I feel really stupid right now

[paradisi]

Yow. That took a lot of time to type out, all to lambaste someone on a tight budget for trying to get her business going.. who's already had a bad experience. Kicking someone when they're down isn't a great way to sell yourself. Maybe rethink how you meant to come across?

 

[AliOop]

@MelissaG I'm so sorry this happened to you. It's so difficult to see your hard-earned money go down the drain.

I'm very fortunate to have had three great experiences on Fiverr: two for website creation, and one logo creation. I selected folks who were designated as Fiverr Pros with thousands of 5-star reviews. This made them a little more expensive than some others, but still far less than quotes I got elsewhere. The website creator was in Pakistan, and the logo creator was in Europe. Both were very responsive despite time zone differences. I'm happy to DM you with their info if you are still looking.

 

[MelissaG]

@MelissaG I'm so sorry this happened to you. It's so difficult to see your hard-earned money go down the drain.

I'm very fortunate to have had three great experiences on Fiverr: two for website creation, and one logo creation. I selected folks who were designated as Fiverr Pros with thousands of 5-star reviews. This made them a little more expensive than some others, but still far less than quotes I got elsewhere. The website creator was in Pakistan, and the logo creator was in Europe. Both were very responsive despite time zone differences. I'm happy to DM you with their info if you are still looking.

I selected five stars too. I just don't believe them to be real now.

 

[AliOop]

I selected five stars too. I just don't believe them to be real now.

Oh, that is really disappointing. So sorry!

 

[thetoe]

I also work in IT and I will say that now it is easier then ever to do your own website and handle your domain YOURSELF. You will get a bunch of folks claiming that you need their expertise and need to pay them a small fortune for very little work but it's just not true.I have an absolute disdain for "web developers". I've seen them hold clients to ransom, extort, go silent until they need money, etc. It's so damn easy now. I promise anyone can do it. Anyone on here feel free to DM me and I will point you in the right direction. Free of charge.

 

[thetoe]

As I work in IT, I will say: if you're looking for quality work from an platform with a name which denotes bargain basement prices, yes, you're going to have problems. Expect them. A great deal of them. People who are truly experienced in this type of thing, such as myself (30 odd years) expect to be compensated decently, because they will make sure business owners see results, every single time. They will NOT be hiring themselves out at bargain prices on any platform such as Fiverr.

Would you hire a bargain basement architect to design your home? Or purchase bargain basement cement, sand etc for the foundation which your family home is about to be built on? Or purchase bargain basement priced land to build your home on & not get someone to look at that land & check for potential sinkholes? This is exactly what you are expecting when going to a platform such as Fiverr & expecting to get a bargain on hiring someone to look after anything to do with your business's online presence.

My specialities are: search engine optimization, website design & coding, Google Business listings management, social media management, graphic design, competitor analysis, video editing & post production, copy writing & editing, article writing on behalf of multimillion dollar companies for industry related magazines, and much more. I've been employed as an independent contractor for a large, worldwide corporation for nearly 20 years now for a reason, and I am paid well, because I am very good at what I do & am capable of doing the job of 6 different people, AND ensuring a company sees tangible results. No, I am not looking to be hired, just making clear that expecting to get anything worth your while on a platform which farms out cheaper than dirt work in these fields will get you exactly that - dirt. Nothing more. Regardless of which country the person who you hire is from.

I have chosen to not advertise my services to small businesses because I have had small business owners take advantage of my kindness in the past, and then refuse to pay the balance of what they owe for the professional services I've rendered because they:

1) changed their mind about or demanded something over a month into a project & only 1 or 2 weeks before their project was completed which was not discussed / brought up in their initial consultation (which I do not charge for, incidentally), which was completely out of the question at that stage
2) didn't like the fact that I wouldn't train them to do my job (I've worked 30 years at developing my skill level to this point, and cannot teach someone these skills in a weekend)
3) had an attitude that they are a small business which I should support & that this entitled them to NOT pay me for MY professional services

I have had to fire clients in the past, most recently just a couple of weeks ago. A friend with a local business who now will not even speak to me because I let her know I had boundaries, and that she had crossed them far too many times. I refunded the bulk of her deposit without her even asking, which left me with $250 / month for the crap she put me through over a 4 month period, and felt that this was a-ok because she's a small business. Somehow, she justified victimizing ME by making herself the victim in her own mind LOL

