My New Holster Store

[Jaguar]

I like your work, and the website is pretty good.

I would like to see under the "More Information" tab more descriptive information rather than a rehash of the term used. For instance, "Airbrushed Accents" has "No Accents, Black Accents ($10.00)" where you could say something to the effect of "add an accent of black around the edges of the holster, for those who want more style than a solid color would offer" and have pictures of the ones with and without.

Also in the Body Shield section, describe how far down the grip the shield goes, why someone would want that (aka, the up-sale) and generally talk people into getting the options. I would hope you make more profit on the options, thus making people want the options would give you a larger margin.

So it all comes down to - sell me on the options. I'd like a Winged Pancake Holster in Natural Saddle Tan for a Kahr K9, and I don't know if I need the Airbrushed Accents, Reinforcement Piece, or the Body Shield. What's the skinny? Why should I pay more for these?

[texasmusic]

Pocket holster for a M&P340?

On the site: Maybe find a picture to fill in the brown area around the screen. Leather stitching or something holster related I would guess.

And the "Sale!" signs on every single product (with the crossed out prics) are something that kind of grinds my gears. It just reminds me of Billy Mays commercials. Unless they really are on sale and have actually gone down in price of course.

Good luck!

[MoJoeWrkn]

Great feedback, I really appreciate it and all of your suggestions so far have been great. I have a lot of work to do on the site this weekend!

About the Sale signs, yes everything is on sale right now for you all on this forum. Once I gather all your feedback, I will launch the website many other places and take off the sale. Honestly, my original idea was to have a coupon code for members to use, but I couldn't figure out how to make that work, so I just put everything on sale.

[AggieMM]

Just ordered a pocket holster for a PM9.

One comment on the process. When I had to enter my contact information, I was entering it on a non-encrypted page (http vs https). The money (Paypal) was secure, but not my order information. As a consumer, this bugs me, and sometimes I'll find a different location to order. Just something to think about, it might stop some from ordering.

Ryan

[MoJoeWrkn]

Just ordered a pocket holster for a PM9.

One comment on the process. When I had to enter my contact information, I was entering it on a non-encrypted page (http vs https). The money (Paypal) was secure, but not my order information. As a consumer, this bugs me, and sometimes I'll find a different location to order. Just something to think about, it might stop some from ordering.

Ryan

Thank you for the order. I will see if I can figure out how to move the contact info to an encrypted page. Thanks for the feedback as well!

[WildBill]

Thank you for the order. I will see if I can figure out how to move the contact info to an encrypted page. Thanks for the feedback as well!

And you thought all that you had to do was make good holsters.

[Jaguar]

Okay, I went ahead and purchased a Winged Pancake Holster in Natural Saddle Tan for a Kahr K9, and I got the Airbrushed Accents, Reinforcement Piece, and the Body Shield.

Yep, went a little bananas.

I've been thinking about an OWB holster; helping out a fellow member seemed like a good cause.

[WildBill]

Another question for MoJoe -

If you can not buy a "dummy gun", is it possible for you to use a real gun?

[MoJoeWrkn]

Thanks for the order Jaguar!

Another question for MoJoe -

If you can not buy a "dummy gun", is it possible for you to use a real gun?

It is possible, if I have the gun then it is no problem to use the real thing!

[MoJoeWrkn]

Well I was laid off from my job of 11 years last week. I am pretty bummed out. I am thinking of just trying to get more holster business, I am not sure if I can make a living at it, but I want to give it a try while I look for another day job. Then I guess I will see where things go from there. Any thoughts? Especially from anyone who has started their own business?

By the way if anyone wants to order anything I should be able to get it out pretty quick, seems I have some extra time on my hands...

[Jaguar]

Dang Joe, I am sorry to hear that.

I've never started my own business; when I was laid off in 2002 I took a year and finished my bachelors degree, then got another job that I had lined up before I even graduated. Being laid off was traumatizing even when I knew for a fact it was coming.

With this economy it may be tough to find gainful employment, if the holster business doesn't take off full time, maybe it will tide you over until you do find a job.

Good luck to you, and I'm looking forward to seeing your work in person.

Jeff

[Dagnabitblah]

I did notice your FAQ is verbatim from K&D Holsters on tight fit and pocket draw so you may want to change up the wording at least a bit so it isn't so obvious.

The rest of the site is fine and to +1 the others, look into Google if you do not want a dedicated line. As it was mentioned, you're going to be found by the telemarketers, it's unfortunately part of the price of doing business to some degree. You can get an 800-type number as well virtually and it will direct to whatever number you want too.

When you move off Word Press you'll find a lot more options which will be easier to manage (such as coupons and discount codes). TAM said he could help so check that out when you are ready to move onto more powerful tools.

Good luck!!

[The Annoyed Man]

....look into Google if you do not want a dedicated line. As it was mentioned, you're going to be found by the telemarketers, it's unfortunately part of the price of doing business to some degree. You can get an 800-type number as well virtually and it will direct to whatever number you want too.

What I did was get set up with RingCentral's VOIP service with a new business phone number and a fax number. I had to buy the RingCentral phone, but I badly needed a new phone anyway. Then I ported my house line over to my RingCentral service. Now I Verizon $100/month less, which more than offsets the $45/month cost of RingCentral. With that done, I was able to set up an automatic attendant.

First, my land line and business lines ring to the same phone. I've set the system up to block all calls which have no caller ID.

Second, I was able to set up business hours on the phone, so that callers to my business numbers will go to the automated attendant after-hours and weekends. Callers who select the technical support extension after hours get automatically forwarded to my cellphone, along with their caller ID information. At their end, they do not see my cellphone caller ID, they see my business number caller ID.

Third, all calls to our landline number can be picked up on the RingCentral phone, but they also get forwarded to both my wife's and my cellphones along with their caller ID, where either of us can press 1 to accept the call, or 2 to reject it. If neither of us accepts or rejects the call, it goes to voicemail.

Bonus points: marketing calls to our house number and cellphone numbers have practically vanished.

All of this costs me $49.95/month.

My mother phoned me from France today, and I couldn't take the call because I was in the middle of a tech support call with my server provider. So when I needed to call her back, I simply logged into my RingCentral portal and activated international calling. A $20 credit was charged to my credit card on file. I can use that until I run out, at which point I just buy another $20 worth of credit. I phoned my mother in Paris, and the rate was 4¢/minute. We spoke for 22 minutes.......$1.28 for a 22 minute phone call to Paris, France.

I love RingCentral, and I would highly recommend it to anyone trying to get a new business up off the ground and present a professional face to the public.

[MoJoeWrkn]

I did notice your FAQ is verbatim from K&D Holsters on tight fit and pocket draw so you may want to change up the wording at least a bit so it isn't so obvious.

When Kevin at K&D retired he sold me most of his holster patterns, templates, and equipment. He is a really nice guy and was very helpful and showed me a lot. I did use a small part of his FAQ on holster fit, I changed it some but I guess not enough, I will work on that.

Thanks for your feedback.

[WildBill]

I did notice your FAQ is verbatim from K&D Holsters on tight fit and pocket draw so you may want to change up the wording at least a bit so it isn't so obvious.

When Kevin at K&D retired he sold me most of his holster patterns, templates, and equipment. He is a really nice guy and was very helpful and showed me a lot. I did use a small part of his FAQ on holster fit, I changed it some but I guess not enough, I will work on that.

Thanks for your feedback.

If it's still valid advice and you bought his equipment, templates and patterns why change it?