Replies

1. 
   Elisabeth | Oct 25, 2005 04:13am | #1

   I have a dial up connection and after ten minutes I am still not seeing the page, just a white center and turquoise side bars. Oh, wait, there it is. Nice looking homepage. However, if I had come across the site on my own I doubt I would have waited so long for it to come up and if I did I would hesitate to click on anything for fear of another long wait. Outside of that, the pillows are lovely! Since the homepage is simple perhaps something other than using flash or whatever is taking so long would be a good idea.

1. 
   Lise | Oct 25, 2005 09:45pm | #2

   Hi, thanks for the feedback.  I don't know much about this wed stuff, but maybe if there is less pillow pictures and more copy that might make it faster.  Anyway thanks again for the feed back

2. 
   mygaley | Oct 26, 2005 02:25am | #3

   I thought your designs and pillows were lovely.  The many pictures and esp. the enlargements of individual items are a real selling point imho.  I always want a close look at details.  I have high-speed and it did take a longer than usual time to come up on every page.   Do you have a site that is read by custom decorators?  Galey

1. 
   Lise | Oct 26, 2005 07:07pm | #4

   Thanks for the feedback.  I really really appreciate it.  I guess I have to look into why these pictures are taking so long to load.  No, I don't have a site for decorators to look at. Why do you ask? Am I missing something?  I have been advertisng in Sew News for one month and have gotten no ordrs. I was wondering if there is something wrong with my designs, prices or web design.  I built this stire on a shor string budget and I guess there is a lot to learn on web developement.  I guess  I need to hire someone who knows what thay are doing to give my there suggestions  on why I am not getting any orders. Thanks for the feedback. I'll let you know what I find out. 

1. 
   mygaley | Oct 26, 2005 07:16pm | #5

   The reason I asked about decorators is because of your prices.  I live in a low-income part of Louisiana and the only customers I know of that would pay that are the ones who want custom work and they don't want to sew their own pillows.  Your prices are not out of line from what I've read about other areas.  Do you think you are reaching your target customers?

   God Bless You and I wish much success to you.  Mygaley

1. 
   Lise | Oct 26, 2005 08:45pm | #7

   Thanks for the inout.  My Mother told me to lower the prices but I didn't listen.  Guess I'm lowering my prices.  I'm thinking about 10.00 per kit and assembled pllow. Do you think that would work.  I have not marketed to Interior Designers yet, but soon will be.  Thanks for your help  Lise :)))

    

1. 
   sueb | Oct 27, 2005 07:55pm | #11

   Hi Lise,

   I just saw your post about lowering your prices.  Before you decide on a price you should really calculate how much each kit costs you to put together and then decide how much you want to make on each kit.  So if the kit materials including the packaging costs you $8.00 then decide how much above that you want to make.   The other idea may be to offer the pillow kits in different sizes - maybe a small pin cushion size which would cost a bit less.  This might encourage people to buy a small kit to try out your kits without spending a lot of money and then once they see the quality of the kit may be more inclined to buy a larger kit.  A smaller kit might enable you to spin the product towards gift giving, stocking stuffers, etc.

2. 
   sueb | Oct 26, 2005 07:55pm | #6

   Hi Lise,

   I've built several websites including my own.  The reason you may not have gotten any orders could be due to a few reasons.  Sew News may not be the right venue for this type of product.  I noticed that when I surfed your site I couldn't access a blown up picture of the pillow kits so it's hard to see what makes the pillow special enough to warrant a $60 price tag.   The more detail that the customer can see the more inclined they will be to purchase.   To me (and this is just my personal opinion being an experienced sewer who would be more inclined to purchase my items seperately) $60 would be way more than I would ever spend on a pillow kit.  But that's just me.  Also a litte more detail on the pillow description might help as well.  For instance does the pillow have a zipper close, what level sewer is it appropriate for, what other supplies will I need - interfacing, pillow forms etc.

