| Hello World~My name is Donna aka Beadseller.I | | | | over $4,000. I didn't even see the damages as I was |
| started browsing the internet with my service provider, | | | | taken by ambulance to the hospital.I am still undergoing |
| Prodigy... about 10 or so years ago... no...not before the | | | | treatment and under my doctor's care. I don't think that |
| dinosaurs roamed the earth! *geez*Back then, the | | | | my neck will ever be the same. My right shoulder still |
| internet was limited in what it had to offer. I would also | | | | hurts. I require an operation on my right knee. Fifty now |
| like to mention that every page opened instantly. I used | | | | feels more like seventy!The accident put a halt to |
| the internet as a venue for research. I still use it for | | | | website work. I couldn't sit for very long without |
| research, but more for shopping and selling.Hey! Don't | | | | severe pain. My lower back and neck were hurting all |
| laugh... I had an Adam Computer too! *humpf*In mid | | | | the time. I would wake up at times with very little |
| January 2005, I found Overstock... not by chance mind | | | | feeling in my arms or legs. I was not fairing well at all!In |
| you. A dear friend of mine had tried for months to talk | | | | mid July, I once again returned to working diligently on |
| me into trying Overstock. Beadwitched. Was I being | | | | the site. I was determined to get it up and running |
| stubborn? Naaa...I had a store on eBay and wanted to | | | | before August 1st.NOTE: Determination does not |
| finish out the month before I took the leap... besides, | | | | necessarily mean one is going to accomplish what one |
| eBay's fees were on the rise and I was on the run.It's | | | | sets out to accomplish!I still needed to install a shopping |
| January.... I would love to say that I sell more than I buy, | | | | cart. I chose Paypal. This required more reading and |
| however, that doesn't seem to be the case. So there I | | | | more research... some more reading and research... |
| was, sitting on over $20,000 worth of beads and | | | | some crying... and more reading and more crying and |
| beading supplies selling them at about $2 per pack on | | | | more research... The word PAL in Paypal has nothing |
| Overstock... not taking into consideration the listing fees | | | | to do with the setting up of its shopping cart! I was |
| or the paypal fees....making about 20 cents per pack. | | | | becoming more and more frustrated... but again.... I |
| WOW.... Talk about a get rich quick scheme!I started | | | | forged ahead.After much deliberation and many failed |
| listing even more... still not adjusting my prices... that was | | | | attempts.... I finally weeded through the poorly written |
| what people wanted to pay... so either make the nickel | | | | instructions and managed to get the cart to work... on |
| or not.... January reaped just over $500 in sales... | | | | ONE item. WOW.... only about 1,000 more to go! *HA* |
| February jumped to $1,500... March jumped even | | | | After reading and researching this phenomena, I |
| further... $2,400... April hit an all time $3K in sales....Then I | | | | realized that I had used the wrong cart set up and |
| joined the buySAFE bonding service. I thought that | | | | somehow managed to hook up over 100 items in |
| since I had so many valued customers, I would return | | | | much the same fashion. WRONG!So... after crying |
| some of that value to them and bond my products. | | | | some more and relieving my scalp of a few swatches |
| Fortunately.... the service was free through September | | | | of hair, I once again forged ahead. I re-programmed all |
| 2005. But it did NOTHING... absolutely NOTHING for my | | | | of the wrong items with what I hoped was the |
| sales!In reality... my sales plummeted! By the end of | | | | corrected shopping cart programming.ALAS! Low and |
| May... I felt doomed! I picked up two new customers.... | | | | behold... they were working! WOOOOO HOOOOO! |
| and heard barely a dribble from the rest.... my sales for | | | | Halleluia...Halleluia...Halleluia...Halleluia...Hall... |
| May were a whopping $382! Where did all my | | | | leeee...eeee...eeee...Luuuu...ia~ |
| customers go?!?!? What was I doing wrong?!?!?With | | | | Thank you... please... don't applaud... what I really need |
| all this in mind... back in March of this year, I decided to | | | | you to do is THROW MONEY!Now I was cruising... |
| give my own ecommerce site a try. Don't get me | | | | hooking up each and every individual item to this |
| wrong... at first I thought it was merely a pipe dream. | | | | shopping cart contraption... MY PAL... my buddy... my |
| After all.... I paid for three years of webhosting back in | | | | GOD! I sent out my mass mailing to almost 350 of my |
| March and it took until the middle of August to finally | | | | regular customers announcing the GRAND OPENING |
| have a website up and running!In February, 2005, I | | | | OF... BEADSELLER on August 18, 2005. FREE |
| started out with shopping around to find the least | | | | SHIPPING offered to the first 10 completed orders!I |
| expensive hosting site. Alas, I found Ace-host.net with | | | | picked this particular day to open because first... it was |
| 5,000 MB of Disk Space, 50 GB Monthly Bandwidth, | | | | the soonest I could get the site done... and second... it |
| (which has been expanded to 100 GB), Unlimited | | | | happened to be my son's 29th birthday and I wanted |
| MySQL Databases, eMail Accounts, FTP Accounts, | | | | the date to be something I would remember.Here I am |
| Sub-Domains, and a Static IP Address included. All for | | | | open for business... sitting at my computer... email open... |
| only $139.50 for three years.If you asked me to explain | | | | sitting... watching... sitting... watching.... watching... sitting... |
| the above, all I would say is, I haven't a clue what any | | | | NOTHING.Three days go by.... still...NOTHING. I feel a |
| of that really means, but I can tell you that my site | | | | distinctive sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach... or |