Believe me, clients can be a nightmare. I am not suggesting that you didn't get ripped off. It's very likely, going to a platform such as Fiverr & expecting quality work, that you did. I do know that the general public understands nothing about this field & the skills it takes to ensure clients see results & therefore do not respect the skills which people like me have cultivated over many years (hence, hiring people on platforms such as Fiverr & expecting results); the general public understand nothing about the technology involved & virtually nothing about how the internet itself & search engines actually work. They don't even know enough to avoid platforms such as Wix & other such 'website builders' like the plague because this will absolutely destroy their online presence.

If you wish to find someone who will do quality work for you: hire someone properly. Interview at least a couple of people in whatever way is possible (Zoom call, phone call, face to face). Find out what their experience level is. Get examples of their work which are still live on the internet. Be absolutely clear on what it is you are hoping to have accomplished on your behalf. Take notes. Ask questions. Listen carefully when someone in this field tells you something is not possible. Take this as seriously as you would hiring an architect. Because that's what people like me have experience & knowledge in: internet architecture. Professional architects don't hire themselves out on platforms like Fiverr.

Meh, nevermind.

 

[Shirley-D]

My specialities are: search engine optimization, website design & coding, Google Business listings management, social media management, graphic design, competitor analysis, video editing & post production, copy writing & editing, article writing on behalf of multimillion dollar companies for industry related magazines, and much more. I've been employed as an independent contractor for a large, worldwide corporation for nearly 20 years now for a reason, and I am paid well, because I am very good at what I do & am capable of doing the job of 6 different people, AND ensuring a company sees tangible results. No, I am not looking to be hired,

@QuasiQuadrant
Well, aren't you so very special! But you seem to be failing in one aspect. You have a lot of unhappy former clients. See a pattern here?

I have chosen to not advertise my services to small businesses because I have had small business owners take advantage of my kindness in the past, and then refuse to pay the balance...

I have had to fire clients in the past, most recently just a couple of weeks ago. A friend with a local business who now will not even speak to me because...

Believe me, clients can be a nightmare.

I do know that the general public understands nothing about this field & the skills it takes to ensure clients see results & therefore do not respect the skills which people like me have cultivated over many years...

...the general public understand nothing about the technology involved & virtually nothing about how the internet itself & search engines actually work.

 

[BWt]

My experience as an account manager for website development was an eye opener. The client would shout so loud on speaker phone the parking lot attendant outside could hear. Ok ok the decimal point was mistakenly moved by a new coder on the team and $500 dollar items were now available for $50. Things go wrong. Websites can be simple with a few pages or they can be entire catalogs on line or anything in between.
Those who have worked on development teams for large e-commerce companies are aware that there can be client shouting and unreasonable client demands. And losing clients doesn’t necessarily indicate blame on one side or the other. What seems simple to the layman may actually be very difficult and complicated to the site developers.

Web site development for simple websites may be taken on gladly by those who multitask easily and welcome new adventures and challenges with rewards. Web site development IMHO is absolutely not advised for those who are currently overwhelmed or who may not be highly rated in spatial relationship reasoning.

It’s a new internet connected world.
However the old world miscreants are still lurking around. @MelissaG very sorry you were taken advantage of. It hurts and it stings and it robs trust.
If there is an Etsy page you really like, then message that page owner and ask who did their page and about what it costs.

 

[MelissaG]

My experience as an account manager for website development was an eye opener. The client would shout so loud on speaker phone the parking lot attendant outside could hear. Ok ok the decimal point was mistakenly moved by a new coder on the team and $500 dollar items were now available for $50. Things go wrong. Websites can be simple with a few pages or they can be entire catalogs on line or anything in between.
Those who have worked on development teams for large e-commerce companies are aware that there can be client shouting and unreasonable client demands. And losing clients doesn’t necessarily indicate blame on one side or the other. What seems simple to the layman may actually be very difficult and complicated to the site developers.

Web site development for simple websites may be taken on gladly by those who multitask easily and welcome new adventures and challenges with rewards. Web site development IMHO is absolutely not advised for those who are currently overwhelmed or who may not be highly rated in spatial relationship reasoning.

