Creating a Website and business cards

[kayeway]

We had a great response at our first booth at local Trade Days. However..we went not knowing what to expect and spent almost every night beforehand labeling etc. Then at the show we had several people wanting to buy our soaps online and asking for business cards! We are feeling overwhelmed, lack of time due to every day life and other jobs...and the next show is only in 3 1/2 weeks. And soaping like crazy when we can to restock. We would like to create a website by that time, but from what we've found online...there are 2 year contracts on some with templates to chose from but nothing that looks personal. I like Etsy and Artfire, but it seems that those put you immediately out there with the competition. (Nothing wrong with helping each other but we are fledgling beginners needing to get our ground work in place in our local community . Suggestions Please !
Thank You,
Kaye

 

[honor435]

vistaprint.com for cheap, nice cards. go daddy for website, I heard was ok. Dont forget ins, soapguilders expensive, there is a place called "RLI or is it RSI?

 

[cmd439]

I recommend you buy some printable business card sheets from Office Depot. Design a logo and print some up, just make sure everything is spelled correctly and makes sense. Print them and have everyone you know check them for you! I used www.hostgator.com and got a 1 year contract for a very reasonable price, but I believe you can go month to month. Let me tell you one thing though, I use computers but am not an expert and creating a website is VERY time consuming. I think the best way to start out is to print the business cards and have a price list to hand out with them, then take orders by email.

 

[cmd439]

Also look into trademarking your name before doing too much work promoting it. You don't want the drama of infringing on someones trademark then having to start from scratch.

 

[IanT]

vistaprint.com for cheap, nice cards. go daddy for website, I heard was ok. Dont forget ins, soapguilders expensive, there is a place called "RLI or is it RSI?

^^^second that

 

[SudsyKat]

I agree with honor435 - I have had many websites for several businesses over the years. If you're going to make and maintain your own website, I highly recommend godaddy.com. They actually have US based customer service people that are knowledgable and helpful. Many online website hosting places (especially the super discounted ones) don't care about your needs once they get your money. And Vistaprint is a great company as well. They are super cheap and great quality business cards - and good customer service as well.

And I also agree about making sure that your chosen name is not take. Here's a very important piece of advice I wish someone had given me - when you pick a name for your business, FIRST secure the domain name (buy the domain name) for your website. THEN register with the local business office (business license). I found out that there are people who lurk about trying to find out what new businesses have registered with the city and then those people buy up the domain name and try to charge you hundreds of dollars to get it back. It happened to me - I checked to make sure my desired domain name was not taken, registered my business with the city, and then tried to purchase the domain name and found out that someone had snatched it up in the meantime and wanted to sell it back to me for a lot of money. Grrrr!!

Good luck!

 

[agriffin]

I highly recommend www.powweb.com

I have several websites with them. Their customer service/live chat is outstanding.

I even had an issue with a site after I installed wordpress. It had some glitches. They were able to take a look and tell me what I did wrong. I think that went above and beyond just being a website host.

For a shopping cart I really like 3d cart. Super easy to maintain and do yourself.

 

[paillo]

vistaprint.com for cheap, nice cards. go daddy for website, I heard was ok. Dont forget ins, soapguilders expensive, there is a place called "RLI or is it RSI?

^^^second that

3rd that i've used vistaprint for biz cards, have godaddy for website, which is pretty intuitive and easy as websites go. true, as someone said before, creating a website and updating is EXTREMELY time consuming. i've done web design for years, and believe me, there are only so many shortcuts.

as someone who's always experimenting with new recipes, i've decided to rein it in to a dozen or so just so i don't have to constantly be taking new photos and updating website. just too much time when you have a full-time other job...

 

[paillo]

I highly recommend www.powweb.com

I have several websites with them. Their customer service/live chat is outstanding.

I even had an issue with a site after I installed wordpress. It had some glitches. They were able to take a look and tell me what I did wrong. I think that went above and beyond just being a website host.

For a shopping cart I really like 3d cart. Super easy to maintain and do yourself.

ooohhh! powweb looks great! my biggest issue with godaddy is not being able to create my own content and look and feel with dreamweaver. you have your website and shopping cart integrated? cool!

ANOTHER QUESTION: what do y'all use for a credit card payment service? i opted for paypal only because the cc fees looked too steep given that my website's pretty new and not generating a lot of traffic. but some day... hopefully in the not-too-distant future, i'd like to add a cc payment option...

 

[awi]

Homestead.com is another website where you can build your own site. They have pre made templates or you can make your own from scratch. They also have EXCELLENT customer service to walk you through any issues.

 

[madpiano]

3 1/2 weeks isn't really enough, if you don't know html and want a nice looking site (not a free template for a corporate site). Have a look round the net to see what you like and then check out the designer. This is how I came across this one, her prices are reasonable:

http://www.thischickdesigns.com/

Cheers
sabine

 

[hieroglyph]

it depends

use a web hosting service that would walk you through setting up a Content Management System imo. (Wordpress,Joomla.etc)

After the initial setup, its really easy to add pages,photos,articles, blah blah blah. many CMS's allow user comments as well.

theres a pantload of VERY nice (free) templates for Wordpress (for example)

GL

 

[kayeway]

Website and Business Cards

Thanks to all of you! Your replies have been very helpful, my husband has been able to follow up on some of the suggestions and we are beginning to move forward.
Kaye

 

[Sunny]

I highly recommend www.powweb.com

I know godaddy will help you get a domain name if it is taken (or they can try to), do you know if this service will do that for you?

 

[kayeway]

Domain Name

We did manage to get our domain name with Godaddy and then we are going to show some of the web templates from the sites recommended to someone my husband knows at work...he offered to build the website for us for a reasonable price. He does the computer work for their company so we know he is good..plus he's right there in case we need changes etc.
Kaye

We made Frankincense and Myrhh. soap..it smells sooo good! Then some sisal bags and wooden soap dishes came UPS...I feel like its Christmas already!

 

[agriffin]

I highly recommend www.powweb.com

I know godaddy will help you get a domain name if it is taken (or they can try to), do you know if this service will do that for you?

Good question. I'm not sure if they will or not.

 

[SmellyKat]

Re: Domain Name

We did manage to get our domain name with Godaddy and then we are going to show some of the web templates from the sites recommended to someone my husband knows at work...he offered to build the website for us for a reasonable price. He does the computer work for their company so we know he is good..plus he's right there in case we need changes etc.
Kaye

We made Frankincense and Myrhh. soap..it smells sooo good! Then some sisal bags and wooden soap dishes came UPS...I feel like its Christmas already!

Kayway, did you buy your wooden soap dishes in bulk?? And where did you get them?? Also the sisal bags. Thank you.

 

[kayeway]

Wooden Soap Dishes and Sisal Bags

I bought them from cottonblossomcrafts.com
I bought 10 soap dishes (for $11.00) and 12 sisal bags (for $12.96) they came UPS and the shipping was $9.38 so I will prob have to sell each one for around $3.00.