Lobo Report post Posted May 20, 2009 Well, as some of you might recall from a couple of months ago, I recently leased some commercial space for my production facility. This has actually worked out quite well. Everything is out of the house, my wife can relax a little more not having to deal with piles of materials, supplies, and correspondence everywhere. Paz en la casa (Spanish for "peace in the house", which is always a good thing). And I have a small cooler to keep my adult beverages at proper temperature (as well as out of mama's sight). Best of all, I can make a SERIOUS mess during a frenzy of production, and not worry about cleaning it up before mama gets home! Yesterday, I spent a few hours putting up a website. I chose to do strictly an informational site, no ordering links or other stuff. Web-hosting via Yahoo, using the Yahoo web-design tools, took me about 3 hours to prepare. Cost is very reasonable (2 or 3 orders pays everything for a year). The big concern for me is being swamped with orders and not being able to respond to anyone within a reasonable period of time. During the first 24 hours I have received over a dozen e-mails and several orders, so it appears that this will work quite nicely after all. Since I have been producing an average of about 20 to 25 items per week for several months (without website exposure), I think that I can take this little business just a bit further very soon. The next few weeks will tell me just how hard I am going to have to work. Still working on a few new projects and products. Everything looks promising for now. Anyway, the new home of Lobo Gun Leather is in the Corona Building, overlooking the historic Arkansas River in Pueblo, Colorado. The new website is www.lobogunleather.com. Let me know what you think, if you care to. Best regards to all. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Echo4V Report post Posted May 20, 2009 Nice website and beautiful leather. David Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
carljc72 Report post Posted May 20, 2009 I second. Very nice. That is a good looking site. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ABC3 Report post Posted May 20, 2009 Ray, It looks good. Congrats. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jordan Report post Posted May 20, 2009 Congrats on the increase in business, sounds like your still having fun doing it too. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ps0303 Report post Posted May 20, 2009 Very nice Lobo. Interesting that you had it up for a short time and are already getting calls. How have you been advertising? Again, nice job. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TwinOaks Report post Posted May 20, 2009 Good start on your website, Lobo. I know it's probably just the prototype site, but one of the first things I noticed is that all the page links in the header seem a little cluttered. A few hours should get that straightened out, no prob. Good looking leather, keep it up! Congrats for being able to expand your business, I'm hoping to head that direction too. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lobo Report post Posted May 21, 2009 Good start on your website, Lobo. I know it's probably just the prototype site, but one of the first things I noticed is that all the page links in the header seem a little cluttered. A few hours should get that straightened out, no prob. Good looking leather, keep it up! Congrats for being able to expand your business, I'm hoping to head that direction too. Thank you, Mike. I have worried about starting a website, not wanting to create a monster that generates more orders than I can possibly fulfill, not wanting to be like so many others that take orders and leave customers waiting and waiting and waiting for a response. I chose to publish an informational website, with no ordering links. This way, customers have to contact me directly to place and confirm an order. I can be right up-front with production and delivery times, so the customer can make a buying decision accordingly. During the first 24 hours my little website has generated over 400 hits, with more than a dozen e-mail inquiries, and 3 orders. Not too bad for an old retired copper who couldn't make heads or tails of a computer terminal ten years ago! As a one-man operation, I continue to be concerned about demand exceeding my ability to produce. The demand is certainly out there, so anyone willing to set his sails and enter the waters will receive some traffic. I just don't want to become another supplier with a bunch of unhappy potential customers whose orders never get filled and delivered. Best regards, Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TwinOaks Report post Posted May 21, 2009 Object lesson in what one man can do: Andy Artoonian. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rickybobby Report post Posted May 21, 2009 Ray, You have arrived!! Lift a 12oz. adult beverage to yourself!! You deserve it, you are doing what many of us here on the forum hope to! Have a successful leather business! The website looks great, things will change on it as you go, the important thing is you are up and running! Best of luck, you are an inspiration! Rick Jorgenson Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CitizenKate Report post Posted May 21, 2009 Ray, congratulations on your success! I think you have reached some major milestones for sure. Kate Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Denster Report post Posted May 21, 2009 Ray From one retired copper turned leathersmith to another, congratulations on your success. Website looks good and I agree with your not having direct order from the site. You make nice holsters and it wouldn't take long to get overwhelmed. Best of luck! Dennis Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rayban Report post Posted May 21, 2009 Nice site Ray, and of course even nicer leather... When I grow up, I wanna have a shop just like yours, full of adult refreshments. RG Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mattsh Report post Posted May 21, 2009 Lobo - very nice indeed. I like the simplicity of your site, nice, clean and effective. I think too many times flashy over artistic sites are put up hoping that they draw customers. My opinion is that it does just the oposite. I get annoyed with all the huba-baloo. I will agree with TwinOaks on the header of the page. At first glance it looks like a run-on of words. Until I hovered over them with my mouse did I realize the words were grouped as hyperlinks. Maybe adding some offsetting feature to distinguish the groups of words like making them appear as a button title (if that makes any sense) would help to draw the words together, similar to what the "Fast Reply", "Add Reply" and "New Topic" buttons look like on this thread. --- Just my two cents Amazing prices. Very affordable. I can see why you are concerned about getting overwhelmed. I have often thought the same thing and yet I have never taken the plunge of putting together a web page for that very reason. I work full time and do volunteer work, aside from all the other 'project work' I have around the ole' household (the wife keeps the list pretty long ) so time is very limited and not being able to get to orders without burning the candle at both ends and the middle, I have just never done it. I applaud you for taking the step. I really like your Tom Threepersons tribute. That is a really nice holster. Does the 'back side' of the holster fold over to form a belt loop? It appears that way in the photo but wasn't quite sure. I definitely will recommend your site to others. Well done and good luck. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shorts Report post Posted May 21, 2009 (edited) Ray, the site looks good. Use it wisely grasshopper Edited May 21, 2009 by Shorts Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Randyc Report post Posted May 22, 2009 Ray, Your website looks great and congradulations on your move to commercial space. Randy Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
