Name of your website?www.jollieprimitives.com
Your name?
Linda Lewis
Your Location (city, etc)
Avon Lake, Ohio
Please give us a short summary of your website?
Heavy duty 22 gauge metal quality handmade barn stars, Amish primitive barnwood country furniture, Amish birdhouses,& much more! We are a small family-owned business specializing in barn stars, authentic reclaimed barn wood decor, handmade rustic crafts and handcrafted primitive home accents.
What inspired you to launch your own website?
My partner was in school for web development. As part of a class project, he made a web page featuring my primitive folk art dolls. We quickly expanded to include Barn Stars and Amish made items.
When did you launch your first website, and what was it?
2006. J'Ollie Primitives
How did you decide on a name for your website?
We wanted a "happy" name. Coincidentally, when I'd type in a password at work, I'd often hit the wrong keys and JOllie would appear.While it's sometimes mispronounced by our customers, we still like our "jolly" name!
What makes it different from other, similar offerings?
#1 ~ a fabulous webmaster who keeps things looking attractive. Great products and great customer service.
What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)
My goal is to continue to expand the site and to keep it for income.
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
Eh ~ good question. It's a lot of work. It's very satisfying to see the results we have from the effort that's been put into it.
If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site?
I'd leave that one up to the webmaster. I'd probably blow the budget on inventory.
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
Yes.
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
Equipment blowing up, requiring replacement. Health issues that slowed down production at times.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Adjusting to the ups and downs of a retail business, financially and with the work load. We paint and ship our stars from our location, so some days are extremely busy. Some days we aren't busy enough!
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
Google AdWords and Yahoo CPC, by far.
How has running your website differed from your expectations?
It's about what I expected, lots of work, new things to learn.
How long have you run the site already, and how long will you continue to keep it up if you don't enjoy big gains in traffic, income or popularity?
Over a year, and planning to keep it up as long as I'm breathing.
What is your website address?
www.jollieprimitives.com
