Home page:
[1] It's worse than irritating when I have to refuse cookie and tell my browser NOT to download a plugin - just because someone wants to dazzle me with the sound quality of my 1" speakers. [2] Nice wood. I already know what wood looks like - what I really want to see is a close-up of your products. Lose the wood and let me see the products well enough that I'm sufficiently motivated to use one of your links to see more. [3] I'm over 40. My eyes aren't what they once were. A lot of the population is in the same boat (it happens to everyone sometime between the 40th and 50th birthday). I don't trust people who use tiny or otherwise difficult-to-read print because it usually means they're trying to hide something from me. This is a /fast/ turn-off. [4] Recruit the assistance of an anal-retentive English major and pick up a copy of Strunk and White's style manual at your local bookstore. It's a tiny book and if you take the trouble to read it, it'll help you to write readin'. [5] Lose the link to the page we're already seeing. It's always nice to have a home; but pretty worthless to have a link to where we already are. It's clutter and as such distracts from your message.Shelves and shadow boxes:
[1] Again, loose the self-link. [2] Just look? At that stuff 'way off in the distance'? I see some red paint on the blue shelf; but can't tell if it was well done. If you don't let me see, I'll apply Sturgeon's Law and conclude that it's not well done (and that you don't really want me to see it well enough to reach that conclusion until you have my hard-earned cash in your PayPal account) [3] I put my trifocals on and tried entering supporting content; but it just slid off.Planters:
[1] Self-link [3][2] Oops! Captions are reversed. [3] More tiny print. Something about pot included - cool!Cheese and Bread Boards:
[1] Self-link [2] Don't tell me they're decorative - show me. I'm much more interested in knowing something about the materials. What kind of wood? Are they easy to clean? Are they raw wood or have you applied a finish? If so, does it pose a health risk? [3] It wouldn't accept my supporting content here, either.Bird Feeders:
[1] Self-link [2] Is suet really peanut butter and seed? Nope (you forced me to go look it up) suet is the "hard fat deposited around the kidneys and loins of cattle and sheep: used in cooking and as a source of tallow." GW Carver and I are led to conclude that you either don't know what you're talking about or are trying to pull a fast one. [3] More small print! [4] I don't care what you say - even without chains that thing just can't any good for sitting /anywhere/! [5] No charge for the starter seed bag? Bull. If there were no charge, both the products and S&H would be less. How about if you just say that a small bag of bird seed is included?Walking sticks:
[1] Self-link [2] Ah c'mon. I don't want to hear about your intentions; and I'll only visit again if I see something worth coming back to see again. [3] How about backing up to let me see the entire product? Then get up close enough that I can get really judgmental about the carving. If I see a particular one I really like, can I buy it?Birdhouses:
[1] Self-link [2] About your opening salvo: if you don't chemically oxidize the copper roof then it'll look like an antique when it becomes one. Why are you talking about that today? [3] Other than the screech owl box. What kind of birds, if any, will be attracted to these birdhouses? [4] Country appeal? Eh? I'm from Iowa - where're you from again? Actually I /do/ kind of like the stone house...The Shop:
[1] Self-link [2] Holy smokes! That guy's trying to keep track of something on TV and a photographer and - what's that thing? - OMG it's one of those things that subtracts fingers when you don't pay attention! [3] My wish for everyone is that they have a spacious shop with all kinds of good tools. I'm glad for every square inch of space that you have - but a /cluttered/ shop is a horror to me. Before I leave my shop I make myself put everything away and I clean up the day's mess. If you want to sell what you produce in the shop (and obviously you do) and if you want to show off the shop, then you need to at least move the clutter out of the camera's view for as long as it takes to shoot a picture. There's a commonly-held perception that a sloppy/cluttered shop indicates lack of concern for safety and quality.Overall comments:
Most of the products had a non-price tag "Starting at $". Please tell me the price without introducing the inconvenience of an e-mail or phone call. If I go through that exercise and the quoted price doesn't closely match the web page price, you'll have lost any chance that I might buy or ever visit again.
I missed the address and phone, by the way. Unless you expect me to e-mail a check, some real contact information would help us both. FWIW, I won't order from a web vendor if I don't know who and where they really are.
Just realized I missed bat boxes - and then realized that none of your stuff has any measurements. Real bird people would probably care. I assume there are real bat people out there who'd be interested in the size of the bat box. I'm not a bat affectionado but confess curiosity about how big a box would be needed to hold
100+ live bats who'd enter voluntarily.