Build Your Website for Under $100

I MUST have a Web Presence, Right? Not necessarily…. MUCH more important is to FIRST establish a niche and develop raving fans in your Local Market. Get this right and you may discover that you don’t even need a web presence.

Then WHY does everyone say I need a website? Based on faulty “Big Numbers” reasoning – All you need is a few customers from the billions of people on the web…. – Sounds reasonable, but it doesn’t work. – Most handmade jewelry business sites never make even one sale. – This can become a big time/money sink for you if you aren’t careful. Big Numbers reasoning also leads to lack of focus on quality presentation

First Things First Don’t create a web presence until after you have… – Established your Niche – Created your Brand Image – Confirmed that your customers AGREE with your Brand Image Creating a web presence without first doing this is like building a house on a very shaky foundation.

If You Decide to “Go Web” AFTER you have successfully established niche and brand in your local market… FOCUS is MUCH better than scattershot – Avoid the temptation to “cast a wide net” Assume you have ONLY three seconds to get across what your Brand is all about – Focus on ONE big idea ONLY. You only get to make one point, so make it count. – Images more important than words

Your Web Presence Options Social Media – Facebook – Pinterest Etsy Dedicated Website

The “Look” is Everything Images have to speak immediately, powerfully, and clearly about what your Brand represents Your images of your jewelry are THE key component of your BRAND. Treat them like ROYALTY. What do these elements of your web presence say about your brand? – Colors – Layout Does the “environment” of the site begin to establish value and price expectations? – YES!!!

How to Do It Right Some real world examples – Bonnie Blandford ( Does it take long to figure out what Bonnie’s focus is? Does the environment of the site in terms of image quality, site color usage, and site layout create a value expectation in your mind? Trick question: Why do you think Bonnie does not list product prices on her site?

How to Do It Right Other examples – Sarah Abramson ( – Ruth Koelewyn (

How Not to Do It What’s the Brand? What’s the focus? The niche? How good are the images of the jewelry? How does site color usage and layout impact your perception of value?

But I Don’t Have Thousands to Invest! How much do you think it would cost to develop a site similar to Bonnie Blandford’s site? Thousands? Great News! – You can develop a site like Bonnie’s for less than $100. Here’s how you do it….

Beautiful Website in Two Easy Steps Buy a wordpress theme ($30~$100) – Here is the one Bonnie used: wordpress-theme/ wordpress-theme/85486 Outsource wordpress customization ($30~$300) – Check this out: design design graphics graphics

Product Images are Everything Either pay to have excellent images taken, or better, learn how to do it yourself. Great tutorials all over the internet – aphy.html aphy.html – Many YouTube video tutorials You can outsource image retouching or enhancement at Fiverr.com