websites

[barbann03]

Hi there, I know this topic has been discussed before. Please forgive me for bringing it up again, but I really need to ask this? How much business do you REALLY get from having a website? Do people really send their quilts to strangers sight unseen? I am going back and forth on whether to set one up. I am tempted to wait and see how things go without one. Opinions please!

[Mary Beth]

Great question. I states once that I didn't think I could afford a website, and Judy told me I couldn't afford not to have one. Now I am in the process of setting one up. I'll be glad to see what you find out here.

[BarbWetzel]

Good question also... I am getting ready to retire after 31 years at UPS and in January I am planning to get a website also. I would be interested to hear about anyone getting much business from that sight.

Let us know... we are all curious... Barb

[JudyL]

You already know that I think a website is pretty necessary. While you may not get tons of business from cold hits on the web page, but there are other considerations.

1. If you want to draw business from more than your local area, and some of us need to do that, the website is a great way to do it. If I were looking for a quilter, I'd feel more confident sending my quilt to someone who has a web presence and I can see pictures of her work.

2. I'm in Kentucky and I've quilted a quilt for someone in New York and I send it back to her with a few of my business cards. She shows it to her friends and they love it and she gives them my business card. They may not call me right away although they may go to my website, look it over, bookmark it, go to my webshots link from there and see other quilts I've done. Then when they are ready to have a top quilted, they'll have me in their bookmarked sites and they can look at my prices, send me an e-mail and go from there.

3. If you ever have anything published in a magazine or newsletter, you can put your website. Chances are people who read about you are not going to pick up the phone and call you to chat but they probably will go to your website and read all about you and your quilting.

4. If you are a member of yahoo groups or any online groups, you can put your website in your signature line . . instant advertising with every e-mail you send.

5. How many times are you asked for your e-mail address? Use something connected to your web page. I use Judy@SunshineQuilts.com. People hear me say that and I'm often asked "oh, you quilt?" and that gives me a lead for telling them all about longarm quilting and you never know where that will get you.

6. If you do any charity or donation type quilting, have them list your web site. Listing your name as a donor is great but when there's a website, people will almost always go and check it out. How many times have you seen someone's website listed and out of curiosity, went to check it out?

If you're having to pay big $$ to have a web page, then I might reconsider but I pay about $72 per year for the hosting and they pay for the domain name. That's $6/month.

I just went back and looked at my records and for the past 5 months, less than 10% of the quilts I did were for local customers (in Owensboro), about 30% came from the quilt shop in Indiana and 60% came from places afar - Virginia, Maryland, Texas, California, Florida. I've never met any of those people and all of them were either repeat customers or were referred to me by someone for whom I've quilted but have never met.

Like most every other business decision, you have to decide if it's worth it for you. It's definitely worth it for me.

[BarbWetzel]

Very Nice website. Judy, I like it. How did you set it up? Did sometone do that for you? How do you update your website? Sorry for all of the questions....Barb

[JudyL]

Barb: I do it myself. I started out with a template and have progressed from there. It was trial and error and I had it in a huge mess for a while but I figured it out. I do all the updates myself.

Thanks!

[quiltaholi_518]

Is it worth having a website? YES YES YES!!!

I don't think people find a quilter by surfing (although I have gotten commisions that way) but it does push them over the edge. Here's the scenario I hear quite a bit-

I new quilter has finished her first top. She goes to the quilt shop to ask about quilting. They direct her to an area where all the cards and brochures are. She picks a few and goes home to sort them out. While looking them over, she notices I have a website and says "Let's see what I can find out" She finds valuable information about me, preparing a quilt top, lessons I teach, design ideas and pricing. None can put all that in a brochure. So who is she gonna call first? ME!!!

And regarding the expense, I barter with a lady that does web design and quilts! I just pay the $75 a year hosting. Doesn't get any better than that!

[pathutti]

Hi everyone,

I also feel a website is a must have. My website has really helped my business. I purchased Frontpage website program and did it myself (4 years ago). I did have to spend alot of time learning it. Now a days there are some great hosting sites. (I use lowest hosting .com but their tech support isn't that great) I've been helping some friends setup websites and using superpages.com by Verizon. The cost is reasonable and the templates are easy to use if you want to do it yourself.

