Diape Biz Mamas - some questions

[Sandra Dee]

I've been giving a lot of thought into establishing a WAHBiz (yeah, who hasn't, right??) But, I don't have a clue where to start :crap

I know what I want to sell - and I want to be able to change my site quickly and regularly (to change instock items with ease) since some things will be one-of-a-kind custom-made things.

I have a paypal biz account, so I think that I can just use their shopping cart stuff...but how do I start? (And how much money are we talking). I know domain registry is around $8.95...but what about hosting and web design? I have NO clue how to do html or the like.

Thanks for any info!

[Knittin' in the Shade]

I do all of my own seite design and coding, so I don't pesonally use him, but every WAHM I know that uses tony from http://www.wahmshoppes.com just loves him. Easty to use interface, etc.

As for what to sell, what are you good at? ;) make sure it's something you truly love, becuase you'lll be doing ti a LOT, LOL!

[orangebird]

ditto wahmshoppes.com. cheap and really easy and good.

[Sandra Dee]

I'm thinking of doing vegetable-dyed infant/kids clothing and diaper bags. I LOVE to play with dyes and I think it would be a corner that has not yet been covered by the WAHMs.

As for diapers, I'm not sure - there are SO many fabulous ones out there that I can't imagine improving on them. I might sew them for my own use, and who knows - it *could* develop into something - but they are so labor intensive, I'd have to REALLY LOVE diaper sewing. :)

I *do* have a cute idea for covers, though, that I want to do some test runs on. :baby

[wildthing]

Another thumbs-up :thumb for wahmshoppes. I just recently signed up for an in-stock store, and had a friend do all my web work, but there are templates available for you to just fill in. You can get your hosting and store for $6 a month. I don't personally know how easy the interfacing is, but I have heard it is really simple.

[Sandra Dee]

So, how do you get those cute little logos and what not?

Can you build them on a graphics program and upload them somehow?

Does he do domain forwarding ... like if I reserved a domain name for my biz, how does that work? Is there a fee for forwarding?

Also, anyone want to help me come up with a biz name? :)

[tippytoes26]

well, I'll be one to say it.... I was going to move over to wahmshoppes.com so I wouldn't have to keep asking my husband to do all the little things (he made our store now) but now I won't. I have an account that I'll keep just for this month becuase it's not worth asking my money back. I didn't have a good experience and I know others that feel the same way. I had to wait a week to get a reply to my emails asking when my account would be activated. Even for a clean $6 a month, I expect my emails to be answered. And then, when I did get a reply, it was, in my opinion, rude. The owner has recently had a heart attack, and is behind due to his health right now. I suggested to him that if it takes a week to send a short and simple reply to an email, perhaps he is too busy and should close to new accounts until he feels better.. his reply was that no, he didn't think that was an option, and any day now his body and mind would be ready to handle the 18-20 hour days he'd been working before his heart attack. Personally, I think working 18-20 hour days could very well, if not cuase one, expediate a heart attack. I just didn't get a good vibe. If I was just starting out, that might be an option, but for me, it would mean moving 200 + items into a new store (hours and hours of work) and I can't afford the time if the person running the show doesn't answer simple emails and if his health is poor and he's not taking care of himself (i.e. cutting down his work/stress load) then there's a pretty good chance that he could have another heart attack, and all my work would be for naught and I'd be starting back from square one. Not to say I know his entire situation (and not to sound cold or uncaring) but those were my concerns.. add that to the fact that when I finally got a reply (after four emails mind you) a week later, the content of the reply was rude.. we're looking into other options. I wouldn't suggest you don't use wahmshoppes.com but I think it's only fair that you understand (because I didn't) the situation and that email replies and account set up are VERY slow. Also, being pretty computer backward myself and unable to afford to pay anyone to do it for me, I found the layout to be very cumbersome.. although doable once you got a good feel for it. If you decide you want to give it a go.. I'd be happy to send you my user name, password, etc.. so you can at least see the admin. part that you'd be getting. We won't be using it, so you could even play with it and make changes to see how easy it would be for you to do. Drop me a line amber@darlingdiapers.com if I can help. I do think it's good option for a small store just starting out.. but not a good option if you already have an instock store with lots of items that would need to be moved to the new store. HTH,

Amber

[CarrieL]

Wow that is very suprising, especially the rude part. I've found tony to be nothing but helfpul and fast replys and my dh asked him a lot of questions LOL.

