Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Schedule Time For Your Website
Most active rabbit breeders fall into two categories: 1. they have a website that needs to be updated, or 2. they want a website but haven't found the time to make one.
Okay, I'll go first. I fall into category 1. Most of the time, I have a long list of things I'd like to do to update my website, but I can't seem to find the time. Sound familiar?
Life is very busy, there's no doubt of that. You have your main vocation, whether that's a paid job, family, or something else. Then you have your rabbits to take care of and enjoy. You may have other hobbies, responsibilities, or interests in your life as well. How in the world do you have time for a website?
Just like keeping the romance going in your marriage, you have to schedule time for it. I've been horrible at this (the website part, not the romance part), but I plan to do a lot better. You may have noticed that despite my crazy life right now, I've actually put up new articles on my website lately.
If you have a website, try to pick one time of the month each month to look over your website and update it. Perhaps the first Sunday afternoon of the month is a good time for that. Maybe you want to do it on the 15th to coincide with a payday or some other event. Maybe Monday evening works best. Just put it on your calendar and take the time you set aside just as if it were an appointment with someone besides yourself.
You don't have to overhaul your website, just make a few small changes is enough to keep people interested and coming back.
Another technique is to keep a fair weather to-do list. You know, there are certain things that really can only be done in fair weather. If you photograph rabbits outside, then you need fair weather for that (optimally, a bright, but overcast day). You may also be looking for fair weather for cleaning cages or shoveling the barn or taking the family on a picnic or painting the house. So I keep a list of things to do on the next fair weather day that I'm home.
Still another idea is to make changes immediately as they happen so that they don't build up. When I come home from a show, for example, I immediately update any legs in my rabbitry software and update my Point Standing page as well as the individual pages for my rabbits. For example, Lord's leg count is already posted at 11, with #10 and #11 having been won this past Saturday.
Or, if you are not good at calculating what counts as a leg and what doesn't, then you might make a habit of updating your site when you receive your show reports. Don't let them sit around.
I've made a huge mistake in letting link exchange requests pile up. Now I have several hours' worth of work to do to check out all of those websites and post the links. I need to do them as I receive them, but I feel stuck in the mire now.
If you are in category 2, it's a different story. There are tons of things to do to get a website started. The thing to do here is make a to do list and work it one step at a time.
Okay, I'll go first. I fall into category 1. Most of the time, I have a long list of things I'd like to do to update my website, but I can't seem to find the time. Sound familiar?
Life is very busy, there's no doubt of that. You have your main vocation, whether that's a paid job, family, or something else. Then you have your rabbits to take care of and enjoy. You may have other hobbies, responsibilities, or interests in your life as well. How in the world do you have time for a website?
Just like keeping the romance going in your marriage, you have to schedule time for it. I've been horrible at this (the website part, not the romance part), but I plan to do a lot better. You may have noticed that despite my crazy life right now, I've actually put up new articles on my website lately.
If you have a website, try to pick one time of the month each month to look over your website and update it. Perhaps the first Sunday afternoon of the month is a good time for that. Maybe you want to do it on the 15th to coincide with a payday or some other event. Maybe Monday evening works best. Just put it on your calendar and take the time you set aside just as if it were an appointment with someone besides yourself.
You don't have to overhaul your website, just make a few small changes is enough to keep people interested and coming back.
Another technique is to keep a fair weather to-do list. You know, there are certain things that really can only be done in fair weather. If you photograph rabbits outside, then you need fair weather for that (optimally, a bright, but overcast day). You may also be looking for fair weather for cleaning cages or shoveling the barn or taking the family on a picnic or painting the house. So I keep a list of things to do on the next fair weather day that I'm home.
Still another idea is to make changes immediately as they happen so that they don't build up. When I come home from a show, for example, I immediately update any legs in my rabbitry software and update my Point Standing page as well as the individual pages for my rabbits. For example, Lord's leg count is already posted at 11, with #10 and #11 having been won this past Saturday.
Or, if you are not good at calculating what counts as a leg and what doesn't, then you might make a habit of updating your site when you receive your show reports. Don't let them sit around.
I've made a huge mistake in letting link exchange requests pile up. Now I have several hours' worth of work to do to check out all of those websites and post the links. I need to do them as I receive them, but I feel stuck in the mire now.
If you are in category 2, it's a different story. There are tons of things to do to get a website started. The thing to do here is make a to do list and work it one step at a time.
- Choose your domain name and make sure that no one is using it already
- Decide who you want to host your website. If you don't know one, consider Craig Hardee, a Baptist minister and rabbit breeder! I love sending business to one of us. (I do not recommend free sites if you can help it. Folks consider those to be temporary at best.)
- Pay for your domain name. That's a yearly fee and your website host can help you with that.
- Decide whether you want to make it yourself or hire someone. If you want to hire someone, consider me! If you want to do it yourself, learn to code (not!) or pick an html editor to work with. Some hosts have simple editors built in. Or, you can purchase Front Page, Dreamweaver, or something similar.
- Take your pictures! That's the most time-consuming part. Schedule an afternoon with a bunny friend or family member to get this done all at once. You'll have to reschedule bunnies in a molt, but get as many as you can on this one day. Take lots of pictures of each rabbit so that you can pick the best ones.
- Sketch out your website on paper first. List the pages you want, the pictures and text you want on each page, and any special graphics you need.
- Now you are ready to begin.
You are not going to create a website in one day, but take one small part each time you have set aside to work on your website and get that part done. Before you know it, you'll have a website and all of the advertisement for your rabbits that goes with it.
You will be amazed at what a website can do for your rabbit sales. People can't buy rabbits they don't know about. As long as you represent your rabbits fairly and price them accordingly, you should see a marked increase in sales.
So, you schedule some website time and I'll try to do the same.
Laurie
¶ 11:19 AM
