Name of your website?Amish Baskets of Ohio
Your name?
Nancy Davy
Your Location (city, etc)
Peebles
Please give us a short summary of your website?
Quality Ohio Amish handmade baskets crafted in the "Old Order" tradition with no modern tools.
What inspired you to launch your own website?
My website partner is an RN and desires to retire and my being a senior citizen with physical limitations and living in a very rural area finding challenging employment is difficult. We have 2 Amish communities in our area and one has several families that handcraft beautiful baskets. In warm weather they pack them in their wagons & drive their horses many miles in order to sell them so we decided a website endeavor might just be the solution for all our us. This would help keep my ageing brain active, allow Connie to retire and improve the quality of not only our lives but to help the Amish with the quality of theirs, people for whom we have a high regard. It will also be a stimulation in the local economy.
When did you launch your first website, and what was it?
We moved to this location in 2002 and in 2003 I launched a little more informational site http://www.knotnormal.com for the small mom & pop unique craft business my spouse and I operate. It gives lots of local info and contains some of the crafts we create.
How did you decide on a name for your website?
We wanted to focus on the Amish basket crafting here in Ohio throwing in numerous suggestions and finally came to the conclusion Amish Baskets of Ohio covered our desires.
What makes it different from other, similar offerings?
We do our best to stress the quality of our products.
What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)
Our goal is to develop a prosperous rural business employing other members of this rural community.
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
With continual investment of time and effort success usually comes.
If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site?
Do not think we would change it but simply improve it, adding new and related products.
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
Yes, we would because we have residents from whom we have commitments and they are simply waiting for us to tell them they have employment, even if only part time.
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
Communication with the Amish is very difficult as they use have no phones requiring lots of driving time as they live 14 miles away. A few expenses that we were unaware of regarding the credit authorization company charges.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Understanding the web program and setting logical steps for driving traffic to the site.
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
Pay Per Clicks and listing in Live Directories has been our best promotional efforts.
How has running your website differed from your expectations?
It has required about double the time investment and surely did not expect the requirements of so much time doing listings.
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?
The site has been up & running about 8 months and we will continue our dedicated efforts through this 2008 if we don't enjoy profit and popularity. If the site continues to at least pay it's own expense we will continue indefinitely.
Has developing the site brough you enjoyment?
Yes, developing the site has been a challenge but has brought me pleasure and new contacts in my life which would surely have never happened otherwise. It has brought technological knowledge which I would never have pursued on my own at my age and allows me to more easily communicate with the youth of today, including my own children and grandchildren.
What is your website address?
Amish Baskets of Ohio