There are some very nice sites out there. When you look at other quilting sites, look at the bottom of the first page. There should be a logo or something showing who designed it. Click on it and it should take you to the designers site.

I have clients all over and even made a quilt label for a lady in England. For my local clients it is handy to have them look at the designs, samples and price calculations.

Hope this helps.

Pat Hutti

APQS Discovery

www.huttidesigns.com

[dtreusch]

Hi all. My career is in web development and I've had my longarm business for about 8 months.

I've been thinking lately that there seems to be a need to offer some longarm templates for web pages and I'm considering expanding my business to offer this service. This is not hosting web sites, but just providing some web pages that would be a starting point for a longarm web site.

To any of you thinking about getting a web site, is this a service that you would consider using?

To any of you that already have a web site, is this a service that you would have considered using?

Thanks,

Debbi

[barbann03]

Debbi,

Definitely, yes, yes, I would use that service. I have been looking at some of the companies that offer services, and none of them seem to cater to this type of business. Thanks everyone for all your opinions. There is a lot of long arm quilters in my area, and it would probably be a good idea to have an extra edge. I am also looking into buying the longarm software from Eureka. Does anyone have it?

[Kay M.]

I do not have a website and for now, do not need one. I suppose it depends on your business goals. I only do this part-time and I have plenty of business. My waiting list averages about 3 months which is long enough for me and my customers. I am constantly getting new customers from word of mouth. They take their finished quilts to other quilters and I get more business. It works for me for now.

Kay

[larryrr]

Hi Debbi I would to talk to you about the web templets:D

[larryrr]

Debbi email me or call me I am on my last nerve. I have a wed domain.but when I find a person that can build a web page they want a $1000.00..or more and I can't swing that much...Larry:D

[Bekah]

Debbi, i would certainly use your web templates. I am not at that point yet as my feet are still a little frightened of the water, but as I get more confident Iknow I will need all the help I can get:)

[White Rooster]

Most of my business comes from the LQS or word of mouth but if the fees were reasonable I would definitely consider a website. I have all of the business that I can handle at the moment but I think a website definitely adds credibility. Plus, I know some of my clients would love to see their quilts displayed as examples of my work. I really enjoy surfing other quilters' websites and it would be nice to refer people to one my own.

Happy Quilting,

[Jhend]

Debbi,

I have been trying to set up my website for two months now, but the ideas and the time are just not there. I have Yahoo's site builder and just dowloaded something called Voda something or other. Still can't get there. There isn't much to start with in as far as templates for what I think would be eye catching for longarm quilting. I would most definately look into purchasing a template where I could just plop in my name and prices and such. I would like to hear more about what you can offer. You can e-mail me off line at jhendrick@nycap.rr.com. Thanks.

[Sandra Thomas]

Worth checking out is the "Find a Quilter" site on Longarm chat;

http://www.findaquilter.com/?rf=1

It seems to be a good way to go if you want to keep it simple.

[Bekah]

Sandra thank you for the link.

Bekah

Future Home of

Shepherd's Daughter Quilts etc.

[qfairy]

I posted that I do LA quilting on LA chat, don't know if that is still a free service or not. But had a call over a year ago. Girl in Ca. belonged to a guild and they had just lost their LA'r and wanted to try me out. She was the first of many to come. I know have 90% of out of state customers with only 10% locals. Word of mouth sure spreads fast. Just so glad that one was willing to give me a try, now they all rave about my work and they are telling others I have no idea who they are and new ones coming in weekly. So websites aren't the only way to get the word out. I do pay for webshots for anyone to view what I do. I'd start out with the low end of advertising and work your way up.

I've been LA quilting for 16 years and love everyday of it.

[BarbWetzel]

Sandra... Thanks for the tip.. I posted my information there... we will see what happens...

Barb Wetzel

[Judi]

Sandra -

Thanks for the link - I will give that a try for now. I do think I need to get

a website up and going, but I am busy with the kids, now that school is

out - and thank goodness - Quilting too!

I would love to have somebody else get everything all set-up for me, then

I could just add and change it now and then.