Which magazines have the best new projects (and are good at taking
>>people step by step)?
>
>I personally like Bead & Button and Beadwork, which have more
>intermediate-level projects; and Bead Style, which has more beginner
>projects. I'm not particularly fond of the Step By Step style of >instruction. >
>>What's the most convenient day and time to shop or take classes?
>>Ginis'a is open 10-6 Tues - Sat. I've noticed a fair amount of
>>traffic comes in just before closing.
>
>I don't work a 9-5 job. I'm most likely to go to a bead shop on a >weekday afternoon. >
>>My wife has said that putting on a class outside of the shop would be
>>difficult, but I'm wondering if the attendees wouldn't rather go to
>>someone's home if the logistics can be figured out.
>
>I would prefer to go to the shop for classes, assuming it had a
>comfortable workspace with good lighting and plenty of room.
>
>>Lastly (for now), what could be added to her website -
>>
formatting link
- to make it more useful?
>
>The logo on the home page is fuzzy; it would look better if it were
>crisp. I'd like more photos of inventory. More lists of what the store
>carries. More photos of the inside of the store. Directions to the >store. >
>Also, to me, the ads and links to unrelated businesses on the left side
>of the home page make the web site look less professional.
>
>If there's going to be online ordering, then you can't put in too much
>information about each item you have in stock. Photos, sizes, shapes,
>materials, quality, treatments, how many beads in a strand or a bag,
>etc. Of course that's a tremendous amount of work. But I wouldn't order
>online from a store that didn't offer that information. I also won't
>order online without a shopping cart and secure checkout. I'm not
>comfortable ordering by email.
>
>And definitely lose the music. I immediately leave any web site that has >music.
Thank you Stef. I agree with your assessments, but I have to be careful how I offer my advice (my wife is the web site designer). I do appreciate your comments.
In fact, I sincerely appreciate everyone's participation in all three of my series of questions. I ran across an article on MSN today which noted three important considerations in starting a business: Identifying the customer Learning about the customer Serving the customer
You have all been very generous in helping us put it all together. Thank you, Steve