Name of your website?Vermont Woods Studios Furniture Store
Your name?
Peggy Farabaugh
Your Location (city, etc)
Vernon, Vermont 05354
Please give us a short summary of your website?
We provide beautiful, solid wood furniture designed to last a lifetime and beyond. Our furniture is handcrafted in Vermont and brought to you at affordable prices. Enjoy our lovely eco furniture in every room of your house.
What inspired you to launch your own website?
We have been passionate environmentalists for many years and wanted to bring Vermont's wonderful style, resources and green culture out to the rest of the world.
When did you launch your first website, and what was it?
Ten years ago and it was Kids Saving the Planet, an environmental education site for children and their families.
How did you decide on a name for your website?
Our furniture is crafted from the native woods of Vermont and bringing our pieces into your home gives you the feeling that you have a little piece of Vermont's Green Mountain Forests to dwell in.
What makes it different from other, similar offerings?
We are all about educating people and showing them the huge impact they can have on the world, simply through the choices they make in home furnishings. Did you know that nearly 90% of the imported wood furniture we buy in the US is brought into the country illegally, under cover of counterfeit documents? The wood is often stolen--and clear cut--from the earth's rapidly disappearing rainforests. A portion of the proceeds from each purchase at Vermont Woods Studios is used to help save the rainforests and the animals that live there. Did you know that we are losing rainforest at a rate of 1 acre per second? This happens 24-7-365 and as it happens, global warming is exacerbated. We are in business to do our part in fighting global warming and deforestation and we are thankful to all our wonderful customers for their help and support.
What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)
To make our customers completely delighted with their furniture and to grow our sustainable furniture business to where we can show measurable results in the war on global warming and deforestation.
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
We are just 2 years old, so still in our infancy and still investing more time and money than we are getting in return. But we love what we do and we are movin and shakin. The future's very bright! Ask us this question again in 5 years.
If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site?
We have loads of ideas to automate the site more and make the user's experience more plush and enjoyable. We would like to do more blogging and converse more with other bloggers and columnists, but only have 24 hours in the day...of which we work most of ;)
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
Yes, we have a very deep well to draw from. We are networked with nearly every furniture maker across the state of Vermont. We all work closely to help each other out in just these types of situations. Vermont has strong professional organizations that facilitate communications and collaboration.
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
Shipping furniture is our bigggest headache. Typical shippers consider a 30% damage rate just fine. Can you believe that? We are determined to reduce that to near zero. We are making great progress, too. All of our furniture is now shipped via an executive, white glove delivery service. The furniture is brought into the customer's home, unwrapped, set up and inspected for free.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Staffing
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
The Internet
How has running your website differed from your expectations?
We really didn't know what to expect, so not sure how to answer this one. I think it's a lot more fun than we expected because our staff and our customers are interested in changing the world. That's exciting!
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?
We have been online with this site for about a year and a half. We'll continue it until we get it right and then keep going. We're on a mision!
What do you suggest for our tag line?
Do you have any suggestions for our slogan? We sell eco friendly, handcrafted, solid wood luxury furniture with a conscience. We would love your input! We have posted a poll on our website, if you would like to contribute that way, http://www.vermontwoodsstudios.com/PeggyFarabaughsBlog.html Thanks so much for this forum--peggy and co.
What is your website address?
Vermont Woods Studios Furniture Store
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