# Do you sell pens on the web?



## DCBluesman (Jan 16, 2007)

No mystery here.  Many folks in the IAP have websites listed in their signature line but I believe that many more do not.  I'm just looking for a general idea of what percent of IAP members sell their pens on the web.  I'm also curious as to how many have an idea or a plan on doing so in the next 12 months.  If you want to self-identify in the thread, feel free to do so.  Who knows, the bots may pick up your response and lift you in their search engine rankings!


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## ed4copies (Jan 16, 2007)

Someday.  I don't feel my pens are distinctive enough to find a niche on the internet, yet.


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## Skye (Jan 16, 2007)

> _Originally posted by ed4copies_
> <br />Someday.  I don't feel my pens are distinctive enough to find a niche on the internet, yet.



Do us all a favor and keep it that way. Have a freakin heart, man!


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## guts (Jan 16, 2007)

I would'nt know where to start,Ed you're kidding right?


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## ed4copies (Jan 16, 2007)

No, I really am serious.  I make pretty  much B2B kit pens.  So do a lot of other people. 

 I would like to learn closed end, and laminations (good ones I can make myself, not have Eagle make for me - that's HIS craftsmanship, not mine). 

That's my take on it.


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## bob393 (Jan 16, 2007)

Not yet. 
I have the URL, the banner, and have started the site but I'm not there yet.


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## RussFairfield (Jan 16, 2007)

I have sold pens through e-mail inquiries, but never as direct orders from the Website.  Several of those sales have been to people who had seen my pens in my photo album here at the IAP. People do look at our pictures. 

I am working on having pens available from my Website soon. The pages are already there, but there are no pens.


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## TellicoTurning (Jan 16, 2007)

I have a site, only limited sales so far.. same with e-Bay.  Most of my sales are through craft show booths and a local art gallery.


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## clthayer (Jan 16, 2007)

Some day...Some day, I just may get away from my lathe long enough to create a web site.

Christian


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## mrcook4570 (Jan 16, 2007)

My website primarily serves as an electronic business card - a place where previous customers can see more of my work and get ideas for custom orders.  I've made a few sales (to first time customers) through my website, but I don't really have the time to promote it in the search engines.


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## Jim15 (Jan 16, 2007)

I pretty much use my web site as Stan does in the above post. Someday if I can ever retire I would like to try it though.


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## mewell (Jan 16, 2007)

Lou - I have a web site, but I can't say I'm selling my pens with it [xx(]

We had *lots* of customers at craft shows asking "Do you have a web site?" so I got one up and running but haven't sold a thing on it. We do post our schedule but I can't say it has been worth our while. I think a large part of the problem is the type of host I'm using... We use FreeMerchant which let us get up and running in short order but not being able to customize much at all.

Mark


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## Ozzy (Jan 17, 2007)

I have sold a few on E-bay, I hope to have my own website one day (once I learn how to do one) but most of my sales come from word of mouth. I printed up some business cards and hand them out but so far nothing tops the word of mouth.


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## woodpens (Jan 17, 2007)

I sell pretty much exclusively through the web. I sell pens for around 40 pen turners in addition to my own.


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## rtjw (Jan 17, 2007)

Jim, does anyone else do that or is there anyone else thinking of doing the same thing that you do?


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## woodpens (Jan 17, 2007)

> _Originally posted by rtjw_
> <br />Jim, does anyone else do that or is there anyone else thinking of doing the same thing that you do?



Somebody started a site. I forget his name. Then, Ryan at Woodturningz bought or otherwise obtained the site. I don't know if it is still running or not. Ryan seems to keep his customers pretty happy, but websites are not his forte. []


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## Monty (Jan 18, 2007)

Like most others, I use my website to showcase my pens but haven't really sold any off of it yet. Just don't have the time to keep it updated.


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## DCBluesman (Jan 19, 2007)

Just as an FYI, I started my site as an extension of my business card like so many of you.  Other than pictures and descriptions, all I had was contact information.  I kept it that way for nearly a year and a half.  This past spring, when I re-designed it to an e-commerce site, I bit off a lot more than I can chew in terms of maintenance.  I estimate that I spend about 4-8 hours PER WEEK on the site.  That takes away from my hobby, so I am now questioning whether or not I made the right move.  Can anyone else share their experience?  (And don't forget to VOTE!)


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## its_virgil (Jan 19, 2007)

Lou,
I too am trying to switch from a showcase site to an ecommerce site to sell pens and I'm trying to do it myself. My site is a totally new design and now has a few pens posted and a working shopping cart. And yes, it does take time..lots of time...picture taking, picture editing, adding pictures, redesigning pages, adding pages, updating, updating, updating.... And, this is all new to me, but I am learning...with some help. Thanks Ron for the help and the answers when I have questions. Let the sales begin.
Do a good turn daily!
Don
http://www.RedRiverPens.com



> _Originally posted by DCBluesman_
> <br />Just as an FYI, I started my site as an extension of my business card like so many of you.  Other than pictures and descriptions, all I had was contact information.  I kept it that way for nearly a year and a half.  This past spring, when I re-designed it to an e-commerce site, I bit off a lot more than I can chew in terms of maintenance.  I estimate that I spend about 4-8 hours PER WEEK on the site.  That takes away from my hobby, so I am now questioning whether or not I made the right move.  Can anyone else share their experience?  (And don't forget to VOTE!)


