Hello - New Here - Petal Pins

[denialrenae]

I am new here and am just starting my cottage business. I make handmade flower pins thaqt I am calling Petal Pins. I have started to make a website but have awhile to go yet. You can check it out at www.petalpinsbydenial.com :D

[Kathy Ann]

Welcome! I can see that your site is just getting started. Good luck!

[denialrenae]

I have my site up and running. Please let me know what you think. Thanks!

Denial
www.petalpinsbydenial.com

[greenoak]

nice and simple to see and use...
i assume they are silks not plastic or resin....

ann of greenoak

[greenoak]

nice and simple to see and use...


just bought some big gaudy ones at tj maxx.....

ann of greenoak

[denialrenae]

Yes they are silks.

[Lynzee]

Your pins are adorable, Denial. Best of luck to you--and welcome to the CL forum!

:)
Lynzee

[Kathy Ann]

Looks great! If you'd like to experiment to get clear photos of the small ones, try this: Cut the bottom out of a gallon plastic milk jug. Place it over the pin to act as a diffuser. Aim your camera down thru the spout and voila! Also, does your web space come with email accounts? An email address of "orders@petalpins.com" or some such, would look real swanky.

[denialrenae]

Thanks Kathy. hmmm...I will have to try the milk jug trick. Thanks!
Yes it does have email accounts with it. But I have yet to learn how to set them up. Right now evertyhing is going to petalpins@yahoo.com until I can figure it out.

I was thinking of having one for orders and one for questions or something like that.

Is there anything else missing that you would do or do differently? I am also going to set up a paypal account. I was thinking of doing the one that accepts credit cards but am unsure of the cost of that. I don't want to incur too many fees before the business takes off.

Denial
www.petalpinsbydenial.com

[Kathy Ann]

I know a lot of people think it's bush league but I use Paypal and it is really great for fixed price items. Your customer can pay with a credit card without having to join. You could switch to a flat rate for shipping and then put all the ordering right there on your site to catch shoppers who want to buy right then without contacting you first. There is no monthly fee, just a per-transaction and percentage fee. They spell it out for you on the Paypal website. Those fees have to be built in to your price. I have it on my dolls, and I also offer the option to pay by check or money order. Here is my page that does that http://www.kathyannscottage.com/payment_options.htm

If you want to take it to the next level, one processor without a monthly fee is Propay. They do have modest start-up fees. I had to stop using them because their monthly limit was a thousand dollars, and customers couldn't spend more than $200.00 at a time. That might not be a problem for you as you get started.

There are other companies that charge a monthly fee on top of the percentage and per-charge fees. I have heard good things about Costco if you are a member.

[denialrenae]

I have made a few updates and changes to my website. Please check them out and let me know how they are or if you would do something different.

I am hoping to get a paypal account set up soon. so that will help.

Thanks!

Denial
www.petalpinsbydenial.com

[zuzus_garden]

Hi Denial,

I love your petal pins! Kathy Ann's idea for photography is a good one - you'll be surprised how much clearer your pics come out. Once you have a system that works, it will go quick and your shots will be great!

I have a couple suggestions. Include 'How do I Wear Petal Pins' on every page. Maybe you could shoot some petal pins as curtain tiebacks or on a lamp...suddenly, you're in home decor! :D

Also, most web sites have their navigation links either at the top or on the left side...makes it easy for people to quickly navigate through your site.

Hope these ideas help.

Best,
Zuzu

[Alicia]

Hi,
Your pins a great,
But a lot of your words are not spelled correctly-- handmade, ordering-- spell out small, medium , large-
Also As ZuZu said you should have a navigation bar on every page and explain the process on how to wear it on every page, Showing wear photos will be great . What are they made of? Have short Bio on yourself, since they are homemade --People love it and take oaway your counter --
Alicia
http://www.AliciaTappDesigns.com

[Kathy Ann]

I see that you have added a blurb about "flower pins" to the front page. That will help a lot, since that's a likely keyword. Don't be afraid to look really excited about your product. Get enthusiastic and show that you really believe in yourself. Even if it turns out pins are not going to fly (Trust me, for 2 years I was positive I would be the Christmas Stocking Lady!) It will be a great way to learn to get a site going and make it a contender.

Zuzu has a great point, showing photos of your pins in action, to give people ideas of why they need a whole bunch of pins! Make sure each photo has a caption so that a person searching for curtain tiebacks, for example, might see your page.

Also, your "under construction" message makes it look like you're not ready to sell any pins. What if you write up a fun blurb that says something like, "I couldn't make you wait one more day to own these beautiful flower pins, so I made them available even while the website is under construction." Or something like that, you may be able to word it better.

[denialrenae]

Wow! These are all great ideas! I will work on these this weekend! Thanks for all of your help! Keep those ideas coming! Thanks again!

Denial
www.petalpinsbydenial.com

[zuzus_garden]

One more suggestions, Denial.

If you post your questions under the sub-forums, then others can benefit from the great Q&A! For instance, if you update your site with these ideas, then you can post a new thread under 'Web Site Help', and ask for suggestions there.

Take care,
Zuzu