Next step

[drbassman]

OK folks, I need some advice.  I am going to have 3 basses ready to sell in a week or two.  What should I do in terms of increasing my presence online?  Should I do a web site?  Anyone know if the free ones are any good?  I'd like to use eBay as a convenient way to get the basses out there to a national audience and then move away from that eventually.  I want to include sound samples but I don't think that's possible on eBay auction ads and listing other web sites is verboten too, IIRC.

So, just for fun, what would you do?  I'm open to any and all advice.

[Dave W]

I don't have any advice for how to handle the commerce, but you definitely can include a YouTube video in an eBay listing. That's an easy way to include a sound sample.

Most webhosts (like the one we use) offer simple installs of various scripts including free or low cost website builders.

[gearHed289]

What Dave said...

And a facebook page wouldn't hurt. Also, maybe search facebook for "bass player" groups and share links to your own pages. Social media is a mixed bag, but it can definitely go a long way to making your presence known.

[dadagoboi]

I use Bluehost for hosting, around $100 a year (started out at $3 a month 4 years ago, still a bargain) includes free domain name.  It's ranked very highly for webhosting and customer service is great.  They actually answer the phone promptly with a USA person as well as email, chat, etc.  They still have the $3 a month introductory program.  IMO do not use GoDaddy for ANYTHING!
http://www.bluehost.com/?gclid=CN7M2OuC2MMCFY-EaQod3UEAiA

I built my website myself  with Sitespinner Pro, $75.  You can download and use it for free for 30 days.  My only previous graphics computer experience was Photoshop.  It comes with templates that make it easy to drop in photos and text.  I just grew mine from one page to the six it is now...I'd use a template if I did it again.  There are a lot of other free or low cost programs out there.
http://cataldobasses.com/index.html

I have a FB page and post my builds there, here and on TalkBass in 'Luthiers' Corner'.
https://www.facebook.com/cataldobasses.

I use Paypal pretty much exclusively.  Customers know it and have accounts worldwide.

I don't sell on Ebay but my stuff does come up used there occasionally and people see it and go to the website.  I've thought about using it as an advertising tool with low opening bid and high reserve.

Good Luck, Doc!

[Highlander]

Keeping them crossed...

[Rob]

I had heard about Bluehost also.
I like Carlo's low start high reserve E-bay plan too.

Hosting isn't really the hard part it is getting a site built that doesn't  look like I did it.
All of the above is my short answer.  I like the you tube link idea and the videos will drive web traffic via Google searches.

[Pilgrim]

Hosting is easy.  I've used HostMonster for some years and they're pretty economical, too.  My only heartburn with them is that their password policies are so stringent that it has sometimes been a pain to login to my own website (http://www.colocougs.org).  I used a free web template for my site build, since I'm cheap.

Building a decent site is the real work, and keeping it updated is a perpetual process.  My advice: keep it clean, simple and contemporary. Keep as much info evergreen as possible, and if you have short-term info on the site, make sure you provide yourself reminders on updating.

Also, be accessible: email contact info is a must. You should not use your personal email, but an email that is site- and purpose-specific.

You also need Facebook and should consider social media outlets...all of which take time to feed.

[drbassman]

Cool ideas guys.  I'll have to give the web hosting a look.  I didn't think of You Tube videos Dave, thanks for that one!

[godofthunder]

 Bill, I agreee,  get a facebook page, it's free  youtube video, ebay auction. Post over at Talk Bass, generate some interest. I'm on the fence about a web site they are kind of going the way of the Dodo..........................but most all businesses still have them.

[chromium]

Bunch of good advice here.

Just to add... there are some free website tools/hosting out there (SquareSpace, Wix, Weebly, etc...) that may or may not help.  A quick search produced this link with reviews... http://www.sitebuilderreport.com/.  I've not yet experimented with any of them.

Like others above, I'm also on BlueHost running Concrete5 and Wordpress for two sites, and dedicated hosting/domain renewals run me about $125/yr (after the intro-rate-honeymoon wore off).  I was on Go-daddy for years prior, but the cluttered layout of their site and admin tools started to frustrate me after a while.

One advantage of setting up even a basic site is that you can link to it from all the various social media outlets, forum posts (embed in your signature), Youtube/Vimeo vids, Reverb/Ebay listings ("for specs and additional info, please see the manufacturer's site at..."), etc... enabling you to establish your brand and potentially start driving more traffic to your own site for direct sales.

[Aussie Mark]

You can get a free web store that also has Facebook integration and buyers can pay with Paypal or credit card .... https://www.bigcartel.com/signup/

I set up a Big Cartel store for the pedal builder I'm a test pilot for, and it works really well.

[chromium]

I've been in the process of redoing my site and moving to an eCommerce solution, and thought I'd share back my experiences here...

I tried out the Big Cartel site that Mark linked to above, and it's really nice.  Worth a look, VERY simple to setup, and the fees are comparatively low (I would have wanted additional images per product, and inventory tracking - so cost for me would have been ~$10/mo.).  Check it out, especially if starting from the ground up.

As I already had the BlueHost server running (and supporting other stuff), I landed on OpenCart.  You can install it from BlueHost's control panel (a 'one click' kinda thing).  It is available free and does not have any feature limitations.  Also a really nice, simple affair - all configurable from a menu.  I only elected to dive into the code for some basic cleanup (removing a few hardcoded, superfluous links from the header and footer sections; it was easy to find where to dig from Google searches).

I haven't redirected the live site over to it yet, but here's the preview link.  The inventory control, payment pass-thru to Paypal, and "wish list" to notify interested parties of new stock will make my life a lot easier (I was doing it all via email before):

http://psionicsoundworks.com/psionic/index.php


I did have to add a couple of features (SSL, dedicated IP) at BlueHost to protect people's personal info (name, address, email), and so I'm up to around $200/year now with BlueHost - to offer a point of reference.

[BTL]

Others have covered the basics pretty well, but here's a some more ideas.

Doug Kauer (www.kauerguitars.com) uses squarespace.com and I use bluehost.com with a Wordpress template.

Here is an interview with Doug Kauer with a few gems to share: https://jon-sullivan-a7vp.squarespace.com/news/2012/9/17/doug-kauer-on-building-guitarshtml

For self promotion, I'm on TalkBass, ReRanch, The Gear Page, ebassist, OffsetGuitars and LBO.

I post classifieds on each of these sites and also have some form of "Shop Notes" thread running in each.

I sell on ebay and Reverb.com and I have a personal and business Facebook page.

If you Google "Lowe Custom Guitars" I'm pretty easy to find.

 

[drbassman]

Thanks again guys.  It's slow going here, but I'm soaking all of this in as I try to decide how to proceed.  Thanks!