Name of your website?Tin Barn Star
Your name?
Jeremy Christian
Your Location (city, etc)
London
Please give us a short summary of your website?
Amish hand made barn star stars, primitive baskets and wood wagon wheels for your home and garden.
What inspired you to launch your own website?
To help my Amish friends. Their sect is considered to be "dusty" or having less money than those in Amish country. I wanted to help them to better their lives any way I could.
When did you launch your first website, and what was it?
Tin Barn Star is my first website. I launched it on Jan. 4th 2009.
How did you decide on a name for your website?
It took several weeks to think of a name that wasn't taken and when said, you would know exactly what was there.
What makes your website different from other, similar offerings?
Because of the fact that I personally know each individual that hand makes these amazing craft and decor items!
What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)
Since I really don't make any money from the site, it wouldn't be worth much to anyone. I think I'll keep it and continue to help my Amish friends whenever I can by selling their items.
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
This is a laughable question. So far I have seen nothing in return for my investment. I don't mind though. It's kind of my way of giving back to the less fortunate.
If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site?
I would pay to have this site listed in all of the pay-per-click keyword categories that fit and eventually pay to submit to the larger URL submission sites.
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
I think so. Really all I would have to do is drive to my Amish friends house and keep placing orders. Now could they keep up? I don't know.
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
There really weren't any unexpected costs but the keyword and meta changes are constant and sometimes difficult.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Trying to submit to Google and DMOZ.
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
By for submitting to individual search engines.
How has running your website differed from your expectations?
It takes countless hours of sitting in front of the computer. I find amusing that sometimes I cant wait to log into the backdoor host and see how much traffic I've had.
How long have you run the site already, and how long will you continue to keep it up if you don't enjoy big gains in traffic, income or popularity?
I've ran it for about a month now. I enjoy it most of the time. I think I'll hang on to it for a long while.
Would you do it all again?
I would. I find it important to help people when you have the opportunity.
What is your website address?
Tin Barn Star