| never crashes. *laughing*Next came the HTML HELL. | | | | maybe this feeling came from the fact that I had not |
| The last time I actually wrote any HTML was about 8 | | | | moved from my chair in three days! Finally... on the |
| years ago, when HTML was just that.... HTML. Nothing | | | | fourth day... a sale!!! I might add... the shipping on this sale |
| fancy. Actually, it was pretty easy to learn. I was self | | | | cost me almost as much as what was purchased! |
| taught then but the book was ohhhhhh so much thinner | | | | Well... not making money is why I do this right? |
| than the newer models!So, I read and researched and | | | | *HA*Day Five... still NOTHING... then it occurs to me... |
| read and researched and read some more. I didn't get | | | | hmm... maybe I should review my html and see |
| very far when I decided to see just what having | | | | whether I bothered to enter any keywords and meta |
| someone else create this monster would cost! | | | | stuff.... NOTHING... *waaaaaa*So... I start researching |
| Needless to say, I proceeded again with reading and | | | | again... and reading...researching and reading again... |
| researching and alas....learning everything I could to find | | | | which brings me to this blog... Top Ten What? Web |
| a way to produce my own site.Well...If you haven't | | | | Site Submission....There are very few places that allow |
| looked...my site is BEADSELLER. I purchased a | | | | you to submit your website for FREE! One place I did |
| template for $49 and proceeded from there. What I | | | | manage to find was SUBMIT EXPRESS. Keep in |
| didn't know when I purchased the template was that it | | | | mind...it is VERY TRUE that NOTHING is FREE! But at |
| was not written in language compatible with my host. | | | | least their required link was not nearly as unsightly as |
| So, I managed to extract what I could from it, mainly | | | | some!One of the things I have been reading about and |
| the pretty pink bars, and forged ahead with creating | | | | found to be VERY TRUE.... unless you pay for the |
| my store.Creating a webstore really wasn't that bad... | | | | service to submit your site... don't expect to have much |
| NOT!!! It was a NIGHTMARE! But again... I forged | | | | traffic! Which in turn means... yet another NOT RICH |
| ahead. Sometime in late March I realized that I had far | | | | QUICK scheme!Yahoo will let you submit an url for |
| more products than I really wanted considering that | | | | free... but to be listed in their directory... if I remember |
| each product had to have its own product number and | | | | correctly... a mere $299 a year.... WOW... only $299 a |
| be listed individually.Needless to say, prior to this | | | | year?!?!?!? Even MSN let me submit my site for FREE! |
| endeavor I had considered expanding on my product | | | | And being penny poor..... who needs to pay for the |
| line, but reconsidered. Looking at the walls of drawers | | | | misery of increasing one's sales!?!? If I had the |
| of beads, I should probably try to sell what I have | | | | money....if I won the lottery... if I were independently |
| before I drive myself out of shop/office and | | | | wealthy.... ifa.... woulda.... coulda... *UGHHHH*Not all is lost |
| HOME!Speaking of Late March.... Well... after working | | | | though.One of the most interesting and fun things I |
| with the same attorney for 7 years... she called me into | | | | happened upon were WebRings. WOW... these are |
| her office to say that things were just not working out. | | | | fantastic resources. You see... after all the reading and |
| WHAT?!? What does that mean???? How could it | | | | research... everyone selling the website submission |
| possibly take someone SEVEN YEARS to decide | | | | service tells you that the more places you are linked |
| that THINGS ARE JUST NOT WORKING OUT?!?!? | | | | to, the more you move up in rank. Well.... while |
| You would think that if things were JUST NOT | | | | reviewing all of the webrings.... I forgot the rank issue |
| WORKING OUT... that would have happened say... | | | | and became extremely interested in the fact that |
| WEEK ONE!This could not have happened at a worse | | | | there are literally a gillion WebRings! I was amazed |
| time! I had just taken out a mortgage on my home two | | | | with all of the RINGS that actually revolved around |
| months before so I could purchase beads and beading | | | | what I sell and what I love.... BEADS and ARTISAN |
| supplies! The beads and beading supplies were and | | | | JEWELRY! WOOO HOOO!So... even if I don't sell |
| are still sitting here staring at me!Back to the store... so... | | | | much... I have found that there are literally thousands of |
| I worked diligently, day and night trying to create my | | | | others out there in cyberspace who have huge |
| webstore. I would complete umteen pages and then | | | | shoulders available to cry upon. Gotta love those |
| notice that I didn't correct the font color on the | | | | webring heroes and heroins!Well... that's quite enough |
| previous 10 or so pages. So... edit...edit...edit....Then while | | | | for now.... if you should be reading this and happen to |
| on my way to a special employment seminar, June 2, | | | | buy beads and beading supplies.... give me a try. |
| 2005, some crazy driver plowed into the side of my | | | | Beadseller... That's me!Hi~ I'm Donna aka Beadseller~ I |
| car, 2002 Hyundai Elantra. I was sitting in the | | | | have been working with beads and jewelry making |
| passenger seat that fateful day and she hit directly | | | | supplies for nearly 20 years. It took me that long to |
| behind my seat and continued until she managed to | | | | finally open my own ecommerce store. In my free |
| take out the rear axle.What was she thinking??? Or | | | | time I like to write about some of the things I have |
| better still... what was she on??? Three days later, | | | | learned since opening my store. Hope you enjoy my |
| GEICO completed the estimate of damages totaling | | | | schpeal on Search Engines. |