Name of your website?House of Cool
Your name?
Claire Webster
Your Location (city, etc)
Rutland
Please give us a short summary of your website?
An on-line store with a sense of fun. House of Cool stocks a wide range of products including MP3 players, USB gadgets and other cool stuff for gaming - but in addition, there are unique baby gift ideas and maternity products. Many ranges reflect current fashion trends - such as a selection of Playboy merchandise and the latest perfumes. The concept is to offer fun products at keen prices with excellent customer service.
What inspired you to launch your own website?
I had run my own business in the past before becoming a teacher. When my daughter became ill, I needed something home-based in order to fit work around her needs more effectively.
When did you launch your first website, and what was it?
It's an off-the-shelf dropshipping website. Disappointing in many ways - not easy to navigate and with minimal owner control - but useful as a learning experience.
How did you decide on a name for your website?
Good question - almost anything worth having has already been taken! I was lucky to find the name 'House-of-Cool'- there's always the danger that 'cool' can be a cliche, but it really does sum up what I was hoping to achieve.
What makes it different from other, similar offerings?
In short, me!
What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)
To provide a stable income for my family. Who needs millions? We need enough to live and enough time to enjoy it.
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
Currently weighted heavily in favour of work and investment - still waiting for the success but I ma confident that it will come.
If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site?
Probably more sites, interlinked and supporting each other.
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
The answer here is to build a wide and stable foundation of support, and I have some great suppliers.
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
Paypal has been a nightmare. Then there have been scammers and counterfeiters. These are difficult to juggle when you want to deliver good service to your customers.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Gaining ranking.
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
Maybe different needs call for different approaches. Sometimes pay-per-click is the best bet for promoting specific products. Or comparative shopping sites. But you still need to be listed in directories, you still need links, and you still need to be found by search engines.
How has running your website differed from your expectations?
It has been varied and enjoyable. There's contact with suppliers and customers, the opportunity for creativity, the discipline of administration, and the challenge of mastering the technical aspects. The worst thin has been to discover the number of fraudsters in the online trading world.
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?
The business dates back over 10 years, but the website is only a few months old. I see it continuing indefinitely.
Would I recommend web owership?
Yes, it can be interesting and a lot of fun. But don't count on fast results!
What is your website address?
House of Cool
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