   I have a cable modem and also noticed that your site loaded very slowly.  One reason for this could be if you've loaded your photo's in large sizes onto to the file server and they are being shrunk to fit the browser.  the pages will load faster if you reduce the size of the photo's using a photo editing software to whatever size you need them to be and then load them into your web editing software. 

   The other reason for the lack of orders is that you haven't actually been out there very long !  It may take several months before you see orders starting to come in.  I would also recommend that you broaden your advertising base to include some interior design type magazines where people who don't sew might be more inclined to buy a ready made pillow. 

   I hope I've been helpful - I wish you much success !

    

1. 
   Lise | Oct 26, 2005 08:56pm | #8

   Hi Sue, Just went on your site.  Your fabric is beautiful!!! WOW!  Thanks for all the helpful advice.  I emailed your comments to my wed developer Thanks, wonderful constructive thoughts and very well taken!!  And yes marketing to Interior Designers is my next market to attack.  I'm doing this business part time at night so everything takes a lot longer then usual and patience is not my vertue.  So, hopefully with a few orders I can start placing more ads in more publiations to get the word out.  Once again THANKS and I'll keep everyone informed. 

1. 
   fashionlizard | Oct 27, 2005 07:55pm | #12

   Hi Lise,I went to your site. Lovely pillows. The site loads quickly on a T-1 connection...but that doesn't say much (LOL) because that is the firehose connection of the internet! One comment I would make would be to change what happens when you click on the thumbnail of a pillow. Right now, you are sent to the shopping cart and then you have to click on the thumbnail *again* to see the detail of the pillow design. It would be nice to be able to see your detail closeup open in a new window from your original display page. Then, if you like what you see, you could could click on a "buy one now" link and be sent to the shopping cart. Having to visit (and load ) the shopping cart just to see a closeup of the embroidery before you are sure if you want to buy it is a bit inefficient, webwise.... and might annoy some people if they have a slow connection.

2. 
   fashionlizard | Oct 27, 2005 07:28pm | #9

   Sueb, your fabrics are lovely! :)
   I just visited your website. I am a weaver, too. I have a glimakra loom and have started to think of making things (other than wall hangings, scarves, runners and other flat things) out of the fabric I weave. I am new to the forum, but I am going to start a new thread if I can. I hope you will join me and perhaps we can chat about fabric prep before sewing.
   I am going to go visit Lise's site and see how it looks and loads with a T-1 line!

1. 
   sueb | Oct 27, 2005 07:48pm | #10

   Thanks fashionlizard for your very kind feedback !  I've done a lot of sewing with my handwoven fabrics and I'm happy to share any information about my experiences with you. I've made just about everything from bags to clothing and household items too. 

   How long have you been weaving?  I see you're located in Massachusetts too - are you a member of any of the local weavers guilds?  Feel free to email me directly at  [email protected]

    

2. 
   fashionlizard | Oct 27, 2005 08:20pm | #13

   As for how long I have been weaving...depends on whether you are referring to elapsed time or duration! I learned how to weave oriental rugs when I was in high school (I befriended a master weaver from Tabriz) and I formally learned to weave in 1973-1976. There was a bit of a ...ummm....lapse at that point. More than 20 years! Then I bought a loom in 2001 and started to weave again. But I'll email you with more details since this is way off the topic of Lise's website!__/^^^^^ô>

3. 
   mem | Nov 02, 2005 07:47am | #14

   It is a bit slow . I would also want to know what the pillow stuffing is and I would need to be able to see the colours up close as I would need to see if they were the colours that I wanted.I would think that you would be best off advertising in a home decoration magazine Sewers have the imagination and skills to do all this already and certainly the ones who would be buying sew news would .I like your designs though . I also would want to know fibre content of fabrics.

1. 
   Lise | Nov 02, 2005 07:53pm | #15

   thanks for your comments.  Can you recommned a home dec magazine?

    

1. 
   mem | Nov 03, 2005 04:36am | #16

   I am in Australia so probably not .