Rumors of a New Website ...

Well, they may not be rumors, but real websites
coming online in a few weeks. The word 'rumor' just might cause you to read this!

My webmaster has put together some modules of a good eCommerce program, and I am working to get my part of the duties completed so that we can get up and going. There will actually be two new websites: one for retail customers, and one for wholesalers. The wholesale site will be a password-protected site. The screens should make choosing which yarn, the weight, and payment options easy to understand. Because the new program is a true eCommerce site, you will soon have choices in how you pay for your purchases. Hooray! I feel like we have all been a prisoner of PayPal for the past three years, far too long, especially for me.

When you are ready to order, you'll just fill out a form with all the shipping and billing info on it, and that form will be available to me at any time. It will make life easier for me because I won't have to chase the details of your order through a series of eMails or back through the history of your PayPal purchases. As you use the new site for repeat orders, I will be able to read a history of the yarns you order, which could be useful if I get in a limited supply of a yarn similar to what you've been using.

Yesterday I was describing the new site to a person I was interviewing for a job. She was applying for what I loosely call the 'studio assistant' position, but in her case, I was looking for someone who is more savvy at the computer than I am. Years ago someone, whom I admired very much, told me to always hire people who are smarter than I am. Hmmm. Is this why I am having such a terrible time finding help around the studio? I think not! BUT I don't have an answer either for why it is so hard to hire someone for the job.

No, this person will be primarily responsible for getting the site up and running, creating a beautiful home page where I can communicate any news of back orders, stock levels, details of new yarns or special purchases, etc. As I was describing the position to her, I had this growing sense of excitement. Just hearing myself describe the new sites and imagining using them to communicate, to retrieve orders much easier than the current set-up, well, it was just so invigorating and I felt very much as I did when I first began to plan the business.
Yesterday I wrote to a new customer who is just setting up a new business, and as I wrote I again felt that excitement. It's really fun to put ideas into practice! No matter if you are just rumbling about with the hint of an idea, or if you have been up and running for a while and get that surge of enthusiasm and that shot of adrenalin. Of course, business is very practical and at the same time it is very much like any complex project. It takes planning before implementation.
I've had months of planning for the introduction of the new sites, and was ready to get them up and running months ago, but have to work with the schedules of my webmaster and find a good person to keep it up dated regularly. Maybe just maybe everything is aligned as it should be, and my plan will actually get implemented soon. Stay tuned!