Name of your website?Big Country Home and Garden
Your name?
Michael Helms
Your Location (city, etc)
Columbiana
Please give us a short summary of your website?
Carrying a great selection of unique handmade gifts and home and garden decor by some of the most creative craftsmen and women around. Constantly looking for more talented artist to grace us with their latest pieces of unique handcrafted American folk art and country home decor.
What inspired you to launch your own website?
I'm a 38 year old carpenter with worn out knees and torn up back looking at no retirement, 401k, or benefits of any kind when I'm done. I'm always looking for ways to get out of the business and one day I had an idea to launch a website carrying actual quality products made by everyday people who want to sell there hobbies and make a few dollars. Having no prier expreance in anything to do with the internet, it is quite the challenge for me, but with a little luck and alot of late nights reading and impleminting new knolage and products I might just be able to get this right and be able to launch a few more sites with unique American made products that we can all relate to.
When did you launch your first website, and what was it?
So far I only have two sites up, www.BigCountryHomeandGarden.com www.HelmsCarpentry.com
How did you decide on a name for your website?
I went through a lot of names before settling for "Big Country Home and Garden" even though its long, it sounded right I guess.
What makes your website different from other, similar offerings?
My site is unique in that we carry one of a kind handcrafted pieces of American folk art from talented craftsmen and women in our little corner of the world. If you see something that's mass produced here, its American made in a local factory as well and supports our town, not somewhere over seas that you've never heard of.
What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)
I plan on launching more websites and running them for a living.
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
Time and money invested so far.... Way up there Success so far..... not so way up there Feelings of working towards something.... Priceless
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
Heck no.... not yet, but I would love to make a paycheck or two a month with this one until I gain more experience in marketing a site, Then I will try to go bigger with a different site and so on and so on.
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
Every yahoo and their brother has tried to sell me some kind of SEO or keyword this or that program or service that will "boost me to the top of all the search engines in the galaxy" and Pay Per Click was a waist so far. Plus a few other things that I should have read up on before signing up for.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Everything that has to do with everything, but somethings are becoming clearer as I go.
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
I think mostly link building so far. I just Optimizes my home page and am waiting to see any results so I can do other pages, but I think link building with relevant sites and registering with portals and such is what got me the page rank of 2.
How has running your website differed from your expectations?
I think I make it a lot harder than it needs to be. But ease comes with experience.
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?
One year so far, and I plan on keeping it up as long as I have products coming and selling.
What will your next site be or sell?
Probably along the same lines of the first one only with bigger products. I may do a social site as well.
What is your website address?
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