years to it, others may have/make other choices depending on what they see as their short and long term needs.

Most open source programs also have reasonably priced add-in/mods that add IMNHO are essential – SEO, Store Location, Wish Listing, and other “would be nice” things. as well as those “paid” apps, ZenCart not only have many “free” even has a very well written (albeit not free) book available in both bound/printed and e-book formats.

I do NOT sell any of the paid mods, but I also do not regret having purchased them. They have made a positive difference – but then it usually takes us months if not weeks to make the buy decision.

Right now we have been building a variety of “test the app” sites and used some in at least one retail domain. We have seen dramatic increases in traffic and even better in orders. Although we do discount for trade professionals in the Retail account, because we do not offer all products for wholesale, so have only very limited “wholesale” customers using that site.

Within the next few weeks*, we expect to “finish” up (or so the two programmers have promised*) the development (nuts and bolts) although not the design (pretty stuff) for a wholesale showcase plus ordering for those eligible for wholesale accounts.

We think that this second site will be what those who restrict their sales to “wholesale to the trade” really need, a showcase for their products, a way to easily keep up to date and provide both a place for Retailers to place their orders, and obtain what they need to use your information for their retail sales – of course, the obligatory blog because that is what will probably continue to drive SEO for at least awhile yet.

For a designer, the way I think of the combination is that your landing page is your business card, your “store” even if it does not allow purchase, is your portfolio and your blog is the “job interview”.

although I have not mentioned much about WordPress in this note, I suppose if forced to make a blind recommendation, it would be reasonable to say that the combination of WordPress and ZenCart! – independently hosted should pretty much meet most of the needs of a Fiber/Needle Artisan.

Interestingly, as I have learned more about ZenCart! I am even seeing ways that, with thought, it can be used exclusively (read that no blog) but you will need to learn a bit of HTML.

Civil comments and questions are welcome on the blog – complimentary or not – so long as the write identifies themselves at least to me. (read that if the user does not have enough gumption to identify themselves to me, then I don’t publish the comment)

*Programmers do not think in the same time frames as the rest of us.
So what you need to do is move to the next unit of time, double it and then you may have a reasonable estimate of when it will really work – Thus, “a few weeks” would likely translate to “a few Month” which doubled, means in about 2 quarters.

Talk about a “BFO” (Blinding Flash of the Obvious) – as we were planning a day of visiting various retail locations to “see what’s out there”, it occurred to me (these things happen at 04:00) that it would have been MUCH simpler if I had less tedious way to make an itinerary.

Okay, I have already said that taking the time to look up the full, NINE digit ZipCode, is really helpful if you want those traveling thru to drop in.

AND, have mentioned my pet peeve – web pages where the STREET address is not easily found on EVERY page of your web presence.

So here is my latest bit of advice – INCLUDE YOUR GPS Coordinates.

Why? Just think about how many folks now have phones that allow them to get directions – all based on GPS technology.

No Idea WHERE to get this information?

It is really easy – IF you know your own address.

First you need to look up your correct Zip + 4 code, easily done courtesy of the
USPS’s Zip Code Lookup feature

Now, using the Zip Plus 4, go to GeoVisualizer’s Converter

For best results, type in your entire address and it appears that choosing Yahoo as the source might be a bit more accurate than Google Maps.

Once you have the cross hairs where you want them – cut and past the information from the map on your lower left “Center: 39.41355,-76.94434″ into your page as:

Latitude: 39.41355 Longitude: -76.94434

You will have given your potential customer yet another way to find you.

Ain’t technology grand!