jason0012 Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 For many years I was a full time smith. I had to move on to other things awhile back due to financial/family concerns. I am looking at returning to iron now, as things have settled a bit. I am curious about the importance of having a web presence. The internet wasnt as big a part of life back in the 90s as it is today and i suspect that it is likely an important point of contact these days. The bad part is, I havent a clue how to set up a web site. I spoke to a web desighner on a few occasions and have to say they leave me with the same feeling I get from a car salesman. Any sugestions were I should start or what features I should look for? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vapremac Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 The internet and social media are HUGE , take a look at retail sales online,keep growing larger each year. A fine example of this is Amazon, look at the rate of growth they have had all due to online sales. Once the other large retailers realized this is the wave of the future they all jumped on board, boosting their bottom lines. Having a web presence and social networking is vital for anyone nowadays looking to grow a business and sell products. Of course there are established platforms that are allready popular to the vast majority of online consumers, those being Ebay and Etsy. You can sell on these and/or you can set up your own website, there are a number of platforms and templates for creating your own. All of this does take a little time to learn if someone is not allready familiar with creating an online presence and social media. There is a fair amount of time involved in maintaining the website and social networking,but all of this is crucial to success in todays fast paced world. We use Shopify for our website platform which my wife maintains, I couldn't do it without her. PM me if you have any further questions and we will be glad to help out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacob Nothstine Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 I have a web page and facebook page for my photography classes and services. I would set up a Facebook page first. It's easy to do, and you can reach a lot of people. Make it separate from your personal facebook account, so it look's more like a business then a hobby. A lot of local library have free classes to help people start facebook pages. Then when your ready for a web page you can transfer a lot of your design ideas to the web page so it mirrors your facebook page. This will save you a lot of time and money if you end up paying someone to make a webpage. Ebay and Etsy are great to be on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windancer Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 If you have a presence on the web you can add that to your business card and leave a card everywhere you go. I think folks are more likely to visit a web site than they are about direct contact. They can see what you do and also see your prices. Then they can call or visit you. I never shop where prices are not marked. I want to know how much it costs before giving a look. All that being said most of my sales come from word of mouth. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.