It’s a new internet connected world.
However the old world miscreants are still lurking around. @MelissaG very sorry you were taken advantage of. It hurts and it stings and it robs trust.
If there is an Etsy page you really like, then message that page owner and ask who did their page and about what it costs.

I don't know. Most of them seem to do their own but I'm completely lost with things like descriptions and SEO. I don't want to copy someone else.

 

[KiwiMoose]

I wonder if you should try my website hosting company Melissa? They are in New Zealand (which is the main reason I chose them) but I have found them to be nothing but helpful. The site costs circa $NZ 750 per annum, approx $470 US dollars.
When i first wanted a website I just went to their site - and built myself a trial site from one of their templates. They are really receptive to any queries and have heaps of tutorials if you want to go down the rabbit hole of website development/management issues such as SEO. Some stuff goes over my head - but you can always ask, and they are very obliging.
Because the pricing is a bit more than my little sideline biz can afford, I did look at moving to another host last year - wix, shopify, and another NZ based company. But they were not much cheaper and very difficult to deal with/get information from. So I decided to stick with 'the devil I knew' after all - I have no complaints other than it being a little more than I would like to pay.
The company name is Rocketspark. Websites for beginners | Rocketspark website builder NZ

 

[MelissaG]

I wonder if you should try my website hosting company Melissa? They are in New Zealand (which is the main reason I chose them) but I have found them to be nothing but helpful. The site costs circa $NZ 750 per annum, approx $470 US dollars.
When i first wanted a website I just went to their site - and built myself a trial site from one of their templates. They are really receptive to any queries and have heaps of tutorials if you want to go down the rabbit hole of website development/management issues such as SEO. Some stuff goes over my head - but you can always ask, and they are very obliging.
Because the pricing is a bit more than my little sideline biz can afford, I did look at moving to another host last year - wix, shopify, and another NZ based company. But they were not much cheaper and very difficult to deal with/get information from. So I decided to stick with 'the devil I knew' after all - I have no complaints other than it being a little more than I would like to pay.
The company name is Rocketspark. Websites for beginners | Rocketspark website builder NZ

I wish I could do shoppify or wix. They are both expensive. I don't know how anyone can afford those prices. I've tried setting up my own wordpress website. I got so frustrated. You need so many different plugins and most of the good ones are a monthly fee making it at least as expensive and more of a pain than just having shoppify or wix.

Although that's a pita, it's not really that part that's the problem. It's the SEO, the descriptions, setting up the taxes, etc. The "design" is easy. It's the other stuff that's not.

 

[BWt]

I don't know. Most of them seem to do their own but I'm completely lost with things like descriptions and SEO. I don't want to copy someone The first thing an excellent web developer does is to review the pages you like and determine what it is that you like need and want in your website.

My experience as an account manager for website development was an eye opener. The client would shout so loud on speaker phone the parking lot attendant outside could hear. Ok ok the decimal point was mistakenly moved by a new coder on the team and $500 dollar items were now available for $50. Things go wrong. Websites can be simple with a few pages or they can be entire catalogs on line or anything in between.
Those who have worked on development teams for large e-commerce companies are aware that there can be client shouting and unreasonable client demands. And losing clients doesn’t necessarily indicate blame on one side or the other. What seems simple to the layman may actually be very difficult and complicated to the site developers.

Web site development for simple websites may be taken on gladly by those who multitask easily and welcome new adventures and challenges with rewards. Web site development IMHO is absolutely not advised for those who are currently overwhelmed or who may not be highly rated in spatial relationship reasoning.

It’s a new internet connected world.
However the old world miscreants are still lurking around. @MelissaG very sorry you were taken advantage of. It hurts and it stings and it robs trust.
If there is an Etsy page you really like, then message that page owner and ask who did their page and about what it costs.

I did not mean to suggest a site copy. Was recommending you find a developer whose work you like and hire them to develop your required needs and your preferences in design.

 

[srez]

I wish I could do shoppify or wix. They are both expensive. I don't know how anyone can afford those prices. I've tried setting up my own wordpress website. I got so frustrated. You need so many different plugins and most of the good ones are a monthly fee making it at least as expensive and more of a pain than just having shoppify or wix.