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## Pipes (Jan 20, 2007)

I do very well on my web site with my pens ! BUT I have a built in advantage with our built in customer base from our regular business..pipes and tobacco..We make our living this way so the hours are our NORMAL work week  ....[]

pipes


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## stevers (Jan 21, 2007)

I'd sure like to sell more on my web site. Only a small percentage of my sales are from the web.


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## toolcrazy (Jan 21, 2007)

I'm new to turning and selling pens. I'm a bit of an expert when it comes to ecommerce and web design. I do have a full website up with a few pens, but no sales as of yet. I'm patient when it comes to web sales, I realize that it takes time for the search engines to find and index a site. I do have some pay-per-click adds running that is generating traffic. Currently, I'm trying to upgrade my pictures. I also need to change my descriptions. Yes, a ecommerce site takes time to setup and run. But you have to decide is your pen making a hobbie, or a business. The secret is balancing the two. As with all busineses, they are only as good as the time invested in running them.


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## RussFairfield (Jan 26, 2007)

There is a BIG difference between having a website and selling pens through the Internet. Just having a website doesn't sell pens or anything else. People have to find you before they can buy, and that takes advertising to let them know you are there.

That means that it has to come up on the 1st page or no farther down than the 2nd page of a search. Not many people go past page 2, and I don't look past page 1. That means lots of links from other sites, lots of activity, lots of visitors, and lots of time promoting the site wherever your customer base might be. An easier, faster, and more expensive way is to pay the search folks to place it at the top of the page, and that is the same as a full page ad in the newspaper.

The name of the Website is important. A site with the name "woodpens" will always be a winner because it will always come up on top of a search for "wood pens". Using our own name as the Site address is the most difficult for people to find unless they know your name and are looking specifically for you. That name recognition means advertising.

The other way is to advertise in the on-line and print media. Whatever it takes to let people know you are there and where to find you.

Then there are all of the secondary ways, the address on your business card or posting it on everything in sight at the craft fair.

Always remember that amazon.com did not get name recognition by just putting up a website and hoping that somebody would find it.

Do this little test.
Go to any search engine and search for "handcrafted wood pens" or "handcrafted pens" or just "wood pens" and see what happens. If your website doesn't come up on page 1 or no farther than page 2, you have a lot of work to do, and I guarantee that you are not selling pens over the Internet.


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## DCBluesman (Jan 27, 2007)

> _Originally posted by RussFairfield_
> <br />Do this little test.
> Go to any search engine and search for "handcrafted wood pens" or "handcrafted pens" or just "wood pens" and see what happens. If your website doesn't come up on page 1 or no farther than page 2, you have a lot of work to do, and I guarantee that you are not selling pens over the Internet.



Here are my results.  Recognize that there are usually about 10 entries per page.

<b>Keyword: handcrafted wood pens</b> 
Google: #18
MSN: #1
Yahoo: #1

High rankings in the search engines are not as easy as it looks.
<b>Keyword: handcrafted pens</b> 
Google: #14
MSN: #1
Yahoo: #1

<b>Keyword: wood pens</b> 
Google: #85
MSN: #7
Yahoo: #10

Here's an interesting one.

<b>Keyword: pens</b> 
Google: Not in top 400
MSN: #55
Yahoo: #95


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## Ron in Drums PA (Jan 27, 2007)

Not on purpose, but yes


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## Papabear (Jan 28, 2007)

yes, and have made a few sales, but not anywhere near what I'd like to see.  But then I don't have a large inventory listed yet either.


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## RussFairfield (Jan 28, 2007)

For what it's worth, the search engine hits on my website are:

Google - 59%

Yahoo -- 24%

MSN ---- 12%

All others -- 5%

Guess which one is the most important.


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## woodpens (Jan 28, 2007)

I agree that my domain, woodpens.com, is a real plus with the search engines. I have spent a good bit of time optimizing my site, but you should seriously consider your domain name early in the process.

<b>Keyword: wood pens</b> 
Google: #1
MSN: #3
Yahoo: #1

I am doing pretty well for wood pens, wooden pens, writing pens, wood writing pens, etc. I haven't really targeted "handcrafted" though. Do you think our target customers would use it often?


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## DCBluesman (Jan 29, 2007)

Russ - Mine skew even worse.  In the order you posted, I'm getting 49, 48, 2, 1.  I'm not sure why Yahoo is so high and MSN so low this month.  My other months are fairly close to yours.  Jim - my conversions from "handcrafted ?" are zero.  There are obviously better words out there.


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## btboone (Jan 29, 2007)

The number of links to your site from others is a big factor in Google's placements.


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## DCBluesman (Jan 30, 2007)

"Top search providers, ranked by total searches: Google ( 50.8%), Yahoo! (23.6%), MSN/Windows Live Search (8.4%), AOL Search (6.1%), My Way Search (2.4%), Ask.com (2.1%)."


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## ashaw (Jan 30, 2007)

Lou
Right now my web site is for information only.  My pens are in 5 retail stores on the east coast.  This year we will be in 50 store country wide.


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## dillonproturner (Mar 24, 2007)

I am kind of late on posting on this but I thought I might add a bit to it,I am trying to create a website right now, it will be very, very basic pens. But you gotta start somewhere, I don't believe in craft shows, you invest a lot of money in making the pens and you don't know if you are going to come out with a profit or not. Since I am 15 I figure that when I grow up, there won't be as many people doing it so maybe I can have some of the demand of the market, gotta learn from you guys though, that why I'm hear!
Dillon


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