Update

Unfortunately we haven't experienced the initial burst of sales I was hoping for. We have had a few orders, but mostly from friends and family. In fairness, we are only promoting the site by word of mouth, but I still hoped for a greater response.
At least I have been able to refund Mike for the shipping costs.
What makes it even more frustrating is that I am not in a position to do anything about it until the end of the month. I have an exam on 29th March that I need to focus on, which elaves me very little time for marketing. Thankfully, both Mike and Alison understand the situation.
Not much else to say at the moment, and probably won't have for the next few weeks.

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www.adupo.com

The site is finally live. It took a lot of painstaking work but I starting promoting it about Wednesday of last week. I have been a little disappointed with the initial sales though...
I send out the link to a few friends and asked them to take a look at it beforehand. I also got my sister to make a purchase to make sure Paypal and the order system were working correctly. Must say, I have been very impressed with Shopcreator so far.
The feedback I got suggests that the site is a bit basic, and when you take a step back and look at it from an unbiased angle, it is. But it's a start, that is all we ever aimed for.
And I am glad to say that we had our first proper sale on Saturday! A gentleman in Norfolk purchased one of the blankets. I have to admit to getting a bit of a kick from seeing that e-mail land in my inbox.
I spent an hour yesterday at the launch of the Fairtrade Fortnight on London's South Bank. Very interesting but I was a bit disappointed that it was mainly bigger, more corporate type companies with a presence. I'd like to have seen more independent companies involved, to check out the competition if you will. Is aiming for next year a little ambitious?
Unfortunately the site is going to have to take a bit of a back seat over the next few weeks as I have an exam at the end of March that I really need to do well in. It's a shame because I would love to get stuck in to some marketing over the next few weeks.
However the best (and cheapest) way of promoting the site initially is by word of mouth, so if you are reading this, please tell your friends about the site.

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Quick update

Not really much to say since my last update.
The website is pretty much live at this stage, a little sooner than I expected. However there are still a few minor design and functionality issues that need to be addressed. I have finally finished populating the product list though, all 94 of the items. There have been so many bits and pieces to do but I the site should be finished this week. I can continue to tweek the website if needs be.

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Web design for dummies...

The website is taking a lot more time than I ever imagined, but I finally feel like I am making some progress.
I am getting used to the software, slowly but surely. I can't believe how complicated they make it though, I thought it would make sense to design it for technophobes like me. Safe to say the very helpful gentleman who works for Shopcreator is hearing from me regularly at the moment.
The website itself is starting to take shape and I have started populating the product lists. I have to say I am quite pleased with the way it looks, although it has reminded me that I am not in the least bit artistic.
Things will probably get complicated again when I have to work out the payment system, I just hope that I can accept payments with a Premier Paypal account.
Can't deny that it has been a learning experience from day one, but then again that is part of the reason I took on this project in the first place.

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Slow progress...

I spent another couple of hours last night working out the postage costs for each of the items for the UK, Europe and the US. It was a bit of a job but I am happier now that I have worked out how everything will be sent (apart from those damn giraffes) and how much it will cost.
However my 'to-do' list seems endless. I still have more photos to take and then I have to start on the website. This will be a lenghty enough process, uploading photos of over 90 items and then matching them to their catalogue number. Then we will have to write copy, think about SEO, work out how to accept payments etc etc.
And I thought we were going to start selling by Wednesday of this week!
However I am glad to say the website has been registered and the e-mail address is working. Still not ready to reveal it though.
After spending around ten hours on this after a full working week, I am starting to feel a bit burned out. I need to take a couple of days off to recharge and then hopefully get back to it on Sunday (depending on Saturday night) or Monday.

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Now the work begins...

I had to work over the weekend so it was last night before I was able to start getting everything ready to go on sale.
First off, I had to photograph everything, which was a bit of a chore for someone who hasn't really got an artistic bone in their body. I eventually found the right combination of background, camera setting and lighting and the results can be viewed here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/23507767@N06/. Any feedback would be welcome, although I know that I will probably have to redo the first few.
I think we have pretty much decided on prices for each item. Thankfully Alison has also volunteered to write a little about them, which I was dreading.
I think it would be useful to catalogue everything so that is something that can be added to my list of things to do.
We have decided to go with a dedicated website, which I think is the best way forward. I can't really believe how easy it is to set up an e-commerce website. £75 covers purchasing the domain name and 2 years worth of hosting while we are charged a percentage of each transaction by the company that designed the software, www.shopcreator.com. Fair enough, the front end won't rival that of Debenhams but it will more than suffice for now.
I hope to write copy for the website over the next few days and Alison is going to work on a logo.
I am not going to reveal the name just yet as we want to make sure we are happy with it but I think it is quite appropriate.
Finally, I went into the post office today and bought a few bits and pieces for postage. I meant to start weighing everything tonight but worked on the website instead. Everything should be fairly straight forward other than the Giraffes- they are going to be a nightmare to send.

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Arrived!

I am really pleased to say that the first shipment from Mike arrived yesterday. It contained several types of bracelets and encklaces, watch straps, keyrings, blankets and batiks (which look amazing). Another, bigger package arrived today with some beautiful model giraffes and some decoative bowls. And apparently there is another one on the way- I am beginning to wonder where I am going to store everything.
I am busy with work over the next couple of days so I won't get to photograph everything until Sunday but when I do, I will post the photos here. I will then need to work out how to get everything posted (especially the giraffes) which will require a visit to the post office on Monday. We will then have to decide about prices too. So I suppose the items won't go live on AVIF's eBay page until the middle of next week. Keep an eye here: http://www.missionfish.org.uk/NPMMF/nphomepage.jsp?NP_ID=15320.

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