Although that's a pita, it's not really that part that's the problem. It's the SEO, the descriptions, setting up the taxes, etc. The "design" is easy. It's the other stuff that's not.

Have you looked into Square yet? They offer a free website if you have an account (card reader) with them. Not sure what the free version gives you or if you have to level up for certain packages.
It's worth a Google and a peek if you have a few minutes to spare to see if that works for you. Maybe others out here can comment on Square.

 

[paradisi]

Ecwid has a paid plan for under $250/year that includes help setting up, SEO, the ability to also have your shop on Facebook or blog or wherever. Their customer service is pretty good when you have questions too.

https://www.ecwid.com/pricing
They also have free plans for trial, and each account comes with an instant site that fills out with your products, you can tailor it to suit your design needs.

Forgot to say, with the instant site, one can use them as hosting too. That you can also explore for free to see if it suits.

I know of at least one soap supplier that uses ecwid that way.

 

[Shirley-D]

@MelissaG, one thing you said is you have trouble with the descriptions. Tackle one thing at a time. Pick your favorite bar and send me a picture of it and what fragrance it is. I will help you write a glowing description. You can PM me. Start with just one and build from there.

 

[MelissaG]

Have you looked into Square yet? They offer a free website if you have an account (card reader) with them. Not sure what the free version gives you or if you have to level up for certain packages.
It's worth a Google and a peek if you have a few minutes to spare to see if that works for you. Maybe others out here can comment on Square.

That's who I'm using. It still doesn't help with descriptions and seo and stuff. Their site is ok.

 

[srez]

That's who I'm using. It still doesn't help with descriptions and seo and stuff. Their site is ok.

Ahh. Gotcha.

 

[MelissaG]

@MelissaG, one thing you said is you have trouble with the descriptions. Tackle one thing at a time. Pick your favorite bar and send me a picture of it and what fragrance it is. I will help you write a glowing description. You can PM me. Start with just one and build from there.

Really? Thank you so much.

 

[Michelle0803]

That's who I'm using. It still doesn't help with descriptions and seo and stuff. Their site is ok.

I have used Square website almost exclusively (except for one nightmare year that we used Wix - hated it and the way it integrated with the Square reader).

For the Descriptions we include info about the scent, (when I get stuck on the scent I check the website of the supplier and it usually jump starts my creative juices) the additives (if any), known benefits of ingredients and our ingredients. The end of the description details what that particular product pairs with if we have multiple ingredients of the same scent. Also in the description or title in include the weight or quantity (i.e. shower steamers come in a package of 3) so that my customers know up front what they are getting. Check out the website and etsy shops of the soapers that you like. They will inspire you and give you inspiration for photos, descriptions, layout and a variety of other things.

Then I set my inventory tracking, low stock alerts and inventory on hand.

We use the Square app at all shows so inventory on the website is updated in real time.

Taxes are fairly easy to set up - the help section is pretty decent with step by step instructions which helped me get those set up as our taxes change by county.

Also, if you use the same base recipe for your soaps, make a word doc of the ingredients that you can copy and paste into your square description. Then you can adjust that as needed for your additives like activated charcoal, goat milk, oatmeal, calendula, etc. I found this to help keep things consistent and make sure that I was not missing anything.

Try just setting up descriptions. Then tackle the next thing on your to-do list. Once you get the things done that you CAN do, then you will be able to decide what you still need to hire out. On the up side you will have a great understanding of what you want and how you want your website and/or Etsy shop to feel.

You can absolutely do this!

 

[artemis]

I just used an AI to generate a description. It's not perfect, but is a good start that can be edited. This might be a good way to break the writer's block when it comes to descriptions.

I told it: "Write a description for a handmade soap that is made from lard, olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, and colloidal oats. It smells like chamomile and lavender. It is creamy white with thin, lavender colored swirls. It weighs 3.5 ounces."

It gave me: "This luxurious handmade soap is crafted from high quality ingredients including lard, olive oil, coconut oil, and avocado oil. To create a gentle, creamy formula, we added colloidal oats which give it a light, velvety texture. Infused with lavender and chamomile essential oils, this soap has a delicate scent that’s perfect for relaxation. Its creamy white base is swirled with lavender for an attractive finish, and it weighs in at 3.5 ounces. Enjoy a spa-like experience every time you use this soap!"