Don't Take Pot Luck! - Always Be Prepared!

A fellow jewellery artisan and friend had a HUGE!! absolutely monumental stuff-up happen today, and it got me thinking just how many others there could be out there who are not prepared should the unthinkable happen..
Ok - so do you have a website or online store???...regardless of who it is through - have you taken screen shots of all your pages?????   Do you have a CSV sheet with all the info of your products on it???  Do you know all the photos you have on your website/store and are they easily accessible without sifting through volumes of folders??   Do you know what your DNS codes are if you have your own website??

No???    hmmm!....so what happens if your host goes belly-up tomorrow???  Or the place you have your site at goes *defunked*?? 

You are what is commonly called *up that famous creek not only without the paddle - but some bastard also stole the canoe!*

Here are my 5 Tips on making sure if the unthinkable happens and your *online* store/website has monumental issues - you are at least prepared!!

1/.   Get yourself a Flash-drive with a large capacity on it...and ONLY! use it for backing up the following data once you have it all sorted out....
a) Your screenshots of your site/store
b) a CSV delimited file of all your products
c) all pictures relating to your site/store you uploaded.
d) Your relevant DNS records from the Registry in your country

2/    Take a screenshot of every page of your website/store - if you don't know how to do this - click on this link - https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/fireshot/ to get the add-on for Firefox - if you are running it - of *FireShot* - which is a screen capture program compatible with Chrome and Firefox.  Here is the link for Chrome - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/capture-webpage-screensho/mcbpblocgmgfnpjjppndjkmgjaogfceg?hl=en

3/  Create a CSV delimited file through Excel of all your products - (this file is easy to create - just make sure you have the appropriate headings on the top before saving it as a *csv* file in Excel.  If in doubt check YouTube out.

4/   Create a folder in your Photo Editing program to store all photos you put on   your website/store...and make sure you use it ONLY!! for that purpose and update it often.

5/  When you get a website - make sure you have records of ALL!! relevant DNS records from the Registry in your country - for Australia here's the link - http://www.netregistry.com.au/support/modifying-domain-name-servers-or-dns-records/

And yes - doing all the above can be time consuming - but ask yourself this....how VALUABLE is this information???  
Think of it this way - spending a bit of extra time making sure you have the above in place could make all the difference between smacking your head against a desk or wall, or swearing like a trooper because some bastard who isn't responding to your emails or calls has you sitting in limbo!
So should the unthinkable happen and you have everything above in place....at least you can be like a boyscout or girl guide and be prepared!   ;)

as usual - Happy Creating!

...and above - Smile!  It's FREE!!

Change is Good - but only sometimes....

Well - last week really was an eye-opener what with the *new* upgrades/rollout by Artfire, and all I can say is Good grief!!

Contrary to what a few have said - in the way of *ohhh stop your bitching!...did you expect to receive that locked in deal and still get the same services!?*

The answer to that is YES!....because when I - and many many others - signed up for that amazing deal, at the time we DID!! have all the bells and whistles that went with it!..

You know - silly things like - Branding of our stores!...having our own banners depicting our logos - which I'm sorry, kinda helps you being *seen and recognized*!  And let's face it - a company/business logo is the main criteria when having one....but not as far as Artfire is now concerned.

So those of us who cannot see the validity in paying an additional $40 or even the top end pricing of $60 and not knowing when certain aspects are going to be fully implemented - it meant finding yet another place in which to have an online presence..

And thankfully - there are a few out there..   Two of which I have now decided could be the way to go.

One is Indiemade.  It's not a *marketplace* - but rather an Independent presence....but it has so so much to offer, and - at a good price per month too.   There are 3 levels in which you can get in on..but - in doing so - you need to make sure whatever you end up paying - that the site is for you.  Upshot is - you don't pay listing fees.   So check it out - it is *user friendly* in setting up, but the need to be a bit *pc savy* to do it definitely wouldn't go astray..otherwise you'll be lost.

Here is mine..    

The other that I am also contemplating going with is Handmade Artist.com.  it's got a flat rate per mth fee - no listing fees - the ability to have *instant* downloads for digital products and is not only user friendly - but a markethub.  And let's face it - sometimes being part of a community can be very advantageous.  It seems that Etsy too has yet again changed it's appearance and what with their steep *commission* on sales - which may change at any time - isn't what I consider a *viable* way of trying to make a living. Especially when you consider the shift they did last year that saw *re-sellers* enter the site..   Not a good move Etsy!!...you sold us out!
In some ways - no matter what you choose - everything seems geared toward a fee of some description...listing fees - commission fees - and that's not taking into consideration the fees you get charged via PayPal for transaction.

So - at the end of the day - getting *more bang for your buck* is also vital....otherwise you could go out of business sooner than you think.  So what ever you do - do your homework when wanting to sell online...suss EVERYTHING!! out with a potential place you may want to sell on and do comparisons of what each has to offer.   And yep!...I might be repeating myself from my previous blog post - but hmm!!...sometimes being reminded of a few things as important as this is necessary so folk don't go getting stung or stuck.

After all - you need to be happy with what you have - and so do your customers.. ;)

As usual - Happy creating!!

.....and remember - Smile! it's FREE!!