I know there is also a mama at amitys who does hosting, I have no idea of prices but her site is www.mywahbiz.com I believe.

Vegetable dyed stuff sounds super, how about bedding too? Only natural bedding stuff I have seen is unbleached color stuff, I'd love to see pretty sheets, bumpers, blankets etc.

[mom2kay]

I'm still waiting to here back from Tony. My sister is doing my site for free in between her paying customers. So, I wanted to put something up quickly until she was done. I got one e-mail that made no sense and when I explained what I wanted, I've yet to here from him :confused:

Anyway, my sister does web hosting for under $6 I think. She also does design, development, etc. And she just got her own dedicated server so my site will be loading very quickly. Here's her link http://getagreatwebsite.comhttp://getagreatwebsite.com

[Sandra Dee]

Great idea (bedding)!!

Maybe I could offer to have people send in their stuff and I could dye it for them - that way I don't have to scout out sources for natural beddings and pay the upfront costs associated with them. (Unless it was crib-size, which wouldn't be too bad).

Can you all check out my biz name post, please - and give me your .02? :)

http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?s=&postid=473505#post473505

[AndreaBash]

I didn't even realize there was a market here to design sites just for WAHMs... Now the little wheels in my head are turning. :)

[Sandra Dee]

Why, Andrea ---- do you design? :D

[AndreaBash]

Why, Andrea ---- do you design?

I do! I've hijacked your WAHMbiz post with ideas for my own WAHbiz. Actually, I'd have to think about the fact that there would be very little profit in designing for very small businesses, but maybe I could trade services for product? Oooh... Now that would be cool. :)

[LaLa]

Moving this to the Working Mamas forum as it is not exactly on the topic of diapering :)

Thanks mamas!

[Knittin' in the Shade]

For logos, banners and image stuff, I use adobe photoshop. It's got a very steep learning curve, but I love it cause I'm a geek, LOL. However, I've heard great things about paintshop (http://www.jasc.com, I think) and also padobe now does a home version of photoshop called elements, I think.

[thepeanutone]

Here are a few ideas:

1. You can buy "templates" from several places on the web. Just search for web templates, and I'm sure you'll find a bunch. Most of them will adapt one of their templates with your images, for a little more money. They're usually well under $100.

2. Domain registry usually runs around $10 -$15 per year. Hosting costs depend on the level of service you're getting, but usually less than $20 per month. Don't feel that you have to register and host with the same company - you'll probably get a better deal if you don't.

3. Check out www.dharmatrading.com - they have lots of stuff to dye.

4. What about True Colors?

Good luck!

[PatchyMama]

I have my site through wahmshoppes.. and ill tell ya that was my fourth web host in as many years, LOL.. but im really happy with my store now. i find the instock store very easy to use and tony always emails me back promptly and has been very helpful. That said i havent emailed him lately so i dont know about his current situation.

I have also designed sites for at least 7 other wahms and all of them use wahmshoppes as well, LOL... :) its just hard to find an easier to use shopping cart IMO. There are some free instock store programs out there.. but if you dont know very much html or php they are impossible to work with. one of my favorites is www.oscommerce.com ..... it runs niceley but is very time consuming to actually get to look the way you want.. and you really have to have a good handle on html to even get to the php part of it ;)

hmm what else... oh the mywahmbiz.com i actually have my gallery hosted there ---well at the counter site www.amazingdesignsolutions.com ... she just recently bought www.mywahmbiz.com there were a lot of issues with downtime but supposedly they have fixed it and i havent noticed any problems since.

For logos/banners/graphics i personally use ulead photoimpact... i love it... i never got the handle of adobe no matter what i did, LOL.. so about 3 years ago i switched to ulead and it has worked great.. it actually has built in web design components for those that are html challenged ;)