Teresa, you may grind your teeth and curse me
but here are my 2 cents so take it for what
it is worth.
You need to show people what you have to
offer as an artist and put it on your site so
they can see it.
And....
I think your website needs a shot in the arm.
(Ed ducks and runs out of the room)
Websites are great but if you have Google adds
that show up on them with advertising from
OTHER screen printers on it then it's most likely
will not be taken seriously by your potential
clients.
I just visited your site and was nailed with a
google add for another company that offered
shirt and hat design and embroidery.
I am trying to view your site but there is
this animated ADD telling me to go somewhere else.
You also have a fatal flaw in your company name
and web presence. You are lost in the sea of
Shirt shacks online.
The website
www.shirtshack.com comes back
to another company so all of you effort to get
your name out is being wasted. If you expect
return customers then they will most likely google
your company name to find you again and in
the process get sent to the OTHER shirtshack.
All of these .web.com and other free pages are
great but they aren't really professional and
cause confusion with your customers.
Your company name isn't really "yours". There
are TONS of shirt shacks online and a search
for your site (shirt shack) comes up with
pages of every shirt shack in the country.
I tell EVERYONE on this forum to FIRST get their
domain name. It only costs $10 dollars a year
and if you can't afford to have full out website
then just FORWARD that domain to your blog,
Myspace page or . whatever you are using
until you can get your own professional site up.
As you grow larger then you STILL own the
domain and you can forward it to the newer
page.
The cost of the domain is $10 dollars per year
and you won't have to change all of your
business cards and advertising down the road
every time you grow.
People in general only remember the name
of your company and not a dragged out
shirtshack/web.blog.com URL/address.
They want think of the company name
and simply add a .com to it or do a google
search for the name.
This may get you mad at also but the
T-shirt hanging from the hanger in the closet
picture does not make me feel confident in
spending my money on your website.
You can crop the hanger and hook out
of the photo easily.
I think you should take a hard look at other
sites online and see what they are doing as
far as how their product is displayed.
I think you have the drive and the ambition and
my advice to you is that if you want to move
forward then you need to take a hard look at
a few things from an outsiders view.
When it comes to running a business we all need
to sit back and realize what we are good at and
what should be left to others.
The Captain of a ship may never put his hands
on an oar but he sure as heck gets the boat to
the next harbor...